Flower Girl's Applesauce

For the last 2 years I have blogged about Flower Girl and her famous applesauce. It was fun to go back and look her in 2008 and 2009 and marvel over how she has grown. So I will carry on the tradition and document her creations as long as she continues to do so.

I chuckled looking back at these pictures because this apple (FG) didn't fall far from the tree.


Although I do not remember being so animated at her young age.


I was in my prime by age 16


Which leads me to wonder what I will be in for when she hits 16.

I have faith that she'll be good kid.

Please God, no pay backs for how I behaved!

Supplies needed: apples, honey, cinnamon & a crock pot. See previous posts (above 08' & 09') for exact measurements.

Putting up Tomatoes

Maine Man grew most of the tomatoes in the hoop house this year. Because of that we were one of the first to have ripe tomatoes and we may be one of the last. That can be both a good thing and a bad thing.

Good: Lots of tomatoes to eat & giveaway throughout the extended season.

Bad: I am still have vegetables screaming "hey lady you better hurry up and process me or I'll rot".

I have made fresh salsa, lots of spaghetti sauce, soup, and tomato sauce. Today I plan to make some more sauce but I think I will can it instead of freeze as we are running out of space.

Fortunately I have a handy dandy Sauce Master that I bought last year at Johnny's.

It is slick....wash the tomatoes and cut the large ones and throw them in (stems, peelings & all)

Definitely one of my better kitchen gadget investments. Especially come this time of year.

It is amazing to see how many tomatoes it takes to make this sauce.

While we are talking tomatoes has anyone ever made Piccalilli?

I fear that we are going to have a lots of green tomatoes left so I am looking for ways to use some up. I've also read you can wrap them up in newspaper and store them in a cool place.

What do you with your green tomatoes?

36 things.....

In celebration of 36 years of life I thought about doing an "about me" post for my birthday then I dug through my archives and came across a post titled 25 things about me. So if you care to learn more you can just click on this link, otherwise disregard. Nothing has changed except I finally got rid of my old Nokia cell phone. Believe it or not I have a texting phone. I do not text often. Actually I swore I never would. Hate it when that happens! I swore off facebook too and now I'm a junkie.

36 things that make me SMILE...

1. the card flower girl made me for my birthday (she writes..."I love you so much. I wish I could always be with you.")


2. snail mail


3. the smell of fall foods cooking


4. when my kids run to my vehicle when I've been gone all day


5. the sound of duck wings flapping (pictured above) as the fly away from the pond


6. random compliments & acts of kindness


7. lobster


8. being spontaneous


9. conversation with an old friend


10. apple picking


11. the different scents as I walk through the back forty


12. sunsets


13. getting dirty


14. the expression on my farmer friend's face EVERY time I go visit


15. when Maine Man can finish my sentence


16. sharing our bounty with friends & family


17. Sunday company


18. camp fires


19. working up a sweat


20. being followed from room to room by my kids as I clean up to share their day with me


21. making people happy


22. Country Boy's scent after he has played outside all day


23. my health


24. sitting down to eat a meal with my family that we've grown/raised here


25. memories of my grandfather


26. magazines


27. fireflies


28. finishing a good book


29. flirting


30. wind blown hair


31. nature


32. my camera


33. music


34. flip flops


35. learning something new


36. happy endings
    
    

Quick & Easy Biscuit Mix

I came across this idea & recipe in Backwoods Home Magazine (May). I am always looking for new ideas that are easy and inexpensive. This is the mix I made up:

• 10 cups flour
• 10 Tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 tsp cream of tartar
• 4 Tbsp. sugar

Mix, Make your first batch, Store remaining for future biscuit making.

I used a tuna can to cut the dough. They were a big hit with the family.

Then wrote the directions on my storage container because I'd never remember.

This is what you do....

• 2 cups of mix
• 6T. of butter (softened)
• 1 cup of milk

(or buttermilk for fluffier biscuits)

I mixed the biscuit mix with butter in my kitchen-aid then added milk. Turned onto a floured board & kneaded for 30 seconds. Do not overwork dough. Pat into 1/2 inch-thick circle and cut with biscuit cutter or tuna can). Place on ungreased oven at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

P.S. Country Boy & Flower Girl want to send a Hello & THANK YOU out to their Great Aunt in Florida!!

Celebrating 15 years of Marriage

I am grateful for the life I share with Maine Man!

A quote I like.....

"I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you." -Author Unknown

LOVE YOU MAINE MAN~THANKS FOR JUST BEING YOU!!

Here is to 50 more good years!

Farm Display @ the Fair

Last Tuesday Maine Man and I worked late into the night preparing our display for the fair. It was all worth it, we won FIRST place out of 4 farms! The rules were to display at least 20 items you produce on your farm, it must be educational, and it is also judged on presentation. We also brought along the chicken plucker that MM built, that was a BIG hit!

Flower Girl also took first place for her butternut squash

and her Green Peppers from the hoop house



Country Boy received three blue ribbons. This squash is called Long Island Cheese, isn't it a beauty? I bought the seeds on clearance at Johnny's this Spring. Can't wait to cook one up!

CB's Hubbard, he also entered a pumpkin but I forgot to take a picture.

Great weekend full of fair food. I surely gained a few pounds!

Fair Preparations

Tonight I am putting together a display for our local fair. Last year we entered some vegetables and photos. This year with our farm exhibit we need to display at least 20 items that we produce on our farm. It also has to be educational and will be judged on appearance. Can't wait to see how it comes out! Hoping to win a prize ;) Pictures to follow. Wish me luck :)
P.S. Amy you are right! I do work best under pressure....

Haying Time

Last week Country Boy went haying for the first time.


He was right into it!

He couldn't handle the bales like the big boys did but he found a method that worked for him. It was cool to watch him figure it out on his own. He made me proud! I love how much he embraces in farm life!

He certainly lives up to his cyber name!

Wordless Weekend

Putting an End to Hunger

At the end of June I wrote a post about a person we (my farmer friend and I) make weekly meal deliveries to. Tonight marked our 15th trip over to his house dropping by food. Every week we deliver a dozen fresh eggs, milk, bread, garden vegetables, meat, canned goods (donated by friends...you know who you are, THANK YOU!), and sometimes even a sweet treat along with a couple gallons of frozen water to supply his cooler for the week.

In past weeks we have also delivered clothing, shoes, and household supplies (tp, soap etc.). Despite our efforts to supply him with weather appropriate (it was up to 100 degrees here today, actually VERY unusual weather for Maine in September) clean clothing he has the SAME attire on EVERY visit.... worn tan pants, t-shit, zip-up sweatshirt with cutoff sleeves propped up with clothes pins, a belt and sneakers with holes. Kinda strange but, to each his own I guess! My farmer friend has finally convinced the man that he'd take him to the social security office next week in hopes to get him enrolled in benefits. He should be able to collect as he is 63 years old. My FF told him he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to live and he wanted to help him while he could......brought tears to my eyes! I can't imagine life without that man. LOVE HIM, he has become such an IMPORTANT part of my life! There isn't a day that goes by that I do not visit him or at the very least talk to him. One that note I can't urge you enough to take a few extra moments a week out of your busy lives and spend some time with an elderly neighbor or relative. I promise you they will enrich your lives and teach you invaluable lessons if you just take the time and listen.

On a lighter note.....are you wondering why I posted a picture of our naughty dog Rona? Lately we noticed she kept loosing weight to the point of real concern. We wormed her using 2 different wormers thinking that was her problem. After close observation we realized she was literally starving herself in hopes to get table scraps come days end. Despite our dogs bottomless bowl of decent dog food. Can you even imagine? We have NEVER had a dog do something of this nature before. Now in order to get our spoiled rotten dog to eat dog food twice daily we give her what we now call "dog cereal" covering her food with milk or meat broth. Has anyone else ever had a finicky dog like this?

Digless Potatoes

8.5 bushels this season! If I calculated correctly that is approximately 425lbs. We planted a few different types, even purple potatoes. I made french fries out of them the other day, the kids LOVED them! Maine Man used a different planting method this year. Instead of burying the spuds he applied a heavy layer of moist mulch on top and the potatoes grew up through. The mulch hay was recycled from the 40 something bales that served as insulation for our foundation of our old farmhouse this past winter. MM was pleased with his "digless potatoes" and plans to use this method again next year.


On a completely different note I have a question for my fellow bloggers. Have any of you ever used google AdSense on your blog or any other advertisement? Would love to hear others input on this!