Strawberries and Peaches

  
Our neighbors went to the lovely state of GA last week for their oldest granddaughter's high school graduation. They would be gone for a week and needed us to take care of their beef cattle and to feed the cats while they were away.  We are happy to help them out so they can travel see their children and grandchildren. 
 

   They always bring back a thoughtful thank you gift and this time they brought a gallon of strawberries and a peck of peaches.  They were so flavorful, fresh and brightly colored. 

   After eating some fresh; we decided that it was just going to be too much to eat before they would go bad so I made 9 pints of strawberry jam and froze several quarts of peaches.  The peaches will be a wonderful addition to a smoothie.

 

 

 Ryder eats toast with butter and jam every morning.  I have even had some on toast...yeah the "bad gluten kind" too!  I didn't get sick and it is so delicious!  Madi made some parfaits with vanilla yogurt, granola and fresh peaches!  They were delicious also.  Ryder ate two, maybe three, that evening.  There is just something about fresh fruit that is awesome!

 

   I had to put more pictures in here to show how bright  the colors are! I love it!

 

 

The jam is a brighter red color than these photos show. It is bright red like the strawberries but for some reason my camera didn't feel like making them red! 

 

 

    Not really a big deal though as the taste is what is more important than the picture. 

   I used the recipe in the Ball canning book.  It is a very simple, easy recipe.  I did choose to use the pectin recipe.  After having these strawberries Jeremiah decided that he wanted to plant some more strawberry plants.  Our plants died out several years back and we just never got around to planting more.  I ran to the local greenhouse and bought 14 plants.  Jeremiah was happy that they still had some and they were marked down to $.75 a plant!  They are rather large plants with blossoms and two of them have strawberries starting!

 

That's a wrap from the Pine Tree Forest!  I think I may need to eat something with jam this morning!  I need something with my tea! 

Have a blessed day, y'all!

   

Watermelon!

We harvested our first watermelon this weekend.

 

We have not been able to grow a decent sized watermelon here- ever!

 

 

 Other years when we tried they grew a bit bigger than a softball but none of them have ever reached a full size before.

 

 

It was so juicy!  It reminded me of the watermelons we used to have before the seedless watermelon.  I don't think that the seedless watermelons have much flavor. 

 

I can remember my brothers and I having a seed spitting contest when we were little. I wasn't a very good seed spitter.  My mom used to tell us that we couldn't eat the seeds because it would cause a watermelon plant to grow in our bellies! Haha!  I told Madi and Ryder the same thing when they were little. 

 

 

Ryder and I were taking turns cutting it. He cut through the tough outer layer and I cut it into the smaller sizes. It was heavy and needed to be cut into sizes that I could manage with a sharp knife without cutting myself!

I like to have bite sized pieces in a bowl ready to eat.

 

I think it is such a pretty melon.

 

This bowl holds 4 quarts.  It was overflowing as soon as I finished cutting it.  We ate quite a bit of it immediately and I packed some for Jeremiah's lunch. 

My mom likes to sprinkle a bit of salt on her watermelon when she eats it.  I do this occasionally but not often.  Does anyone else eat watermelon this way or have you heard of doing this? 

Our Late Garden 2016

   We are several weeks late with our garden this year.  I am really not a good gardener- Jeremiah is so much better!  I do not find it relaxing to dig in the dirt and pull weeds.  It is a very dreaded chore for me and I was happy to not do it for the last couple years.  I had been going to a local produce stand that is less than 2 miles from our home.  I was happy to let them do the gardening part and with a smile on my face I would hand over cash to bring home the produce to can, freeze and process. 

Ryder's section of corn

  Well those were the days. Last week Ryder decided that he wanted to garden this year.  He wants corn and lots of it! It is a mite late to plant corn but we will see what happens. He went to work and started on tilling the garden.  That's all it took for the gardening gene in Jeremiah to explode so on Monday...a small corn patch has turned into a full garden. 

   We put in tomatoes, green peppers, green beans, red beets, carrots, radishes, watermelon, cantaloupe, spaghetti squash, zucchini and cucumbers along with Ryder's corn. 

 

   Jeremiah made a kind of raised bed this year.  He can run the tiller through the rows easier to keep weeds at bay. 

 



 
   I planted a marigold at the end of each row.  I thought it would make the garden look happier and deter small animals from coming into the garden with their smell.  We will see how that works but it does give the garden color at the moment.

  
   This photo shows the corn section in front of the garden.  They are close so it makes watering easier.  The last time this section was planted it was full of tomato plants, 50 I think! It was several years ago.  Ryder had his hands full getting the soil ready to plant.

  In the previous picture you can see one of our kitties "Meow" in-between the two gardens.  I took a picture of her since she was accompanying me while I took the photos of the garden.  She is 14 years old and a very affectionate kitty.  She will follow you around the yard and loves to be petted.  She is a loyal pet and a good mouser which is a good thing on a farm.

Recipe Flop!

   I mentioned that Jeremiah bought me a very nice casserole crockpot for Christmas, I think.  I am really liking this appliance.  The one issue I have with it is that the recipes that came with it all use canned soup.  I can't eat canned soup too much as it upsets my stomach.  I have to get creative with trying some recipes on my own. 

   This week I was searching though my recipe binders for some different supper ideas and I stumbled upon a recipe that I printed out in 2013 for Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken.  I hadn't made this recipe yet and I thought that this would be the perfect recipe to try out in the casserole crockpot.  I doubled the recipe since I need to fill both of Ryder's hollow legs. The recipe was easy to follow and didn't require a bunch of odd ingredients.  I mixed up the sauce and placed the chicken breasts in the mix and set the timer on the crockpot to cook.  Oh, it smelled so good!

   In the meantime, my brother, J, called me to ask me some questions about our little nephew that is due to arrive in a couple weeks.  We hadn't talked since Christmas Eve so I was enjoying our conversation and catching up with his holiday activities. I was still laughing and talking when I saw that the time was up on the crockpot and that I needed to complete the recipe.  It stated that I needed to remove the chicken breasts and add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch to the sauce.  Whisk well, cover and return to high for 10 minutes. Shred chicken. 

   Here is where things get messed up a bit...  I buy a lot of my regularly used baking staples in bulk.  I put them in mason jars, cut the label off the front of the package and tape it to the jar.  This works perfectly for me, well until now. 

   I was reading the recipe and knew to double the cornstarch, found my measuring spoon, got into the cabinet and pulled out the cornstarch.  I added it to my sauce and it didn't really look right but I kept on chatting and whisking away.  I figured that it should have started to thicken up a bit by then but oh well, the recipe says to whisk well, cover and return to high for 10 minutes.  No problem.  I did as it said and continued to talk while shredding the chicken breasts.  The 10 minutes passed quickly and when I checked on the sauce it still wasn't thick.  "Well, that's just weird!" I thought to myself.  I decided that I should probably get off the phone and check this out more closely. 

   I reread the recipe.  I did everything correctly, followed all instructions and it still wasn't thick.  Ryder was hungry so I decided to just add the meat and try to figure it out later. Ryder wasn't overly impressed with the taste.  He said it had an odd aftertaste and wasn't sure if he was crazy about this recipe.  Maybe, I shouldn't make it again. I tasted it and thought the same thing.  Ugh, this is just weird but I wasn't wasting 5 chicken breasts!  We were going to eat this regardless of that odd aftertaste. 

   After supper, I was going through the recipe again, trying to figure this mystery out.  I did a play by play in my head with the ingredients.  When I got to the cornstarch part, I reached out my hand to open the cabinet and it hit me!!!  Oh no! I grabbed baking powder instead of cornstarch!!!  Everything made perfect sense now.

   I am going to try this recipe again and hopefully I make it correctly. I don't know where I found this recipe but if it tastes good, I will share the recipe later. 

Blackberries and Huckleberries

   The kids and I went berry picking recently.  Madilynne wasn't excited to go pick at first but once we started picking, her whole attitude changed for the better.  She really enjoyed picking.  Ryder was ready to jump into picking as soon as I mentioned it.  I think his belly and taste buds were a factor in that.

 

   The blackberries and huckleberries are ripe and ready to pick in our area.  If you aren't familiar with huckleberries they are small, dark blue berries that are really sweet.  I thought I would share some pictures of the berries we actually brought home and what was left since we ate most of them right off the bushes!

When we brought them home, Ryder started to eat them by the handful.  I am happy that he enjoys the berries as they are very nutritious.  These are all the berries I had left to freeze

 

This picture shows the huckleberries.  They are roughly the size of a pea and look similar to a blueberry. I think they are awesome frozen!

 

These are the frozen blackberries.  If Ryder doesn't finish them off they will be delicious in a smoothie. 

 

We stayed on the look out at all times because bears like blackberries and huckleberries also.  We saw some bear paw prints but no bears! We were kind enough to leave many berries for the bears, deer and turkeys to nibble on too!  I think they would thank us- if they could!

Blueberry Crisp

We have several blueberry bushes on our property. I freeze the berries from our bushes each year so I have plenty to use all year long. I am not a person who always eats seasonally.  I know that it is the cheapest way to purchase produce but I eat by what I am hungry for and today it was Blueberry Crisp!

 

 

I wash my blueberries before using them. I learned a tip years ago from my mom that has helped me get the berries in the freezer faster.  She told me to just clean the berries and then wash them when I am ready to use them.  It will keep the moisture off the berries so we get less freezer burn.

 

I decided to make a Blueberry Crisp this morning and as I made it I took photos of each step. The top is the washed berries in a colander.  This photo is the berries mixed with the lemon juice in a stoneware bake pan.  This is one of my favorite baking pans. 

 

 

I use my hands to mix the dry ingredients with the butter. It may be a bit messy but it mixes better. 

 

 

I think the dark blue berries and tan oatmeal mixture look so lovely together. When something looks beautiful it seems to taste better, right?  

 

 

 

The oatmeal mixture is spread evenly over the blueberries and it is ready to go into the oven.

 

 

The timer has beeped and it is time to take out the crisp.

 

 

I couldn't wait for it to cool a bit! 

 

 

Ready to eat!  I didn't have any whipping cream to make whipped topping so I opted for vanilla ice cream.  It was so tasty!

 

 

A friend shared this recipe that has been in her family for many years.  It is a simple, easy recipe.  I took this to our family 4th of July picnic and brought home an almost empty pan- a few crumbles remained!  This is probably the only recipe that I follow exactly as written.  I usually make some sort of change to every recipe I use! 

 

Blueberry Crisp:

3- 12 oz. boxes of frozen blueberries (you can use fresh)
6 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oatmeal
1 cup butter- softened
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. salt

Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to top.

Preheat oven to 375*.  Arrange blueberries in an ungreased 9X13 baking dish.  Sprinkle berries with lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients. Sprinkle on top of berries.
Bake 25-30 minutes until the topping is light brown.
Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

If you try this recipe, let me know how it turned out.
Enjoy!

Menu 6/1/15 - 6/5/15

Menus around here are guidelines and subject to change. We don't eat anything fancy or super time consuming. I try to keep it simple and reasonably priced.  I am only going to post the menu for Monday through Friday because we customize the weekends with Jeremiah. He likes to grill so Saturday and Sunday are flexible for us.  We add and change items (like sides) when necessary or when our schedule changes.

Breakfasts:
   M- Egg, cheese and sausage muffins
   T-  Blueberry muffins
   W- Breakfast Burritos
   T-  Bulls eyes (also known as Toad in the Hole)
   F-  Pancakes

Lunch:
   M-  Mac and Cheese and Ham slices
  T-   Homemade Hamburger Helper
  W-  Mac and cheese, ham slices (again! one of the kids favorites!) fruit
  T-   Tacos
  F-   Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Dinner:
   M-   Spaghetti w/ meatballs, garlic bread, salad
   T-    Homemade Pizza
  W-    Gnocchi with Alfredo- Madilynne's choice
   T-    BLT's
   F-    Leftovers, clean out the fridge 




 

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

 

 

   We are going to be going to Jeremiah's parents home on Sunday for a Memorial Day picnic.  I always have trouble deciding what dish to take.  Jeremiah always wants to take some meat to grill so I got some chicken for that but I needed another dish.  While I was shopping, I decided to make Broccoli Cauliflower Salad.  Madilynne and I worked together to put this dish together today because it always seems to taste better if it can be refrigerated for awhile before serving.  I made a large amount of salad but you can easily half this recipe.

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad

2 bunches of broccoli
2 heads of cauliflower
1 large red onion
1 lb. bacon
2 8 oz. packages of mild cheddar cheese, shredded

Dressing:
2 cups Miracle Whip- no substitutions
2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Clean and cut broccoli and cauliflower into small bite sized pieces.  Cut onion in to large diced pieces.  Cut bacon into small bits and cook until crispy.  Drain on a paper towel.  Mix the broccoli, cauliflower, onion and bacon bits in a large bowl.  Add shredded cheese.  Mix all the ingredients of the dressing in a mixing bowl.  Mix well.  Add to veggie mixture and mix well.  Place in refrigerator until ready to serve.

Sweet Dinner Rolls

 

I thought that I would share a recipe today.  I enjoy cooking and baking and trying new recipes when I have a chance.  I have a bread machine that makes life much easier for me.  I am not gifted in making bread with my hands only.  I can, however, make tasty bread with some "mechanical" assistance. 

 

   I made Sweet Dinner Rolls for Mother's Day and they turned out delicious and soft.  I found a recipe years ago that I have tweaked a bit to make it better- in my opinion. If you are gifted with being able to make bread by hand, I am sure you could easily adjust the recipe, just don't ask me how to do that!  ~smile~

Sweet Dinner Rolls

Place these ingredients in your bread machine as listed:

1 cup water
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. melted butter
3 1/3 cups flour
2 tsp. yeast

Run the dough only cycle. When complete, take the dough out and form into 12 rolls.  Place rolls in greased 13 X 9 baking pan; cover and allow to rise 30-45 minutes.  Bake at 350* for 15-20 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Mother's Day 2015

   I am a very fortunate lady.  I am blessed to live close to both my mom and my mother-in-law. Today we celebrated the day together with a late lunch after church.  Jeremiah grilled some steak and kabobs, while I made some baked potatoes, a salad, cut up some fresh pineapple and made some rolls. My mom made a Strawberry Torte and the in-laws brought two pies, one strawberry and one apple.  After we ate, we played a card game, Skip Bo, and then decided to go for a walk. The temperatures have been soaring into the 80's and for us, that is hot!  We enjoyed visiting in front of the fan when we returned. 
   I am also blessed to be mom to two awesome kids and wife to an amazing man. I thank God that I have them. 
  

Strawberry Shortcake

  

One of my favorite Spring/Summer treats is strawberry shortcake. Saturday while Madilynne and I were grocery shopping we found two containers of fresh organic strawberries. They were really ripe but I knew we could use them quickly.  At the next store, I picked up some dessert shells since we wouldn't have time to make pound cake.  I already had some whipped topping so we were set! I washed and sliced the berries and sprinkled them with some sugar. I placed them in the fridge to get nice and juicy!  

   After church on Sunday, Jeremiah wanted to grill so we had steak and brats, cole slaw and French fries. Quick and easy but so filling!  We decided to wait and enjoy the shortcakes while playing Uno later in the afternoon. It was worth the wait!  We all enjoyed the sweet treats.