Tuesday, October 26, 2010



Things to be proud of ! A well colored scarecrow & a clean locker ! (What will it look like come winter?)

I Love Grandparent's Day



I love Grandparents Day at the school my grandchildren attend.They always do such a nice job and it's a pleasure to visit the classrooms to see what they've been up to.Of course, one class will read a poem that will make my eyes sting and my face crunch up trying not to cry.(:< I never remember to bring tissues .

Friday, October 22, 2010

Pumpkin' Gathering!


Great stuff happens in the Fall! Pumpkins and multicolored fall leaves, yard sales and hunting breakfasts,apple butter and bow hunting festivals! Turkey hunting (all day!!) apple cider making, apple sauce,and FINALLY wrapping up canning for the year!! But then comes butchering season~~ piggers,8 month old lambs, the last of the meat chickens~~ well,soon I can look forward to winter. My sabboth rest.(:>

Egg Fight II

One of the good things about using old abandoned eggs from 'way up yonder in the hay bale nests' is that they don't break very easily. NAY!! They BOUNCE when they hit the ground and you can run and scuffle and scap them up for a second, even THIRD round of egg wars!
But there is no wisdom in encouraging these games.With one reckless 'whopp!', Joel got smacked in the kisser. He dropped to the ground howling in a tearful rage ,swearing to pelt mighty vengeange upon Kyle's Bulls-eye! Well,I tried to comfort the varmint and cleared his nostrils of shattered egg shells.I handed him an egg,still intact and surviving many assaults and demanded that Kyle "Stand still & let yer brother blast ya'!!" And of course, smack to the back-O-the neck, yoke drippin' down!~~ All is well a'top my mountain and little boys fell asleep happy Friday night! (:>

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

What to do for Grandparents Day


Every proper Garandma knows that for any Grandparents Day to be complete calls for an EGG FIGHT!! Found upon the highest hay bales in the barn was an abandoned nest of eggs.How long was it there? The egg test ( place eggs in a bowl of water to see if they float ) proved they were there a LONG TIME!! "Boys?? Would you like to throw them at each pther?" ~~~~ YESSSSSS !!!!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Ode to Canning Jars



I canned up a batch of white grape juice for the year.Good stuff! While setting them out to cool,I checkED out the names on the jars of the companies that manufactured them. Most of us canners are familiar with the old time standards like BALL, ATLAS,MAGIC BUTTON,GOLDEN HARVEST,MASON but what about the lesser known providers that may have bitten the dust of "Going OUTTA Business" ? Check out your jars and post on here what names you have. I used to have some pink glass jars.I guess they broke.I have quite a few blue jars and my all time favorites are the glass top lids with wire snaps because they are old as the hills and still going strong.(Just like my Gramma McCue's treadle sewing machine! Perfect stitches,every time).)
I love canning! It is probably the longest and most consistent hobby that has ever been part of my cellular structure.
Tomorrow there will be many tables at yard sales,pumpkin festivals,etc and I will pass by a jar or 2.Will I run my fingers gently around the rims and sigh and~~~~walk away? Will I let another lady strolling in the crowd behind be ponder if she needs it and barter for it? OR~~ will I spin around, race back and knock people out of the way,grab the jar out of her hands and hissss ~ "It's MINE!!" .(?????) I will give a full report tomorrow.

ODE TO A CANNING JAR

THERE ONCE WAS A JAR THAT WAS LOOKING AT ME
IT HAD NOT BEEN USED SINCE '73
THE JAR BORE A NAME THAT WAS NOT FAMILIAR
NOT BALL,NOT ATLAS,SO I WANTED TO FILL HER
SHE WAS DUSTY AND GRAY WITH THE YEARS IN THE CELLAR
I WAS CURIOUS WHAT COMPANY EXISTED TO SELL HER
DID IT LIVE THRU DEPRESSION OR DID IT GO UNDER?
YET THIS JAR SURVIVED TURMOIL WHEN ALL TORE ASUNDER
AND MANY A FARM WIFE KEPT HER FAMILY ALIVE
WHEN OTHERS IN CITIES STRUGGLED TO SURVIVE
BUT YOU DON'T NEED AN ACRE, YOU DON'T NEED A FARM
A TOWNIE CAN DO IT ! YOU DON'T NEED A BARN!
I STARTED TO CAN WHEN I LIVED IN BAYONNE
I LIVED IN THE CITY,I HAD A SMALL HOME.
TOMATOES AND PICKLES AND APPLESAUCE TOO!
PEACHES AND PEARS,TO NAME JUST A FEW.
I STARTED OUT LITTLE,I STARTED OUT SMALL,
AND NOW I'M A FACTORY BY LATE SUMMER AND FALL!
MY MOM DID NOT KNOW THE INFLUENCE SHE BRED
WHEN SHE WENT TO THE CELLAR FOR PEARS BEFORE BED
MY GRANDMA MADE JELLY FROM VINES IN HER YARD
UNCLE FRITZ MADE THE PICKLES AND IT WAS NOT HARD
WE SMILED WHEN SENT TO THE CELLAR FOR FOOD
WE MADE IT! WE DID IT! "AND GOD SAID,IT WAS GOOD"! (:>

Turkey Huntin'


This is my neighbor during last year's turkey hunting season. He was so excited when he caught this gobbler.He raced it over to my house because he knew I had a digital camera.So....I snapped the picture,printed it out 8x11,and he had a nice picture to frame for his very first turk. Nice prize.
Later,Ed got up and said,"What's new? Hear from anyone?" I said "Yep~~~ I found Randolf (our missing gobbler)! He's in the freezer,next house over".

Thursday, October 14, 2010

RED BEETS!!!

Wonderful Scrumptious Red Beet Recipe!!

Since the 1970's,I have been canning red beets. Pickled beets & Harvard beets.~~~Ho HUM!! My kids & husband were poor enthusiasts and I ended up eating them myself--- 2 year old pints.Sitting about and wasting with dust on the lids. THIS WEEK ~THAT HAS ENDED !!! I have found the WONDERFUL SCRUMPTIOUS RED BEET RECIPE!!! Written for canning lovers.It goes like this:

5 QTS chopped or cubed red beets (I use a french fry chopper, then cut them in half to make cubes).
1 large spanish onion chopped up
6 Tbs cornstarch
3 tsp salt
2 1/2 c white vinegar
1 1/2 c water
18 whole cloves
12 tablespoons butter (secret ingredient)

This will make approx, 9 pints.Or was it 12? (Hmmm).Place 2 whole cloves into each jar batch.Bring the batch to a slow simmering boil then spoon the HOT batch into pint jars. Can at 10 lbs pressure for 30min for pints (or 35 min.for QTS).
When the jars cool,you will see the butter lying on top of your beets,solidified.Pay it no mind and be sure to stir it into your saucepan with the beets when you heat it up to serve with your very best dinners! Tell your cardiologist to scoot back to his golfcourse.You will enjoy your red beets while he enjoys his Porche!

Monday, October 11, 2010

CORNED BEEF-make yer own !




I used to be a dummy! I bought my St PAtty's Day corned beef & cabbage in the supermarket. They don't have me by the neck anymore (:< I am an independant corned beef cure-ererererer.Ever buy a corned beef from the super market and it has as much flavor as wall board? Well ,just go ahead and make your own! You can do it!! So easy. You need a bowl.A ziplock plastic bag and Here's the ingredients.

A piece of beef 4-6 lbs~ top round,a brisket,bottom round,etc.
5 TBS Morton Tender Quick or Sugar Cure mix(you can get this from True Value or Agway or Cole's HArdware stores and also many grocery or rural mom & pop grocery stores.
2 TBS brown sugar
1 TBS ground black pepper
1 tsp ground paprika
1 tsp ground bay leaves
1 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp chopped garlic (or from the jar)
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 thsp ground cayenne

Mix well in bowl then rub into the meat.Put meat & rubbed in mixture into a zip lock bag and place into a roast pan or glass roasting dish. Store in refrige for 5 days per inch of meat depth. Flip meat over and massage meat & mixture into it once daily.After the week or two, rinse off all coating mixture. Then drop into pot of boiling water, along with onion,pepper corns, garlic,bayleaf,mustard seed (or just plain pickling spices)!!!! and onion & cabbage and potatoes.Do NOT add salt.It's had enough already.Bring to boil and reduce heat to soft rolling boil.Cook 3 hours on low soft boiling heat or for 2 hours if small roast. (:> This year instead of cooking it, I cut each piece into sections and canned it along with cabbage,onion, garlic,pepper,mustard ,bay leaf(or just plain 1 tbs pickling spices)in the wide mouth quart jars.OH SO SO GOOD!! I can't buy it in the supermakrt anymore. The flavor isn't the same.