Country Woman October - November 2017

At this time of year, I head indoors, seeking a snug sense of home. I find it in that first fire in the fireplace and in the old quilts I pull out of storage and pile on the beds. We all find cozy contentment in different places. Whitney Miller, who writes on page 18 about her family’s Thanksgiving dinner in a barn, finds happiness at the long tables around which her relatives gather. Shaye Elliott finds it in a basement root cellar, where she’s laid in all the produce she’ll need to feed her family through the winter. Shaye offers tips on how to set up a cold storage room on page 24. For Katherine Bates Jones, home sits on her dining room table—where there’s a dollhouse-size version of the…

I received the June/July 2017 issue just in time to make the Patchwork Quilt Cake for a potluck lunch at the Colorado River Quilters meeting. I have subscribed to Country Woman for many years. I enjoy the articles, recipes and crafts. PHYLLIS ANDREWS BULLHEAD CITY, ARIZONA We raise produce and sell at eight local farmers markets. I love fairy gardens, and I created this one in our now-grown son’s 25-year-old wagon to display during our county’s annual farm tour. CINDY SCOTT BURLINGTON, KENTUCKY We love hearing from readers. It’s easy! Drop us a note at feedback@countrywomanmagazine.com…

Q: How do you keep the “thanks” in Thanksgiving? Every year on the night before Thanksgiving, we make turkey pizzas. It’s become one of our favorite family traditions. We make our individual turkeys, and then we each talk about what we are thankful for. JENNIFER STOWELL MONTEZUMA, IOWA Growing up, my church held a special service on Thanksgiving morning where we sang and thanked God for all of his blessings. Now with children of my own but living far from my hometown, I don’t have a Thanksgiving service to attend. Even so, I take my children to our church, and we gather around the altar. We sing songs, pray and thank God for his wonderful blessings. Only then does it feel like Thanksgiving to me. RACHEL PIOCH SOLDOTNA, ALASKA After Thanksgiving dinner our family writes Christmas…

THREE CHEERS FOR COUNTRY WOMEN! It’s time to give a big shout-out to the country woman who inspires you. Whether she’s a community volunteer or a canning queen, has the neighborhood’s loveliest front yard or is a tireless farmer who single-handedly tends 40 acres, we want to meet her. Take a few photos and then tell us why she deserves to win, and she could be crowned our 2018 Country Woman of the Year! The title comes with a $250 cash prize and the opportunity for her to be featured in an issue of Country Woman. If she wins, you’ll be awarded $250, too, just for submitting her nomination. Best of all, you’ll be celebrating a special country woman and inspiring our family of readers. And even if your nominee does not win…

HANDS ON Can Boo! Light the night with spooktacular luminaries. WHAT YOU’LL NEED 3 clean tin cans Black spray paint made for metal Orange grease marker 1 spring clamp Drill with metal drill bit or a nail, a block of wood and a hammer Orange tissue paper Black tape Small, battery-operated candles DIRECTIONS 1. Coat the insides and outsides of the cans with spray paint. Use several sheer coats of paint for even coverage. 2. With the grease marker, make dots that form one letter of the word “BOO” on each can. Placing the dots in the valleys of the cans’ ridges makes drilling or hammering easier. 3. Clamp the can to a table; use the drill (or a hammer and nail with a block of wood inside the can) to punch holes. 4. Cut squares of tissue paper…

Who will feed the hungry? Take care of the poor? Who will grow the foods? Step through that giving door? ❞—LAURIE LEE LEWIS At the age of 11, Laurie Lee Lewis’ fate was set with a kiss on the cheek from music legend Loretta Lynn. The two connected backstage at one of Loretta’s concerts, and the star told Laurie that she, too, could be a singer. Today, she’s the singing farmer of northwest Washington state, and she’s driven by altruism. “I’m a little tater trying to pay it forward,” Laurie says. She tasted a bit of country music fame in the 1990s, once singing a duet with Nashville sound-era pioneer Ferlin Husky at the Tacoma Dome before a crowd of 16,000. Now Laurie donates the proceeds from her albums to charities. Profits from her…