MerryHeartCrafts.comMountain Momma… Country Living

I thought I would share a picture of my rolls.  Always before I have put them on a cookie sheet to bake.  When I do this, I get 13-15 rolls.  Over the weekend, I tried something different and put them into 3 round cake pans.  I get 21-24 rolls using these pans and I think they look and taste better.  Yesterdays supper was fried chicken, home canned corn, and gravy.  With of course, these rolls. 

We worked on the apples some more yesterday.  I canned this juice instead of freezing it.  Freezing it is much easier but, Praise the Lord, my freezers are getting full.  I have to save some space my the deer my Hubby will be getting.  Notice my positive thinking!  Anyway, we got 5 qts of juice and 2 qts of applesauce.  Hopefully, we will be doing more today. 

I am trying out a new recipe for apple muffins for breakfast.  Thanks Cheryl for sharing.  They have just came out of the oven.  I think I will go enjoy them.  Take care and God bless.

Here is a picture of my juicer/steamer in action.  Yesterday it was raining very hard.  It would have been difficult for me to go outside to do the juice.  Hubby set up the propane burner on our enclosed front porch.  It worked extremely well.  So much better than out in the shed.  We just opened up the windows for ventilation.  We got another 2 gal. of juice yesterday and 3 qts of applesauce and 4 qts of applebutter.  The mountain of apples is getting smaller now.  Soon we will be starting on the pears. 

I thought you all might enjoy another fall shot.  I snapped this as we were going down the road toward Floyd.  I thought maybe it would be blurred but it turned out nice, I think.  Today we will be working on more apples and school.  It is very foggy here today.  A dreary day.  A day for lighting candles.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Today we made something new!  I love doing new things.  We made apple cider.  After much research on the internet, we decided that what we were making is correctly called cider.   Cider is homemade apple juice that hasn’t been filtered.  Isn’t it such a pretty color.  We used the steamer/juicer to make it.  We got 3 qts of cider and 2 qts of applesauce from a little under a half bushel of apples.  We plan to do more tomorrow. 

The room is coming along nicely.  Hubby put another coat of mud on today.  It has rained here most of the day.  We really needed rain.  The sun started peeping through the clouds in late afternoon.  Alll in all it has been a nice day.  Temperatures around mid 50′s.  I spent the first part of the day running errands.  Not my favorite chore, but it has to be done. 

Time to cook supper.  Enjoy your evening and God bless.

We did make cookies this afternoon.  It seems like it has been a long time since we made cookies.   We have made lots of other desserts this summer, just not cookies.  Here’s the recipe I like to use:

1/2 cup shortening, 1/2 cup butter, softened.  1 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp. vanilla, 3 cups self-rising flour.  I use 2 cups white flour, 1 cup fresh ground wheat flour.  Add 1 12 oz package chocolate chips.  I use the mini chocolate chips.  I think they do much better, makes you think there is more chocolate in each cookie.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 min.  We are enjoying them now with a tall glass of fresh milk.  Life is good!

We gathered the corn this morning but because of my back problems it had gotten a little bit hard so we are making pickled corn from it.  I really like pickled corn with brown beans and corn bread.  When I make pickled corn, I cut it off the cob-do not scrape the cob.  Then I put it into a crock, cover it with cold water.  Put a plate on top of this so the corn stays under the salted water.  For every gallon of water I need to cover the corn, I add 10 tbsp. of canning salt.  Let the corn sit in the crock for 1 week.  Drain the salted water off and rinse the corn.  Put into jars and process in water bath canner.  10 min. pts and 15 min. qts.  When it is time to eat it, we like to heat it up in a cast iron skillet with just a little bit of oil.  To make myself feel better I use olive oil.  The old way is to use lard.

More cookies are ready to come out of the oven.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Today we have been busy with peaches.  We had 11 qts of peaches.  After peeling them, I decided to try out my new helper.  I put the peelings into the steamer juicer and got 2 qts of juice.  From that juice, I made 6 pts of jelly.  I think they look really pretty in the jar.  It was  easy to do.  I think it was a wise investment.  Supper this evening was fried chicken, gravy, corn and biscuits.  Of course, peach jelly for dessert. 

A new visitor to our pond.  He (or she) arrived the other day for a short visit.  Hubby says he thinks it is an egret.  Of course, he stood out with his white color.  I think the geese were a little amazed.  We have been having rain lately.  It is raining now as I am doing this post.  I had hoped to go to the garden and check on things but I don’t think that will be happening.  Oh well, maybe I’ll just rest.  Take care and God bless.

Our spaghetti sauce turned out really good.  We got 12 qts from a half  bushel of tomatoes.  Today we will do the other half bushel.  The recipe we used:

Scald and peel half a bushel of tomatoes (we used our food strainer instead), 6 cups chopped onions, 4 chopped green peppers, 1 clove of garlic.  Cook for 1 and a half hours, stirring frequently.  Add 1 pt crisco oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp crushed basil leaves, 1 tbsp italian seasoning, 1 tbsp parsley, 5-12 oz cans tomato paste, 4 jalopeno peppers.  Cook another 45 min stirring frequently.  Put in jars.  Heat lids and seals to boiling.  Put lids and seals on jars.  Cover jars with towel and let sit overnight.  

This recipe does not call for processing as the liquid is so hot when you put it into the jars.  However, if you are uncomfortable with this method you can process in a hot water bath canner or freeze the sauce.  

We better get busy.  Lots to do today.  We need to get busy on the other spaghetti sauce and on cleaning house.  The ladies will come tomorrow for bible study.  Take care and God bless.

This is a picture of our Grundy home.  The original house was built by my grandparents.  It (like most old homes) had rooms added on.  I was 12 years old when I first moved into this home and 40 when I left.  Leaving was hard.  Life changes though and we must be able to change with it.  I have so many happy memories of this place but I also have many happy memories of where I am now.  

The girls and I have been busy.  We had 23 qts. of green beans.  We finished them today.  We also put  more squash in the freezer.  We are going down to Jessica’s this evening.  Tomorrow us girls will be going blueberry picking while Dad and PawPaw watch the two boys.  After that we plan on going to Lifeway and then out to eat.  We will be coming back home tomorrow evening. 

Enjoy your day and God bless.

We were extremely impressed with the food strainer.  It was super fast compared to the old food mill and had very little waste.  We processed a bushel of apples in about 4 1/2 hours.  We used both big canners.  We got 12 qts and 24 pints.  YUM!  I have always used the hot water bath canner to process applesauce.  However, I read in my Mennonite cookbook, they could be processed in the pressure canner.  We tried that yesterday and it went very fast.  15 min. on 5 lb. pressure.  Much faster than using a bath canner.  Vicki and I had a great time and of course the kids had fun.  It is so much more pleasant sharing canning with a friend.  I am so thankful the Lord placed our families together.  Good friends are sometimes hard to find and I consider Vicki one of the best.

  The girls and I are planning a “girl day” out today.  We are going into C-burg to run some errands.  This will include Wal-Mart and Goodwill.  Temperatures have been very warm here in Floyd.  On the farm though, it isn’t near as bad as it is in town.  We are usually a few degrees cooler.  In the summer this is a plus, in the winter not so good.  Thankfully, we have quite a few shade trees in the yard and that really helps. 

Time for us to get ready to leave.  Enjoy your day and God bless.

Here’s a picture of the beets I canned the other day.  I pulled 1/2 bushel of beets.  Pretty good for the first time I ever raised  beets here at the farm.  From that 1/2 bushel I canned 9 qts.  This will taste really good this winter with pinto beans and cornbread.  The other jars are pureed tomotoes.  The tomatoes were the yellow striped variety thus explaining the color in the jars.  I had forgotten how much work goes into canning beets.  Quite a lot but as you know most things worth having require  work.  Today was homecoming day at church.  We had a really good day.  Lots of people showed up, good music, good preaching, good eating.  The temperatures are still cool at night here with beautiful sunshine during the day.  Wonderful fall weather.  I think I will take my Daniel bible study and my bible and go out and enjoy some of this wonderful weather God has decided to bless us with.  Enjoy and God Bless.

Today has been another busy but productive day.  We gathered 1/2 bushel of tomatoes from the garden and the dishpan full of peppers.   The tomatoes yielded 9 qts and I am attempting for the first time to dry the peppers in the dehydrator.  Hope it works.   Hubby has been busy today with woodwork.  I’ll post a picture when its finished.  After canning was done I went to help him and the girls took off upstairs for some play time.  They are such good helpers.  They help me with everything I do.  We try to impress upon them the value of work and the importance of play.  Teaching them how to garden and then harvest what we raise is important to me.  Canning is becoming a lost art and I want my girls to know how to do it.  Well night is approaching and I need to get busy doing my Sunday School lesson.  If I hurry I can get it done outside on the swing before dark sets in.  God bless.