Pioneer Woman at Heart

It rained most of the day yesterday, so the last few outdoor jobs I needed to work on, were put to a halt.   I ended up spending most of my day at the computer.

This is bounty we got from the popcorn patch.   Two ears.  Last year we got 4 quarts off the cob, so you can see how bad a year it was this year.

I'm joining Happy Homemaker Monday today.

Sharing this recipe again, as we move into "flu" season here.

Well, well, well....car repairs loom over us once again.   Our college daughter who is 2 1/2 hours away, drove home with car problems. I guess it's time to go car shopping, unless Hub-ster the mechanic can pull miracles today.

It's that time of year again, when I dehydrate my home grown garlic.

Yesterday's sunrise. I came across some broad leaf plantain in my flower garden yesterday.  You know me.  I had to stop weeding, pick some leaves, and prepare them for drying.

We had so much fog yesterday morning, that our kid's school actually closed.  This worries me as we tend to run out of snow days, and end up having school run into summer.

I'm down to two large bowls of home grown potatoes.  It's disheartening to see such a terrible garden year, but in other areas of work we are getting more done than I ever expected. Today I am thankful for:

......things that make me smile.

I took this photo back in March of this year, in hopes to locate a barn salvage person or company.   This challenge is one of our big jobs on the "to-do" list right now. Well, the first two did not want the barn - not old enough, not "enough wood" to mess with.  Not long ago few men stopped in after the corner collapsed in a rain storm.  We talked, Hubby got in touch with them.

I decided to leave a few cayenne, jalapeno and our only hot banana pepper plant in the garden a bit longer. I wanted the peppers to make more ground cayenne powder and also use the jalapenos for making our very first Fire Cider.

. . . still working on the scrap crochet blanket.  I had plans to donate it, but Hubby and one daughter are fighting over who will get it.  We'll see.  This is my project to unwind on cooler evenings here. Right now it's 55 inches wide by 42 inches long.

Yesterday's chores were still getting worked on when the kids got home from school.  I had to get everything washed and on the line as rain (storms) are expected today.   I got all the rugs washed and dried too.  Speaking of rugs, our 18 year-old daughter took the peach colored (crocheted in cotton yarn) rug for her dorm.  I just read somewhere that they cannot have rubber backed rugs, so that worked out nicely.  So, if you kiddo is heading to college, a handmade crocheted rug would come in handy for her/him.  The ones you see on my clothesline are from old sheets, old jeans, and scrap cotton yarn.  They all wash up nicely too.   I forgot to dump my ice trays and bag it, so I could freeze all the organic collards I had yesterday.  I managed to get half of them froze.  I have more to freeze today.

With cooler weather coming upon us, the kids have been hankering a fall weather beverage.  A nice hot cup of hot chocolate sounded good.  This time we made a mint hot chocolate. I simply place the peppermint leaves into my tea infuser, then pour boiling water in it.  Close the top, and steep about 3-4 minutes.  You can use fresh or dried leaves.

I mentioned a while back that I would try another tortilla recipe, but this time I used lard.  I forgot I even had the recipe until I was looking for my whole wheat pancake recipe one day.  Tip:  Tortilla presses are more for corn tortillas (or masa), so you'll need a rolling pin for this recipe. This recipe got all thumbs up from the family.  The tortillas are softer and we all like these better than the tortillas I have been making with organic canola oil.

Yesterday I decided to let the chickens have free run of the entire property.  They were so excited.   I needed them to chow down on some grasshoppers, and other over loaded bugs in the garden.  One went missing so I hope she found her way back to the barn last night.

My ladies have been slacking in the egg production department lately.  Considering the amount of feathers out in the run, I'm guessing they are molting. The weather is now cooling down at night, but the forecast for the end of the week is in the upper 80's again.    I'm so glad I got my garlic planted this past weekend.  One more thing off my list. Wood splitting has resumed.  Thank goodness.   I was getting worried.  Although the dead trees are still standing (patience is a difficult thing). We need about six more good Saturdays to finish it up.

My pot of calendula has been growing wonderfully.  It was recently time to cut and dry them, and make a jar of calendula herbal oil.

I'm progressing at working on that pile of recipes to try.  It's hard to keep up it with it.  I still like my usual from "garden to table" recipes, like the one we recently enjoyed - boiled cabbage with potatoes and added cooked sausage.  It was so nice to enjoy something straight out of the garden. The next recipe to try ~ Corn Chili Bake.  It came from Nourish and Heal magazine (2014).  I of course looked online to see if it was posted on their site, but I could not locate it.  So, I am posting it here with by adapting organic ingredients (and beef vs. ground turkey).  You can get all of the vegetables and black beans from a garden.  And you can also make your own fire-roasted tomatoes.  I had dehydrated cayenne peppers and had my own homemade powder on hand.

This is the jewelweed solution prepared by an acquaintance.  She simply boiled it in water, strained it and cooled it.  She gifted it to us in an old soda bottle.

Now that I am back to baking bread, I made a new sandwich bread recipe , that my Uncle told me about just a few days ago.

. . . making progress on the scrap crochet blanket.  I have not repeated a color yet.  

Remember the organic ginger I dehydrated ?  Well, I recently made a cup of hot tea using it with my tea infuser.  You could use a disposable or reusable tea bag too.  Anyway, the infused color is different from using freshly grated ginger, but the taste was pretty close to using fresh, just not as strong.  I'll be drying more when I find it available.

The mosquitoes are terribly thick this year, and we are seeing swarms of them in areas we never saw before. So...... I decided to dig a bit deeper and found a recipe on Mountain Rose Herb's blog.  Less messy, and easier to tote along for possible camping trips. They posted one using catnip, other essential oils, and witch hazel extract. I had all of the ingredients but a few, and even found catnip to make the tincture for it. 

Although Tiger is not supposed be sleeping on this good quilt, it was hard for me disturb him, as cute as he was.  That's how I feel at the end of the days here lately. Just give me a bed to curl up on.  I hate not feeling good.  And try to get me to rest when there is no one here to tell me.  Ha!  Yesterday I tackled 12 pounds of organic apples.  I have to buy these at our grocer.  All of the orchards around here spray, and our trees have not started to produce yet.   8 pints of delicious, sugar free applesauce.  I use the ball recipe, but only add the organic lemon juice.

Last week, I told the kids it was "Operation Extreme Clean" and to not expect anything but cleaning the house.  This weekend? "Operation Garden" if the weather cooperates. I have officially started the gutting of the garden. The girls won't like me, but it needs to be worked on.  The barns may be next, so it's time to pull it all out.   It was very humid, and when I took my camera lens off yesterday, it immediately fogged up.  I have only gotten two hours out there, and much to do.  I only got 1/4 of the distance down the carrot row, beet row and green bean row.  I found many beets yet, and even carrots.  The carrots are no bigger than three inches in length (most are 2 inches or less), so I'm pulling them all out.  It will feed us a few meals, but won't be enough to freeze this year.  Some of the tops will go to Milo, our pet rabbit. This is what all of the vegetable gardens look like.  Full of grass, thistle and va...

I spent part of my day cleaning out the refrigerator.   It was hot and humid, and a good day for laundry too.   I had to do some sewing, so I got that done as well.   Although I felt better, I woke up at 3am with a killer sort throat.  I guess I'll be drinking hot ginger tea today.  I ran out of chamomile, but have fresh organic ginger on hand.  The rain fell yesterday, so I may run out and start gutting the garden.  I got a text from Hubby to "stay out of the garden" but it needs started.  The girls can help this weekend, and get it done faster.

This was my first time to actually use comfrey for anything.  You could call this a "pile to file" recipe too.  The first time I planted it (live plant vs. seed), it died.  This year I planted organic/non-gmo seeds and was successful.  This year however, I am making comfrey poultices to put in my freezer. First, I grind the leaves in my food processor (worked better than my blender) with a touch of water.  Most recipes I found said to add flour to make the "paste."  I also read that chia seeds works well too.

I think I have enough new recipes to challenge myself into trying a new one every day.  For a year. Sigh.... Guess what I found?  More recipes.   I pulled my favorite crock pot cookbook off the cookbook stand to clean, and found a few recipes held together with a clothespin.  Top one looks like it may be good too.  Well, I guess meal planning won't be so difficult this fall. As for that collard frittata recipe?