Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing, Baby!

  We have so many imitation things offered to us these days like imitation foods and synthetic fabrics.

To me margarine just doesn't compare with butter and I prefer cotton or linen to polyester(even if the real thing does wrinkle easier). But what I truly appreciate is a person who is the genuine article. Someone who doesn't patronize and who offers a sincere smile.

We have been blessed over the years with the best of neighbors, and I have made it a goal of mine to be the same to them.

For example, our family became friends with a real southern lady when we moved into our first home in Western North Carolina. She was about 80 years old when we met her. She taught us a lot about what it means to be a neighbor over the six years we lived there. Within a week of our moving in she had brought us a loaf of friendship bread, and our love for dear Mrs. Morgan only grew from there. My boys would walk across the road to take her homemade cards and crafts they had made. She would in turn fill them up with homemade grape juice and other goodies. 

Something Mrs. Morgan taught me personally was the value of having certain staple ingredients on hand. Real ingredients like butter, buttermilk and self-rising flour (yes, it has real ingredients in it). To this day one of our favorite treats is Mrs. Morgan's Fruit Cobbler (That is what we call it).

Mrs Morgan's Fruit Cobbler

(Just remember 1+1+1+1)

1 cup self-rising flour 

1 cup sugar 

1 stick melted butter 

1 cup buttermilk 

2 cups fruit or berries (or a can of pie filling) 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover the bottom of a 9” X 9” pan with the fruit or filling. Combine the other ingredients and stir until smooth. Pour the batter over the fruit and bake for 40 – 45 minutes. 

Remove from oven and serve warm with ice cream or sweet whipping cream.

This is so yummy. Perhaps if you decide to try it you could make an extra and share it with a neighbor.
If you have any quick and easy recipes that you have shared with a neighbor or any other ideas on how we can be the “real thing” to our neighbors, share them with us. Thanks for reading.


Robin Liner is a wife, mother of six, and the female mind behind the plus size women's brand, TheCasualWoman.com. Her busy lifestyle makes her a champion for quality casual clothing that can stand the test of time.

In with Tunics!

When you hear the word tunic, what comes to your mind? The first thing that pops into my mind is Robin Hood or some Shakespearean character swashbuckling through my head.


I also think of the late 80's. I picture men and women with mullets. I remember wearing tunic length jackets with shoulder pads so big I could have passed for a football player. It wasn't the most figure friendly fashion statement, but we wore them anyway. I mean, I follow the trends as much as the next person (even the bad ones), don't we all? But I have many a fond memory of hanging out with my best friend wearing a brightly colored, over-sized, figure-bashing shirt ( I think my shirt was fuchsia).


However, as the saying goes, "What goes around comes around", and I must admit the tunics I am seeing today are restoring my faith in the idea that a tunic could actually be a flattering garment. Most of them today are sweaters. They look comfortable ,cozy and, yes, even attractive. I am also seeing a revival of color blocking (who would have thought). Maybe we'll get The Cosby Show back too; that may restore my faith in good television as well. What there does seem to be however, is a wonderful lack of shoulder pads. Although, I can get excited about wearing the updated version of the tunic, I know I could never get excited about wearing a thigh length fabric box.

So, if tunics from the past have left a bad taste in your mouth, check out what's new and you may find they are much more palatable. If you have any tunic stories from the old days tell me about them. Also, if you have any pictures and you are not too embarrassed to share them, feel free to post them to our Facebook page so we can remind ourselves that tunics have changed a lot, for the better. Thanks for reading!


Robin Liner is a wife, mother of six, and the female mind behind the plus size women's brand, TheCasualWoman.com. Her busy lifestyle makes her a champion for quality casual clothing that can stand the test of time.

When Life Hands You Lemons

Have you ever needed to get a little mess cleaned up only to realize you were out of cleaner? 

The busier I get the more I find these things happen. However, recently during one of my pampering times, (I was reading a magazine) I came across a nice tip to add to my arsenal of ways to use lemons. That tip has become my number one use for lemons mentioned in the short listed below:

Interesting Uses for Lemons

1. Clean your house  My new favorite way to use lemons is as a cleaner (since reading the above mentioned article). According to Real Simple magazine's September 2012 issue, “lemons can effectively be used to clean everything from countertops to cutting boards, the garbage disposal to tile grout”.

Here is why it works: Lemon juice has the ability break down grease and grime because of it's high citric acid content (8% of a lemons dry weight is citric acid). 

2. Keep fruit looking fresh  When preparing fruits such as apples, lemon juice will keep them from turning brown. If you don't want your apples tasting so tart you can substitute lemon lime soda ( I'm sure the reason this works is because there is some amount of lemon in it so that lets me include it in this list). Here's what you do; soak the fruit in lemon juice or lemon lime soda for a few seconds.  An hour later your apples will still look fresh.

3. Cure thrush  Thrush is caused by an overgrowth of Fungus Candida Albicans. When my second child was an infant he contracted oral thrush. This is not uncommon, as many of you know. Thankfully, I had a good friend from Peru who gave me this tip. Coat the baby's mouth with lemon juice several times a day and it will eventually go away. She was a wellspring of over the counter remedies that actually work. I did as she said, the thrush went away and never returned.

Let's recap: Lemon juice equals 1. Nice smelling grout, 2. Fresh fruit and 3. Cured Thrush. So the next time life hands you lemons clean the counters after you've made lemonade. If you have any other awesome lemon uses please share them with the rest of us so we can expand the list. Thanks for reading!


Robin Liner is a wife, mother of six, and the female mind behind the plus size women's brand, TheCasualWoman.com. Her busy lifestyle makes her a champion for quality casual clothing that can stand the test of time.

Mamaw's Advice - pamper yourself!

It is so easy for us women to get so busy looking out for everyone and everything else that we can neglect ourselves. When I begin to feel like I have given all that I have to give, a little self pampering can make a big difference.  

Earlier this week I mentioned that I was going to share some great advice from my Mother-In-Law. Unfortunately, mothers-in-law often get a bad rap. Mine, however, was wonderful and she often gave very sound advice like the time my son Ethan decided to use his bedroom walls as a sketch pad. Her advice was, “Ah, just leave it there and date it.”   

As liberating as that golden nugget was, a different piece of advice is what I have integrated most fully into my daily life. It came not long after I had my second baby. Mamaw was there to help me and at one point sat down beside me and simply said, “Make sure to take some time for yourself everyday.” I’ve learned over the years that time for myself doesn’t always mean time by myself, but sometimes it does. Here is a short list of my favorites.

My Top 3 Ways to Pamper Myself

My Mother-In-Law, Dot Liner; A woman
with great advice.

1.  Curl up with a good book
I love to read. I prefer fiction, especially a good suspense thriller with a hint of romance. I recently finished The Shadow of Your Smile by Mary Higgins Clark. I am always on the hunt for my next good read. Perhaps you can point me in a good direction.

2.  Climb into a nice hot bubble bath 
This usually takes place after dinner. It is good because I can fit it into whatever amount of time I can muster. I have become a collector of bath salts, beads, oils, etc. I truly love a wonderful smelling bubble bath. And all the better if I take with me a good suspense thriller with a hint of romance.
  
3.  Catch a cup of tea with a friend 
There is a sweet little coffee shop not far from my house. Sometimes a few minutes of mature female conversation with one of my friends is just what the doctor called for (you know, the kind where the other person speaks in complete grammatically correct sentences).

Mamaw understood that we can feel guilty about taking time for ourselves. But she also understood that when we are physically and emotionally refreshed we can enjoy giving of ourselves to those we care so much about. So my advice to you is,take some time for yourself every day.  Oh, and the next time little junior decides to use your walls as a sketch pad perhaps you should just leave it there and date it.

Robin Liner is a wife, mother of six, and the female mind behind the plus size women's brand TheCasualWoman.com. Her busy lifestyle makes her a champion for quality casual clothing that can stand the test of time.

Holy Tights, Batman!

Although there is nothing holy about tights (or anything else the ‘Boy Wonder’ declared as holy) tights are certainly “in”.

There are stores, and I mean stores plural, that are dedicated to the sale of tights. Solid colored tights in every color imaginable, animal print tights, polka dot tights, etc. And then, of course, there are stockings, the near cousin of tights. Swiss dot stockings, fishnet stockings, and your basic standard stockings abound. 

This doesn't disappoint me. I have very fond memories of a couple of pairs of fun tights I wore in the 90's. One pair was a blue floral, they looked great with my little black pencil skirt and silky blue blouse. The other pair had an argyle motif. I'd scoot about in my short denim skirt with brown loafers. And here we are again. Not that tights ever really went completely out.

It’s almost enough to make even this middle aged woman don a short skirt ( not too short, of course) and throw on some harlequin tights for a night out with my husband. Actually, change the 'almost' to a definitely. I may stick to something a little more tame, like a solid color, but maybe I won't. When I get my tights I'll post a picture of them.

Fashion is one of the ways I express myself. It’s amazing how choosing tights over stockings can affect the way I feel. I go from feeling respectable to slightly eccentric with just the change of my leg wear (is leg wear a real term? Well, it is now.) Today, I think my leg wear will consist of nice slacks, which will resonate responsibility. But tomorrow… who knows? I may shoot for eccentric with a pair of wild tights! 

Robin Liner is a wife, mother of six, and the female mind behind the plus size women's brand TheCasualWoman.com. Her busy lifestyle makes her a champion for quality casual clothing that can stand the test of time.