As winter sets in late in December, we find ourselves relishing the days that come warm and sunny. While they are few, they do come. We turn on the radio where we can hear it outside, we build a fire in the pot bellied stove and put bones in the smoker for the dogs to chomp on. The cloudy and damp days are more frequent so when the sun comes out, we go outside.
I never thought I would say that 40 degrees was a nice temperature to be outside but low and behold, it has happened. Compared to 24 or 34 degrees, 40 isn't so bad especially with the sun shining down on us. Don't get me wrong, 40 is cold to be sure. Indeed, I'm not about to go out without my coat but the fire in the stove warms me along with the heat the sun provides.
My clothes and my hair smell of campfire but I like it that way. It reminds me that we were able to get outside. In the last few days of December, this is truly a rare treat. Another rare treat is marshmallows roasted over that fire in the stove which is exactly what I did yesterday. I load two marshmallows on the end of a wire coat hanger and let them hover over the flame until they catch fire. I like them burnt on the outside and warm and gooey on the inside. As they brown I'm taken back to the days when we were young and our parents took us camping.
I've no idea how old we all were but we did a lot of camping. It was inexpensive and with four young kids, our parents needed everything to be inexpensive. Mom would have us load basically everything but the kitchen sink and we packed our own clothes, pillows and blankets. Everything went into the pop up camper or the back of dad's truck and off we went.
Jellystone Park was usually where we ended up although there were a few other places we would camp, one place in Deltona stands out but the name escapes me now. I remember it because there was a huge recreation hall that we were allowed to go to without mom and dad in attendance. They probably liked it because of that too... LOL
Jellystone Park was ideal for us. Yogi bear could sometimes be spotted and a nightly hayride was the highlight. The hayride drove through the entire park picking up kids all along the way. It took us to the movie screen where we sat on boards held up by cement blocks. We watched Yogi and Boo Boo cartoons until it was time to go back to our camp and by then, believe me, we were worn out.
Camping weather was typically cool even for Florida so it was fun to get our jammies on and climb into our camper beds already piled up with covers. The sides of the camper had zipper flaps that we closed up at bedtime and opened upon awakening in the morning. There was nothing I didn't love about camping. It makes sense that I would love living in the woods though this style is far from camping.
So with my marshmallows roasted to the point of being burnt, I slip them into my mouth and savor the sweet, crunchy feel of them in my mouth. The second one is always harder to get to but it's been on the stick longer and the insides are gooey-er so it's really the best. It's still a bit warm from the fire but not so hot I can't eat it whole and so I do. I don't know how many I ate but it was enough to satisfy my tastes knowing a day like this won't come around again until spring.
Ahhhh spring...can't help but remember it and look forward to its coming.
Our travels are usually in the morning hours when the dew is crystallized on the ground and sparkling like glitter when the sun hits it. I find I can't look away. Like springtime flowers fading in fall, this glittery dew will be gone with winter's end so I etch it in my memory for when the 90 degree days of summer come.
The sky is bright blue and looking at it fools you into thinking it's warm out there. Ha! Even a trip to feed the horses can make your hands and face numb in no time. Now that there are chickens to feed as well, it adds a little more time to the trip. Still it's a pleasure for me to see them every day. The horses with their winter coats and warm noses waiting at the fence, not so patiently, and the chickens bock, bock, bocking at me make me feel special. Of course, all they want is food but hey, who doesn't????
It's cold but it's nice. It's different and it's short lived. It's a season that came in slowly this year but promises to uphold the "Old Man Winter" namesake. It's a time that makes you want to have a pot of beans on the stove and cornbread in the oven. It makes you pull soft, warm blankets from their summer storage and it lends free time to write (hence this posting) and to read the books and magazines that there was no time for during busy summer harvesting months.
As for me, I still feel like I was born in the wrong century. I would be fine with living a pioneer life. Farming, raising cattle, harvesting, canning, preserving, soap making and all that goes with it. I haven't tried the soap making yet but winter is young and there's plenty of time for it. I haven't tried raising cattle yet either but it's on the list.
I would love to have a root cellar and a smoke house. Both have a long history born out of necessity. Not only can root vegetables be stored in the root cellar but so can all those many, many jars of vegetables I put up. Storage is always at a premium. The smoke house too was a form of storage prior to refrigeration. The hams and bacon and jowls and an assortment of other pig parts could be cured and smoked and left to hang until needed. The scent of a smoked ham comes quickly as I write because I have a piece of one in a pot of beans that we'll share for supper tonight. It could be a perfume or a candle scent and I'd buy it! LOL
As I close this post, I'm watching a squirrel eat the seeds that the birds drop on the porch. No need to sweep that floor...those little guys tidy it right up for me!
Happy Birthday to Neccy and a Very Happy New Year to all of you. My wish for the New Year is for everyone I know to be happy and especially healthy. I know I'll keep working towards that myself! Ring it in right but be careful by all means. Love to all xoxoxox
Monday, December 31, 2012
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Thanks To Be Given...always
This family has certainly seen its share of sadness but we weren't raised to dwell on sadness. Indeed, we have always been a happy-go-lucky sort of bunch and throughout the years this manner has served us well. I won't say it hasn't been challenging nor will I go into the details. If you're reading this, you're likely aware of everything anyway.
And so it is with a heavy but healing heart that I find things to be thankful for this year. In no particular order, I'll try to give you the gist of it all. Is gist a word though? Am I spelling it correctly? I suppose it doesn't matter, I should just be thankful for the ability to type and the fact that the internet is working (so far) today.
On a sunny but chilly Friday I awoke to a beautiful sunrise with the roosters singing their "cock-a-doodle-do" and the horses whinnying to let me know they were ready for breakfast. The birds had been hitting the feeders long before I walked around the porches.
I was in some nice, warm sweat pants that Ernie gave me on my last trip to FL and the cute jacket that goes with them. I had my mom's slippers on and I had a flashlight in my hand. The sun was coming up but it was still dark out there in the chicken coop and beyond that where the horses stood. It's this time of the morning that I can't resist taking a few minutes, no matter how cold it is, to appreciate the wonder and beauty of this place where I live. Thankfully.
It's quiet except for the leaves blowing round and the woodland animals scampering about looking for their morning feast. The birds and squirrels chirping and chattering are ever more present in the early morning hours just before dawn. But to me none of this is noise. These sounds make your ears feel good, really, really good. Thankfully.
There are no sirens, no horns blaring, no airplanes tracking the traffic, not even a passing car. Or, if any of these are out there, we can't hear them out here. Thankfully.
The sun turns the sky a brilliant pink color as I stand at the kitchen window stirring up a batch of mayonnaise biscuits while the bacon fries crisply in the cast iron skillet. We don't drink coffee but I imagine it would be a welcoming scent to those of you who do. I crack my fresh eggs into the skillet and fry them to go with the biscuits. Gotta have something to dip in the creamy yellow of these eggs. Thankfully.
As I put away the breakfast dishes, I watch for the deer to come up from the holler and it's not long before I'm rewarded with their presence. They come silently and quickly and they munch away at the sweet grasses without ever disturbing the dogs. Some days I see 2 or 3, other days 8, 9, or 10. They're difficult to count when they're on the move and with it being hunting season, they're always on the move. They're safe here for right now as we have one in the freezer already. Thankfully.
With so much venison taking up so much space, I figured it would be nice to have some ground into sausage. I don't have an electric grinder and there was simply too much to try and use a manual one so I asked a friend if he could help out. His cousin has an electric grinder so with his permission we made plans to meet up on Sunday and get the sausage made. My friend brought the seasonings and knife and I brought the meat. A cooler full of it. We cut the meat, seasoned it with sage and other spices then added pieces of smoked bacon (the store was out of pork fat). Once it was layered in the tray we fired up the motor and began feeding the mixture into the grinder. It was an awesome sight to behold and the freezer is now stocked with venison sausage. Thankfully.
The farmer who provides me with my veggie baskets sent an email to let me know the farm was still being harvested and if I was interested, I could get another basket from her. Well, of course, I was up for that! She gave me directions and I went to find the farm. I was so excited to be going there. To actually see where all that beautiful, healthy food was being grown was truly the highlight of the week for me. You can imagine - I hope :) It was everything I expected and then some. Thankfully.
Trish gave me my basket and pointed out what everything was. It was packed full of goodness including a jar of sorghum from a neighboring farm and a package of Jacob's grass fed beef tips. The sorghum is better than syrup in my very humble opinion. I like maple syrup, don't get me wrong. But the difference is like night and day. This sorghum flavor is decidedly strong and sweet at the same time, much like I imagine some folks will take their coffee. This sorghum comes from a farm right here in Hickman county and it was harvested fresh this season. mmmmmmmmm it is so perfectly thick that it soaks into my whole wheat pancakes rather than running off the edges and onto the plate. Thankfully.
While I was at the farm I was offered a tour of their house. The house isn't finished but it's going to be a fine one when it is. It's not large but neither would I call it small. Rather it is just perfect for their family and it seems it will suit their needs in all ways. It is in every way a farm house. From the sage green paint on the outside and tin roof on top to the walls of windows providing not only a hilly view but also some great ventilation. There are three floors, each with a bathroom. Trish said she didn't know what she would do with three bathrooms after living in the camper for so many years. I told her she would likely be doing lots of cleaning - she laughed and thought that would be just fine. All things considered I think I'd feel exactly the same way. I know they will all thoroughly enjoy being in their new home, very soon. Thankfully.
While the growing season is over for me, I'm finding ways to still enjoy the outdoors and keep myself busy. The flower garden seems to fill up with leaves every day and no matter how many times I shoo them out, the next day they're back. They are so deep that the pansy pots barely show through. The tall grasses I bought are blooming - which surprised me because I had no idea that was going to happen. They have a frilly little fan at the very top and the frills wave gently with the wind. I'll have to put them in the ground before too long but the ground hasn't frozen over yet so there's still some time for that. Thankfully.
Thanksgiving is forcasted to be a very pretty day with the temperature reaching 68 degrees around two pm. We'll have our turkey and gravy, our collard greens and our barley stuffing. We'll have our green beans and dinner rolls and sweet potato pie for dessert. A couple friends will be coming to share the meal with us and we'll probably all be ready for naps shortly after the feast. Thankfully.
I'll be with Wally. I'll be on the farm. I'll be missing all of you and thinking about you too. Mostly, I'll be happy.
THANKFULLY
And so it is with a heavy but healing heart that I find things to be thankful for this year. In no particular order, I'll try to give you the gist of it all. Is gist a word though? Am I spelling it correctly? I suppose it doesn't matter, I should just be thankful for the ability to type and the fact that the internet is working (so far) today.
On a sunny but chilly Friday I awoke to a beautiful sunrise with the roosters singing their "cock-a-doodle-do" and the horses whinnying to let me know they were ready for breakfast. The birds had been hitting the feeders long before I walked around the porches.
I was in some nice, warm sweat pants that Ernie gave me on my last trip to FL and the cute jacket that goes with them. I had my mom's slippers on and I had a flashlight in my hand. The sun was coming up but it was still dark out there in the chicken coop and beyond that where the horses stood. It's this time of the morning that I can't resist taking a few minutes, no matter how cold it is, to appreciate the wonder and beauty of this place where I live. Thankfully.
It's quiet except for the leaves blowing round and the woodland animals scampering about looking for their morning feast. The birds and squirrels chirping and chattering are ever more present in the early morning hours just before dawn. But to me none of this is noise. These sounds make your ears feel good, really, really good. Thankfully.
There are no sirens, no horns blaring, no airplanes tracking the traffic, not even a passing car. Or, if any of these are out there, we can't hear them out here. Thankfully.
The sun turns the sky a brilliant pink color as I stand at the kitchen window stirring up a batch of mayonnaise biscuits while the bacon fries crisply in the cast iron skillet. We don't drink coffee but I imagine it would be a welcoming scent to those of you who do. I crack my fresh eggs into the skillet and fry them to go with the biscuits. Gotta have something to dip in the creamy yellow of these eggs. Thankfully.
As I put away the breakfast dishes, I watch for the deer to come up from the holler and it's not long before I'm rewarded with their presence. They come silently and quickly and they munch away at the sweet grasses without ever disturbing the dogs. Some days I see 2 or 3, other days 8, 9, or 10. They're difficult to count when they're on the move and with it being hunting season, they're always on the move. They're safe here for right now as we have one in the freezer already. Thankfully.
With so much venison taking up so much space, I figured it would be nice to have some ground into sausage. I don't have an electric grinder and there was simply too much to try and use a manual one so I asked a friend if he could help out. His cousin has an electric grinder so with his permission we made plans to meet up on Sunday and get the sausage made. My friend brought the seasonings and knife and I brought the meat. A cooler full of it. We cut the meat, seasoned it with sage and other spices then added pieces of smoked bacon (the store was out of pork fat). Once it was layered in the tray we fired up the motor and began feeding the mixture into the grinder. It was an awesome sight to behold and the freezer is now stocked with venison sausage. Thankfully.
The farmer who provides me with my veggie baskets sent an email to let me know the farm was still being harvested and if I was interested, I could get another basket from her. Well, of course, I was up for that! She gave me directions and I went to find the farm. I was so excited to be going there. To actually see where all that beautiful, healthy food was being grown was truly the highlight of the week for me. You can imagine - I hope :) It was everything I expected and then some. Thankfully.
Trish gave me my basket and pointed out what everything was. It was packed full of goodness including a jar of sorghum from a neighboring farm and a package of Jacob's grass fed beef tips. The sorghum is better than syrup in my very humble opinion. I like maple syrup, don't get me wrong. But the difference is like night and day. This sorghum flavor is decidedly strong and sweet at the same time, much like I imagine some folks will take their coffee. This sorghum comes from a farm right here in Hickman county and it was harvested fresh this season. mmmmmmmmm it is so perfectly thick that it soaks into my whole wheat pancakes rather than running off the edges and onto the plate. Thankfully.
While I was at the farm I was offered a tour of their house. The house isn't finished but it's going to be a fine one when it is. It's not large but neither would I call it small. Rather it is just perfect for their family and it seems it will suit their needs in all ways. It is in every way a farm house. From the sage green paint on the outside and tin roof on top to the walls of windows providing not only a hilly view but also some great ventilation. There are three floors, each with a bathroom. Trish said she didn't know what she would do with three bathrooms after living in the camper for so many years. I told her she would likely be doing lots of cleaning - she laughed and thought that would be just fine. All things considered I think I'd feel exactly the same way. I know they will all thoroughly enjoy being in their new home, very soon. Thankfully.
While the growing season is over for me, I'm finding ways to still enjoy the outdoors and keep myself busy. The flower garden seems to fill up with leaves every day and no matter how many times I shoo them out, the next day they're back. They are so deep that the pansy pots barely show through. The tall grasses I bought are blooming - which surprised me because I had no idea that was going to happen. They have a frilly little fan at the very top and the frills wave gently with the wind. I'll have to put them in the ground before too long but the ground hasn't frozen over yet so there's still some time for that. Thankfully.
Thanksgiving is forcasted to be a very pretty day with the temperature reaching 68 degrees around two pm. We'll have our turkey and gravy, our collard greens and our barley stuffing. We'll have our green beans and dinner rolls and sweet potato pie for dessert. A couple friends will be coming to share the meal with us and we'll probably all be ready for naps shortly after the feast. Thankfully.
I'll be with Wally. I'll be on the farm. I'll be missing all of you and thinking about you too. Mostly, I'll be happy.
THANKFULLY
Friday, October 12, 2012
Fall is Here!!
Turnip and mustard greens are cooking on the stove top, compliments of my farmer lady as they came in my basket. The chili pot has been recovered from its summertime storage bin and there is some whole wheat bread with pecans churning away in the bread machine!
My oh my are the leaves ever changing fast this year!I posted some pictures and I even put a few on Pinterest. Some people I don't even know have already clicked that they liked the pictures of the leaves changing colors.
I have lots to plant while the time is right and everything so far seems to have instructions for planting between now and November. So far, 58 bulbs have gone into the ground and I have another 40 that I bought just yesterday! At the store they had 10 tulip bulbs for $3.00 and the same price on daffodils so what the heck? I'm planning to start lining the driveway as soon as it's warm enough for me to get out there...today, not so much. The high is supposed to be 64 and I just looked at the thermometer and that's exactly what it is! Maybe tomorrow will be better for planting LOL
My chickens are up on the hitching post, the dogs are tied on either porch to keep them off there and Wally's out grading the driveway after last night's storm. I figured I might as well do some cooking and then try to get a post up on the blog.
It's quiet right now and all I can hear is the bread machine. The roosters will probably start their cock-a-doodle-dooing any minute now, they usually do when they get up on the hitching post. They look pretty up there against the gold and orange leaves in the background. A few minutes ago they were on the swing just a swingin... remember the old John Anderson song? hahahahahaha
I don't know if you've heard of it before but I bought a couple of those "Scentsy" things from a friend of mine. I bought a bunch of different melts to go in it but so far I've found I like the one called "Duke" the best. Man that thing smells good!!! If you have the opportunity to buy one of these things, remember to smell that one...the whole house gets permeated with it! Of course the one I picked has a rooster on it! lol but I'm not into collecting things with roosters. Please I have enough of them in the yard...this one just looked like it would match the cabin best. It's tan and brown with a little red and white to make it stand out (and of course a rooster on it). I'll try to remember to get a picture but I'm not Ernie so don't get your hopes up that it'll be very soon LOL!
I was given a gallon size freezer bag packed full of cayenne peppers. I'm planning to make lots of pepper vinegar with them... just when I thought no one would be giving me anymore food, here comes another batch! LOL I love it! I stay pretty busy with all of this stuff, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I will definitely bring him a bottle of the vinegar since he was so generous with the peppers...hope he likes it. Do you?
Meanwhile, I can't remember if I posted this recipe coming up so if it's a duplicate, oh well. It's a good one so it bears repeating... lol! If you're tired of the same old cole slaw then give this cranberry slaw a try. I think you'll find it a refreshing and somewhat addictive change...maybe even a bit healthy!
Here goes:
Cranberry Slaw
1 pkg shredded cabbage (or if you prefer to shred your own, as I do, it'll take a small head or half a medium head)
1 cup dried cranberries (I use the ones called craisins)
1 cup chopped nuts (any kind you like or you can leave them out but I used pecans)
1/2 cup chopped red onion (you can use whatever kind of onion but red is best)
Put all of that into a good size bowl and make the dressing.
Dressing:
1/3 cup sugar (or sugar substitute - it works just as well)
1/3 cup oil (vegetable)
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/3 cup vinegar (regular)
Stir the dressing and pour over the slaw. Mix it all together! It's best if you let it sit for a while but I can never resist taking a few bites. It's that good!
Let me know if you like it. I made some this morning because there was a huge head of napa cabbage in my CSA basket and I find this cabbage takes well to that dressing. Regular cabbage works well too but why not use what you have, right?
Tonight is chili night...it's cold outside, the chili pot is clean and just begging to be filled with meat, sauce, beans (yes, I like beans in my chili!) and tomatoes. mmmmmm I'll make some jalapeno/cheese cornbread to go with it and dinner will be served. We'll need some warming up after a cold, rainy day like today!
The winter clothes will all be dug out soon but for today, I'm in a thermal shirt, jeans and warm shoes. We taken to wearing sweat pants at night when the temperatures drop into the 30's and 40's. Yes, we've already seen 38 degrees last night and it'll be in the 40's tonight. Next week they say it will stay in the 50's or above so a slight reprieve is all we're going to get.
I like this weather. It's the kind that makes you want to snuggle up in a warm blanket with some hot chocolate or cup a soup. A fire in the fireplace would be nice but the wood is too wet from the rain. We'll get it dried out and covered up before more rains come so we'll have the option should we choose to haul wood from the wood pile to the house. That's when my little red wagon comes in handy!
Turns out I'm a pretty good wood toter LOL Wally can stack it up pretty high before it gets too heavy for me. Most the time he won't let me tote it and he carries it himself but I like to help and don't want to seem like I'm a weeny butt. Besides, toting wood is really good exercise for your arms when you can't be digging in the dirt or hanging clothes on the line. My two favorite past times... :) Hey, I've always said, it may be the life for me but that doesn't mean it's the life for everyone!
I miss my clothesline already! The dryer has been in service now for a week or so because it's been too cold for the clothes to dry out there. My jeans seem so much tighter when they come from the dryer...I know I didn't gain any weight! As a matter of fact, I lost some. I bought some size 14 jeans a few weeks ago and now they are too big. I don't think I've lost a whole bunch but if it's one size, I'm happy with that! Of course Wally has lost about 25 pounds - whatever!!!
So Sydna hooked me up with Pinterest and I've been creating some boards. I've tried to invite people but since I'm not on Facebook, it can't find any of my friends. Feel free to invite me to yours if you have it - then maybe you can see mine too??? I'm clueless but alas that's no surprise!
Fairs, festivals, yard sales and the like are everywhere this time of year and I find myself hard pressed not to attend them all. While Wally was in FL, I went to the banana pudding festival in Centerville. I think this is the third annual (you can google it, it's on the list of the top 20 things to do in the USA) and it's pretty cool. They have a quilt show, a car show and, of course, the banana pudding festival. They have arts and crafts, food vendors and different live bands throughout the day. They will even shuttle you from one event to the other.
The town is too small to have all the stuff in one place so the shuttle is nice if you don't want to drive around town. It's not that big of a town and Steve knows all the short cuts so we drove ourselves. We opted out of standing in line for banana pudding - the line was too long for me (no patience) and when we saw how much pudding they were getting for the $3.00 it cost to get it, we were glad we opted out. The little cups weren't even as big as the cups used for jello shots! They give you seven cups of different recipes but still...
We ended up getting a ribeye sandwich from the Lion's Club booth and some curly potatoes from another booth. YUMMY! Steve and Sherry went with me since Wally was gone and a really good time was had by all.
Before he left for FL, Wally took me to the Fried Food Festival. I may have written about this already? In any event, it's in Columbia and they have everything fried; twinkies, snickers bars, pickles, even kool-aid. Not sure how they do that and I couldn't see into the booth where they did it. We walked around the square and checked out all the arts and craft vendors. I had some fried pickles that were awesome - salty but oh so good!
We bought a couple things - like the cedar pumpkin you can see in my flickr photos, some strawberry jam (no sugar added), some pickled asparagus and some sweet/hot jalapeno relish. It's hot and sweet and you don't want to stop eating it. I haven't figured out what to put it on but I'm thinking I might try it on my chili tonight! mmm mmm good :)
This weekend there's an arts & crafts festival in Hohenwald that includes a 7 mile long yard sale route. We're going to give it a shot, what the heck, we don't either one need a thing but yard sales always have something you can't live without! You can probably google Hohenwald too...?
I went to a yard sale last weekend and bought a doily for fifty cents. It's one that someone made by hand, I can tell because it's slightly flawed. If I didn't point it out, you might not notice it but the doily is very pretty and has a vase of flowers as the design. Can't go wrong there and for just fifty cents, well, I couldn't resist. I love doilies and I have quite a few of them that were my great grandma's, my grandma's and even a couple that were my mom's. I love that someone knew how to make them and that they have held up so well for all these years.
I don't see me learning how to make them but the potential exists...are doilies embroidery, crewel or what? I have been considering learning how to quilt though. There's a place in Dickson where they teach it. I'll be a challenge for them seeing as how I haven't a clue how to sew. But I have the quilt rack (thank you Ernie!) and I'm ready to learn. Maybe that'll be a good thing to do during the winter when I can't dig in the dirt...I'm gonna miss digging in the dirt.
I've been saving my magazines so I'll have reading material when I can't dig. Okay, I confess, I peaked at the recipes...had to do that for the holidays. I'm also deciding what seed catalogs to order. I buy my seeds at the co-op but it doesn't hurt to know what you want in advance. I may find something the co-op doesn't carry...Burpee was a disappointment. The seeds I ordered from them didn't produce. I planted about 50 beets and got one. I planted about the same number of carrots and got exactly none...they sprouted and that was it. No carrots. Oh well.
I bought some cheap seeds at the Dollar Store that did better than the Burpee seeds. Too bad the chickens liked them as much as I did. LOL!
Well, it's time for me to stop typing for the day. Hope you enjoy the post and the flickr pictures. Let me know if you try to find me on Pinterest...
Plant something would ya?????
My oh my are the leaves ever changing fast this year!I posted some pictures and I even put a few on Pinterest. Some people I don't even know have already clicked that they liked the pictures of the leaves changing colors.
I have lots to plant while the time is right and everything so far seems to have instructions for planting between now and November. So far, 58 bulbs have gone into the ground and I have another 40 that I bought just yesterday! At the store they had 10 tulip bulbs for $3.00 and the same price on daffodils so what the heck? I'm planning to start lining the driveway as soon as it's warm enough for me to get out there...today, not so much. The high is supposed to be 64 and I just looked at the thermometer and that's exactly what it is! Maybe tomorrow will be better for planting LOL
My chickens are up on the hitching post, the dogs are tied on either porch to keep them off there and Wally's out grading the driveway after last night's storm. I figured I might as well do some cooking and then try to get a post up on the blog.
It's quiet right now and all I can hear is the bread machine. The roosters will probably start their cock-a-doodle-dooing any minute now, they usually do when they get up on the hitching post. They look pretty up there against the gold and orange leaves in the background. A few minutes ago they were on the swing just a swingin... remember the old John Anderson song? hahahahahaha
I don't know if you've heard of it before but I bought a couple of those "Scentsy" things from a friend of mine. I bought a bunch of different melts to go in it but so far I've found I like the one called "Duke" the best. Man that thing smells good!!! If you have the opportunity to buy one of these things, remember to smell that one...the whole house gets permeated with it! Of course the one I picked has a rooster on it! lol but I'm not into collecting things with roosters. Please I have enough of them in the yard...this one just looked like it would match the cabin best. It's tan and brown with a little red and white to make it stand out (and of course a rooster on it). I'll try to remember to get a picture but I'm not Ernie so don't get your hopes up that it'll be very soon LOL!
I was given a gallon size freezer bag packed full of cayenne peppers. I'm planning to make lots of pepper vinegar with them... just when I thought no one would be giving me anymore food, here comes another batch! LOL I love it! I stay pretty busy with all of this stuff, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I will definitely bring him a bottle of the vinegar since he was so generous with the peppers...hope he likes it. Do you?
Meanwhile, I can't remember if I posted this recipe coming up so if it's a duplicate, oh well. It's a good one so it bears repeating... lol! If you're tired of the same old cole slaw then give this cranberry slaw a try. I think you'll find it a refreshing and somewhat addictive change...maybe even a bit healthy!
Here goes:
Cranberry Slaw
1 pkg shredded cabbage (or if you prefer to shred your own, as I do, it'll take a small head or half a medium head)
1 cup dried cranberries (I use the ones called craisins)
1 cup chopped nuts (any kind you like or you can leave them out but I used pecans)
1/2 cup chopped red onion (you can use whatever kind of onion but red is best)
Put all of that into a good size bowl and make the dressing.
Dressing:
1/3 cup sugar (or sugar substitute - it works just as well)
1/3 cup oil (vegetable)
1/2 tsp celery seeds
1/3 cup vinegar (regular)
Stir the dressing and pour over the slaw. Mix it all together! It's best if you let it sit for a while but I can never resist taking a few bites. It's that good!
Let me know if you like it. I made some this morning because there was a huge head of napa cabbage in my CSA basket and I find this cabbage takes well to that dressing. Regular cabbage works well too but why not use what you have, right?
Tonight is chili night...it's cold outside, the chili pot is clean and just begging to be filled with meat, sauce, beans (yes, I like beans in my chili!) and tomatoes. mmmmmm I'll make some jalapeno/cheese cornbread to go with it and dinner will be served. We'll need some warming up after a cold, rainy day like today!
The winter clothes will all be dug out soon but for today, I'm in a thermal shirt, jeans and warm shoes. We taken to wearing sweat pants at night when the temperatures drop into the 30's and 40's. Yes, we've already seen 38 degrees last night and it'll be in the 40's tonight. Next week they say it will stay in the 50's or above so a slight reprieve is all we're going to get.
I like this weather. It's the kind that makes you want to snuggle up in a warm blanket with some hot chocolate or cup a soup. A fire in the fireplace would be nice but the wood is too wet from the rain. We'll get it dried out and covered up before more rains come so we'll have the option should we choose to haul wood from the wood pile to the house. That's when my little red wagon comes in handy!
Turns out I'm a pretty good wood toter LOL Wally can stack it up pretty high before it gets too heavy for me. Most the time he won't let me tote it and he carries it himself but I like to help and don't want to seem like I'm a weeny butt. Besides, toting wood is really good exercise for your arms when you can't be digging in the dirt or hanging clothes on the line. My two favorite past times... :) Hey, I've always said, it may be the life for me but that doesn't mean it's the life for everyone!
I miss my clothesline already! The dryer has been in service now for a week or so because it's been too cold for the clothes to dry out there. My jeans seem so much tighter when they come from the dryer...I know I didn't gain any weight! As a matter of fact, I lost some. I bought some size 14 jeans a few weeks ago and now they are too big. I don't think I've lost a whole bunch but if it's one size, I'm happy with that! Of course Wally has lost about 25 pounds - whatever!!!
So Sydna hooked me up with Pinterest and I've been creating some boards. I've tried to invite people but since I'm not on Facebook, it can't find any of my friends. Feel free to invite me to yours if you have it - then maybe you can see mine too??? I'm clueless but alas that's no surprise!
Fairs, festivals, yard sales and the like are everywhere this time of year and I find myself hard pressed not to attend them all. While Wally was in FL, I went to the banana pudding festival in Centerville. I think this is the third annual (you can google it, it's on the list of the top 20 things to do in the USA) and it's pretty cool. They have a quilt show, a car show and, of course, the banana pudding festival. They have arts and crafts, food vendors and different live bands throughout the day. They will even shuttle you from one event to the other.
The town is too small to have all the stuff in one place so the shuttle is nice if you don't want to drive around town. It's not that big of a town and Steve knows all the short cuts so we drove ourselves. We opted out of standing in line for banana pudding - the line was too long for me (no patience) and when we saw how much pudding they were getting for the $3.00 it cost to get it, we were glad we opted out. The little cups weren't even as big as the cups used for jello shots! They give you seven cups of different recipes but still...
We ended up getting a ribeye sandwich from the Lion's Club booth and some curly potatoes from another booth. YUMMY! Steve and Sherry went with me since Wally was gone and a really good time was had by all.
Before he left for FL, Wally took me to the Fried Food Festival. I may have written about this already? In any event, it's in Columbia and they have everything fried; twinkies, snickers bars, pickles, even kool-aid. Not sure how they do that and I couldn't see into the booth where they did it. We walked around the square and checked out all the arts and craft vendors. I had some fried pickles that were awesome - salty but oh so good!
We bought a couple things - like the cedar pumpkin you can see in my flickr photos, some strawberry jam (no sugar added), some pickled asparagus and some sweet/hot jalapeno relish. It's hot and sweet and you don't want to stop eating it. I haven't figured out what to put it on but I'm thinking I might try it on my chili tonight! mmm mmm good :)
This weekend there's an arts & crafts festival in Hohenwald that includes a 7 mile long yard sale route. We're going to give it a shot, what the heck, we don't either one need a thing but yard sales always have something you can't live without! You can probably google Hohenwald too...?
I went to a yard sale last weekend and bought a doily for fifty cents. It's one that someone made by hand, I can tell because it's slightly flawed. If I didn't point it out, you might not notice it but the doily is very pretty and has a vase of flowers as the design. Can't go wrong there and for just fifty cents, well, I couldn't resist. I love doilies and I have quite a few of them that were my great grandma's, my grandma's and even a couple that were my mom's. I love that someone knew how to make them and that they have held up so well for all these years.
I don't see me learning how to make them but the potential exists...are doilies embroidery, crewel or what? I have been considering learning how to quilt though. There's a place in Dickson where they teach it. I'll be a challenge for them seeing as how I haven't a clue how to sew. But I have the quilt rack (thank you Ernie!) and I'm ready to learn. Maybe that'll be a good thing to do during the winter when I can't dig in the dirt...I'm gonna miss digging in the dirt.
I've been saving my magazines so I'll have reading material when I can't dig. Okay, I confess, I peaked at the recipes...had to do that for the holidays. I'm also deciding what seed catalogs to order. I buy my seeds at the co-op but it doesn't hurt to know what you want in advance. I may find something the co-op doesn't carry...Burpee was a disappointment. The seeds I ordered from them didn't produce. I planted about 50 beets and got one. I planted about the same number of carrots and got exactly none...they sprouted and that was it. No carrots. Oh well.
I bought some cheap seeds at the Dollar Store that did better than the Burpee seeds. Too bad the chickens liked them as much as I did. LOL!
Well, it's time for me to stop typing for the day. Hope you enjoy the post and the flickr pictures. Let me know if you try to find me on Pinterest...
Plant something would ya?????
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
A Time To Write...
While words have failed me these past couple months, I find that they keep building up in my head and my head can handle only so much within it. It seems I must write in order to make room for more thoughts...crazy? Well, you're still reading aren't you? hahahaha
I spent my summer canning, pickling and preserving the harvest as best I could. Who would have thought there would be so much food to care for? Some I grew myself, some was given to me by friends who grew more than they could preserve themselves, some I purchased from the local farmer's market and, of course, some came in my CSA basket.
I have (5) quart baggies of purple hull peas. They came in a huge mesh bag and took at least two hours for Ernie and I to shell. Shelling peas is a great way to pass the time with a wonderful friend. All you have to do is sit at the table, shell peas and talk the hours away. Which is exactly what we did. Now, if you ask Ernie, she will also include that this pea shelling past-time was where she began her boo-boo getting escapades. She even has pictures to prove it! Imagine that - Ernie with pictures! hahahahaha
You can see how things have piled up in my head when I can write an entire paragraph about shelling purple hull peas. Hey, it was fun!
We spent some time stringing green beans too but I don't think Ernie got any boo-boo's doing that. Although she didn't stick with it as long as she did the peas so that could be the reason why. I had so many green beans to string that I needed Ernie, Sherry and Traci to help get them done. A couple of those volunteers came and went as we were having a party the same day after all...
In all I have quarts and pints of tomatoes, quarts and pints of green beans, quarts of summer squash, quarts and pints of chow chow, quarts and pints of pickled sweet bell peppers, pickled hot banana peppers and pickled sweet banana peppers. I have pints of pickled yellow squash, pickled cauliflower and good old regular dill pickles. I have pepper vinegar, fermented jalapeno peppers, home-made sauerkraut, pickled eggs and I would have had pickled shrimp but we ate it as soon as it was ready!
I made pear preserves with pears that Jay brought me. I made plum and blackberry wine, taco sauce and two different kinds of salsa - regular tomato salsa and some tomatillo salsa. I highly recommend the tomatillo salsa, it came out awesome! Together Ernie and I made two big bags of spaghetti sauce.
I have pickled okra, smothered okra and then there was the okra that I fried. It was quickly devoured to say the least.
So you see, it's been a busy, busy season for me. I thought I had posted all the pictures on the flickr site but when I checked it the other day, it appeared to be missing the pictures of my shelves of jars. They certainly are a sight to behold if I do say so myself. I'll have to find them in my picture albums (thank you Ernie) and get them posted. For now, it's enough to get a post up and worry with pictures later... (oops did I say that Ernie?? LOL)
And so went the summer... I planted, watered, staked, grew, harvested, chopped, fermented, soaked, cooked brine after brine, packed jars, filled the canners too many times to count and anxiously awaited the popping sound of the jars sealing in the food, preserving it for when fresh vegetables are no longer readily available. Indeed this was time consuming, it was being on my feet for hours at a time, it was watching the pressure gauge and the stove top timer, it was cleaning up my messes - which were huge to say the least. It was above all else, simply wonderful.
I can't tell you how it feels when the jars have sealed, they've been washed down and the lids have been labeled. There's just something about it that, unless you're into it, you may not understand. I enjoyed it thoroughly and now that the season has wound down, I miss it terribly.
Since I feel the need to still be growing something, I've bought a few fall flowering plants and grasses that will keep us in color for months yet to come. I bought a yellow mum, though I have plenty of mums at the house, this one was planted in the bed at the flagpole. I bought pansies and planted them in pots then set them out around the big, yellow mum.
I bought a blanket flower plant that looks red in the pictures but is actually orange. It attracts butterflies, which was a surprise to me. I bought a purple balloon flower plant. It bloomed twice already but currently has no blooms. It may be time for it to stop blooming for the year since the weather has turned. These flowering plants will both come back next year and will spread a little each year after.
I bought two fall grasses, miscanthas, I believe? I'll have to check the tag, but anyway, they're about 4 feet tall and they're green on the stems with purplish, feathery leaves on top. The lady at the nursery said they'll stay green for a long time and even when they turn brown in winter, they'll still maintain their shape and come back bright green in the springtime.
Behind the grasses I have plans for two hydrangeas and two shrubs called "Burning Bush." The Burning Bush blooms bright red in early spring and stays that way for a month or so. It gets about 5 feet tall and wide so I'll need a pretty good size area for those two. With the hydrangeas we won't know the flower color until they bloom although they are named "Nikko Blue." We'll see :)
I planted lots and lots of 4 o'clocks but every time they got real leafy and ready to bloom, the chickens ate them. Every single one of them. Every time they came back, they got eaten again. I've given up on 4 o'clocks in that particular bed. Perhaps I'll try them further down the road when the chickens don't roam...darn chickens!
Last weekend there was a festival in Columbia called the "Southern Fried Festival." They had all kinds of fried foods, twinkies, kool-aid, pickles, oreos, etc. There were the usual chicken strips, french fries, chili fries, chili cheese fries, and the list goes on. Well, we road over there in the Subaru with a cooler full of beer in the back and it was a beautiful, sunny fall day with the colors just starting to change.
We walked the streets of the festival and checked out all the vendors, art, and crafts. We listened to a few bands and made a couple trips to the car for a beer. We took some back roads to a piece of property owned by Wally's uncle and we found a place to eat some fried chicken that didn't cost and arm and a leg like the festival did. We parked on the side of the road with two working farms bordering us on either side. We opened the doors, opened a beer and ate hot fried chicken for lunch.
When we went back to the festival I just had to have some fried pickle chips... mmm mmm good! We found a guy who did chainsaw carving and Wally bought me a cedar pumpkin that the guy had carved with a chainsaw. I'll put a picture up on flickr for you.
We also found a booth selling "no sugar added" apple butter, strawberry and pear preserves. We got some of the strawberry for Wally, some Cajun Candy for me and some pickled asparagus for both of us. The Cajun candy is jalapenos and some other stuff that makes it sweet and hot at the same time. You don't want to keep eating it because it's hot but you can't stop because it's so good. The pickled asparagus is almost gone...it's awesome!
When we had seen all there was to see at the festival, we headed for home. I was watching the scenery and day-dreaming all along the way when Wally stopped and turned into a driveway. The sign said memory lane and up a ways was a big wagon overflowing with pumpkins and gourds.
On the wagon was a sign that said "$3.00 each." Inside the wagon, on top of all those pumpkins was a little jar labeled "please put money in here." I couldn't resist! I bought a big orange pumpkin and a HUGE green and white striped gourd with the neck curving over. I was so excited!
Wally took us by Pee Wee's for an hour or so and then we took Totty's Bend for a slow, winding, hilly ride home. The cows were eating grass, the babies were laying in the sun in their grass beds and chickens roamed the farm house yards much like mine do. How do those ladies keep them from their flowers???
It was a day for the record books for me. I went to a fall festival, heard some great music, picked up some homemade goodies and road some back roads I'd never been on. Just being outside all day in the fall, mountain air made us kind of sleepy and it wasn't long before we hit the hay. It may have been daylight still... lol!
The Hickman County Fair was a couple weeks ago so we went to see what was going on there. I love checking out the canning competition. I didn't get my jars into the competition on time but I definitely will next year. They have a whole page of categories and I would have had something for all of them. They even have a kids group of entries that were very impressive.
We watched the cattle judging and the tractor pulls and then went on home. Before the fair though we drove out to the Cane Creek Market where the Mennonite people live and work their farms. I bought some steel cut oats, some cream of tartar, some marjoram (for my soups) and some dried okra and beets. The dried okra is crunchy and a little bit salty, like a chip but it's okra. It's pretty cool. The beets are sweet and crunchy and if I had access to lots of beets, I'd make these on my own.
I have dehydrator now so anything and everything is being tried and tested in that thing. I have summer squash slices in it right now. I read that they can be lightly salted when they are done and will be like squash chips. They stay good for months once dehydrated so we'll have summer squash chips when it's cold and no squash is available. Pretty cool, huh?
Oh and don't think I won't be making some venison jerky!! I've been keeping an eye out for the deer and I'm determined to get one this year. I can't wait to have venison jerky, venison cubed steaks, venison spaghetti and especially venison chili! Yum, Yum, Yum!!
It's time for me to go dig in the dirt so I'll try to get another post in soon...it's sunny, 75 degrees and the leaves are changing, it was hard enough to sit here this long... lol!!
I spent my summer canning, pickling and preserving the harvest as best I could. Who would have thought there would be so much food to care for? Some I grew myself, some was given to me by friends who grew more than they could preserve themselves, some I purchased from the local farmer's market and, of course, some came in my CSA basket.
I have (5) quart baggies of purple hull peas. They came in a huge mesh bag and took at least two hours for Ernie and I to shell. Shelling peas is a great way to pass the time with a wonderful friend. All you have to do is sit at the table, shell peas and talk the hours away. Which is exactly what we did. Now, if you ask Ernie, she will also include that this pea shelling past-time was where she began her boo-boo getting escapades. She even has pictures to prove it! Imagine that - Ernie with pictures! hahahahaha
You can see how things have piled up in my head when I can write an entire paragraph about shelling purple hull peas. Hey, it was fun!
We spent some time stringing green beans too but I don't think Ernie got any boo-boo's doing that. Although she didn't stick with it as long as she did the peas so that could be the reason why. I had so many green beans to string that I needed Ernie, Sherry and Traci to help get them done. A couple of those volunteers came and went as we were having a party the same day after all...
In all I have quarts and pints of tomatoes, quarts and pints of green beans, quarts of summer squash, quarts and pints of chow chow, quarts and pints of pickled sweet bell peppers, pickled hot banana peppers and pickled sweet banana peppers. I have pints of pickled yellow squash, pickled cauliflower and good old regular dill pickles. I have pepper vinegar, fermented jalapeno peppers, home-made sauerkraut, pickled eggs and I would have had pickled shrimp but we ate it as soon as it was ready!
I made pear preserves with pears that Jay brought me. I made plum and blackberry wine, taco sauce and two different kinds of salsa - regular tomato salsa and some tomatillo salsa. I highly recommend the tomatillo salsa, it came out awesome! Together Ernie and I made two big bags of spaghetti sauce.
I have pickled okra, smothered okra and then there was the okra that I fried. It was quickly devoured to say the least.
So you see, it's been a busy, busy season for me. I thought I had posted all the pictures on the flickr site but when I checked it the other day, it appeared to be missing the pictures of my shelves of jars. They certainly are a sight to behold if I do say so myself. I'll have to find them in my picture albums (thank you Ernie) and get them posted. For now, it's enough to get a post up and worry with pictures later... (oops did I say that Ernie?? LOL)
And so went the summer... I planted, watered, staked, grew, harvested, chopped, fermented, soaked, cooked brine after brine, packed jars, filled the canners too many times to count and anxiously awaited the popping sound of the jars sealing in the food, preserving it for when fresh vegetables are no longer readily available. Indeed this was time consuming, it was being on my feet for hours at a time, it was watching the pressure gauge and the stove top timer, it was cleaning up my messes - which were huge to say the least. It was above all else, simply wonderful.
I can't tell you how it feels when the jars have sealed, they've been washed down and the lids have been labeled. There's just something about it that, unless you're into it, you may not understand. I enjoyed it thoroughly and now that the season has wound down, I miss it terribly.
Since I feel the need to still be growing something, I've bought a few fall flowering plants and grasses that will keep us in color for months yet to come. I bought a yellow mum, though I have plenty of mums at the house, this one was planted in the bed at the flagpole. I bought pansies and planted them in pots then set them out around the big, yellow mum.
I bought a blanket flower plant that looks red in the pictures but is actually orange. It attracts butterflies, which was a surprise to me. I bought a purple balloon flower plant. It bloomed twice already but currently has no blooms. It may be time for it to stop blooming for the year since the weather has turned. These flowering plants will both come back next year and will spread a little each year after.
I bought two fall grasses, miscanthas, I believe? I'll have to check the tag, but anyway, they're about 4 feet tall and they're green on the stems with purplish, feathery leaves on top. The lady at the nursery said they'll stay green for a long time and even when they turn brown in winter, they'll still maintain their shape and come back bright green in the springtime.
Behind the grasses I have plans for two hydrangeas and two shrubs called "Burning Bush." The Burning Bush blooms bright red in early spring and stays that way for a month or so. It gets about 5 feet tall and wide so I'll need a pretty good size area for those two. With the hydrangeas we won't know the flower color until they bloom although they are named "Nikko Blue." We'll see :)
I planted lots and lots of 4 o'clocks but every time they got real leafy and ready to bloom, the chickens ate them. Every single one of them. Every time they came back, they got eaten again. I've given up on 4 o'clocks in that particular bed. Perhaps I'll try them further down the road when the chickens don't roam...darn chickens!
Last weekend there was a festival in Columbia called the "Southern Fried Festival." They had all kinds of fried foods, twinkies, kool-aid, pickles, oreos, etc. There were the usual chicken strips, french fries, chili fries, chili cheese fries, and the list goes on. Well, we road over there in the Subaru with a cooler full of beer in the back and it was a beautiful, sunny fall day with the colors just starting to change.
We walked the streets of the festival and checked out all the vendors, art, and crafts. We listened to a few bands and made a couple trips to the car for a beer. We took some back roads to a piece of property owned by Wally's uncle and we found a place to eat some fried chicken that didn't cost and arm and a leg like the festival did. We parked on the side of the road with two working farms bordering us on either side. We opened the doors, opened a beer and ate hot fried chicken for lunch.
When we went back to the festival I just had to have some fried pickle chips... mmm mmm good! We found a guy who did chainsaw carving and Wally bought me a cedar pumpkin that the guy had carved with a chainsaw. I'll put a picture up on flickr for you.
We also found a booth selling "no sugar added" apple butter, strawberry and pear preserves. We got some of the strawberry for Wally, some Cajun Candy for me and some pickled asparagus for both of us. The Cajun candy is jalapenos and some other stuff that makes it sweet and hot at the same time. You don't want to keep eating it because it's hot but you can't stop because it's so good. The pickled asparagus is almost gone...it's awesome!
When we had seen all there was to see at the festival, we headed for home. I was watching the scenery and day-dreaming all along the way when Wally stopped and turned into a driveway. The sign said memory lane and up a ways was a big wagon overflowing with pumpkins and gourds.
On the wagon was a sign that said "$3.00 each." Inside the wagon, on top of all those pumpkins was a little jar labeled "please put money in here." I couldn't resist! I bought a big orange pumpkin and a HUGE green and white striped gourd with the neck curving over. I was so excited!
Wally took us by Pee Wee's for an hour or so and then we took Totty's Bend for a slow, winding, hilly ride home. The cows were eating grass, the babies were laying in the sun in their grass beds and chickens roamed the farm house yards much like mine do. How do those ladies keep them from their flowers???
It was a day for the record books for me. I went to a fall festival, heard some great music, picked up some homemade goodies and road some back roads I'd never been on. Just being outside all day in the fall, mountain air made us kind of sleepy and it wasn't long before we hit the hay. It may have been daylight still... lol!
The Hickman County Fair was a couple weeks ago so we went to see what was going on there. I love checking out the canning competition. I didn't get my jars into the competition on time but I definitely will next year. They have a whole page of categories and I would have had something for all of them. They even have a kids group of entries that were very impressive.
We watched the cattle judging and the tractor pulls and then went on home. Before the fair though we drove out to the Cane Creek Market where the Mennonite people live and work their farms. I bought some steel cut oats, some cream of tartar, some marjoram (for my soups) and some dried okra and beets. The dried okra is crunchy and a little bit salty, like a chip but it's okra. It's pretty cool. The beets are sweet and crunchy and if I had access to lots of beets, I'd make these on my own.
I have dehydrator now so anything and everything is being tried and tested in that thing. I have summer squash slices in it right now. I read that they can be lightly salted when they are done and will be like squash chips. They stay good for months once dehydrated so we'll have summer squash chips when it's cold and no squash is available. Pretty cool, huh?
Oh and don't think I won't be making some venison jerky!! I've been keeping an eye out for the deer and I'm determined to get one this year. I can't wait to have venison jerky, venison cubed steaks, venison spaghetti and especially venison chili! Yum, Yum, Yum!!
It's time for me to go dig in the dirt so I'll try to get another post in soon...it's sunny, 75 degrees and the leaves are changing, it was hard enough to sit here this long... lol!!
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A Little Down Time From the Garden...
It doesn't happen often but I find today there are a few minutes for me to get something posted on the blog. It seems it has been forever!
I'm happy to say that my wine has been pressed and poured into jars and is patiently awaiting Wally's birthday party when it will likely be completely consumed. Well, that's if anyone actually likes it LOL!
The sauerkraut was skimmed for the final time and fit perfectly into a gallon size freezer bag. It too awaits our guests. As it turns out, I don't mind homemade sauerkraut at all. It tastes nothing like the bagged or canned stuff in the store that we're all used to. I think I'll cook some pork chops in with it when the time comes. No offense to those of you who prefer store bought, my thought is that you probably haven't tried making it yourself up to this point. Perhaps you'll give it a try?
The cucumbers are beginning to make a comeback but I'm not expecting the awesome crop I had earlier in the season. That's okay though because I've been away for so long I haven't had the opportunity to take my pickles to the Farmer's Market so the refrigerator is still packed full with jars of them.
It doesn't look like I'll get there any time soon either as this weekend will be spent getting ready for the party the following weekend. After the party I'm sure I'll need some down time... but soon enough the pickles will be packed in a cooler and hauled to market for selling.
If you haven't heard yet, my chickens suffered a major loss the night before I got back from Florida. Colt somehow got free and went on a chicken eating binge. He caught and killed 4 black chickens, 3 red chickens and I'm not sure how many white chickens he got but I'm down to just 20 now - total. I still have my one old rooster from the original flock too. He's still the coolest rooster in town and never gets on the porch - unlike those other unruly chickens who refuse to stay off of it.
The dogs are now being tied up on either porch to keep the chickens off of them. At night they go back on their lines but during the day they are on the porch. So far, they seem to like it well enough. Every time we walk out, they get petted. So far I haven't seen a chicken even come close. LOL
Once again Florida was a sad trip for me to make and while I'm missing my mom something terrible, I know that she is happier to be in heaven with my dad and her parents. She's no longer in pain and it would be selfish of me to wish for her to be here and have to endure that any longer. I've already picked up the phone to call her a few times before realizing that's no longer an option. I caught myself and just stared at the phone in my hand with her number half dialed. It's hard my friends, it's very hard so be thankful for every day you get no matter the situation.
As writing about my mom is still a bit too difficult, I hope you'll be okay with me moving on until those words come easier for me. They will come someday and when they do I think you'll enjoy the post as she was a wonderful, dear, sweet lady for whom there are lots of nice things to write about.
My CSA baskets continue to impress me with their bounty and their variety. I've been getting poblano peppers, sweet bell peppers, sweet red peppers and soon I'll see jalapeno and sweet banana peppers. I have green beans, squash, basil and tomatoes. I have eggplant, cucumbers, fingerling and baking potatoes.
I'm growing my own jalapeno, bell and sweet banana peppers but one can never have too many of any of these. We use them in every meal. I've even started using the pickled jalapeno peppers in my cheesy-jalapeno cornbread and we love it! They are just a bit hot and just a bit sweet mmmmm!!
As I sit here at the computer this afternoon I can see my laundry hanging on the line drying in the summer breeze. Today there are sheets, pillow cases and the quilt for the spare bedroom. With company coming, all must be cleaned and put back on the bed. I see too my bird feeders that upon my return were completely empty but now are filled with sweet water for the hummers and fresh seeds for the others. In case I haven't mentioned it, birds are really pigs in disguise hahahahaha
I don't know how many humming birds there are outside but I know they empty the feeders within just a few days and these are little bitty feeders either - they hold at least a cup and a half of water.
The tomatoes are coming in again and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be ripe by the 25th. If not, I may have to pick one anyway so we can have fried green tomatoes. I made some fried eggplant the other night and it rocked! I used just a little cornmeal, some Parmesan cheese and a little bit of "Slap Yo Mama" seasoning that Donny Greene bought for us while he was here visiting. They are definitely on the list for another meal - maybe when you come I'll make some for you too!
We cut the grass for the first time since early summer. Going through the drought caused the grass to stop growing so there was nothing to mow. Now that we've had some much needed rain, every part of the yard is growing like crazy. I mowed around the cabin about 5 feet out and then Wally came along with the bush-hog and got the rest. In fact, he's down in the pasture bush-hogging today.
Talk about a sight to see - when we mow, the chickens go nuts chasing everything that moves; grasshoppers, butterflies, moths, whatever is out there that gets stirred up, they are on it! We can't always see what they're after but it's funny to watch them running hither and yon chasing all manner of bugs!
I have a new recipe that came from the many folders of recipes at my mom's house. It's a recipe for Salisbury steak and it's awesomely yummy. I don't even know if that's a word but that's the best way to describe it. The meat is mixed together with an egg, some seasoned breadcrumbs and some other stuff, then pattied up and browned on each side. After draining the fat, there's a gravy to cover it while it simmers for about 20-25 minutes. Easy to make, awesome to eat! If you're interested, let me know and I'll post the recipe for you.
To go on the side, we had green beans from Hilda's garden and corn, shucked about a month ago and frozen in water. It came from my CSA basket and was super sweet. It wasn't Zellwood corn, but it was GOOD... we love corn.
I missed Tennessee while I was gone and driving through the mountains in Chattanooga really reminded me of how beautiful this state is. The clouds were still clinging to the tops of the ranges but the sun was shining down on me and the wildflowers were blooming in the medians. The air has a chill these days that I hope will last through the weekend of the party. It has been in the 60's at night and the 80's during the day. Since the wind is constant up here on the hill, we haven't used the a/c in a week or so. Instead the windows and doors are open and the fresh air blows right in.
Yesterday, as I sat on the love seat reading my recipes, I had to use my afghan (thank you Ernie) to cover up with. It feels good to have cool enough weather to warrant a light blanket after the heat wave we went through this summer.
Friends of ours came over this weekend and we rode the 4 wheelers all over the place. I couldn't even begin to figure out where all we went on those things but it was a full day and we had a great time. I made homemade pizzas when we got back home and then I was so sore the next day I didn't even want to look at that machine. LOL I think Wally said we put 50 miles on them. whew!! It may not seem like a lot but remember, we're not on the road, we're on trails and hills and rocky terrain the whole time. I used muscles I forgot existed!
The deer have been showing up in great numbers lately. Yesterday we saw three in the front yard, one of which had spikes on his head that were just a bit taller than his ears. They stay fairly close to the house and I was even able to get pictures of them. They're a little blurry but you can still see that it's a picture of deer in the yard.
We see them up and down the driveway, out by the garden, behind the burn pile and always in the driveway between the doghouse and the flagpole. I know I say it every year but surely this will be the year I put one in my freezer...fingers crossed, gun loaded! LOL
As with everything, the deer population is strange this season. Even though it's already August, and just a day shy of half way through August, we're still seeing deer with spots on them. Clearly these youngsters won't be full grown by the time hunting season gets here in late September. I hope the hunters out there have respect for next year's herd...not likely from what I've seen though.
I planted two packets of wild flower seeds in a window box planter that I sat out on the chicken coop. Seeing as how the chicks don't use the coop yet, I figured the planter box would be safe. But nooooooo, those darn chicks upended it the very same day I planted. ARGH!!! Well, I put everything back in the box and then pulled the chicken wire across the front and around it so the darn chicks can't get to it now. Just this morning I noticed the seeds have sprouted and appear to be doing quite well now that there isn't an animal trying to eat them. I wish I had bought more seed packets!
The time has come to close this post but know that I have much more to tell...just not the time to do it. Soon though - soon :) I promise.
I'm happy to say that my wine has been pressed and poured into jars and is patiently awaiting Wally's birthday party when it will likely be completely consumed. Well, that's if anyone actually likes it LOL!
The sauerkraut was skimmed for the final time and fit perfectly into a gallon size freezer bag. It too awaits our guests. As it turns out, I don't mind homemade sauerkraut at all. It tastes nothing like the bagged or canned stuff in the store that we're all used to. I think I'll cook some pork chops in with it when the time comes. No offense to those of you who prefer store bought, my thought is that you probably haven't tried making it yourself up to this point. Perhaps you'll give it a try?
The cucumbers are beginning to make a comeback but I'm not expecting the awesome crop I had earlier in the season. That's okay though because I've been away for so long I haven't had the opportunity to take my pickles to the Farmer's Market so the refrigerator is still packed full with jars of them.
It doesn't look like I'll get there any time soon either as this weekend will be spent getting ready for the party the following weekend. After the party I'm sure I'll need some down time... but soon enough the pickles will be packed in a cooler and hauled to market for selling.
If you haven't heard yet, my chickens suffered a major loss the night before I got back from Florida. Colt somehow got free and went on a chicken eating binge. He caught and killed 4 black chickens, 3 red chickens and I'm not sure how many white chickens he got but I'm down to just 20 now - total. I still have my one old rooster from the original flock too. He's still the coolest rooster in town and never gets on the porch - unlike those other unruly chickens who refuse to stay off of it.
The dogs are now being tied up on either porch to keep the chickens off of them. At night they go back on their lines but during the day they are on the porch. So far, they seem to like it well enough. Every time we walk out, they get petted. So far I haven't seen a chicken even come close. LOL
Once again Florida was a sad trip for me to make and while I'm missing my mom something terrible, I know that she is happier to be in heaven with my dad and her parents. She's no longer in pain and it would be selfish of me to wish for her to be here and have to endure that any longer. I've already picked up the phone to call her a few times before realizing that's no longer an option. I caught myself and just stared at the phone in my hand with her number half dialed. It's hard my friends, it's very hard so be thankful for every day you get no matter the situation.
As writing about my mom is still a bit too difficult, I hope you'll be okay with me moving on until those words come easier for me. They will come someday and when they do I think you'll enjoy the post as she was a wonderful, dear, sweet lady for whom there are lots of nice things to write about.
My CSA baskets continue to impress me with their bounty and their variety. I've been getting poblano peppers, sweet bell peppers, sweet red peppers and soon I'll see jalapeno and sweet banana peppers. I have green beans, squash, basil and tomatoes. I have eggplant, cucumbers, fingerling and baking potatoes.
I'm growing my own jalapeno, bell and sweet banana peppers but one can never have too many of any of these. We use them in every meal. I've even started using the pickled jalapeno peppers in my cheesy-jalapeno cornbread and we love it! They are just a bit hot and just a bit sweet mmmmm!!
As I sit here at the computer this afternoon I can see my laundry hanging on the line drying in the summer breeze. Today there are sheets, pillow cases and the quilt for the spare bedroom. With company coming, all must be cleaned and put back on the bed. I see too my bird feeders that upon my return were completely empty but now are filled with sweet water for the hummers and fresh seeds for the others. In case I haven't mentioned it, birds are really pigs in disguise hahahahaha
I don't know how many humming birds there are outside but I know they empty the feeders within just a few days and these are little bitty feeders either - they hold at least a cup and a half of water.
The tomatoes are coming in again and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll be ripe by the 25th. If not, I may have to pick one anyway so we can have fried green tomatoes. I made some fried eggplant the other night and it rocked! I used just a little cornmeal, some Parmesan cheese and a little bit of "Slap Yo Mama" seasoning that Donny Greene bought for us while he was here visiting. They are definitely on the list for another meal - maybe when you come I'll make some for you too!
We cut the grass for the first time since early summer. Going through the drought caused the grass to stop growing so there was nothing to mow. Now that we've had some much needed rain, every part of the yard is growing like crazy. I mowed around the cabin about 5 feet out and then Wally came along with the bush-hog and got the rest. In fact, he's down in the pasture bush-hogging today.
Talk about a sight to see - when we mow, the chickens go nuts chasing everything that moves; grasshoppers, butterflies, moths, whatever is out there that gets stirred up, they are on it! We can't always see what they're after but it's funny to watch them running hither and yon chasing all manner of bugs!
I have a new recipe that came from the many folders of recipes at my mom's house. It's a recipe for Salisbury steak and it's awesomely yummy. I don't even know if that's a word but that's the best way to describe it. The meat is mixed together with an egg, some seasoned breadcrumbs and some other stuff, then pattied up and browned on each side. After draining the fat, there's a gravy to cover it while it simmers for about 20-25 minutes. Easy to make, awesome to eat! If you're interested, let me know and I'll post the recipe for you.
To go on the side, we had green beans from Hilda's garden and corn, shucked about a month ago and frozen in water. It came from my CSA basket and was super sweet. It wasn't Zellwood corn, but it was GOOD... we love corn.
I missed Tennessee while I was gone and driving through the mountains in Chattanooga really reminded me of how beautiful this state is. The clouds were still clinging to the tops of the ranges but the sun was shining down on me and the wildflowers were blooming in the medians. The air has a chill these days that I hope will last through the weekend of the party. It has been in the 60's at night and the 80's during the day. Since the wind is constant up here on the hill, we haven't used the a/c in a week or so. Instead the windows and doors are open and the fresh air blows right in.
Yesterday, as I sat on the love seat reading my recipes, I had to use my afghan (thank you Ernie) to cover up with. It feels good to have cool enough weather to warrant a light blanket after the heat wave we went through this summer.
Friends of ours came over this weekend and we rode the 4 wheelers all over the place. I couldn't even begin to figure out where all we went on those things but it was a full day and we had a great time. I made homemade pizzas when we got back home and then I was so sore the next day I didn't even want to look at that machine. LOL I think Wally said we put 50 miles on them. whew!! It may not seem like a lot but remember, we're not on the road, we're on trails and hills and rocky terrain the whole time. I used muscles I forgot existed!
The deer have been showing up in great numbers lately. Yesterday we saw three in the front yard, one of which had spikes on his head that were just a bit taller than his ears. They stay fairly close to the house and I was even able to get pictures of them. They're a little blurry but you can still see that it's a picture of deer in the yard.
We see them up and down the driveway, out by the garden, behind the burn pile and always in the driveway between the doghouse and the flagpole. I know I say it every year but surely this will be the year I put one in my freezer...fingers crossed, gun loaded! LOL
As with everything, the deer population is strange this season. Even though it's already August, and just a day shy of half way through August, we're still seeing deer with spots on them. Clearly these youngsters won't be full grown by the time hunting season gets here in late September. I hope the hunters out there have respect for next year's herd...not likely from what I've seen though.
I planted two packets of wild flower seeds in a window box planter that I sat out on the chicken coop. Seeing as how the chicks don't use the coop yet, I figured the planter box would be safe. But nooooooo, those darn chicks upended it the very same day I planted. ARGH!!! Well, I put everything back in the box and then pulled the chicken wire across the front and around it so the darn chicks can't get to it now. Just this morning I noticed the seeds have sprouted and appear to be doing quite well now that there isn't an animal trying to eat them. I wish I had bought more seed packets!
The time has come to close this post but know that I have much more to tell...just not the time to do it. Soon though - soon :) I promise.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
A Day On The Farm
This morning we were surprised to see a couple deer walking across the front yard just beyond the hitching post. I do mean just beyond it too... like maybe only two or three feet. One of them was fairly small but we were excited to see it had little tiny buds on its head, soon to become nice big antlers. The other one was quite a bit bigger and had antlers about 6 inches long that were still in velvet.
In case that doesn't make sense to you, the antlers first comes out covered in a soft, furry, velvet. They will eventually scrape this off and many hunters use those scrapings to hunt the deer. Clearly we don't have to worry with actually hunting if they're going to just walk right up to us... This only happens when it's NOT hunting season - of course.
The deer headed over to the garden and as soon as they got within distance of the motion sprinklers, they ran off towards the woods. The bigger one of the two let his curiosity get the better of him and he inched is way back up towards the garden. He didn't risk the sprinklers again though, instead he just walked off into the woods behind the garden.
HOW COOL WAS THAT??
That's how it is here and part of the life I love. As we watched the deer, there were two or three little birds perching on the bird feeder and the humming bird was busy drinking the nectar from that feeder. There were a few chickens pecking at the ground and the rooster calling out his "cock-a-doodle-do" for all the world to hear.
The new bean plants have sprouted despite the heat and despite the fact that everyone told me they would never make it. I hope I get more beans from these than that first round but there's no way to tell how sneaky those little rabbits will get in their quest to outsmart the motion sprinklers.
Looking back on the garden pictures I took when it was in full season, the greenery was a refreshing sight to see. Indeed, it's been so hot the cucumber plants are mostly brown, the bean plants have no leaves and the stalks that remain are also turning brown. The tomatoes have put out so much fruit that the plants looked wilted and dead. They're still growing though - they just look neglected.
I found a lady who grew so much summer squash she was selling it for a dollar a pound. I just couldn't resist... I bought five pounds. She picked it on Tuesday and I canned it on Thursday. The batch made 10 quart jars and I must say they are quite pretty to look at! I can picture me making a warm, cheesy, squash casserole somewhere up in the middle of the winter.
In one of my baskets came some daikon radishes. I had never eaten one before but found it to be very similar to a regular red radish, maybe a little hotter. Well, I've been reading my pickling book and it just so happened to have a recipe for sweet pickled Daikon. You know me, I got right on it. I peeled and sliced the daikon into very thin pieces. From there I had to boil some vinegar, sugar and salt to make the brine and it was poured over the daikon slices that were packed into a 1/2 pint jar.
The recipe says to be sure and share this with friends as it has an off-putting odor that no one should miss. hee hee hee It also says not to be scared off by the odor because this is one tasty pickle. It only takes 3-4 days for it to be ready to eat so I'll keep you posted on that!
I've been reading (of course) and my reading brought me to a recipe for sauerkraut that you make at home, in a crock, with nothing more than some salt and something to weigh it down. I've never been a fan of store bought sauerkraut but I'm told the homemade stuff is an entirely different thing. So while we were out getting scratch and sweet feed, the ACE Hardware store advertised they had ceramic crocks for just such a venture. What luck???
I brought my 3 gallon crock down to the trailer along with my 5 pounds of cabbage. I chopped it very thin, as instructed, and added it to the crock. I salted it, again as instructed, and mixed it all together by hand. I love the smell of fresh chopped cabbage, reminds me of cole slaw :) Anyway, it was all chopped up and salted and I placed a piece of cheesecloth over it and weighed it down with plastic bags full of brine - just in case they leak. The cabbage is weighted down for 2-4 weeks at which time it should become tangy, crunchy sauerkraut! Really now, how easy is that? I hope I like it! Even if I don't, Wally does and so do a couple friends that are aware of this latest attempt of mine.
I didn't just decide to make sauerkraut because of the ease of the process, I decided to do it because of the reported health benefits... they say that eating lacto-fermented foods is good for your gut health and really good for your overall digestion. I'm all about that. Sauerkraut is one of the best when it comes to lacto-fermented foods so even if you don't make your own (which I recommend), you should still eat it as often as you can. I never thought I'd hear myself say that since I've never been a fan but we gotta stay healthy people so get with it!! hahahahaha Oh, and quit smoking would you?
Sorry, had to throw that in there :)
I know this post has been primarily about food but farming is primarily about food so it's hard to write about much else when this farming keeps me so busy. I start my day feeding the chickens and then us. If the horses come up, they get fed too. I clean up the breakfast dishes and get my basket and head for the garden.
I pick cucumbers, tomatoes and now that the okra is coming in, I have okra in my basket as well. Tonight we have enough for smothered okra with shrimp that I'll make with tomatoes I canned last year! I check the tomato plants to be sure none are falling down and tighten any pantyhose that may have loosened up. I water the peppers and herbs and pick any peppers that look ready to eat. The jalapenos are coming in quick and I'll soon have enough to put in a jar with vinegar and water. The sweet bell peppers are just beginning to put out peppers and the banana peppers are growing nicely but can get much bigger before I pick them unless I just can't take it.
After the watering and picking there's deciding what to do with all of it. Most days I have a half bushel basket full so there's lots of planning to be done. What to pickle, what to can, what to eat and what to let ripen on the windowsill.
I load up my truck and drive on down through the holler to the trailer where I unload all my goodies. I turn on the ceiling fan and the radio and start sorting out where to begin. Depending on whether something needs to be brined or not sets the stage. If no brining needs to be done I get started on washing the vegetables, chopping the vegetables, washing the jars and filling the canner with water to boil.
I get out my timer and then the fun begins :) The jars are packed and wiped clean, the lids and bands are set in place. They are lowered into the canner and depending on whether I'm using the pressure canner or the water bath canner, I start watching the pressure gauge or for the water to boil.
The pressure builds slowly but once it gets where it needs to be, it just needs to be watched so it doesn't get too high. The water bath tends to seep water out so I have to wipe up the water that boils over. None of this is high maintenance and mostly I can sit at the table and read my books and magazines once things get going. I can't hardly complain now can I?
When the timer goes off, the heat is turned off and the pressure has to come back down at its own pace. This isn't the type of pressure cooker you can safely cool down by putting water on it, indeed, that would be a seriously dangerous move. The pressure has to come down before the lid can be removed and there's no point trying any sooner. Even with the pressure completely released, it's still such a tight seal that it's difficult to turn the lid and unlock it. But I can do it! Those jars cooling and those lids popping are proof! lol Come see me during the canning season and I'll show you just how easy the whole process is.
The water bath canner is new to me and it's a little more to watch over just because of the water that comes out. Just like any pot of boiling water, some comes out. I just wipe it up with a paper towel and keep watching for more. This type of canner doesn't take a long to process as the pressure canner but you have to be pretty strong to lift all those jars out of it. It comes with a basket that has handles but the handles are hot and they're in water. Once I get them out of the water, I can rest the basket on top of the canner. I can then move the jars to the towel on the counter so they can cool.
After the jar lids pop, I'm done. I usually clean up my mess while the canners are doing their job so once the lids pop, I pack up my things and head back through the holler to the cabin. The jars stay at the trailer until the next day when they've cooled enough for me to touch them, then I store them on the shelves until we need them.
On my way out, I water the 4 jalapeno plants I have in the ground there and then I'm on my way. Things still need to be done at the cabin, like pulling in the laundry, walking the dogs and fixing dinner. You can see how I stay busy on a typical day. If I still had to go to work, I'd never be able to have a garden this size. Once gardening season is over, well, I might look for something to do job-wise but nothing with any potential :) My corporate days are over.
I find I like doing the things I've always wanted to do and now that I have the chance to do it, I could never go back to the daily grind. I still want to try my hand at soap making and there are still the cows I want to raise. I hope to double the garden next year so I'll be even busier by then. I have plum trees planted so I can make more wine and I may even try to grow some corn. I miss the Zellwood Sweet corn that I canned for all those years. The corn here is really good by all means but somethings just can't be duplicated.
I'm still pondering the thought of a website but I'm too busy during the picking season to get too involved with it. As soon as things settle down, it will be my next project. If anyone has any experience with stuff like that, feel free to give me some tips. After all, this blog wouldn't even be here were it not for Ernie telling me about blogspot. I have some awesome friends!!!
I'm off to the trailer to check on things; put my jars on the shelves, shake the pickle jars and skim the wine. I may even plant the two sweet potato vines I started growing a week ago. Already they need to go in the dirt!
Busy, Busy, Busy...but lovin every minute :)
In case that doesn't make sense to you, the antlers first comes out covered in a soft, furry, velvet. They will eventually scrape this off and many hunters use those scrapings to hunt the deer. Clearly we don't have to worry with actually hunting if they're going to just walk right up to us... This only happens when it's NOT hunting season - of course.
The deer headed over to the garden and as soon as they got within distance of the motion sprinklers, they ran off towards the woods. The bigger one of the two let his curiosity get the better of him and he inched is way back up towards the garden. He didn't risk the sprinklers again though, instead he just walked off into the woods behind the garden.
HOW COOL WAS THAT??
That's how it is here and part of the life I love. As we watched the deer, there were two or three little birds perching on the bird feeder and the humming bird was busy drinking the nectar from that feeder. There were a few chickens pecking at the ground and the rooster calling out his "cock-a-doodle-do" for all the world to hear.
The new bean plants have sprouted despite the heat and despite the fact that everyone told me they would never make it. I hope I get more beans from these than that first round but there's no way to tell how sneaky those little rabbits will get in their quest to outsmart the motion sprinklers.
Looking back on the garden pictures I took when it was in full season, the greenery was a refreshing sight to see. Indeed, it's been so hot the cucumber plants are mostly brown, the bean plants have no leaves and the stalks that remain are also turning brown. The tomatoes have put out so much fruit that the plants looked wilted and dead. They're still growing though - they just look neglected.
I found a lady who grew so much summer squash she was selling it for a dollar a pound. I just couldn't resist... I bought five pounds. She picked it on Tuesday and I canned it on Thursday. The batch made 10 quart jars and I must say they are quite pretty to look at! I can picture me making a warm, cheesy, squash casserole somewhere up in the middle of the winter.
In one of my baskets came some daikon radishes. I had never eaten one before but found it to be very similar to a regular red radish, maybe a little hotter. Well, I've been reading my pickling book and it just so happened to have a recipe for sweet pickled Daikon. You know me, I got right on it. I peeled and sliced the daikon into very thin pieces. From there I had to boil some vinegar, sugar and salt to make the brine and it was poured over the daikon slices that were packed into a 1/2 pint jar.
The recipe says to be sure and share this with friends as it has an off-putting odor that no one should miss. hee hee hee It also says not to be scared off by the odor because this is one tasty pickle. It only takes 3-4 days for it to be ready to eat so I'll keep you posted on that!
I've been reading (of course) and my reading brought me to a recipe for sauerkraut that you make at home, in a crock, with nothing more than some salt and something to weigh it down. I've never been a fan of store bought sauerkraut but I'm told the homemade stuff is an entirely different thing. So while we were out getting scratch and sweet feed, the ACE Hardware store advertised they had ceramic crocks for just such a venture. What luck???
I brought my 3 gallon crock down to the trailer along with my 5 pounds of cabbage. I chopped it very thin, as instructed, and added it to the crock. I salted it, again as instructed, and mixed it all together by hand. I love the smell of fresh chopped cabbage, reminds me of cole slaw :) Anyway, it was all chopped up and salted and I placed a piece of cheesecloth over it and weighed it down with plastic bags full of brine - just in case they leak. The cabbage is weighted down for 2-4 weeks at which time it should become tangy, crunchy sauerkraut! Really now, how easy is that? I hope I like it! Even if I don't, Wally does and so do a couple friends that are aware of this latest attempt of mine.
I didn't just decide to make sauerkraut because of the ease of the process, I decided to do it because of the reported health benefits... they say that eating lacto-fermented foods is good for your gut health and really good for your overall digestion. I'm all about that. Sauerkraut is one of the best when it comes to lacto-fermented foods so even if you don't make your own (which I recommend), you should still eat it as often as you can. I never thought I'd hear myself say that since I've never been a fan but we gotta stay healthy people so get with it!! hahahahaha Oh, and quit smoking would you?
Sorry, had to throw that in there :)
I know this post has been primarily about food but farming is primarily about food so it's hard to write about much else when this farming keeps me so busy. I start my day feeding the chickens and then us. If the horses come up, they get fed too. I clean up the breakfast dishes and get my basket and head for the garden.
I pick cucumbers, tomatoes and now that the okra is coming in, I have okra in my basket as well. Tonight we have enough for smothered okra with shrimp that I'll make with tomatoes I canned last year! I check the tomato plants to be sure none are falling down and tighten any pantyhose that may have loosened up. I water the peppers and herbs and pick any peppers that look ready to eat. The jalapenos are coming in quick and I'll soon have enough to put in a jar with vinegar and water. The sweet bell peppers are just beginning to put out peppers and the banana peppers are growing nicely but can get much bigger before I pick them unless I just can't take it.
After the watering and picking there's deciding what to do with all of it. Most days I have a half bushel basket full so there's lots of planning to be done. What to pickle, what to can, what to eat and what to let ripen on the windowsill.
I load up my truck and drive on down through the holler to the trailer where I unload all my goodies. I turn on the ceiling fan and the radio and start sorting out where to begin. Depending on whether something needs to be brined or not sets the stage. If no brining needs to be done I get started on washing the vegetables, chopping the vegetables, washing the jars and filling the canner with water to boil.
I get out my timer and then the fun begins :) The jars are packed and wiped clean, the lids and bands are set in place. They are lowered into the canner and depending on whether I'm using the pressure canner or the water bath canner, I start watching the pressure gauge or for the water to boil.
The pressure builds slowly but once it gets where it needs to be, it just needs to be watched so it doesn't get too high. The water bath tends to seep water out so I have to wipe up the water that boils over. None of this is high maintenance and mostly I can sit at the table and read my books and magazines once things get going. I can't hardly complain now can I?
When the timer goes off, the heat is turned off and the pressure has to come back down at its own pace. This isn't the type of pressure cooker you can safely cool down by putting water on it, indeed, that would be a seriously dangerous move. The pressure has to come down before the lid can be removed and there's no point trying any sooner. Even with the pressure completely released, it's still such a tight seal that it's difficult to turn the lid and unlock it. But I can do it! Those jars cooling and those lids popping are proof! lol Come see me during the canning season and I'll show you just how easy the whole process is.
The water bath canner is new to me and it's a little more to watch over just because of the water that comes out. Just like any pot of boiling water, some comes out. I just wipe it up with a paper towel and keep watching for more. This type of canner doesn't take a long to process as the pressure canner but you have to be pretty strong to lift all those jars out of it. It comes with a basket that has handles but the handles are hot and they're in water. Once I get them out of the water, I can rest the basket on top of the canner. I can then move the jars to the towel on the counter so they can cool.
After the jar lids pop, I'm done. I usually clean up my mess while the canners are doing their job so once the lids pop, I pack up my things and head back through the holler to the cabin. The jars stay at the trailer until the next day when they've cooled enough for me to touch them, then I store them on the shelves until we need them.
On my way out, I water the 4 jalapeno plants I have in the ground there and then I'm on my way. Things still need to be done at the cabin, like pulling in the laundry, walking the dogs and fixing dinner. You can see how I stay busy on a typical day. If I still had to go to work, I'd never be able to have a garden this size. Once gardening season is over, well, I might look for something to do job-wise but nothing with any potential :) My corporate days are over.
I find I like doing the things I've always wanted to do and now that I have the chance to do it, I could never go back to the daily grind. I still want to try my hand at soap making and there are still the cows I want to raise. I hope to double the garden next year so I'll be even busier by then. I have plum trees planted so I can make more wine and I may even try to grow some corn. I miss the Zellwood Sweet corn that I canned for all those years. The corn here is really good by all means but somethings just can't be duplicated.
I'm still pondering the thought of a website but I'm too busy during the picking season to get too involved with it. As soon as things settle down, it will be my next project. If anyone has any experience with stuff like that, feel free to give me some tips. After all, this blog wouldn't even be here were it not for Ernie telling me about blogspot. I have some awesome friends!!!
I'm off to the trailer to check on things; put my jars on the shelves, shake the pickle jars and skim the wine. I may even plant the two sweet potato vines I started growing a week ago. Already they need to go in the dirt!
Busy, Busy, Busy...but lovin every minute :)
Friday, June 29, 2012
Hot, Hot, Hot and More Hot
As I sit here at the computer I can look out the front door and see my hummingbird feeders, my pretty, red flowers, some of my chickens and a couple of saddles that are on the hitching post waiting for me to clean them. The trees on the hillside are bright green but today, there's no wind blowing through them. Indeed, the temperature is supposed to hit 107 degrees by 2:00 this afternoon. I think it's hotter here than it is in FL...?
I picked tomatoes, beans and cucumbers yesterday and there are a few more cucumbers to pick today but other than that, I'll be inside avoiding a heat stroke. The grass needs rain so badly, it crunches when we walk on it. The chickens drink from a cooler filled with water and they must really be thirsty because we have to refill it every day. Well, it gets hot too so refilling it with cool water probably makes them want to drink even more.
I've got some homemade wine fermenting, some plum and some blackberry. It takes a few weeks for it to get "winey" tasting so I'll keep you posted on the progress. So far it's only been 2 weeks and it still tastes like fruit juice but it won't be long now. Funny thing is, I don't even like wine hahaha but it's different when you make it yourself for some reason.
I planted some 4 o'clocks and they grew nice and tall and started to bloom. I was excited to see that they were blooming white and red flowers and I was awaiting the first drop of seeds. Before that could happen, the chickens ate the plants! I now have 4 o'clock stems instead. It reminded me of my bean plants last year when the rabbits ate them down to the stems... lol! Life in the woods.
As the almanac instructed, I planted another row of beans yesterday morning. I pulled out the old plants that had died or been eaten and just rolled another seed into its place. It didn't seem like there were very many new seeds so I planted another row between the cucumbers and the okra. With any luck the rabbits will leave them alone since they'll be surrounded by spiney cucumber and okra. hahaha we'll see.
Today I'm going to can the tomatoes; some diced, some whole, some roasted. I have plenty of bloody mary mix from last year so I won't need to make anymore of that. The roasted ones will make a nice soup from a recipe I found on the P. Allen Smith website. I can't wait until it cools off so soup can be an option again.
But once the tomatoes have been roasted and canned, I can just add the cream whenever we're ready for soup! Like maybe when the temps are in the 80s hahahahaha
We had Lizzard's Famous Meatloaf for dinner last night and it was fabulous as always :) We had fresh from the garden green beans and fresh from the farm (basket) steamed and buttered cabbage. Next batch of green beans is going to be pickled - the recipe sounded pretty good so what the heck? It seems you can pickle almost anything these days and I've been reading through my new pickling book pretty quick so I can get all geared up for action!
Pickled beets (if I can find enough of them) and pickled eggs are next on the list after the beans. I promised Bruce I would send him some and he said he would buy a jar of each. I'll have to remind Kelly about it, Bruce might have had a couple beers that night... lol!! Just kidding!
Okay folks I'm off to the canning trailer! Stay cool!
"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling." ~Mirabel Osler
I picked tomatoes, beans and cucumbers yesterday and there are a few more cucumbers to pick today but other than that, I'll be inside avoiding a heat stroke. The grass needs rain so badly, it crunches when we walk on it. The chickens drink from a cooler filled with water and they must really be thirsty because we have to refill it every day. Well, it gets hot too so refilling it with cool water probably makes them want to drink even more.
I've got some homemade wine fermenting, some plum and some blackberry. It takes a few weeks for it to get "winey" tasting so I'll keep you posted on the progress. So far it's only been 2 weeks and it still tastes like fruit juice but it won't be long now. Funny thing is, I don't even like wine hahaha but it's different when you make it yourself for some reason.
I planted some 4 o'clocks and they grew nice and tall and started to bloom. I was excited to see that they were blooming white and red flowers and I was awaiting the first drop of seeds. Before that could happen, the chickens ate the plants! I now have 4 o'clock stems instead. It reminded me of my bean plants last year when the rabbits ate them down to the stems... lol! Life in the woods.
As the almanac instructed, I planted another row of beans yesterday morning. I pulled out the old plants that had died or been eaten and just rolled another seed into its place. It didn't seem like there were very many new seeds so I planted another row between the cucumbers and the okra. With any luck the rabbits will leave them alone since they'll be surrounded by spiney cucumber and okra. hahaha we'll see.
Today I'm going to can the tomatoes; some diced, some whole, some roasted. I have plenty of bloody mary mix from last year so I won't need to make anymore of that. The roasted ones will make a nice soup from a recipe I found on the P. Allen Smith website. I can't wait until it cools off so soup can be an option again.
But once the tomatoes have been roasted and canned, I can just add the cream whenever we're ready for soup! Like maybe when the temps are in the 80s hahahahaha
We had Lizzard's Famous Meatloaf for dinner last night and it was fabulous as always :) We had fresh from the garden green beans and fresh from the farm (basket) steamed and buttered cabbage. Next batch of green beans is going to be pickled - the recipe sounded pretty good so what the heck? It seems you can pickle almost anything these days and I've been reading through my new pickling book pretty quick so I can get all geared up for action!
Pickled beets (if I can find enough of them) and pickled eggs are next on the list after the beans. I promised Bruce I would send him some and he said he would buy a jar of each. I'll have to remind Kelly about it, Bruce might have had a couple beers that night... lol!! Just kidding!
Okay folks I'm off to the canning trailer! Stay cool!
"There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling." ~Mirabel Osler
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Writer's Block?? Not Hardly...
No, I haven't had writer's block, indeed I've much to tell you about. As I now have internet service the blog postings will come to you on a regular basis. That's not to say you'll see one every day. I'm far too busy in the garden to promise that LOL.
Know this though - I never thought cucumbers would grow so profusely as mine have. I never thought so many tomato plants would be labeled incorrectly. I never expected okra to be so prickly. I never knew chickens could provide so much humor and I surely never knew farming would be so much more work than a "go to" job. But know this too, I absolutely love it and wouldn't trade it for the world!
I still wake up early listening to the rooster repeat his alarming 'cock-a-doodle-do' and I still laugh every time I hear it. As my chickens are already awake and eating bugs, worms, and whatever else they can catch in the grass, I throw them some scratch feed to keep them loyal. Not to worry there, when they see me, they all come running and I can't help but laugh at their apparent sense of urgency. Who knew those two little legs could carry them so quickly! Some get going so fast they fly instead.
Increasing my garden size and raising chickens were two things on the top of my list. As you can tell, both have been checked off. The garden is 12x48, which is by no means huge when you see the gardens people have around here. It's enough for me though and I plan to increase it again next year if all goes well. I bought 50 chickens of three different varieties - not sure what they are but when the purchase is first made, they send you 55 chickens. They come in a box, they come through the mail and they are only 2-3 days old when they arrive. Suffice it to say, we're down to about 29 now and for several reasons. That's a story in itself.
Our winter was mild by many standards so lots of things happened much earlier than they normally would. Trees came into bloom, the buttercups and tulips bloomed earlier than they should and we had some soaring temperatures even in early spring. The temperatures eventually got into the normal range but things that would only now be blooming, have bloomed and declined. The flower pictures this year were few as a result.
I do have a little plant called calibricoa that continues to bloom even under drought conditions. I highly recommend it for those of you who like flowers but dislike watering (not insinuating anything Ernie...lol) as it is one tough plant. I'll get more next year now that I know how awesome it is!
My sacrificial geraniums survived the winter housed in the back room. When they came out in early spring, I thought they would never bloom. As of today, when I look out the window at them, they are in full bloom and with little buds that promise more to come. The are a deep, dark red and the contrast against the brown cabin walls is simply beautiful.
I planted18 tomato plants, six of which were supposed to be a determinate variety called "Mountain Spring" and the rest were labeled "Beefsteak." Well, we wanted those beefsteak tomato plants because the tomatoes grow so large they fit in Wally's hand. As it turns out, I believe they were labeled incorrectly. The Mountain Spring tomatoes are HUGE and the ones labeled Beefsteak, are faily small for the most part. In both cases they taste WAY better than store bought so I can't complain.
I planted 16 cucumber plants in the hope that I'd get enough to make a bunch of pickles. Well, low and behold I have picked over 100 pounds of cucumbers and all but a few have been made into cucumber pickles. Please let me know how many jars you would like to order LOL. Whatever I don't sell to you, my faithful followers, will be sold at the Fairview Farmer's Market. If you need a reference, Ernie, Neccy & Jack, Dizzy and my brother Doug have all tried them and I had no complaints.
I planted a row of bush beans but alas the rabbits were still able to get at them even with the motion activated sprinklers. Fortunately for me, the cucumbers grew so big that they reached over into the bean row and before long, the beans were hard to recognize amongst the cucumber vines. I guess the rabbits don't like the prickly vines of the cucumbers because those beans were the only survivors hahaha We had a mess of the beans for supper just the other night and it looks like I might get another mess or two before it's time to replant the row.
I planted a row of okra (red spineless variety) and they are starting to do very well. It's a beautiful plant even if you don't like eating the okra. It grows straight and tall with green leaves as big as pie plates. The bloom is a buttery yellow color with a deep red center. It only lasts a day so you need to get out there early in the morning to catch the bloom. No problem here!
I planted peas but again the rabbits intervened. Pesky rabbits, too bad I don't like eating them!
I planted beets, radishes, carrots and lettuce. Of them all only the carrots and lettuces seem to be continuing to grow. The lettuce looks especially nice considering how hot it has been here lately. The carrots are slow growers but their green tops are about 6 inches tall. Another 6 inches and lots more fullness will have to show before they'll be anywhere near ready to eat.
I planted dill, thyme, rosemary and cilantro. All of those are still growing strong and well except the cilantro. No luck there. As happened last year it wilted and died about a week after it came from the ground. I've been snipping the dill to use in my pickles and just the other night I roased a chicken with the thyme and rosemary mixed into a compound butter and rubbed up under the skin. It was so tasty and crunchy I couldn't pass it up - even though it's really not good for me :)
I don't have any cows yet but they are still on my list. I find I'm so busy in the garden or in the kitchen making pickles that the cows wouldn't get the attention they need and deserve. After the growing season, I'll start considering cows again LOL.
There's always something to do on the farm whether I'm planting, picking or canning. The chickens pretty much take care of themselves but I do throw them some scratch feed a couple times a day. The rooster runs them off if they try to eat his share - he just reaches out that old beak of his and pecks the crap out of their backs hahahaha they should know better by now!
The were sleeping on the porch but Wally put a stop to that. They sleep in the tree by the outdoor grill these days...
The hummingbirds returned early, again because of the unseasonably warm weather, and they clean out the sugar water feeders in about 4 days. I have 3 feeders but it's never enough. No matter how many you put out, you'll get that many hungry little birds to drink them dry. What a sight they are though. I can sit and watch them instead of the tv. They fuss and fight each other and even roll around on the ground in protection of their feeders.
The horses are fat and sassy. They escaped the fence a week or so ago and it took the better part of the day to capture them and bring them home. We started at 7:00 that morning and we didn't have them back until 11:30-12:00. The day was hot and muggy so once we had them, we tied them to the hitching post and gave them baths and sprayed them with fly spray so they would be more comfortable. Rebel actually put his head up against me and rubbed on me. He's never done that before so I took to be a big "Thank you." Smokey barely acknowledged me but he did let me rub on him a lot more than he normally would. I'm sure that cold water and all that scrubbing must have felt good to them.
The dogs have shed their winter fur and they look like they lost 10 pounds because of it. We still keep them tied up at the doghouse but it's not a sad life for them. We take them for a walk every afternoon and they get whatever scraps we have from breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are allowed to run free in the yard now that they know better than to mess with my chickens. They can't be trusted to run free without us keeping an eye on them. I guess chickens are just too tempting for a dog... lol I can understand how they feel though because the chickens roam just beyond the reach of the dogs all day long taunting and tempting them. They best be careful lest one of those dogs comes free of his chain while we're not looking...lol
I've been cooking, cooking, cooking my friends! I made up a new barley dish that was a big hit when Donny and his family came up. My kids aren't big fans of barley but his kids never batted an eye when it was offered to them and they ate it until there was no more. Us adults helped out with that too.
So it's pearled barley (has to cook 45 minutes to be tender), garlic, celery, onions and chicken bouillon. I would give you quantities but it would be up to you how much you like each of the ingredients. One thing I would say is that you'll want to chop your veggies pretty small and close to the same size as possible. That way everything gets done at the same rate.
I make individual pizzas with whole wheat tortillas and really folks, you can put just about anything on these handy little rounds of dough. I've made them for breakfast with eggs, onions, peppers and cheese. I've made them for lunch with chopped up
Know this though - I never thought cucumbers would grow so profusely as mine have. I never thought so many tomato plants would be labeled incorrectly. I never expected okra to be so prickly. I never knew chickens could provide so much humor and I surely never knew farming would be so much more work than a "go to" job. But know this too, I absolutely love it and wouldn't trade it for the world!
I still wake up early listening to the rooster repeat his alarming 'cock-a-doodle-do' and I still laugh every time I hear it. As my chickens are already awake and eating bugs, worms, and whatever else they can catch in the grass, I throw them some scratch feed to keep them loyal. Not to worry there, when they see me, they all come running and I can't help but laugh at their apparent sense of urgency. Who knew those two little legs could carry them so quickly! Some get going so fast they fly instead.
Increasing my garden size and raising chickens were two things on the top of my list. As you can tell, both have been checked off. The garden is 12x48, which is by no means huge when you see the gardens people have around here. It's enough for me though and I plan to increase it again next year if all goes well. I bought 50 chickens of three different varieties - not sure what they are but when the purchase is first made, they send you 55 chickens. They come in a box, they come through the mail and they are only 2-3 days old when they arrive. Suffice it to say, we're down to about 29 now and for several reasons. That's a story in itself.
Our winter was mild by many standards so lots of things happened much earlier than they normally would. Trees came into bloom, the buttercups and tulips bloomed earlier than they should and we had some soaring temperatures even in early spring. The temperatures eventually got into the normal range but things that would only now be blooming, have bloomed and declined. The flower pictures this year were few as a result.
I do have a little plant called calibricoa that continues to bloom even under drought conditions. I highly recommend it for those of you who like flowers but dislike watering (not insinuating anything Ernie...lol) as it is one tough plant. I'll get more next year now that I know how awesome it is!
My sacrificial geraniums survived the winter housed in the back room. When they came out in early spring, I thought they would never bloom. As of today, when I look out the window at them, they are in full bloom and with little buds that promise more to come. The are a deep, dark red and the contrast against the brown cabin walls is simply beautiful.
I planted18 tomato plants, six of which were supposed to be a determinate variety called "Mountain Spring" and the rest were labeled "Beefsteak." Well, we wanted those beefsteak tomato plants because the tomatoes grow so large they fit in Wally's hand. As it turns out, I believe they were labeled incorrectly. The Mountain Spring tomatoes are HUGE and the ones labeled Beefsteak, are faily small for the most part. In both cases they taste WAY better than store bought so I can't complain.
I planted 16 cucumber plants in the hope that I'd get enough to make a bunch of pickles. Well, low and behold I have picked over 100 pounds of cucumbers and all but a few have been made into cucumber pickles. Please let me know how many jars you would like to order LOL. Whatever I don't sell to you, my faithful followers, will be sold at the Fairview Farmer's Market. If you need a reference, Ernie, Neccy & Jack, Dizzy and my brother Doug have all tried them and I had no complaints.
I planted a row of bush beans but alas the rabbits were still able to get at them even with the motion activated sprinklers. Fortunately for me, the cucumbers grew so big that they reached over into the bean row and before long, the beans were hard to recognize amongst the cucumber vines. I guess the rabbits don't like the prickly vines of the cucumbers because those beans were the only survivors hahaha We had a mess of the beans for supper just the other night and it looks like I might get another mess or two before it's time to replant the row.
I planted a row of okra (red spineless variety) and they are starting to do very well. It's a beautiful plant even if you don't like eating the okra. It grows straight and tall with green leaves as big as pie plates. The bloom is a buttery yellow color with a deep red center. It only lasts a day so you need to get out there early in the morning to catch the bloom. No problem here!
I planted peas but again the rabbits intervened. Pesky rabbits, too bad I don't like eating them!
I planted beets, radishes, carrots and lettuce. Of them all only the carrots and lettuces seem to be continuing to grow. The lettuce looks especially nice considering how hot it has been here lately. The carrots are slow growers but their green tops are about 6 inches tall. Another 6 inches and lots more fullness will have to show before they'll be anywhere near ready to eat.
I planted dill, thyme, rosemary and cilantro. All of those are still growing strong and well except the cilantro. No luck there. As happened last year it wilted and died about a week after it came from the ground. I've been snipping the dill to use in my pickles and just the other night I roased a chicken with the thyme and rosemary mixed into a compound butter and rubbed up under the skin. It was so tasty and crunchy I couldn't pass it up - even though it's really not good for me :)
I don't have any cows yet but they are still on my list. I find I'm so busy in the garden or in the kitchen making pickles that the cows wouldn't get the attention they need and deserve. After the growing season, I'll start considering cows again LOL.
There's always something to do on the farm whether I'm planting, picking or canning. The chickens pretty much take care of themselves but I do throw them some scratch feed a couple times a day. The rooster runs them off if they try to eat his share - he just reaches out that old beak of his and pecks the crap out of their backs hahahaha they should know better by now!
The were sleeping on the porch but Wally put a stop to that. They sleep in the tree by the outdoor grill these days...
The hummingbirds returned early, again because of the unseasonably warm weather, and they clean out the sugar water feeders in about 4 days. I have 3 feeders but it's never enough. No matter how many you put out, you'll get that many hungry little birds to drink them dry. What a sight they are though. I can sit and watch them instead of the tv. They fuss and fight each other and even roll around on the ground in protection of their feeders.
The horses are fat and sassy. They escaped the fence a week or so ago and it took the better part of the day to capture them and bring them home. We started at 7:00 that morning and we didn't have them back until 11:30-12:00. The day was hot and muggy so once we had them, we tied them to the hitching post and gave them baths and sprayed them with fly spray so they would be more comfortable. Rebel actually put his head up against me and rubbed on me. He's never done that before so I took to be a big "Thank you." Smokey barely acknowledged me but he did let me rub on him a lot more than he normally would. I'm sure that cold water and all that scrubbing must have felt good to them.
The dogs have shed their winter fur and they look like they lost 10 pounds because of it. We still keep them tied up at the doghouse but it's not a sad life for them. We take them for a walk every afternoon and they get whatever scraps we have from breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are allowed to run free in the yard now that they know better than to mess with my chickens. They can't be trusted to run free without us keeping an eye on them. I guess chickens are just too tempting for a dog... lol I can understand how they feel though because the chickens roam just beyond the reach of the dogs all day long taunting and tempting them. They best be careful lest one of those dogs comes free of his chain while we're not looking...lol
I've been cooking, cooking, cooking my friends! I made up a new barley dish that was a big hit when Donny and his family came up. My kids aren't big fans of barley but his kids never batted an eye when it was offered to them and they ate it until there was no more. Us adults helped out with that too.
So it's pearled barley (has to cook 45 minutes to be tender), garlic, celery, onions and chicken bouillon. I would give you quantities but it would be up to you how much you like each of the ingredients. One thing I would say is that you'll want to chop your veggies pretty small and close to the same size as possible. That way everything gets done at the same rate.
I make individual pizzas with whole wheat tortillas and really folks, you can put just about anything on these handy little rounds of dough. I've made them for breakfast with eggs, onions, peppers and cheese. I've made them for lunch with chopped up
Friday, February 17, 2012
Blog Postings on Hold...
I know you don't want to hear that but there is going to be a temporary delay in my postings while I'm having a computer delivered to the cabin and, finally, internet service arranged too! Until all that comes about, please be patient as there will be much to tell when I'm able to get back to the blog. it's looking like I should be on line at home within about 3 weeks.
Our trip to FL was a difficult one and one filled with sadness and sorrow. We lost our dear friend (more like family), Shane, in a motorcycle accident just days before we were scheduled to head down. Shane loved to ride his motorcycle and he loved popping wheelies everywhere he went. He was a daredevil by most people's standards, certainly by mine! Shane had a sense of humor second to none - he could have been on stage. I don't think I ever saw his sister Britney laugh so hard as when Shane said something funny. Sometimes she was the only one who saw the humor but always she laughed.
Shane was friendly to everyone he met. At his service, the entire cemetery was packed full of vehicles. I don't think another one could get in unless someone left first. Shane would have found humor even in that. There are no words to describe the feeling of loss or the feeling of helplessness when it comes to trying to console Ernie.
Shane was the star of the show as soon as he entered a room. When he left this world, as when he left a room, you immediately felt like you were missing something...May Shane rest in peace with his father William where they are, no doubt, laughing at all the rest of us here.
The trip home was bittersweet. We had in tow my BFF from high school, Kris, who planned to spend a couple weeks with us. She's been excited to visit since I moved here almost two years ago and finally had the opportunity. As it turns out, Big Red had some problems with the drive shaft along the way and we ended up spending a few days in Georgia. This wasn't such a bad thing as we have friends in Tifton who gladly came and got us and our stuff from the truck so we could leave it with the mechanic.
Since we were delayed in getting back to TN, we were offered the opportunity to visit a place called the Georgia "Agri-rama." This place is really cool. It is in a way an historical look at Tifton, GA with replicas of old houses, actual houses from the era, a Doctor's office, a Feed and Seed, a Blacksmith and a Print shop, amongst others.
Kris and I explored the homes and buildings and visited the museum and as many of the stops along the way as we could fit into a day visit. At each stop there is a host who tells you about life back in the day. It was one of the most enjoyable history lessons I've ever had. If only they could tell it this way in school! We learned why the kitchens were sometimes built as separate buildings, we learned about the man who made Tifton what it is today and we learned a lot about farming, gardening and how people took care of themselves. It was a wonderful day in the midst of the car trouble goings on. If you ever go through Tifton and have an extra day to spend, I'd say spend it at the Agri-rama. Well, that's if you're into that sort of thing, which, of course, I am!
We did finally make it home and Kris fell in love with all of it. Colt and Ruger were bigger than she expected, the cabin was much bigger than she expected, and my cooking (fortunately) didn't disappoint her :) woo hoo! She got to see how things look in the winter and she got to see snow. Wally took her on a ride while I was at work and she loved the little one lane dirt roads where the buttercups grow wildly up along the side.
After a day or so she got into the "bed at 7:00" routine. We still can't say why this happens but no one so far has been able to withstand it. You're just simply ready for bed shortly after sundown. Even in summer months. Kris slept through the rooster crowing at 3:30am but she did get to hear him when she woke up at 4:00 while I was getting ready for work. She let her mom and Lance hear him over the phone and both got a kick out of it. Many who visit with us aren't so impressed with his vocal ability but he knows he has a job to do and he does it just fine. Thank you very much!
For those of you who think roosters only crow in the morning, well, think again! LOL This one crows at about 3:30 every morning. He keeps it up until I get downstairs and into the shower at which time, he settles in for a little nap. He gets going again shortly after sunrise and keeps it up for about a half hour or so as he travels around the cabin and out to the feeding pen. He's determined to make sure no one is left sleeping in or out of the house! LOL it cracks me up every time I hear it :) :) :) Kris liked it too even though she did give him a colorful name after a few days of hearing him hahahahaha!
We took her to the meat man's place and she was hooked. She wished she had Lance with her although she did say it would be close to impossible to get him out of there once he saw it. His time will come :) We bought a roast, some stew meat and some ribs. They gave us a bag of bones for the dogs and we had our sausage biscuits in hand while our order was being collected and bagged. It's always a good day when you start out at the meat man's place :)
As we always do on Wednesdays, we went to Pee Wee's Place and we took Kris with us. Even though racing season hasn't started up yet, everyone still goes on Wednesday nights. She met all the nice people we hang out with and she made friends easily with everyone. We didn't stay late, we get tired too early for that. It was fun and we'll be back but the farm is where we wanted to spend our time after being away for so long.
I cooked lots of different stuff and I'll list here those things that Kris didn't like until she came on this trip with us. She didn't like: honey, pickled okra, butter beans or sweet potatoes. Guess what? Now she likes them. She never had mashed turnips that taste like mashed potatoes, she never had squash dressing, she never had barley stuffing. She tried and loved them all. She made her very own batch of turnip greens which we put in the freezer for our next cook-out! She took home lots of recipes to make them herself.
I even gave her my secret refrigerator pickle recipe which she's excited to try when she gets home.
Planting season is just around the corner and my garden will grow considerably larger this year. I hope to put out lettuce, okra, cucumbers, bush beans, peas and tomatoes. I'll need the okra and cucumbers for pickling seeing as how they were such a hit last year. I already have orders for more pickles and the cucumbers aren't even in the ground yet! Keep you fingers crossed for a bumper crop so everyone will have all they need to get through the winter months. I'm on my last jar of pickled okra and my last jar of pickles. Good thing spring isn't too far away...
The bulbs I planted in the fall have popped up out of the ground. You know how worried I was about them getting dug up by the dogs, and yes a few have gone missing, but overall it looks like the garden will be blooming with flowers come spring! Already all around us there are yards with daffodils blooming down the driveways and around the trees. Mine are out of the ground but I don't see any flower stalks as of yet. Rest assured, I check them every day for signs LOL!
I don't know if you remember or not but I dug up some of the irises down at the trailer and moved them to the yard beside Dizzy Debbie's apartment. Over the summer they stayed nice and green but then in the fall they began to deteriorate. I thought maybe they weren't in a good spot and debated whether or not to move them. We got so busy that I forgot all about them until one day when Kris and I were walking around the yard. I could see where the once green leaves had turned brown so I got down there and started clearing out the brown leaves. It was then that I discovered the brand new green shoots coming up from every tuber in the ground! woo hoo!! I might actually have irises blooming this year - wouldn't that be something?
I don't even know what color they'll be since I've never seen them bloom! Ahhhh now we all have something to look forward to :) :) lol
We had Darryl over as he so enjoys cooking at the outdoor kitchen. He and Wally put ribs in the smoker and some pork chops too. The day dawned a bitter 19 degrees and yet Darryl arrived at 6:30 am ready to go. He brought some cardboard to get the fire started and while that burned, he gathered up some cedar wood for smoking the ribs and chops.
While the guys worked outside I got breakfast started inside. We had tenderized tenderloin strips from the meat man, fresh farm eggs fried over medium, mayonnaise biscuits and real butter. Breakfast was big but we needed it to be that way if we were going to be outside in that cold air for any length of time. Darryl and Wally came in and ate breakfast and then they were quickly back outside tending the fire in the smoker. It has to come up to a certain temperature before the meat can go in.
I had soaked a pot of beans overnight so I rinsed them and added new water and some seasonings. The pot was covered with foil and the guys set it on the wood stove to cook while the meat was smoking in the smoker. mmmm sounds good to me all over again!
Now, since Kris arrived, she has refused to let me do the dishes. She felt it was her obligation since I was doing the cooking. Well, on this particular Sunday, I pulled a sneaky one on her. While she was outside hanging around the wood stove and talking to Lance on the phone, I went ahead and cleaned up the kitchen. By the time she came in, I was out in the laundry room so I didn't hear what name she called me... hee hee hee
The day turned out to be a really nice one even though it did stay pretty cold. The sun was shining and the wood stove kept us warm. We let the dogs run free for so many hours they actually took naps! We checked the temperature of the smoker and the guys continually added more wood to keep it up where it needed to be. However many hours later, the food was brought in and we were ready to eat. Well, some of us were. Turns out the breakfast so was big that I was still full from it and so was Darryl. Wally and Kris somehow found a way to eat while it was hot and said how great all of it tasted. For me and Darryl, we had plates made but ended up eating them later on in the day. He actually took his with him when he went back to work. Either way, the ribs and chops they cooked on that smoker were amazing!!
I made a pan of jalapeno-cheddar cornbread to have with the rest of the dinner and by the time it came out of the oven, the whole house smelled like it. There's just something about a hot, steaming pan of cornbread! Especially when you have a bowl of beans to dunk it in... :)
We were pretty much done for after all that... Kris went to lay down for a little while, Wally sat in the recliner while I lounged on the couch reading my preserving and pickling books. The tv was on but I couldn't tell you what we watched. The view of the hills out the front door kept my attention even from my books. Finally I gave in and changed into my sweat pants and slippers... ahhhhhh what a great way to spend a day, huh?
It's that time of year when I get anxious to be outside digging, weeding and planting. Mother Nature clearly has other plans for me because our weather has decidedly turned cold. Indeed it was 37 degrees when I left for work this morning. I had to scrape the ice from the windshield!
There was a bit of fog as I dove in to work but I can't complain when it looked so pretty hanging over the Harpeth River bridge as I crossed it. My planting efforts will just have to wait. They say it's going to snow on Sunday - we shall see. I'm ready if it does because, believe it or not, I'm down to just one freezer bag of chicken stock...aaaccckkk!!! I know you're in shock, take it easy. This Sunday I'll be cooking up more :)
I guess I'll have to occupy myself with getting my seed order together and taking my daily stroll around the yard to check on the progress of my flowering bulbs. I'll be starting herbs from seed this year so that will keep me busy for about a half hour...lol I have Thyme, Rosemary, Dill and Cilantro and I even have a big galvanized bucket (oval shaped - I'll post a picture when the herbs start growing) to transplant them into.
So it goes here on the farm. Winter months are spent inside doing what feels like spring cleaning to me. I organize and re-organize until there's nothing left to organize. My pantry is all good, my closet and drawers are all good, even the cleaning supplies under the sink have been organized :) You can get a lot done when you can't go outside and play hahahahaha!
I still love the winter with the trees bare and the sky a cool grayish blue. The moon and stars seem brighter somehow and the little birds have once again cleaned out my feeders. Just before the sun comes up there's a purple hue across the sky - the center is quickly replaced with a ball of orange that, while trying to do its best, only just barely warms the air. It's deceiving out there for it looks to be as warm as any summer day but you don't want to mistake it and go outside without your coat. How quickly I've learned :)
Don't despair, I'll blog again soon! Until then, get your tomatoes in the ground now so the summer heat won't destroy them. Get your garden ready for eggplant, radishes, scallions and peppers - that time of year in FL is just around the corner!
And finally, one last quote to hold you over...
"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked
down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man
flattened by conformity stays down for good."
- Thomas J. Watson, 1874 - 1956
Our trip to FL was a difficult one and one filled with sadness and sorrow. We lost our dear friend (more like family), Shane, in a motorcycle accident just days before we were scheduled to head down. Shane loved to ride his motorcycle and he loved popping wheelies everywhere he went. He was a daredevil by most people's standards, certainly by mine! Shane had a sense of humor second to none - he could have been on stage. I don't think I ever saw his sister Britney laugh so hard as when Shane said something funny. Sometimes she was the only one who saw the humor but always she laughed.
Shane was friendly to everyone he met. At his service, the entire cemetery was packed full of vehicles. I don't think another one could get in unless someone left first. Shane would have found humor even in that. There are no words to describe the feeling of loss or the feeling of helplessness when it comes to trying to console Ernie.
Shane was the star of the show as soon as he entered a room. When he left this world, as when he left a room, you immediately felt like you were missing something...May Shane rest in peace with his father William where they are, no doubt, laughing at all the rest of us here.
The trip home was bittersweet. We had in tow my BFF from high school, Kris, who planned to spend a couple weeks with us. She's been excited to visit since I moved here almost two years ago and finally had the opportunity. As it turns out, Big Red had some problems with the drive shaft along the way and we ended up spending a few days in Georgia. This wasn't such a bad thing as we have friends in Tifton who gladly came and got us and our stuff from the truck so we could leave it with the mechanic.
Since we were delayed in getting back to TN, we were offered the opportunity to visit a place called the Georgia "Agri-rama." This place is really cool. It is in a way an historical look at Tifton, GA with replicas of old houses, actual houses from the era, a Doctor's office, a Feed and Seed, a Blacksmith and a Print shop, amongst others.
Kris and I explored the homes and buildings and visited the museum and as many of the stops along the way as we could fit into a day visit. At each stop there is a host who tells you about life back in the day. It was one of the most enjoyable history lessons I've ever had. If only they could tell it this way in school! We learned why the kitchens were sometimes built as separate buildings, we learned about the man who made Tifton what it is today and we learned a lot about farming, gardening and how people took care of themselves. It was a wonderful day in the midst of the car trouble goings on. If you ever go through Tifton and have an extra day to spend, I'd say spend it at the Agri-rama. Well, that's if you're into that sort of thing, which, of course, I am!
We did finally make it home and Kris fell in love with all of it. Colt and Ruger were bigger than she expected, the cabin was much bigger than she expected, and my cooking (fortunately) didn't disappoint her :) woo hoo! She got to see how things look in the winter and she got to see snow. Wally took her on a ride while I was at work and she loved the little one lane dirt roads where the buttercups grow wildly up along the side.
After a day or so she got into the "bed at 7:00" routine. We still can't say why this happens but no one so far has been able to withstand it. You're just simply ready for bed shortly after sundown. Even in summer months. Kris slept through the rooster crowing at 3:30am but she did get to hear him when she woke up at 4:00 while I was getting ready for work. She let her mom and Lance hear him over the phone and both got a kick out of it. Many who visit with us aren't so impressed with his vocal ability but he knows he has a job to do and he does it just fine. Thank you very much!
For those of you who think roosters only crow in the morning, well, think again! LOL This one crows at about 3:30 every morning. He keeps it up until I get downstairs and into the shower at which time, he settles in for a little nap. He gets going again shortly after sunrise and keeps it up for about a half hour or so as he travels around the cabin and out to the feeding pen. He's determined to make sure no one is left sleeping in or out of the house! LOL it cracks me up every time I hear it :) :) :) Kris liked it too even though she did give him a colorful name after a few days of hearing him hahahahaha!
We took her to the meat man's place and she was hooked. She wished she had Lance with her although she did say it would be close to impossible to get him out of there once he saw it. His time will come :) We bought a roast, some stew meat and some ribs. They gave us a bag of bones for the dogs and we had our sausage biscuits in hand while our order was being collected and bagged. It's always a good day when you start out at the meat man's place :)
As we always do on Wednesdays, we went to Pee Wee's Place and we took Kris with us. Even though racing season hasn't started up yet, everyone still goes on Wednesday nights. She met all the nice people we hang out with and she made friends easily with everyone. We didn't stay late, we get tired too early for that. It was fun and we'll be back but the farm is where we wanted to spend our time after being away for so long.
I cooked lots of different stuff and I'll list here those things that Kris didn't like until she came on this trip with us. She didn't like: honey, pickled okra, butter beans or sweet potatoes. Guess what? Now she likes them. She never had mashed turnips that taste like mashed potatoes, she never had squash dressing, she never had barley stuffing. She tried and loved them all. She made her very own batch of turnip greens which we put in the freezer for our next cook-out! She took home lots of recipes to make them herself.
I even gave her my secret refrigerator pickle recipe which she's excited to try when she gets home.
Planting season is just around the corner and my garden will grow considerably larger this year. I hope to put out lettuce, okra, cucumbers, bush beans, peas and tomatoes. I'll need the okra and cucumbers for pickling seeing as how they were such a hit last year. I already have orders for more pickles and the cucumbers aren't even in the ground yet! Keep you fingers crossed for a bumper crop so everyone will have all they need to get through the winter months. I'm on my last jar of pickled okra and my last jar of pickles. Good thing spring isn't too far away...
The bulbs I planted in the fall have popped up out of the ground. You know how worried I was about them getting dug up by the dogs, and yes a few have gone missing, but overall it looks like the garden will be blooming with flowers come spring! Already all around us there are yards with daffodils blooming down the driveways and around the trees. Mine are out of the ground but I don't see any flower stalks as of yet. Rest assured, I check them every day for signs LOL!
I don't know if you remember or not but I dug up some of the irises down at the trailer and moved them to the yard beside Dizzy Debbie's apartment. Over the summer they stayed nice and green but then in the fall they began to deteriorate. I thought maybe they weren't in a good spot and debated whether or not to move them. We got so busy that I forgot all about them until one day when Kris and I were walking around the yard. I could see where the once green leaves had turned brown so I got down there and started clearing out the brown leaves. It was then that I discovered the brand new green shoots coming up from every tuber in the ground! woo hoo!! I might actually have irises blooming this year - wouldn't that be something?
I don't even know what color they'll be since I've never seen them bloom! Ahhhh now we all have something to look forward to :) :) lol
We had Darryl over as he so enjoys cooking at the outdoor kitchen. He and Wally put ribs in the smoker and some pork chops too. The day dawned a bitter 19 degrees and yet Darryl arrived at 6:30 am ready to go. He brought some cardboard to get the fire started and while that burned, he gathered up some cedar wood for smoking the ribs and chops.
While the guys worked outside I got breakfast started inside. We had tenderized tenderloin strips from the meat man, fresh farm eggs fried over medium, mayonnaise biscuits and real butter. Breakfast was big but we needed it to be that way if we were going to be outside in that cold air for any length of time. Darryl and Wally came in and ate breakfast and then they were quickly back outside tending the fire in the smoker. It has to come up to a certain temperature before the meat can go in.
I had soaked a pot of beans overnight so I rinsed them and added new water and some seasonings. The pot was covered with foil and the guys set it on the wood stove to cook while the meat was smoking in the smoker. mmmm sounds good to me all over again!
Now, since Kris arrived, she has refused to let me do the dishes. She felt it was her obligation since I was doing the cooking. Well, on this particular Sunday, I pulled a sneaky one on her. While she was outside hanging around the wood stove and talking to Lance on the phone, I went ahead and cleaned up the kitchen. By the time she came in, I was out in the laundry room so I didn't hear what name she called me... hee hee hee
The day turned out to be a really nice one even though it did stay pretty cold. The sun was shining and the wood stove kept us warm. We let the dogs run free for so many hours they actually took naps! We checked the temperature of the smoker and the guys continually added more wood to keep it up where it needed to be. However many hours later, the food was brought in and we were ready to eat. Well, some of us were. Turns out the breakfast so was big that I was still full from it and so was Darryl. Wally and Kris somehow found a way to eat while it was hot and said how great all of it tasted. For me and Darryl, we had plates made but ended up eating them later on in the day. He actually took his with him when he went back to work. Either way, the ribs and chops they cooked on that smoker were amazing!!
I made a pan of jalapeno-cheddar cornbread to have with the rest of the dinner and by the time it came out of the oven, the whole house smelled like it. There's just something about a hot, steaming pan of cornbread! Especially when you have a bowl of beans to dunk it in... :)
We were pretty much done for after all that... Kris went to lay down for a little while, Wally sat in the recliner while I lounged on the couch reading my preserving and pickling books. The tv was on but I couldn't tell you what we watched. The view of the hills out the front door kept my attention even from my books. Finally I gave in and changed into my sweat pants and slippers... ahhhhhh what a great way to spend a day, huh?
It's that time of year when I get anxious to be outside digging, weeding and planting. Mother Nature clearly has other plans for me because our weather has decidedly turned cold. Indeed it was 37 degrees when I left for work this morning. I had to scrape the ice from the windshield!
There was a bit of fog as I dove in to work but I can't complain when it looked so pretty hanging over the Harpeth River bridge as I crossed it. My planting efforts will just have to wait. They say it's going to snow on Sunday - we shall see. I'm ready if it does because, believe it or not, I'm down to just one freezer bag of chicken stock...aaaccckkk!!! I know you're in shock, take it easy. This Sunday I'll be cooking up more :)
I guess I'll have to occupy myself with getting my seed order together and taking my daily stroll around the yard to check on the progress of my flowering bulbs. I'll be starting herbs from seed this year so that will keep me busy for about a half hour...lol I have Thyme, Rosemary, Dill and Cilantro and I even have a big galvanized bucket (oval shaped - I'll post a picture when the herbs start growing) to transplant them into.
So it goes here on the farm. Winter months are spent inside doing what feels like spring cleaning to me. I organize and re-organize until there's nothing left to organize. My pantry is all good, my closet and drawers are all good, even the cleaning supplies under the sink have been organized :) You can get a lot done when you can't go outside and play hahahahaha!
I still love the winter with the trees bare and the sky a cool grayish blue. The moon and stars seem brighter somehow and the little birds have once again cleaned out my feeders. Just before the sun comes up there's a purple hue across the sky - the center is quickly replaced with a ball of orange that, while trying to do its best, only just barely warms the air. It's deceiving out there for it looks to be as warm as any summer day but you don't want to mistake it and go outside without your coat. How quickly I've learned :)
Don't despair, I'll blog again soon! Until then, get your tomatoes in the ground now so the summer heat won't destroy them. Get your garden ready for eggplant, radishes, scallions and peppers - that time of year in FL is just around the corner!
And finally, one last quote to hold you over...
"If you stand up and be counted, from time to time you may get yourself knocked
down. But remember this: A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man
flattened by conformity stays down for good."
- Thomas J. Watson, 1874 - 1956
Friday, January 20, 2012
Look Out Florida, Here We Come...
Well, the time has come for us to once again make the journey to Florida for a few days. You might think "journey" is too large a word for a little ol' trip from TN to FL but rest assured, it's never an easy thing LOL Indeed, there are the animals to consider, the weather while we're gone (hoping pipes don't freeze), the choice of vehicle, the laundry to do before leaving, packing for 80 degree weather when all that stuff is stored away at the moment (hahaha) and, of course, eating the food that is perishable before we go. That's all before we ever hit the road...So you see??
Traveling down brings us back to the whole traffic reality...5 or more cars on the road with us makes us feel crowded. It reminds us that people drive stupid and that they really don't care what the speed limit is or what lane they drive in or whether or not you indicate your desire to turn one way or the other. We have bad drivers here, don't get me wrong, we just aren't out in traffic enough to be bothered with them! I remember well the road rage I used to get driving to work and back in FL - I couldn't even be on the phone with anyone for having to yell at the other stupid drivers. LOL!
Traveling is hard on my system too. I'm used to home cooked foods, with most ingredients coming from a local farm, so when my system is exposed to fast food - well, you can imagine the impact. We'll have a good breakfast before we leave and lunch will be dependent upon where we are when we get hungry again. I'm always hopeful there will be fried chicken somewhere along the way because that's one of the few things I can eat while traveling and not have to worry. I'll pack fruit to snack on and I'll bring lots of our spring water to drink on the way and while I'm there. With any luck, I'll come through unscathed LOL!!
So now you're wondering just when it is we'll be there, huh??? Well, I'm thinking either Wednesday or Thursday - depends on whether we try to drive all the way, or stop and stay over with friends in GA. We just never have that answer until the time comes. Either way, we're coming to see you! If you happen to see Kaylee, please don't tell her. I'd like to surprise her if at all possible...?
The agenda is full - but that should come as no surprise to those who know us. We'll try to see as many of you as we can but if we happen to miss you this trip, we'll just have to catch you on the next one :) You're always welcome to come see us here, right? Kat, I promise not to feed you a dressed rabbit... LOL! I promise not to feed Kelly any beef tongue (although there's not much left after Rebecca and I get at it hahaha) and I promise not to feed Ricky Kline any cream cheese or sour cream. Well, I might feed him something with cream cheese in it, but I won't tell him. Otherwise, he thinks he doesn't like it hahahahahaha! Ask him about the squash casserole that he loved...he didn't like a single ingredient in it but loved it????
Cooking is on the agenda, of course! Chicken and dumplins for the kids, Neccy, Jack and my Mom. If there's any left, I'll bring some to Lance too. Kris, believe it or not, has never tried them so she doesn't know if she likes them or not. HUH???? Never tried chicken and dumplins? This is going to be fun :) I think I'll be making a double batch on account of one just doesn't seem like it'll be enough for all these people... LOL
I'm making a big batch of chicken broth this weekend to carry down with us. Lew is a big fan of broth and soups (not soaps - Kris hahaha) so I promised him some on this trip. That's one thing I find is easier to cook at home and carry with me. I have a bag in the freezer, of course, but I'll need that for when I get back so he gets the fresh batch. I'm hoping it will seal in the canning jars so I don't have to worry with refrigeration :) wish me luck!
Speaking of soaps, have you ever tried homemade soap? I was recently introduced to homemade soaps when a bar of it was included in my CSA extra winter basket. What a pure delight that was! The bar that was in my basket was scented with cinnamon and orange. My car smelled like Fall! It was a nice, soft scent but enough to permeate. The bar was heavy in comparison to store bought. It was rectangle in shape and the color of cinnamon. It's made with a few essential oils, all natural of course, and it had some lye in it. Not enough to hurt my skin and I'm very sensitive, as some of you well know.
I loved it! With this winter weather, my skin needs all the oils, lotions and moisturizers it can get. That soap was so perfectly combined that I didn't need lotion after using it. Surprisingly enough, it didn't feel the least bit greasy. I'm telling you, if you have the option, homemade soap is the way to go. In fact, I think I'll do some studying on it and see if I can't start making my own! Wow - now that would be cool! Would you try my soap if I made some for you?
So picture me out in the garden, hoeing, planting, watering, weeding and harvesting. Picture me in the cabin canning and pickling the harvest as it becomes available. Picture me making my own soaps and vinegars and mustards. Picture me surrounded by flowers in the spring. If you can picture all of that, you have the most beautiful and perfect picture of happiness in your mind!
Oh but to be able to write about it so you can see it and feel it like I do...someday I'll write like the pros and you'll swear you're in TN when you read my words...I hope that makes you happy! See you soon!!
"The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it." ~Dudley Moore
Traveling down brings us back to the whole traffic reality...5 or more cars on the road with us makes us feel crowded. It reminds us that people drive stupid and that they really don't care what the speed limit is or what lane they drive in or whether or not you indicate your desire to turn one way or the other. We have bad drivers here, don't get me wrong, we just aren't out in traffic enough to be bothered with them! I remember well the road rage I used to get driving to work and back in FL - I couldn't even be on the phone with anyone for having to yell at the other stupid drivers. LOL!
Traveling is hard on my system too. I'm used to home cooked foods, with most ingredients coming from a local farm, so when my system is exposed to fast food - well, you can imagine the impact. We'll have a good breakfast before we leave and lunch will be dependent upon where we are when we get hungry again. I'm always hopeful there will be fried chicken somewhere along the way because that's one of the few things I can eat while traveling and not have to worry. I'll pack fruit to snack on and I'll bring lots of our spring water to drink on the way and while I'm there. With any luck, I'll come through unscathed LOL!!
So now you're wondering just when it is we'll be there, huh??? Well, I'm thinking either Wednesday or Thursday - depends on whether we try to drive all the way, or stop and stay over with friends in GA. We just never have that answer until the time comes. Either way, we're coming to see you! If you happen to see Kaylee, please don't tell her. I'd like to surprise her if at all possible...?
The agenda is full - but that should come as no surprise to those who know us. We'll try to see as many of you as we can but if we happen to miss you this trip, we'll just have to catch you on the next one :) You're always welcome to come see us here, right? Kat, I promise not to feed you a dressed rabbit... LOL! I promise not to feed Kelly any beef tongue (although there's not much left after Rebecca and I get at it hahaha) and I promise not to feed Ricky Kline any cream cheese or sour cream. Well, I might feed him something with cream cheese in it, but I won't tell him. Otherwise, he thinks he doesn't like it hahahahahaha! Ask him about the squash casserole that he loved...he didn't like a single ingredient in it but loved it????
Cooking is on the agenda, of course! Chicken and dumplins for the kids, Neccy, Jack and my Mom. If there's any left, I'll bring some to Lance too. Kris, believe it or not, has never tried them so she doesn't know if she likes them or not. HUH???? Never tried chicken and dumplins? This is going to be fun :) I think I'll be making a double batch on account of one just doesn't seem like it'll be enough for all these people... LOL
I'm making a big batch of chicken broth this weekend to carry down with us. Lew is a big fan of broth and soups (not soaps - Kris hahaha) so I promised him some on this trip. That's one thing I find is easier to cook at home and carry with me. I have a bag in the freezer, of course, but I'll need that for when I get back so he gets the fresh batch. I'm hoping it will seal in the canning jars so I don't have to worry with refrigeration :) wish me luck!
Speaking of soaps, have you ever tried homemade soap? I was recently introduced to homemade soaps when a bar of it was included in my CSA extra winter basket. What a pure delight that was! The bar that was in my basket was scented with cinnamon and orange. My car smelled like Fall! It was a nice, soft scent but enough to permeate. The bar was heavy in comparison to store bought. It was rectangle in shape and the color of cinnamon. It's made with a few essential oils, all natural of course, and it had some lye in it. Not enough to hurt my skin and I'm very sensitive, as some of you well know.
I loved it! With this winter weather, my skin needs all the oils, lotions and moisturizers it can get. That soap was so perfectly combined that I didn't need lotion after using it. Surprisingly enough, it didn't feel the least bit greasy. I'm telling you, if you have the option, homemade soap is the way to go. In fact, I think I'll do some studying on it and see if I can't start making my own! Wow - now that would be cool! Would you try my soap if I made some for you?
So picture me out in the garden, hoeing, planting, watering, weeding and harvesting. Picture me in the cabin canning and pickling the harvest as it becomes available. Picture me making my own soaps and vinegars and mustards. Picture me surrounded by flowers in the spring. If you can picture all of that, you have the most beautiful and perfect picture of happiness in your mind!
Oh but to be able to write about it so you can see it and feel it like I do...someday I'll write like the pros and you'll swear you're in TN when you read my words...I hope that makes you happy! See you soon!!
"The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it." ~Dudley Moore
Monday, January 16, 2012
Canning and Pickling...what will I think of next? LOL
Well when winter sets in and we can't get outside for any length of time, I read. I read everything I can get my hands on. I read magazines that I'm behind on, I read the once weekly newspaper, I read mysteries and I read cookbooks. I love cookbooks. I just bought two new ones from Amazon. One is on canning and the other is on pickling.
I made a bunch of cucumber pickles this year and last and they seemed to go over pretty well so I got to thinking about it. If I can make pickles with cucumbers and okra, why not other vegetables too? I've eaten pickled beets but never made any myself. I've eaten pickled green beans but never made them either. So, why not? This year when the crops start coming in I'll be making brines for them to ferment in. I'll need to gather lots of pickling spice ingredients. You can buy it in a packet at the store but you don't really know what quantities of spices you're getting in those bags so I'll be blending my own depending on the vegetable to be pickled.
Are you game to try my pickled foods? I hope so :)
As for the canning cookbook, I figure it will provide me with some new ideas on canning different things. I'd like to be able to can my own soup - I love soup! Canning it in big batches would save me time on Sunday when I make enough for my lunch for the week. It would also allow me to ship it to Florida, for those who are interested, without it spoiling. The same could be said for chicken & dumplings :) I know there are a couple people down there who would definitely like it if they received a jar of chicken & dumplings for their birthday or Christmas or just because LOL
So while the snow gently falls to the ground, I'll be plowing through my new cookbooks in an effort to see what new things I can pickle or can. While the west winds blow up off the hill in the front yard, I'll be snuggled in my afghan (thank you Ernie!) reading my cookbooks and dreaming of the summer harvest and all that I'll make from its yield. Too cool!
I didn't realize how much canning I had done over the summer until we started using the jars! Wow I was a busy little canner, that's for sure. We have used two quarts of green beans, four quarts of squash, two pints of chow-chow (thank you Melva!) and we're down to just three jars of pickles and two jars of pickled okra. We still have a couple months of winter yet to go but I think we'll be just fine :) I haven't even begun to tap into the canned turnip greens or tomatoes but it won't be long. Oh and there are the pear preserves too!
I hear those pear preserves are good on peanut butter sandwiches but I haven't actually tried it that way myself. I like them on hot pancakes with a little butter! mmmm They're sugar free too so you needn't worry about your waistline when you eat the preserves...it's just the pancakes you have to be careful of LOL! Well, we use the whole wheat pancake mix so they can't be all that bad...?
This weekend was a floor cleaning weekend for me. I do the living room pretty regularly but upstairs was badly in need and so was the kitchen and hallway. As you can image the kitchen and hallway floors catch everything...indeed, I could sweep them daily and still get a dust pan full of dirt. Get this, there's a shoe scraper outside the door and a rug inside the door and still we carry that dirt inside somehow...?
I used the dry swiffer on the living room floor and then ran the shark steamer (thank you Kris!) with that room done, I took my broom and dust pan and headed upstairs. My plan was just to do our room but of course, once you start, you have to do it all. I dusted the furniture and started sweeping. Before I knew it I was up on the landing and then sweeping the bridge. I swept the steps leading to the landing and I swept the whole bedroom. Whew that was a lot of sweeping!
I filled a bowl with water and added a cap full or two of Murphy's Oil Soap then I wet my rag in it and cleaned the steps leading down from the bedroom. I cleaned the steps from the top down so any residual dust or dirt would be collected when I finally reach the bottom. I think there are 8 steps? They take a while to clean and you have to be careful because some have raw wood and that stuff likes to get snagged in your rag.
I finished my flooring and step job and went to put away my supplies. Low and behold, do you know what I found on my living room floor? Apparently the bridge was dustier than I thought because a whole bunch of it landed downstairs on my freshly cleaned living room floor instead of in my dust pan! argh!! Wally thought that was pretty funny - me? Not so much!
I cleaned up that dust and decided to take a break and read some of my cookbook while sitting my hind end on the couch. Rarely do I sit on the weekends LOL I'm always up doing something so this was a real treat. To sit down, with clean floors and a new cookbook...talk about hog heaven! I learned about making mustard, bbq sauce, flavored vinegars and I had just gotten to the pickling section when break time was over.
We had a party to attend and I had food to make to bring to it. I made macaroni salad, sausage and cheese stuffed jalapeno peppers and a big pot of dirty rice. At the party they had cheeseburgers and hot dogs and all kinds of other stuff. The peppers were gone within about 30 minutes of their arrival LOL They're so easy and so good. I should have made a double batch but who knew they would disappear so quickly?
The party was fun and we stayed later than we planned but sometimes that happens. Fortunately we didn't have anything planned for Sunday that required us to get up and moving very early or very quickly. LOL I think we got up at 6:00 instead of 5:00 and we had a nice breakfast of homemade, whole wheat toast with melted, sharp cheddar cheese, crispy bacon and ripened tomatoes. We had some iced tea even though it was just 27 degrees outside and we had a couple orange slices each. We were full and feeling good!
While Wally did some work down at the barn, guess what I did? hahaha yep - I planted myself back on the couch for some more pickle recipe reading! The book has already given me more ideas than I'll likely have time for but I do know I'm going to need to buy lots of spices in bulk for these pickling recipes. Each recipe in itself doesn't require a whole lot of any one ingredient save for the vegetables but all of them require the same ones; mustard seeds, dill seeds, turmeric, whole peppercorns, etc. It's sounding good to me already!
We let the dogs run loose for about 20 minutes and then they decided to just take off on their own. We saw them doing it and called them back but they decided they weren't coming back. Brats! They were gone for about a half an hour but by then it had gotten too cold for us to stay out there looking for them. We watched out the windows for them to return but still nothing. Finally, Wally went out and started the 4 wheeler to go looking for them on it. Just about the time it was warmed up and ready to go, here they come running up the hill in the front yard. They made it just in time, that's for sure! Even so, since they didn't come when we called them, they got no more fee time to run and play. They won't get any free time today either as they are on grounded for not listening. Silly dogs...
The weather seems to have no affect on them whatsoever. They lie on the ground on top of the snow like it's not even there. They lick the ice in their water bucket like it's a treat. Only when it's raining do we catch them inside the dog house. These guys were born to take the cold weather without complaint. When it was snowing, they were barking at the snow as it fell to the ground. I'm surprised they didn't try to catch it!
I'm not a coffee drinker but here in the office there are lots of coffee drinkers. Indeed, there isn't a time of day that the pot isn't full or brewing. It smells wonderful and I'm sure to them, it probably tastes wonderful. I've no doubt it warms them because it's pretty chilly in this building. I'll stick to my hot chocolate and cup-a-soup to keep me warm but that coffee smell is very inviting LOL
As you, my faithful followers, well know I don't have to buy lettuce during the CSA basket season. Well, the CSA season has ended and I find myself in need of lettuce. I shopped for it at Food Lion where they want $1.79 a head. At Save-A-Lot, it was $1.49 a head. Am I just spoiled from getting lettuce in my basket or have lettuce prices really increased that much in two years???? I thought those prices were just crazy! Another expensive item was canned peas. One store wanted .90 per can while another wanted .79 per can. I left them at the store and finally found them at Save-A-Lot for .65 per can - still high but much better.
I know I read that food prices were going to steadily rise but I had no idea they would go up that much in such a short time. You can bet I'll be increasing the size of my gardens this year keeping those prices in mind. Even with my basket veggies there are still more to grow, harvest and eat...lettuce won't be one of them because my farmers grow it so well that I'll just eat theirs. Peas - ever so hopeful that the mole won't find them this year, green beans - ever so hopeful that the rabbits and deer won't get to them before I do and of course tomatoes. New for me this year will be okra - even though I was given several baskets full of okra over the summer, if I'm going to make enough to share and get through next year, I think I'm going to have to grow some of my own. It takes a lot to fill a pint jar even though it doesn't look like much :)
Pickled okra is just like pickles if it is picked at the right size. If the pods get too big, they're not good pickled because they can be stringy. The big pods are best used in soups, stews and gumbos. The little ones are the ones you want for pickling. They stay so tender you can eat the stem end and pod all together. I'll have to bring some to FL next time I come down so you can try it yourself and see. I just bet you you'll reconsider the fuzzy little okra pod next time you think of pickles :) lol! Wally doesn't even care for okra but he likes it pickled!
So my journey into pickling will be beneficial in many ways. For one thing, fermented foods are good for your gut health and pickling is the same as fermenting in many ways. The health benefits abound and I'll write more about them on another posting. You will benefit because if I have the abundance I think I'll have, I'll be sending some down to my family and friends in FL in the hopes that you too will benefit by some good gut health. Your digestive systems will thank you! (and me? lol) I won't be offended if you don't like my pickling efforts but rather than toss anything in the trash, I'd rather you share it with someone who does like it and then, of course, send me back the jar or make some pickles of your own and re-use the one I send you :) hahahahaha I can't think of one person who will actually make their own pickles...hmmmm?
As Days Go By and I plan for summers bountiful harvest, think of me on my couch reading up on all there is to do to get ready for the season while the snow falls on the yard outside my window and my beef barley soup is cooking away on the stove top. I might even have a jar of it canned up by the next time you see me... :) wouldn't that be cool? lol
I made a bunch of cucumber pickles this year and last and they seemed to go over pretty well so I got to thinking about it. If I can make pickles with cucumbers and okra, why not other vegetables too? I've eaten pickled beets but never made any myself. I've eaten pickled green beans but never made them either. So, why not? This year when the crops start coming in I'll be making brines for them to ferment in. I'll need to gather lots of pickling spice ingredients. You can buy it in a packet at the store but you don't really know what quantities of spices you're getting in those bags so I'll be blending my own depending on the vegetable to be pickled.
Are you game to try my pickled foods? I hope so :)
As for the canning cookbook, I figure it will provide me with some new ideas on canning different things. I'd like to be able to can my own soup - I love soup! Canning it in big batches would save me time on Sunday when I make enough for my lunch for the week. It would also allow me to ship it to Florida, for those who are interested, without it spoiling. The same could be said for chicken & dumplings :) I know there are a couple people down there who would definitely like it if they received a jar of chicken & dumplings for their birthday or Christmas or just because LOL
So while the snow gently falls to the ground, I'll be plowing through my new cookbooks in an effort to see what new things I can pickle or can. While the west winds blow up off the hill in the front yard, I'll be snuggled in my afghan (thank you Ernie!) reading my cookbooks and dreaming of the summer harvest and all that I'll make from its yield. Too cool!
I didn't realize how much canning I had done over the summer until we started using the jars! Wow I was a busy little canner, that's for sure. We have used two quarts of green beans, four quarts of squash, two pints of chow-chow (thank you Melva!) and we're down to just three jars of pickles and two jars of pickled okra. We still have a couple months of winter yet to go but I think we'll be just fine :) I haven't even begun to tap into the canned turnip greens or tomatoes but it won't be long. Oh and there are the pear preserves too!
I hear those pear preserves are good on peanut butter sandwiches but I haven't actually tried it that way myself. I like them on hot pancakes with a little butter! mmmm They're sugar free too so you needn't worry about your waistline when you eat the preserves...it's just the pancakes you have to be careful of LOL! Well, we use the whole wheat pancake mix so they can't be all that bad...?
This weekend was a floor cleaning weekend for me. I do the living room pretty regularly but upstairs was badly in need and so was the kitchen and hallway. As you can image the kitchen and hallway floors catch everything...indeed, I could sweep them daily and still get a dust pan full of dirt. Get this, there's a shoe scraper outside the door and a rug inside the door and still we carry that dirt inside somehow...?
I used the dry swiffer on the living room floor and then ran the shark steamer (thank you Kris!) with that room done, I took my broom and dust pan and headed upstairs. My plan was just to do our room but of course, once you start, you have to do it all. I dusted the furniture and started sweeping. Before I knew it I was up on the landing and then sweeping the bridge. I swept the steps leading to the landing and I swept the whole bedroom. Whew that was a lot of sweeping!
I filled a bowl with water and added a cap full or two of Murphy's Oil Soap then I wet my rag in it and cleaned the steps leading down from the bedroom. I cleaned the steps from the top down so any residual dust or dirt would be collected when I finally reach the bottom. I think there are 8 steps? They take a while to clean and you have to be careful because some have raw wood and that stuff likes to get snagged in your rag.
I finished my flooring and step job and went to put away my supplies. Low and behold, do you know what I found on my living room floor? Apparently the bridge was dustier than I thought because a whole bunch of it landed downstairs on my freshly cleaned living room floor instead of in my dust pan! argh!! Wally thought that was pretty funny - me? Not so much!
I cleaned up that dust and decided to take a break and read some of my cookbook while sitting my hind end on the couch. Rarely do I sit on the weekends LOL I'm always up doing something so this was a real treat. To sit down, with clean floors and a new cookbook...talk about hog heaven! I learned about making mustard, bbq sauce, flavored vinegars and I had just gotten to the pickling section when break time was over.
We had a party to attend and I had food to make to bring to it. I made macaroni salad, sausage and cheese stuffed jalapeno peppers and a big pot of dirty rice. At the party they had cheeseburgers and hot dogs and all kinds of other stuff. The peppers were gone within about 30 minutes of their arrival LOL They're so easy and so good. I should have made a double batch but who knew they would disappear so quickly?
The party was fun and we stayed later than we planned but sometimes that happens. Fortunately we didn't have anything planned for Sunday that required us to get up and moving very early or very quickly. LOL I think we got up at 6:00 instead of 5:00 and we had a nice breakfast of homemade, whole wheat toast with melted, sharp cheddar cheese, crispy bacon and ripened tomatoes. We had some iced tea even though it was just 27 degrees outside and we had a couple orange slices each. We were full and feeling good!
While Wally did some work down at the barn, guess what I did? hahaha yep - I planted myself back on the couch for some more pickle recipe reading! The book has already given me more ideas than I'll likely have time for but I do know I'm going to need to buy lots of spices in bulk for these pickling recipes. Each recipe in itself doesn't require a whole lot of any one ingredient save for the vegetables but all of them require the same ones; mustard seeds, dill seeds, turmeric, whole peppercorns, etc. It's sounding good to me already!
We let the dogs run loose for about 20 minutes and then they decided to just take off on their own. We saw them doing it and called them back but they decided they weren't coming back. Brats! They were gone for about a half an hour but by then it had gotten too cold for us to stay out there looking for them. We watched out the windows for them to return but still nothing. Finally, Wally went out and started the 4 wheeler to go looking for them on it. Just about the time it was warmed up and ready to go, here they come running up the hill in the front yard. They made it just in time, that's for sure! Even so, since they didn't come when we called them, they got no more fee time to run and play. They won't get any free time today either as they are on grounded for not listening. Silly dogs...
The weather seems to have no affect on them whatsoever. They lie on the ground on top of the snow like it's not even there. They lick the ice in their water bucket like it's a treat. Only when it's raining do we catch them inside the dog house. These guys were born to take the cold weather without complaint. When it was snowing, they were barking at the snow as it fell to the ground. I'm surprised they didn't try to catch it!
I'm not a coffee drinker but here in the office there are lots of coffee drinkers. Indeed, there isn't a time of day that the pot isn't full or brewing. It smells wonderful and I'm sure to them, it probably tastes wonderful. I've no doubt it warms them because it's pretty chilly in this building. I'll stick to my hot chocolate and cup-a-soup to keep me warm but that coffee smell is very inviting LOL
As you, my faithful followers, well know I don't have to buy lettuce during the CSA basket season. Well, the CSA season has ended and I find myself in need of lettuce. I shopped for it at Food Lion where they want $1.79 a head. At Save-A-Lot, it was $1.49 a head. Am I just spoiled from getting lettuce in my basket or have lettuce prices really increased that much in two years???? I thought those prices were just crazy! Another expensive item was canned peas. One store wanted .90 per can while another wanted .79 per can. I left them at the store and finally found them at Save-A-Lot for .65 per can - still high but much better.
I know I read that food prices were going to steadily rise but I had no idea they would go up that much in such a short time. You can bet I'll be increasing the size of my gardens this year keeping those prices in mind. Even with my basket veggies there are still more to grow, harvest and eat...lettuce won't be one of them because my farmers grow it so well that I'll just eat theirs. Peas - ever so hopeful that the mole won't find them this year, green beans - ever so hopeful that the rabbits and deer won't get to them before I do and of course tomatoes. New for me this year will be okra - even though I was given several baskets full of okra over the summer, if I'm going to make enough to share and get through next year, I think I'm going to have to grow some of my own. It takes a lot to fill a pint jar even though it doesn't look like much :)
Pickled okra is just like pickles if it is picked at the right size. If the pods get too big, they're not good pickled because they can be stringy. The big pods are best used in soups, stews and gumbos. The little ones are the ones you want for pickling. They stay so tender you can eat the stem end and pod all together. I'll have to bring some to FL next time I come down so you can try it yourself and see. I just bet you you'll reconsider the fuzzy little okra pod next time you think of pickles :) lol! Wally doesn't even care for okra but he likes it pickled!
So my journey into pickling will be beneficial in many ways. For one thing, fermented foods are good for your gut health and pickling is the same as fermenting in many ways. The health benefits abound and I'll write more about them on another posting. You will benefit because if I have the abundance I think I'll have, I'll be sending some down to my family and friends in FL in the hopes that you too will benefit by some good gut health. Your digestive systems will thank you! (and me? lol) I won't be offended if you don't like my pickling efforts but rather than toss anything in the trash, I'd rather you share it with someone who does like it and then, of course, send me back the jar or make some pickles of your own and re-use the one I send you :) hahahahaha I can't think of one person who will actually make their own pickles...hmmmm?
As Days Go By and I plan for summers bountiful harvest, think of me on my couch reading up on all there is to do to get ready for the season while the snow falls on the yard outside my window and my beef barley soup is cooking away on the stove top. I might even have a jar of it canned up by the next time you see me... :) wouldn't that be cool? lol
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