Good morning world. What a beautiful morning it is here in the Northeast Kingdom. The sun is shining, my children are off to school, and I am drinking coffee and eating a muffin. However today is also a day when we as Americans must reflect. I can't help but imagine how the families of the victims of Sept. 11 are feeling today. I awoke today to see the pictures on the news, and as I drove through town I drove under a huge American flag hanging over main street. It is amazing how we live in a country where even in tragedy we band together, in love and in rememberance.
In my family we plant things to remember events. As my mother became a grandmother she started marking the birth of each grandchild by planting an apple tree in her backyard. As babies her and my step-father would walk them out to the trees and tell them it was theirs. As they got older they could watch apples grow and know that tree is as old as they are. I always thought that was such a great tradition. Last year when my grandparents passed away three days apart, a relative sent a card. In the card was a paper that said a tree had been planted in their name in Yellow Stone National Park. My grandmother was always the first person to start planting flowers at the cemetary, in the spring for our loved ones. Now we plant flowers for her at her and grandpas headstone. Now at 33 I finally get it. We are planting new life. As the plants grow, we know why they were planted. We can look at something beautiful and remember those we have lost, and whom we still love. I think this gives us comfort, and I hope anyone who is reading this, will stop and think about it for a moment. If you have never even planted a flower, maybe today is a good day to start.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Bread and butter pickles
Oops, I forgot the second receipe. If you become a member to my site, you will soon realize that my personality is a little funny. I make lots of mistakes, but I don't mind laughing with you as you laugh at me. At least everyone is in a good mood.
The second receipe is one that Adam got from a friend at work. He claimed it was the best pickle receipe he had ever seen. I was a little skeptical, because I have never found a homemade pickle I would eat. Well, I stand corrected! These are amazing! They taste better then any store bought pickle I've ate, and I swear they are crunchier then a Vlassic.
Bread and Butter Pickles
6 Quarts thinly sliced cucumbers ( I slice mine a little thick, but it depends on your taste )
1 Quart sliced onion
3 - 4 sliced red or green peppers
1/2 cup picling salt
1 1/2 pints white vinegar
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup mustard seed
1 tbl celery seed
1 tsp turmeric
Put cucumbers, onions, and peppers in a shallow pan. Sprinkle with pickling salt and mix well.
Cover with coarsley cracked ice and let stand for 3 hours. Drain well.
Bring vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil (not salt) Add drained veggies, bring just back to a boil.
Can immediately.
If using Ball jars with the screw tops, make sure jars are hot before filling. Fill to 1/4 inch from top. The jar should seal without processing.
The second receipe is one that Adam got from a friend at work. He claimed it was the best pickle receipe he had ever seen. I was a little skeptical, because I have never found a homemade pickle I would eat. Well, I stand corrected! These are amazing! They taste better then any store bought pickle I've ate, and I swear they are crunchier then a Vlassic.
Bread and Butter Pickles
6 Quarts thinly sliced cucumbers ( I slice mine a little thick, but it depends on your taste )
1 Quart sliced onion
3 - 4 sliced red or green peppers
1/2 cup picling salt
1 1/2 pints white vinegar
6 cups sugar
1/4 cup mustard seed
1 tbl celery seed
1 tsp turmeric
Put cucumbers, onions, and peppers in a shallow pan. Sprinkle with pickling salt and mix well.
Cover with coarsley cracked ice and let stand for 3 hours. Drain well.
Bring vinegar, sugar and spices to a boil (not salt) Add drained veggies, bring just back to a boil.
Can immediately.
If using Ball jars with the screw tops, make sure jars are hot before filling. Fill to 1/4 inch from top. The jar should seal without processing.
Grandma's cassarole
Good morning everyone. Today I would like to share two of my favorite garden receipies. The first one is one my Grandmother used to make. My grandmother, Annette died last November of lung cancer. She was a wonderful person, who always had food on the table when you dropped by. It was kind of funny this year when everyone had Zucchini and no one could find her receipe! After searching through her massive amounts of cook books my aunt finally found it. Now I would like to share it with you.
Zucchini Casserole
1 1/2 lbs zucchini
1 can cream of chicken or celery soup
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sharp cheddar
1 carrot grated
1 med onion chopped
1 small package peppridge farm stuffing mix
1/4 lb margerine melted
Wash zucchini and slice thin. Boil for 10 minutes in covered pan with 1/2 to 3/4 cups of water. Drain and cool. Mix soup, sour cream, graded carrot, onion, and cheese. Add the zucchini. Add margerine to dry stuffing. Spread 1/2 of stuffing in a 9 x 13 inch greased baking dish. Spread squash mixture over stuffing. Cover with remaining stuffing. Bake at 325 for 40 min.
I hope you enjoy this receipe as much as we do.
Zucchini Casserole
1 1/2 lbs zucchini
1 can cream of chicken or celery soup
1/2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sharp cheddar
1 carrot grated
1 med onion chopped
1 small package peppridge farm stuffing mix
1/4 lb margerine melted
Wash zucchini and slice thin. Boil for 10 minutes in covered pan with 1/2 to 3/4 cups of water. Drain and cool. Mix soup, sour cream, graded carrot, onion, and cheese. Add the zucchini. Add margerine to dry stuffing. Spread 1/2 of stuffing in a 9 x 13 inch greased baking dish. Spread squash mixture over stuffing. Cover with remaining stuffing. Bake at 325 for 40 min.
I hope you enjoy this receipe as much as we do.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A Little about Us
Hello, my name is April and I am a 33 year old at home mom. I live with my boyfriend Adam, and between the two of us we have four wonderful children. Dustin 13, Braiden 6, Sydney 5, and Celine 5. We live outside of town in a private area, which we have discovered is perfect for gardening. It has become our new found passion, and we are very eager to learn more, and share our experiences with others.
In February I decided to do a little project with the kids. I had found some tomato seeds at the grocery store and thought the kids would enjoy planting seeds and pretending it was Spring, as it was below zero outside. The little kids loved it, before we were done the kitchen was covered in potting soil, and the bay window in the livingroom was transformed into our little garden. Adam thought I was crazy, as it was way to early to start gardening. As I always do, I told him it would be fine, but he is usually right. Thank goodness he is a very patient man, because my great ideas usually end with him in the basement building me something.
Experienced gardeners must already know that tomato plants grow fast. We began with seventy or so plants, which grew out of their little trays in no time. I then moved them to plastic cups. That is when Adam had to build me a make shaft green house to fit seventy tomato plants. Everyone who came to our house was amazed at what we were doing. Before we knew it half of the livingroom and part of the kitchen had giant plants in them. Some of the plants grew so fast that they had to be transplanted again into planters. The end result of planting in February, Five foot tomato plants in the kitchen in June. No one could beleive that we actually had tomatoes on the plants before they made it into the actual garden.
The extremely poor growing season we experienced this year was tragic for our tomatoe plants. After loving these plants, the children naming each plant, spending countless hours in the garden watching them outgrow all our neighbors plants, they all met their demise with a huge case of blight. We only ended up with a few tomatoes.
The great upset has put us on our current mission. We hope to build a greenhouse next spring, and eventually garden all year round. I am in high hopes that this blog will help me connect with others who are equally as passionate. We can share ideas and stories, and hopefully all have a great time in the garden.
In February I decided to do a little project with the kids. I had found some tomato seeds at the grocery store and thought the kids would enjoy planting seeds and pretending it was Spring, as it was below zero outside. The little kids loved it, before we were done the kitchen was covered in potting soil, and the bay window in the livingroom was transformed into our little garden. Adam thought I was crazy, as it was way to early to start gardening. As I always do, I told him it would be fine, but he is usually right. Thank goodness he is a very patient man, because my great ideas usually end with him in the basement building me something.
Experienced gardeners must already know that tomato plants grow fast. We began with seventy or so plants, which grew out of their little trays in no time. I then moved them to plastic cups. That is when Adam had to build me a make shaft green house to fit seventy tomato plants. Everyone who came to our house was amazed at what we were doing. Before we knew it half of the livingroom and part of the kitchen had giant plants in them. Some of the plants grew so fast that they had to be transplanted again into planters. The end result of planting in February, Five foot tomato plants in the kitchen in June. No one could beleive that we actually had tomatoes on the plants before they made it into the actual garden.
The extremely poor growing season we experienced this year was tragic for our tomatoe plants. After loving these plants, the children naming each plant, spending countless hours in the garden watching them outgrow all our neighbors plants, they all met their demise with a huge case of blight. We only ended up with a few tomatoes.
The great upset has put us on our current mission. We hope to build a greenhouse next spring, and eventually garden all year round. I am in high hopes that this blog will help me connect with others who are equally as passionate. We can share ideas and stories, and hopefully all have a great time in the garden.
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