The cake turned out great!! It was a big hit for dessert tonight and it will definitely be on the list to make again.
I also have been canning tonight. 1 batch of dilled green beans and 1 batch of Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce. It’s spicy! I got the green beans at the Manchester Farmer’s Market tonight specifically to make these pickles.
Pics tomorrow, I promise!
My friend Lori posted a recipe for a Blueberry Pudding Cake on her blog today. It sounded good and I had to make it. I got everything out and noticed I was about 3/4 cups of sugar short and I didn’t have any lemon juice. I don’t know what difference it will make if I use honey instead of sugar and omit the lemon juice, but that’s what I did.
It’s in the oven right now, I’ll update and let you know what the verdict is.
Here’s a link to the recipe, if you’re interested.
Categories: cooking
We have compost and more worms!
I have only been feeding my worms about once every 10 days since I didn’t have many worms and they were slow to eat. Last time I fed them, I didn’t have time to play around in the bin to see what was going on in there. I had moved them to the garage last week since it has been in the upper 80’s and lower 90’s here and I don’t really have anywhere in the yard that is shaded all day.
I went to feed them today and noticed that a couple were trying to escape, which usually isn’t a good thing since it can mean that the conditions aren’t up to par. I dug around in there a little and noticed it was a little wet. With the high temps and being a dark container, it was most likely due to condensation from when it was outside. It wasn’t wet enough to drip out of the bottom, but still pretty damp. I dug around and noticed there were worms everywhere. Usually I would have to dig a little to find them and they’d all be clumped together. This time they were all spread out and there were twice as many as before. I didn’t see any babies, they all seemed normal sized, but I’m not sure how fast they grow. Like I said, it had been almost a month since I had dug through it. Also, the food that I put in there last time was gone and the corn cobs have disappeared.
There was also quite a bit of compost. Not nearly enough to harvest yet, but enough that when you open it up and lift the bedding, you see what looks like dirt. I’m pretty excited about that. So today I cleaned out one of the crispers in the fridge and noticed some grapes that had got a little icky and had a little mold so the worms got a little treat today.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: gardening, vermicomposting
I finally got motivated to make the cloth napkins from the tutorial that I posted a link to months ago.
Jason’s work picnic was yesterday and the theme was “going green” so we were asked to bring non-disposable place settings and cloth napkins.
I was in a huge hurry when I made these so I didn’t press the hems or anything, I just tucked them under and sewed. They turned out nice and the fabric is really heavy, kind of like what you’d see in a restaurant that uses cloth napkins.
I think I’m going to start making them more so we can use them all the time. I think cloth napkins wipe up messes better than paper napkins anyways. For everyday use, I don’t care if they match or not so I might make them out of Jason’s old work shirts and stuff like that. Usually I donate our old clothes, but sometimes they get stained or torn and we just throw them away. At least now we can throw them away with most of it missing.
Categories: Uncategorized
This is what it looks like…
Categories: Uncategorized
I got a peck of peaches yesterday that had been subject to hail damage. Needless to say, I got a good deal on them and since I was using them for jam and such, I didn’t really care what they looked like.
My mom gave me an old “canning” cookbook yesterday and I decided to try out a recipe in it for “Peach Southern Honey” which is basically peach jam with a crap load of sugar.
It’s a very easy recipe and I’ll share it with you because no biscuits should be without it…
First you take some ripe peaches and peel, pit, and mash them thoroughly. Measure what you have mashed and for every cup of pulp, you add 2 cups of sugar. I used 3 cups pulp and 6 cups sugar.
Combine pulp and sugar in a stock pot and bring to a boil on low heat. This takes forever, but stir it constantly so it doesn’t scorch. Continue to simmer it for about 30 minutes until it is thick and clear and turns a darker, golden color similar to honey.
Next, you ladle it into sterilized jars and process in a hot water bath of 10 minutes.
Using 3 cups of pulp and 6 cups of sugar, I got 2 1/2 pints.
I was a little apprehensive to make jam without pectin because I’ve never done it before, but it was quite easy. Luckily the humidity isn’t too bad today and it’s cool and breezy out. I could have the window open in the kitchen so it didn’t get too hot in there while I was canning.
I still have a lot of peaches and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with the rest. Whatever it is, I have to do it today because they will be too ripe tomorrow.
I also got a great deal on tart Montmorency Cherries yesterday ($1.50 for a quart) and put up 6 1/2 pints of jam. I’m still a ways off to get to my goal of not buying store bought jam ever again. I opened the last pint of strawberry the other day and I only have one pint of blueberry left. I have 2 pints of sweet cherry and 8 pints of sour cherry. We go through about a pint a week between the 6 of us since we use it in our oatmeal. I still have peach season, pear season, and apple season. Plus, I may go pick more blueberries this weekend. I froze the blueberries that I picked yesterday to use in cobblers and pancakes and stuff like that.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: cooking, jam, peaches
I finally have tiny cukes and tiny green tomatoes. I was starting to get worried since it seems like everyone else was starting to harvest theirs. Part of my problem is that I didn’t fertilize until about 2 weeks ago and I should have done it from the get-go. I finally remembered to pick up some organic fertilizer for my plants since it will be a couple of months before I get compost from my worms.
The worms are doing great. I still haven’t seen any babies, but there are cocoons in there, so it should be any time. There are lots of flies since I keep it outside, but they don’t seem to bother anything but me. I just have to open the container and walk away for a second until they all fly out. Then I’m free to poke around in there and feed the worms. I have a couple of corn cobs in there and I read online that someone else put corn cobs in theirs and when they went to take them out (because they were taking too long to decompose), there were all kinds of baby worms hanging out inside the cobs. Maybe that’s where mine are. I did find a couple of earthworms when I was digging the new flower beds a couple weeks ago and put those in my containers of tomatoes and summer squash.
I picked up a couple more perennials today. I was on a quest to get a trumpet vine to grow up the privacy fence on our deck. I stopped at Lowes and they didn’t have any, but they did have some nice Lavender (Lavandula angustifloia ‘Hidcote’), Chocolate Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium rugosum ‘Chocolate’), and the hanging baskets of petunias were only $4.99, so I had to pick one of those up too. Since Lowes didn’t have a trumpet vine, I stopped at another garden center that is a little more high end. They didn’t have any either, but they did have an amazing Honeysuckle. It was $59.99 so a little out of my league, but beautiful none the less. I stopped at another flowershop/garden center and they had trumpet vines and they were even on sale!
When I got home I planted everything. I’m kind of sad that I don’t have any more empty places to plant more flowers. I am still planning on the big flower garden behind the garage, but I didn’t really want to start on that until late summer. I might just have to get started on it a little earlier…
Our farmer’s market is swimming in chard lately and I just love it. I got this recipe from Deborah Madison’s “Local Flavors”. It’s fantastic and would work with spinach too. If your CSA box is overloaded with the stuff and you don’t know what to do with it, definitely try this recipe!
2 pounds chard, including 1/2 of the stems
4 tablespoons unsalted butter (I used salted because that’s what I had)
1 onion, finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (put a couple slices of bread in the blender)
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped dill or parsley (I used parsley)
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk or cream or a mixture of cream and stock
1 cup crumbled fresh goat cheese (I used feta made from goats milk, but you could probably get away with regular feta or any other crumbly cheese made from cows milk)
1. Separate the leaves and chard stems. Wash the leaves in plenty of water, then coarsley chop them. Trim the ragged edges off the stems, wash them well, then dice them into small pieces.
2. Melt half the butter in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and chard stems and cook, stirring occcasionally, until the onion has begun to brown a bit, about 20 minutes. Add the chard leaves, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, and cook until they’re wilted and tender, another 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450 and lightly oil a 2 quart gratin dish. Melt half the remaining butter in a small skillet and add the bread crumbs, garlic, and dill (or parsley). Cook, stirring for about a minute, then scrape the crumbs into a bowl and return the pan to the heat.
4. Melt the last tablespoon of butter, stir in the flour, then whisk in the milk. Simmer for 5 minutes, season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and add to the chard mixture. Add the cheese, then taste the mixture, correct for salt, and season with pepper.
5. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish and cover with the bread crumbs. Bake until heated through and golden on the surface, about 20-25 minutes. Let settle a few minutes before serving.
This will serve 4 as a main dish and 6 as a side dish. It’s pretty rich with the feta, so I would suggest using it as a side dish. It was a lot easier to make than it sounds. I would just suggest having everything measured and chopped before you start the recipe.
It was very good. Even Grace ate a ton of it.
I dug two new flower beds today in the 85 degree heat. I was dying when I was finished and had to step into the little kiddie pool in the back yard to cool off. I thought about laying down in there, clothes and all, but I didn’t have a towel and didn’t want to drip my way through the house to find one.
Anyways, we have two bird houses at the back of our property line. They divide our yard from the people behind us. They’ve always looked a little awkward just sticking out of the ground on their wooden poles. I’m grateful for them, don’t get me wrong. I love the birds that live in them although, in the spring the bluebirds have nests in them and in the summer, the sparrows live there. I don’t know if it’s the sparrows kicking out the bluebirds or if the bluebirds are just done. Ok, back to my project. I dug the sod out in a half circle shape around each one and planted a butterfly bush. I’m sure the bird houses will be hidden by the butterfly bush one day, but I can’t wait for all of the butterflies and bees. I’m sure the birds will get a tasty treat too when they feast on the bugs.
After the beds were planted, I added mulch to both and also the bed that I dug about a month or so ago. It looks so much better back there now.
Jen tagged her readers for this:
1. Where is your cell phone? Charging
2. Your significant other? Downstairs
3. Your hair? Blah
4. Your mother? Home
5. Your father? Deceased
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? Unknown
8 Your favorite drink? Sweet Tea (I know it’s two words, but I couldn’t help it!)
9. Your dream/goal? Healthy
10. The room you’re in? Bedroom
11. Your hobby? Gardening
12. Your fear? Loss
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here
14. What you’re not? Crazy
15. Muffins? Yum
16. One of your wish list items? Composter
17. Where you grew up? Clinton
18. The last thing you did? Read
19. What are you wearing? Pj’s
20. Favorite gadget? iPod
21. Your pets? Roaming
22. Your computer? Lifeline
23. Your mood? Headache
24. Missing someone? Dad
25. Your car? Awesome
26. Something you’re not wearing? Shoes
27. Favorite store? Ikea
28. Like someone? Jason
29. Your favorite color? Pink
30. When is the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? Hmmm
She also asked what everyone was reading, so I’ll answer her here.
I’m about 1/4 into Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky
I’m about 1/4 into Red River by Lalita Tademy
And about 1/2 way through Second Nature by Michael Pollan
I have a hard time just reading one book at a time. I have books that I keep in my room, in the car, and down stairs. So when I want to read, it just depends where I am as to what book I read. I just finished re-reading all of the Little House on the Prairie books. I love those books!
Happy 4th of July!
We’ve had an eventful couple of weeks. We got back on Sunday from a week long vacation up north. We stayed 2 nights at Boyne Mountain and enjoyed the indoor water park and took a couple of trips to Boyne City to enjoy the sights.
After that we headed to Jason’s parent’s place in Mancelona to relax and have a little fun. We took a couple of day trips to Traverse City and Petoskey. While in TC, we met up with Justin’s parents who graciously took us out to dinner at Mackinaw Brewing Co. We had a great time and it was so much fun to see them again.
Since we’ve been back, we’ve just been getting back to the normal routines. We went last night to see the fireworks in Manchester and we went to a bbq at Kara & Aaron’s house today. I’m so jealous of their house and yard. They have an amazing craftsman style house that was built in 1908 or 1909. It’s got all of the original woodwork and wood floors. Their back yard is huge with lots of shade and lots of gardens. It’s amazing. We had a great time there and the kids had a blast swimming and hanging with friends.
Categories: family
