Preserving Food ~ Canning Labels!

Last week I was so frustrated by my pantry collapse that I had decided I wasn't going to can anymore for the year. That lasted for about two days... or until I got two boxes of apples from the market. And then bruised peaches for free, and then corn. Sigh. It really is part of the pioneer in me to put up food when it is abundant and put by as much as possible. I just can't refuse amazingly good, organic food.

So this week was dedicated to peaches, and then corn, and now applesauce. But it was also dedicated to falling in love with my pantry again. To being in love with the process of putting food by and stepping back just enough so that I could see the beauty in my pantry that everyone else saw.

This led me to look for pretty labels for the tops of my jars:

Inspired by Bitter Betty and her wonderful canning labels (which are on all of my green beans) I set out to make my own. The process turned out to be MUCH easier than I thought it was. Although to figure that out, took about 3 hours, a Word savvy best friend, and a very patient husband. ;)

Wide Mouth Jar Labels

What you need:

Microsoft Word

good photos of the food you are labeling

Full sheet shipping labels (can be found at any office supply store)

a good printer

scissors

2.5inch hole punch

I have made up a tutorial in pictures, and because it has quite a few pictures showing how I did this, I decided to make it a Flickr set with instructions:

How to make Canning Labels Tutorial

It is a simple process, and once you get the hang of it, it becomes quite addictive. All my jars have pretty labels now... even the ones for the applesauce currently simmering in my kitchen. My pantry love is back.

Market Days

The bounty of this season is keeping me amazed. And also keeping my body tired! I am sore today from moving what ended up being over 5 tons (literally) of veggies yesterday. We had over 1,000 lbs of beans to deliver alone! That is a heavy load. When I see a view like this table though, it really is worth it.

The seasonal overlap is really interesting. The idea that peaches can be ripe at the same time we have fresh parsnips seems so odd to me... and yet, the seasons don't end abruptly, but change gently from one to the next, so why not the produce? It just doesn't seem like we should have tomatoes and winter squash at the same stand, grown at the same farm... does it?

This Sunday's market was the best yet. I hope this year is like last year and the sales just go up until the end of the year. It looks to be that way so far.

This weeks list:

Rutabaga, parsnips, nectarines, artichokes, butter and oak leaf lettuce, kale, four different colors of carrots (for roasting), shallots, garlic, green onions, Italian zucchini, plum tomatoes, curly parsley, summer savory, chives, cilantro, raspberries, blackberries (both for jams), broccoli, cauliflower, a dozen eggs, and two slices of home cooked pie.

Since I took a couple weeks off of major food preservation (and since my pantry shelf has more space now) I decided to bring home a few of our extras and our bruised.

Three lugs of fresh corn, to be dried and made into creamed corn this winter.

Bruised peaches for canning.


A box of bruised apples for sauce and pie filling.

And here is this weeks menu:

Farm Party

Last week we had the annual barn stomp farm party! It was so wonderful. The music and the food far out did last years event, although I missed the games that we so enjoyed last year.

The beautiful, sunny fall weather quickly turned cold as the sun went down. But we had a great three hours of dancing, eating, and enjoying the beauty of the farm. My friend Dustin was the chef this year and omgoodness did he do an amazing job! He and his helpers set out an incredible feast that included an entire roasted pig (raised by another friend of mine), a bunch of coho salmon, and more veggies from the farm than you can imagine. It was amazing (not to mention DELICIOUS!)

Here is a slideshow of the highlights... what a fabulous evening!

I love fall...

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."- Albert Camus

Fall is by far and away my favorite time of year. Not just for the bounty, but for everything about it. The days feel cozy, perfect for my favorite things; like soup, blankets, fireplaces, and long stents of reading good books. The rain is not too distant, and yet, the sun is not too distant. Both feel within reach... but the darkness has something comforting about it. The cold evenings calm my mind. Make me feel less frantic about the day. It is a time of year for a cup of tea and a warm bath. It is a time of year I tressure.

Today feels like a Spontaneous Gratitude kind of day.

Sometimes it is so hard to maintain perspective. It feels like the world is crashing down. And you know you are probably being too dramatic, and you know that you have beautiful things in your life..... but for that moment, they all escape you. That feeling, in essence, is why I started this blog in the first place. To categorize those moments that kept me going. Those times when I have been down, and thought "gosh, I am such a lazy lump and do nothing all day" and then I look back on here. I read a few of my own posts (does that make me strange?) and I feel better about myself. Because I do love what I do. I may not get paid (except in hugs), I may not fully be able to see the fruits of my labors until my children are grown and I see how they chose to live their lives. And then again, they may take different paths and I may never see the influence that I have had. But in collecting these moments, in having these precious days not slip away unnoticed, I am able to feel the true worth of the life I live.

After the last four days, I feel the need to spend some time being thankful. The shelf breaking, the craziness with my kids, and then scare at the farm yesterday.... I am feeling a bit helpless. There is so much to be grateful for... There is so much good. It is just hard to see at times like this. So here is my spontaneous gratitude for this hectic, sad, and crazy week.

My new apron.

Late bloom roses that are set all around my house.

First of fall crafts.

And last but not least, a tsunami resistant, earth quake proof, 2X4 reinforced pantry shelf:

(This is the 2X4 secured to the wall with 3 inch galvanized decking screws. Then the shelf is attached to it. There are two of these support boards, along with the nature of the 2X3 built shelves in the first place... that sucker is going nowhere!)

I am grateful!

Field trip with a side of homicide.

This morning Cyan asked if we could go to our favorite farm instead of the zoo like we had planned. I thought that sounded like a great idea as we hadn't been there for a few months now that we live 25 minutes away. We started getting our chores finished and then got ready to head out. Logan started in on his before nap routine about an hour early and so I begrudgingly decided that we would have to wait until after nap. I wasn't happy about it. But it was better to wait if Logan was going to melt down on our little field trip. So at 3:30pm we get on our way to go see the goats and pick up some apples for sauce to can.

It takes us a while to get down there since we have moved... but the kids got really excited as they started to see the familiar stuff around the farm, and the horses and houses... along with the huge pumpkin patches that we have gone to every year for pretty much their whole lives. When we pulled around to go into the parking lot however, it was taped off with yellow police tape. Don and I were both thinking that something was really strange... and then we saw the police cars... and then news vans. We knew as we drove by that something was really wrong.

I called my aunt who lives close to there and asked her to check online to see what had happened. This is what she found:

Woman Shot at Lattin's Cider Mill

OLYMPIA, Wash. -- A woman showing up for work was gunned down by her former boyfriend who then turned the gun on himself.

Co-workers tried to stop the horrifying and deadly encounter as it played out at Lattin’s Cider Mill, a popular farm near Tumwater.

How stinkin' crazy is that? And on the one day we were going in the last 4 months??? SOOOO strange. So very strange. I seriously went to this farm once a week for 6 years or so. We spent Easters there, Halloweens there... We got all our eggs and produce from there for years! I have taken field trips with my homeschool group to there numerous times. I have pictures of Cyan feeding goats there as a toddler right next to my desk this second. It was a huge part of our Olympia lives. Just crazy.

I am having a crazy week folks. Feeling very strange and disjointed.

Market Days

Sorry I am late on this this week. You can all imagine why. ;) The shell shock of the pantry fall out is still going on. We have to replace some moving boxes that got soaked in peach, tomato, and cherry juice, and we have to wash the jars, but the shelves are reinforced... so when I put the jars back up, it should not happen again. I still don't understand why it happened. Nothing shook the garage... there was no more weight on that shelf than any others. It just gave way. But 25 some odd jars later (I really don't know the number, but my guess is between 22 and 25 jars hit the ground) I am feeling much better about the whole thing. Thank you so much for all of the appropriate horror. It was wonderful to get such sweet responses and emails from you all. A lot of work hit the ground yesterday and at this point I am just really glad it wasn't worse.

This weeks list:

Artichokes, green beans, a flat and a half of blueberries for more jam, leeks, cilantro, parsley, dill, Rose Finn potatoes, Italian zucchini, romaine and oak leaf lettuce, golden beets, red Swiss chard, Sun Gold and plum tomatoes, garlic, blond cucumbers, celeriac, two bags of chicken wings, a dozen eggs, and a thing of chocolate goats milk as a treat for the kids. Plus this:

WE HAVE CORN!!! It is so very very good. I made it up that same night and it was so sweet and tender it didn't even need butter. I just dipped it in a little salted boiling water for about 2 minutes and it was plump and delicious. Fresh corn is something that is really only good in season. They can try to grow it far away and then ship it... but it isn't good. Not like this. Tomatoes and corn are two of the things that really only taste like they are supposed to when you get them in season, warm from the summer sun. This was like a little bite of sunshine. It was amazing!

This weeks menu reflects a little bit of the lack of desire to cook anything on my part. It is a less than creative week. But comfort food can be creative and I am all about comfort on these first few frustrating days of fall.

DISASTER!

This afternoon I had finished my jam, it had cooled, and I had put it away. Then I went to get my kids ready to go to the library... and I heard this incredible crash! I ran outside to see if Logan and Cyan were ok, and it wasn't them......... and so I ran to the garage. Yep. The whole top shelf of my canning shelf had crashed to the ground. Peaches, tomato sauce, peach jelly, canned cherries... all on the floor covered in shards of broken glass. You would not believe the string of curse words that left my garage this afternoon with the broken jars that I had spent so many hours slaving over... but I am sure it was rather amazing. In fact, if someone had had a tape recorder right then, it was probably the stuff of future blackmail.

Most of you have not been reading me since the Domestic Goddess Disaster when my freezer broke and I had to find a way to use about 150lbs of frozen food in a day. But this was worse... by far. I took a picture of the floor carnage... but when I had the camera out I didn't know about the 'on top of the freezer' carnage or the 'behind the freezer' carnage or even the 'behind the canning shelf' carnage... so the pictures really don't do it justice. There were 14 more broken jars in other places. No... the picture does not do it justice at all. (Because, of course, it had to be the TOP two shelves that got taken out. Thanks Murphy.) As it was, it still took two shovels, an industrial shop vac (borrowed from neighbor), and a huge garbage can to clean up the mess. The mop will have to be applied a few times... the floor still sticks to my feet. But that will come tomorrow.

It is one of those things that I will keep finding until I move from this house in 30-odd years. I will find a piece of glass on the back of something clear across the garage and I will laugh and say "Oh! This must be from the year I had the shelf collapse with 25 jars of peaches on it!" and I will laugh.

Let me tell you... I am not laughing today.

I am, however, not freaking out anymore either. Found three more intact jars of peaches behind freezer. And another broken one... but for some reason, having the death count under 30 made me feel better.

Preserving Food ~ Freezing Pesto

There is something uniquely 'summer' about fresh pesto. The green, the taste, even the smell can bring back warm days and the idea that another summer may just be around the corner. Store bought pesto has always seemed sort of lifeless to me. I love the ease of it, and really enjoy the extra flavor it can bring, but it just doesn't have the zing of freshly made pesto with basil strait from the farm or garden. With that in mind, I went about trying to store some of that summer flare for my families winter meals.

I froze 12 half pints of pesto last week after being gifted with a crazy amount of basil. Last year, when I froze it, I left the cheese in. This didn't freeze too well and so I decided this year that I would just leave the cheese out and add it when we made the dish instead.

Basic Pesto for Freezing

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts or walnuts
2 - 3 garlic cloves, peeled
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put everything in a food processor and pulse until you get the consistency you want. Makes one half pint (I only have a 1 cup food processor. I am pretty sure the recipe can be doubled or more, but I wasn't able to test it. If someone does do this, would you leave me a comment letting me know how it turned out? Thanks!).

I packed mine in half pint mason jars that I left 1/2 inch head space then froze.

For this recipe, I pulled out my mini food processor. I only use the thing about once a month, but I do love having it as one of my very few kitchen gadgets.

We have already used this recipe for my Pesto Pasta Salad and it turned out great! So much better than store bought.

"The leaning tower of Pesto"

I had a bunch of basil left over, and asked my husband what I should do with it... and he said "give it away. I think 6 pints of pesto is enough." lol! I think he is probably right.

Preserving Food ~ Ginger Plum Sauce

Every recipe for ginger plum sauce I saw had like 7 ingredients. I just wanted something to dip eggrolls in. So when I got these plums for free from a friend, I decided to make up my own recipe:

8 cups of plums (peeled and pitted)
4 cups of brown sugar
3 chunks of fresh ginger (pealed and sliced)
2 Tbs lemon Juice

Reduce plums on low for as long as possible (4 hours was what I did), I ran it through the food mill to get the consistency perfect and then added it back into the pot and added the ginger, lemon juice, and sugar. Simmer for at least another hour (I did two).

SO GOOD! We use it for dipping fresh rolls.

Preserving Food ~ Dishonest Blueberry Jam

Dishonest Blueberry Jam

5 cups crushed blueberries (or 8 cups whole)

5 cups sugar

1 box pectin

4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 Tbs dried lavender

Combine blueberries, vinegar, lavender and sugar in a large pot. Bring to boil and then turn down the heat and allow to simmer for about an hour, stirring frequently.

Run the whole thing through a food mill to get a super smooth consistency and remove the lavender pieces.

Add back into the pot, bring to a boil and add pectin (you do not want to add the pectin before the food mill or you will have less pectin in your jam).

Follow instructions in the Blue Ball Book of Food Preservation for instructions to can.

I have never been a peanut butter person. My whole family likes the stuff... but I can only choke down about a Tbs a year. lol... so for me, this jam was perfect. It was perfect for accompanying my protein fast food of choice, brie. Between the brie, some pepper crackers, and the blueberry jam, I was quite a happy snacker. :)

In my kitchen at 8:22am, Friday, Sept 18th, 2009

Good Morning Sun!

This picture represents about 200lbs of food, made into goodness for the winter.

I am finished. It took 5 days, about 38 hours, and a good friend to get me through this week of preservation frenzy. But I am done. My yearly preservation list is almost checked off. I have a bunch more applesauce to do, and some apple pie filling... but I feel SO accomplished right now.

This is my ginger plum sauce. It is for dipping fresh rolls in. It is nothing but plums, brown sugar, and ginger. And it is so amazingly delicious. I can't imagine why the stores plum sauce has so many ingredients in it. This stuff is perfect, as is.

I had some major successes, and some that were not so great. Like the idea to put blueberries in my fruit cocktail instead of the formaldehyde filled Maraschino cherries. Yeah... that was not the best idea ever. lol! All of the jars of fruit cocktail are completely purple. Not bad, but they don't look great. I am thinking that a bunch of fruit cocktail cobbler is in my future. I am sure it tastes great though!

And here is the Blueberry Jam:

I made two varieties this year. When you have spent a full time job amount of time in your kitchen everyday for a week, you start getting 'inspired'. Well... the line between 'inspired' and 'bored' was very thin anyway.

On the right, we have the Honest Blueberry Jam from The Arugula Files. Great recipe. I also cut the sugar down to 5 cups and it worked great... 7 cups would have been WAY too much.

And then, to the left, we have my own newest creation, Dishonest Blueberry Jam. This jam was my 'inspired' moment. At first I was thinking that I would just add Balsamic Vinegar in place of the lemon juice... and then I was thinking, heck, why not really mix it up and add lavender to the pot as well. It is SO good... like give away for Christmas good. The flavor will knock your socks off. It has an almost blackberry richness, yet a subtle hint of tart and the lavender and blueberry are an excellent mix.

Recipes later. :)

Of course I can!!

Must notice the frantic look:

Found this at a food blog and really felt her pain... and her conviction today. Thought I would share.

I found a couple new food blogs lately that I have been really enjoying:

The Arugula Files

Chiot's Run

I am currently making the "Honest Blueberry Jam" (with my own modifications) from The Arugula Files archives. Must get back to it. But wow... it's beautiful!

In my kitchen at 4:29pm on Tuesday, Sept. 15th, 2009

I set up this table in the center of my kitchen when things get really crazy. You can see my whole set up here. Cutting board and knife in the center, big bowl or pan always to the right of me. Garbage bowl always to the left.

On the table is plums from a friends tree, a pot of apples about to be made into Strawberry Applesauce, a big bowl of bruised fruit to be made into fruit cocktail, and some little green apples from our little tree in the garden.

On the counter there are three half flats of blueberries for blueberry jam.

To the left side of the table is a laundry basket of apples for apple sauce.

Under the table is a box of beets for cake (it isn't full, thank goodness), and two lugs of tomatoes for sauce.

This is my view from where I stand at the other side of the table:

Here is where my littlest plays while I am doing my stuff. Sometimes I give him the less messy scraps to play with in his kitchen. Like the bean tops, or the little green tomato tops.

It is a pretty great set up... I am loving this house the more things I do in it. This kitchen isn't ideal for everyday... there is a lot of 'wasted' space. But for this type of endeavor, it is perfect. Just more proof that this house was meant for us... not just anyone... but for us.

And just as an aside, that table cloth was made from the sheets I posted about in this post. :) It fits both this table and my kitchen table perfectly... and I have enough for 8 napkins besides.

The Mother of all Onions

The Walla Walla was developed by a Italian American who developed it for the early maturation of the crop (weeks before other onions in the season). It was soon known for not only being early, but also being sweet enough to eat like an apple!

This tradition continues with four generations of this same family dedicated to growing the same wonderful crop of onions year after year.

The farms onions were, of course, grown on the farm, but the small farm tradition and the reverence for the Walla Walla variety still live on.

This onion is fast on it's way to bring a bloomin' onion for a wonderful end of summer feast. :)

Here is a recipe for an onion flower and a bit of history of the onions from the farm:

Life is Sweet for the Walla Walla Onion

Farmers Market Etiquette ~ How to get a great deal at the market!

We did have a couple of people come up and ask for deals at the end of the day this weekend (it is pretty evident that farm stands have more than they know what to do with right now). These people came in two different varieties; those who were accepted happily, got great deals and whom we hope comes back, and those we begrudgingly gave deals to this time and will never again. The difference was all about attitude.

It is true, we have TONS right now... and we could easily be giving it away (between the stand next door and us we easily gave 500# to the food bank yesterday. Easily. That is a very low estimate. Think pick up truck overflowing with stuff in the front seat.) So if you play your cards right, you can get great deals. There are a few etiquette things that need to be remembered though.

#1: Attitude is everything. Asking for deals at the end of the day can be a touchy thing. If someone starts out by saying how expensive the food is, or how that 'seems like a lot for just this', no one is going to want to give them a deal. However, on the other side, if someone says "Hey, these are beautiful! Can I get two for $5 being that it is the end of the day?", then they are more likely to say yes (if they can). I know I would.

#2: If you want good deals on a small amount of stuff, please bring exact change. By the time the end of market bell rings, we have already counted down our cash boxes. We do not want to open them up and give change. Really. It is a huge pain.

#3: If you ask for bruised or damaged foods, you will get them for a better deal anytime of day. 99.9% of the time they are fine, they just have a small blemish. We give carrots that have fallen off the bunches at $1/lb less than the ones that are still in the bunch, and literally, the only difference is that they don't have the long green ends. We give discounts all day for people who buy the bruised or slightly discolored stuff. Just ask... politely. ;)

#4: Ask which farm your at. Yesterday I was literally giving away cucumbers at the end of the day. We had over 400 (no, not a typo) cukes going to the food bank and so as people walked by I would hand them one. Funny and a little silly, but it made people smile. One guy in particular walked away and then turned back and said "Hey! What farm are you from? I'd love to come back and buy some stuff from you next week!" Whether he does or not, I may actually never know. But the sentiment was clear, 'I like your style and I want to support your business.' And it made me very happy as a market seller.

Market Days

Val says "Get thee to a farmers market!"

Goodness my friends... there is SO much food out there this time of year. It is blowing me away. This is the time of year to shop at the farmers markets. You may get hooked, or you may be a seasonal shopper... but if there was any time to go, it would be right now. Everything is fit to bursting with incredible amounts of... well, everything! We have summer squash, right next to winter squash, we have carrots right next to our second planting of snow peas, we have tomatoes, and basil, right next to parsnips and rutabagas. We have everything!

My list for this week: ("Prepare to be amazed!" (a quote from a little friend)) Leeks, celery, sungold and plum tomatoes, red beets (for cake again), snow peas, carrots, cucumbers, cabbage, Anaheim and bell peppers, purple cabbage, Romaine lettuce, Italian zucchini, romaine and red Oak Leaf lettuce, red and yellow onions (one is the mother of all onions!), 2 1/2 lbs of basil, a flat of sauce tomatoes, and 4 half flats of blueberries. In the fridge I have rutabaga, parsnips, a dozen eggs, and a half lb of local Chanterelle mushrooms.

And then I have this:

Bruised fruit from the stand next door to make fruit cocktail.

Apples from a tree offered on freecycle (in WA we have plenty of apples to share).

Menu for this week:

List of food preservation for the week:

Applesauce

Fruit Cocktail

Roasted Tomato Sauce

Plum Jam

Plum and Ginger Sauce

Blueberry Jam

Pesto

Roasted Bell Peppers (in olive oil)

Chocolate Beet Cake (to freeze)

I am going to be a busy lady this week...

One Day Like This

GOOD MORNING!!! Today is already going to be a great day. I have decided. And sometimes that is all it takes. Well that, and some really great music.

I have always loved this song... it makes me cry even now. But Snow Patrol did this paticularly well. If I could only find this version on iTunes.

School starts... and so does applesauce.

We started school today... and I am currently making strawberry applesauce for the year.

Times are busy.

My craft room keeps calling me... but then I get sucked back into reality. There is so much to do this time of year... but I really want to be crafting. Sigh.

We have had beautiful weather lately. Even the rain is warm and sweet and feels perfect. When the sun is out (like it was today) it feels like such a treat. You want to go out and bask in it and make sure you get the full effects. For us, this could be the last stint of sun we see for months.

Trying to be grateful.... but I am very tired. So blessed. I know I am oh so blessed. But so very tired of being tired.

So let me share some kid cuteness with you... here is Logan before Cyan's 'Tiny Party' when he and dad were taking off to go to the zoo (must notice who is in his carseat... of her own accord):

Another recycled felt hat

Logan's hat ended up being a bit too small for him, so I put him in a larger size. It is almost too big... but in my house that means it just might last all winter. Kids grow so fast!

He was in a crabby mood and it took about 50 pictures to get these two good ones... but I love the hat!

The sweet little mushroom button was from my friend Erika. THANK YOU! It is so cute on this hat!

And just when you think this post is over, let me show you a picture of our dinner last night:

It was the most delicious food EVER! Linguine tossed with olive oil and a bit of parsley from the garden, topped with shrimp that had been sauteed in butter with cayenne pepper and sea salt. And to the left, a wonderful garden salad with lettuce from the farm and cherry tomatoes from my garden, all tossed in Newman's Own Italian dressing. It was pure heaven!

Ecolovies ~ Recycled Wool Sweater Hats

It's that time of year again. The time when all of us northerners want to stay inside and keep a blanket on with a hot cup of something. For my kids that is perfect playing outside weather... however... keeping them warm is a must.

This idea came strait out of Handmade Home... I finally got my copy of the book and have already started writing notes in it on the projects I want to make and the modifications I need to make for my own handmade home. I am truly in love. Amanda Soule's ideas speak to my heart in so many ways. I was already living that life. I buy used and local whenever I can and have for years... to see a successful mama live the way that I do is very affirming. And wow... she is a creative soul!

So today, I made the wool sweater hats. One for each of the kids (I have on Alex's because he and I are the same size). It was simple. I went to the Value Village sale, and got three wool sweaters, paying at most $3.49 for them. Then I washed them in hot, twice, and dried them on high. They felted beautifully! Even the one I was worried about that was only 90% lambs wool.

Some little tips I found out. The 'youth/adult small' size starts at Cyan's age (8) for my kids. This may not be true... my kids may just have big heads, but Cyan's is a child's large and it isn't quite long enough. So just something to keep in mind if you try this pattern out.

The other is that the tighter the seams the better they lay. That seems like a no-brainer, but if you have the larger seams, the hats tend to puff up off the head.... that doesn't look as good.

And I love the embellishments Amanda did! The little birds are super cute, but for Cyan's I took some scraps from a friends stash and just cut shapes then put a cute button in the center. It worked out great!

The band beneath this hat is another scrap from the my friend Teresa... she makes clothes at the market and gives us all her scraps for fun things to make! I thought that the layer look on this hat was particularly cute.

Oh and if you don't have a baby to make the sleeves into hats for (they are really small after the felting) make them into arm warmers! I will show those another day, but Cyan loves hers. :)

Rainy Market Monday and a Menu Too!

I felt lucky to have new tents at the market this year. Last year, when we had a cold rainy day, slowly, ever so slowly, the tent would sag, and then all of a sudden DUMP water on us as we were working. Yesterday though, the new tents saved us from the horrid sudden waterfalls in most ways... by actually working and not sagging and such. So, that was good. What was not good was that we have two tents side by side... so between the two tents was this never ending stream of water pouring down between the two sides of the table. This was uncomfortable. Doubly so, considering that the 15 customers that did come to the market in the deluge asked for things from both sides of the tables... making us walk through the stream of water with every order. I was soaked to the skin (and standing in wet running shoes) the entire day. You really get to see the hard core local foodies when you work the market on a downpour day like yesterday. We thanked each and every person that came to our stand yesterday for coming out in that weather.

You prepare to be cold and wet in Nov... even Oct sometimes (at least you prepare for cold and wet in Seattle in Oct)... but Sept 6th? We were both in cotton layers, and the only reason we had coats is because we got up while it was still dark (ie; still cold). We were not as bad off as some (the lady behind us was in a running outfit and a apron. Poor thing was SO cold by noon that she was dancing around just to keep warm.) but still, a rather uncomfortable day, in which, once again, we made no money for the farm. Sigh.

Living locally in Sept is so easy. It is amazing the things you find this time of year. Anything and everything grows here.... except lemons (which we were asked for yesterday... weird.).

My list for this week: Bell peppers in all sorts of beautiful colors, celery, garlic, cherry tomatoes and Sun Gold tomatoes, red oak lettuce, romaine lettuce, curly parsley, leeks, Rose Finn potatoes, blond cucumbers, crookneck and Italian zucchini squash, purple cabbage, baby artichokes, fresh onions, Walla Walla onions, nectarines, white flesh peaches, a bag of beets for that cake recipe again (SO GOOD!), one dozen and 11 eggs (one broke, so she gave it to me), 12 chicken wings, a pizza and a huge brownie (which I ate there.) Oh, and I was given a 7 lbs (making it a $11) cabbage to make into soup (no one is going to spend $11 on one cabbage and we know it.)

After I got home and took a nice hot shower last night, The Man and I got to go out on a date. On the drive we saw these dahlias at a road side stand. Being local (out of someones front yard) I thought I would include them in the bounty for the week... isn't it beautiful?

Making a menu from this amazing bounty is only hard because there is so much to chose from. This week I chose these selections:

The "notes" section that is on this menu is really nice. I used it to add a couple snacks I want to be sure to make this week. The eggs are already boiled, and the beets are on the oven for a bunch of cupcakes right now. I'll save the smoothies for later in the week. (menu template found here) The Tiny Food Party is actually on Wed for Cyan and her girlfriends... I just forgot in the middle of writing, so I added it to Sunday so it had a place in the week. (Read the way I use my menu plans here.)

Happy Monday everyone!

Garden Photos

As you can imagine... moving twice in a 7 months does not lend itself well to a fruitful garden... but we have gotten a few things.

My first crop of purple potatoes! :) It was very exciting. I think we even got enough for a dinner later this week.

Minutes after I took this picture, that basil went into pesto for the freezer for winter. That just has to be good for you! Those tomatoes were put on nachos later that night as well... Even Logan ate them. :D My little boy is growing up.

Ok, must have a laugh...

http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards.html

Come and check this out while I am at work. You will seriously laugh until your eyes fill with tears. I am still laughing over Convenience Fish:

Once upon a time the world was young and the words "mackerel" and "pudding" existed far, far away from one another.

One day, that all changed. And then, whoever was responsible somehow thought the word fluffy would help.

Oh, and eggs, too.

Have a great Sunday!

Score!

I feel like I just won a contest or something. I spent an hour in Goodwill with The Man and got a TON of really great stuff!

Everything in this picture (and more) came with a price tag of $51. Even The Man agreed that it was an amazing thrifting day.

Both of the top fabrics are sheets that I will repurpose, and the bottom... well the bottom is 6 yards of blue valour... it is going to be a lot of things. The first of which is pj bottoms for the two younger kids. :)

And this cute little basket with the bowls. Those are for the play kitchen. Right after this picture the red basket was handed to Logan who filled it with all kinds of wooden fruits and veggies.

That night we had a dinner on the patio... I figure there will not be many more warm days, and in fact, I looked at the forecast and there is nothing but rain. So I am glad we got outside, and enjoyed our sweet finds with a yummy summertime meal.

Ecolovies ~ Cupcake Pedestals

If you want to make handmade gifts for this season, September is the time to start planning for Christmas. I am a thrifter when it comes to gift giving and so I have been looking for ideas. While searching online, I found this gem of a site:

Zakka Life

This post was especially appealing because of the tiny cupcake stands! They were SO cute that I instantly added it to my trial Christmas gift list (because you have to try it out before you plan on making tons of them for friends and family, right?). I ended up making 3 cupcake pedestals and 2 mini cake stands for a total of $9 from my local thrift shops and let me tell you, it was SO much fun to find all of these sweet little dishes to put together!

Ok, first, gather your materials. On Zakka, she used a tiny tea set plate for the top of her pedestal... but I have all crystal serving dishes, so I went with tiny crystal (or at least clear glass) plates so they matched my "special" dishes. (You want them to be 4 inches across or less). Then, I added to that some little candle holders that seemed to fit the style of the plates. You have to see where the best fit is, on top of the candle holder or the bottom. The pedestals have to be stable, so play around with your plates and holders to get the best fit.

A note on gluing with glass: I have always been afraid of epoxy glue. For me, it seemed like something really dangerous. When I was telling The Man about this project, he suggested using epoxy and it took me two weeks to get to doing it because I was nervous! How silly is that?! Especially considering it was SO easy! Like crazy easy... and to think, I hadn't used this stuff before. Now I have tons of glass and epoxy projects in my mental queue.

I used course grit sand paper to 'rough up' the parts that I wanted glued together. Then I used a nail to mix and carefully apply the epoxy. I placed the pieces together and let them sit overnight, and when I woke up, this was what I had:

All glued perfectly. My idea for a gift is two of these, with a cupcake mix in a jar. Or perhaps a tiny spring form pan and one of the larger pedestals? Perhaps in a little bag with some tissue and raffia? I don't know, but I think they would make amazing gifts!

The cake stand (in the back in this picture) is about 6 inches wide. It works perfectly with Cyan's tiny spring form cake pan from her baking set. I see many a tea party in my future.

This afternoon I made a batch of Chocolate Beet Cupcakes and they were so perfect and moist! (Recipe at the bottom of this post.)

I decided to make a evening of it and treat my kids to the new cupcake stands along with some chai tea and beet cupcakes. Then it started raining... so we had to come back inside, but they loved them:

Apple Season by Joyce Sutphen

The kitchen is sweet with the smell of apples, big yellow pie apples, light in the hand, their skins freckled, the stems knobby and thick with bark, as if the tree could not bear to let the apple go.
Baskets of apples circle the back door,
fill the porch, cover the kitchen table.

My mother and my grandmother are
running the apple brigade. My mother,
always better with machines, is standing at the apple peeler; my grandmother, more at home with a paring knife, faces her across the breadboard.
My mother takes an apple in her hand,

She pushes it neatly onto the sharp
prong and turns the handle that turns
the apple that swivels the blade pressed tight against the apple's side and peels the skin away in long curling strips that twist and fall to a bucket on the floor.
The apples, coming off the peeler,

Are winding staircases, little accordions, slinky toys, jack-in-the-box fruit, until my grandmother's paring knife goes slicing through the rings and they become apple pies, apple cakes, apple crisp. Soon they will be married to butter and live with cinnamon and sugar, happily ever after.

This was sent to me from my Aunt Pat. Her SIL sent this note along with it, I couldn't help but include the note here:

Hi: I loved the apple poem. Thanks. We had an apple tree in our back yard when we lived in Magnolia. It had three different apples - King, Golden Delicious and Winesap. It bore prodigiously. I made sauce, pies, tarts, and Waldorf salads. This was such a treat for a Florida Cracker, who usually had a singhle apple or two per year. I always approved the devil's choice in tempting Adam. An orange or a banana wouldn't have done the trick. love Dot

Ecolovies ~ Sewing Cards for Older Kids

On the Cereal Box Mini Boxes tutorial I was talking about using a tiny hole punch for my daughters sewing projects. I was just reminded of this as I looked through The Creative Family for inspiration last night. Tonight, I made Cyan some new sewing cards and I thought I would show you guys how I do it. She has become quite the little hand seamstress, and is getting better all the time, but for a brush up on some of her stitches I use these.

Cyan mostly sews on paper so far... she hand sews on real heavy card stock and machine sews through simple mazes printed on lighter card stock. Both of these help her get the techniques down before she starts cutting into her own fabric projects. Slowly but surely she is moving up to felt, but I have found that paper is the easiest way to learn the stitches and how to use the sewing machine for beginners.

First, gather your materials. On my messy table tonight were:

An old cereal box (still the best card stock around!)

a good pair of scissors

different hole punches (I have three different sizes)

a bunch of Sharpies

buttons

embroidery thread

different kinds of needles (including plastic ones for the youngest)

Draw a picture that you like and is easy to cut out on the inside of the cereal box. (Trees were inspired by The Creative Family... what a cute design!)

Then, cut it out and color it.

After you have completed your picture, choose what stitch you would like your little one to practice. For this card she is doing a Chain Stitch:

Here are the three sizes I chose:

The top one is for a simple stitch, the second is for a blanket stitch, and the third is for a chain stitch. Each one will have it's own piece of thread that is secured at the end with a button so it doesn't just come through the hole; like so:

Then to sewing!

A note on needles: The plastic needle she was using can be found at a regular craft store in the notions section. For the blanket and chain stitch I used a 'doll' needle, which I got in an embroidery needle set, also found in the notions section. I use the larger needles so they are easier for her to hold. The plastic needle was for when she was younger, but it works well for Logan now.

As I handed them to her, she said "Oh! I love these!" and immediately started sewing away. Can't get much better response than that. ;)

White House Garden

A little bit of history, a little bit of fluff, and a whole lot of gardening. I think my favorite is watching the garden grow throughout the seasons on the fast forward photos. I need to do that with my garden more.

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From my Aunt Barb

The Basics of Canning

The more you learn about canning the more you figure out that there are some basics that you just have to know... I thought that I would list out these basics. These are the ones I use year after year.

Basics of Canning

1. Get a canning book. The Ball Blue Book of Preserving is mine and I use it every single year. It has all of these rules and much much more... recipes, techniques, and even some of the science of canning. It is a sticky bible for my canning season that is constantly open each time a new fruit or veggie comes my way.

2. If you are just starting out, pick your jar lids ahead of time. For many, the small mouth makes them easier to pack the jars and get the right head space. For me, I like the wide mouths. They are easier to wash, and I use them for many storage options already. So I only purchase the wide mouth jars. I am kind of a snob about it really... but it helps SO much to know that I only have to buy one size of lid when I go to the store every year.

3. Measure your jars to 1/2 inch and 3/4 of an inch 'head space' with a ruler. Know what this looks like in the jars you choose. Then when you are filling, you don't have to wonder if you are filling them too full (which causes them not to seal) or not enough (which causes funny colors in your food.)

4. Everything has to be hot. Lids have to be hot. Jars have to be hot. Even when you are cold packing the fruit or veggies. I once thought that if I was cold packing the fruit, the jars could be cool (but clean of course) because the fruit could be cool. Not so. The jars break 10 times more often if you do it this way. (Ask me how I know.)

5. Low acid foods should be pressure canned whenever possible. Most veggies fall into this category. Most fruits do not. Tomatoes are always an iffy one... so check with your local extension office, or pressure tomatoes by default. (Your recipe has to have a lower acidity than 4.6 pH to can in a water bath canner.)

6. That brings me to another point USE YOUR LOCAL EXTENSION OFFICE! They are usually little old ladies that have been Master Food Preservers for years and years. They get additional training every year and they have wonderful resources at their disposal. They are also where you go to check if your pressure canner still works. Look in your local Yellow Pages for their number. (I have the numbers for all four counties extension offices around me taped inside my cupboard. It is a good idea to get more than one number. Esp when you need advice in the middle of canning and want to talk to a body.)

7. Pressure canners do not have to be scary! They are a useful tool and just like your average drill, they can hurt you if not used or maintained properly. BUT, just like your average drill, they can become one of the most useful tools in your food preservation arsenal.

8. There are things that it does not behoove you to can. Organic Strawberry preserves cost a LOT to process a home... I have always figured out that it is more expensive to make them than to buy them at Trader Joes. Not always because of the price of organic strawberries... but more for the price of organic sugar! I put my heart first into the stuff we eat all the time. Peaches, applesauce, blueberries, pasta sauce, green beans, etc. Some of those things, to get organic I was paying $4 more a package/jar than for the conventionally grown stuff. That is worth it to can my own. That way, I was putting all my money out at one time and spending less, instead of the prosducts slowly bleeding you via grocery bill each month. But things that only save me $.50 per jar I put low on my list. After all, my time has to be worth something... and if I calculate my time at $10 an hour (a low living wage) then I should be able to at least break even with the things I can. If I can't, then I only can those things if the opportunity falls into my lap (like I get free fruit or something) or I find that during the summer I am somehow bored and can't find something to do. (Jk... that doesn't happen.)

9. Keep a Food Preservation notebook. Write down the dates of what you ran out of and when. That way, you will not put up too much or too little for your family each year. My canning notebook is nothing more than a file at the back of my household notebook. When we run out of things too early, I list that. And I always list how many of something I put up. Like this:

Peaches: 8/28/09

5 boxes (20 - 25lbs)/ 64 quarts / 5 broke

Blueberries: 8/19/09

50 lbs / 18 gallon bags

Pesto: 9/1/09

1 1/2 lbs of basil / 10 half pints frozen

Then next to that I write the date when we run out and then average that 'per week' and figure out how much we need for the next year. Last year most of my calculations were off because Logan went from being a baby to a kid eater, and Alex... well Alex became a teen and food wasn't even safe around him. So we ran out of EVERYTHING early. This was good being that we moved twice and didn't want to move millions of jars of canned goods... but on the other hand, it compromised my local living standards a bit to run out of peaches in Jan. (This is also a good place to put down your favorite recipes... although I just put them in my Ball Blue Book of Preserving.)

It really does help to keep track. Then you know that what you are doing is worth it. Today I have done 10 more pints of tomato sauce, and 8 pints of peach butter. That has taken since 9am until 22 minutes from now when my timer goes off and I get the last batch out of the canner. That is a LOT of time! And that is only one day. I have done this now for three weeks. When I look at my notebook though, and remember that last year we ran out of peaches before Feb, I know that me doing all of this preserving is worth it and my kids will be happily eating peaches, frozen blueberries, garlic green beans, and homemade pizza sauce until next summer. And if they are not... I know to enlist them in the preservation process next year. ;)