A Beautiful Sunset

For the last few days, we have been enjoying beautiful sunsets. We thought this one was exceptionally pretty. My thanks to Grace for taking the picture. It looked like a highway and it stretched almost all the way across the sky. God certainly is awesome.

We have been doing the usual around here. Cleaning, canning etc. Tuesday evening we visited with the Horn’s. Vicki made her delicious potato soup. Madison made a tomato pie, with fresh tomatoes and herbs she had raised and dried herself. It was delicious. It tasted amazingly like pizza. We all loved it.

Today, I am meeting Mrs. Sally in “little town”. She has a stock pot she is going to let me borrow for making spaghetti sauce. I think the brand name is Calphalon. She says it is wonderful and that her sauce never sticks. I am excited about giving it a try and grateful to her for letting us use it. Mrs. Faye from our church will also meet us there in town. I picked up an outdoor canner for her yesterday and she wants to get started using it as soon as possible.

Well, I thinks that’s it for now. I have lots to get done so I better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 9, 2012 4

How Many Snows?

There is an old saying that if you count the number of fogs you have in August, that’s how many snows you will have that winter.

I’m not sure how true that is but so far this month we had have 3 mornings with fog.

The geese don’t seem to mind though.

The girls and I picked a bushel of corn this morning. We put 40 ears in the freezer, keep out enough for supper, and had a few bags of corn cut off the cob for the freezer. We also picked almost 1/2 bushel of tomatoes. We will be using these to make spaghetti sauce one day this week. I am also trying a recipe for sourdough bread using my bread machine to work the dough. I’ll let you all know how it turned out.

We had a great weekend with the grandkids. Chuck brought these scooters for everyone to ride.

And a toy for him to play with.

We then went for a ride in the bumpy truck. Irma had never ridden in the back of a truck before. (I know, I just couldn’t believe it either). Sunday we had our church breakfast at Smart View Park. David and Jess came up. They had Katie dressed in the little dress and hat the girls had made her. She looked so cute in it. Later in the afternoon, we all went for another ride in the bumpy truck. Daniel so loves riding in “his” bumpy truck.

Well, that’s about it for now. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

August 6, 2012 5

Homemade Yogurt

For a quart of yogurt, you need:
1 quart of milk
1/2 cup dry milk powder (not absolutely necessary but makes it thicker) I usually skip this step.
1/4 – 1/2 cup yogurt starter (plain – not vanilla – yogurt) room temperature… I use 1/4 cup

To Make:
Mix the milk and dry milk powder well. Heat in microwave to 180 degrees. Cool down to 115 degrees. To cool faster put pot in a pan of cold water. When cool, add a yogurt starter to a small amount of milk. Add all milk and whisk well. Pour milk into a yogurt maker and incubate for 6 to 8 hours. I set my yogurt maker for 12 hrs. Refrigerate. Serve!

I got this recipe from http://homejoys.blogspot.com/2008/10/make-it-yourself-yogurt.html

August 1, 2012 1

A New Dress for Katie

Remember how I told you all Mrs. Sally (our pastor’s wife) is teaching my girls how to sew. Well, this is their latest sewing project. Julie made the dress and Grace made the hat. I think they did a great job.

It has been a busy but productive and fun week for us. Monday we went down to Jessica’s. Tuesday, I helped Hubby and then the Horn’s came over for a visit on Tuesday evening. We had a great visit. We had hamburgers on the grill. The wind was blowing so hard though that we had a little trouble keeping the grill lit. It was a beautiful evening with temperatures in the mid 70’s. We sit outside on my green swing and enjoyed the breeze. You wouldn’t know that today though. It has been hot and humid. Oh well. Yesterday, the girls and I made sweet pickle relish. I have never made relish before. I think it will be very good. Today, we worked on green beans. We canned 28 quarts. It really helps to have two canners going. Grace has an eye appointment tomorrow in Salem. Tomorrow evening we are going to the pastor’s house to cook out, then we will be picking beans as they are so generously sharing with us. I hope to remember my camera so I can show you all some pictures. His apples trees are loaded with apples this year.

Well, it is time for the last canner to come off. YEAH! I think we are all tired. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

July 26, 2012 5

Sunday

Hello everyone!! Yesterday was our annual horseshoe picnic, however, being how I am I forgot the camera. I did take pictures last year so if any of you haven’t saw where we do our horseshoe picnic, you can check out last year’s pictures here: https://merryheartcrafts.com/2011/06/26/horseshoe-picnic/

We had a great time yesterday, with lots of good food(of course). After eating we played horseshoes, had some pickin’ and grinnin’ (I did the grinnin’) and all around good fellowship. I think we are very blessed at our church. We have lots of fun together. Next Sunday, will be our annual picnic and baptizing at Gallimore Pond. We do not have a baptismal at our church. We baptize at a beautiful pond that is close to our church. And, of course, while we are there, we might as well eat. The next Sunday will be our annual Sunday School breakfast at Smart View Park, just about a mile from our house. We eat a wonderful breakfast and then have Sunday School. There’s just something about eating outdoors that I love. Every time we are having a church service out in the open like that, I feel so blessed to live in this country and so thankful to everyone who has sacrificed in one way or another so that we can freely worship where ever we choose. There is just something special about the sound of hymns as they float through the trees. We take so much for granted here in this country.

Okay, sorry about going on like that but it is how I feel. Tonight is our last study lesson on Titus. I think we are going to do Exodus next. Not sure though, we will decide tonight. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

July 22, 2012 3

Jelly Update

Okay ladies, yesterday we made blackberry jelly. I used the stainless steel kettle and the pomona pectin. It turned out perfect!!! We were very happy. Maybe it was the kettle all along. Wouldn’t that be something? I never thought the type of kettle used could make a difference but I do know yesterday’s jelly turned out perfect. I will definitely be using this kettle every time. I was very impressed with the pomona pectin. If you haven’t ever tried it, I suggest you give it a try. You use about 1/2 the sugar that you would use with sure jell or certo, which saves money. I will be using it from now on.

First thing this morning, we had some errands to run in little town. We paid a few bills and then went to the library for a while. When we came back we starting making bread and butter pickles. These are Hubby’s favorite. We ended up with 10 pts which is probably all we’ll need. We do not eat a lot of pickles. I am thinking if the cucumbers keep producing, we will try making sweet pickle relish. I do make a lot of egg salad and I thought it would be nice to have homemade relish to put in it. Have any of you ever made it?

Supper tonight is chicken, potatoes and squash all fixed on the grill. I love cooking on the grill. Less clean up and less heat in the house. Hubby is mowing while supper is getting ready and the girls are taking a short break upstairs. Well, time to check on the grill. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and God bless.

July 19, 2012 4

Tuesday

Hello ladies! I thought I would make a post and give everyone an update on how things are going. We have been busy, isn’t everyone these days? I have been helping Hubby yesterday and today. The sheetrock is being delivered today and he will start hanging tomorrow. The insulators came last week. They sprayed this insulation in that looks and acts very similar to Great Stuff. It was pretty amazing. Anyway, I think he is going to get someone else to help him hang the ceilings. (Someone maybe a little stronger and taller than me). I don’t mind. We have plenty to do here.

Tomorrow morning, we will start picking blackberries. I think there will be plenty for canning, juicing and making jelly. Speaking of making jelly, I still am having no luck getting my jelly to set up. I just don’t understand what could be going on. The other day, the girls and I made 15 pints of peach jelly. None of it set up. Very disappointing and very expensive. I went to our local health food store and purchased the pomona pectin that my blogger friend Cheryl uses and redid it. It finally set up some but it is a soft set definitely not as firm as jelly usually is. So I used the magical powers of google to see if I could find out what was going on. Now I am not a novice at making jelly and jams. I’ve been doing it for years. Anyway one person said they had to switch kettles that they were using and then theirs did just fine. Do you all think it could be the kettle I am using? I tried to remember how long I have been using the kettle and it could coincide with the jelly problem. My old kettle finally gave out and I did switch to a different one. The kettle I am using now is a teflon kettle. The next time I do jelly I am going to try a stainless steel kettle and see if that makes a difference. What type of kettle do you all use?

The girls and I picked a mess of green beans for supper this evening. We also dug our first hill of potatoes. We will be having pork tenderloin, green beans, potatoes, onions and peppers and cucumbers for supper. Everything fresh from our garden (except the pork tenderloin). I can hardly wait. I could just feast on the veggies but Hubby always wants meat.

Our pullets are starting to lay pretty good. Yesterday we got 6 pullet eggs. Our old layers though have slacked off for some reason. Probably the heat. We have been hot for the last several days. Low 90’s. We did get a storm yesterday evening and it brought a pretty good rain with it. Lots of thunder and lightning too.

Well, I guess I better get busy starting supper. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 17, 2012 6

Blueberry Muffins

Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)

2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, slightly beaten
3/4 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup granulated brown sugar or white sugar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and mix well. Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over mix; its okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold the blueberries into the batter.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the granulated brown or white sugar and return the muffins to the oven to bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out.

July 16, 2012 0

Zucchini Brownies

I got this recipe from Vicki and they are delicious!!

1/2 cup oil, 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup walnuts-chopped, 2 tsp. vanilla, 2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat flour) 1 and 1/2 tsp baking soda and 2 cups shredded zucchini. Mix everything together except zucchini and nuts. Fold in zucchini and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees unitl done. Approximately 30 min. 9 X 9 pan makes thick brownies 9 X 13 pan makes thinner.

No mistake-this recipe DOES NOT contain eggs.

July 13, 2012 0

Blueberries and Squash

The girls and I picked a gallon of these beautiful blueberries yesterday. It was a nice day for picking. It rained on us before we got to the blueberry place but stopped before we got there. The bushes were wet but the temperature was not bad and the bugs even left us alone.

Today we made this zucchini pineapple recipe. We used yellow squash instead of zucchini. It actually tastes like pineapple. You would never know it had squash in it. I got the recipe from here. http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/zucchinipineapple.htm A blogger friend of mine had made it the other day. She posted about it here. http://holcombhappenings.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/a-day-of-canning/ I think it will be really good.

Now, question time. I found out from the internet this squash is called a patty pan squash. Do any of you ladies have a recipe for it? Our pastor gave them to us and I really would like to try them. Online it says it pairs good with tomatoes but I thought I would ask you all.

Our weather change here has been amazing. We had rain yesterday which we so much needed. We laughed and said the plants in our garden were doing a happy dance for God. The temperatures have cooled off so much. We are right now at 73 degrees!!! Thank you Lord.

Well, that’s about all. I hope you have a great evening and God bless.

July 12, 2012 5