The First Snow of 2013

The day before we were raking leaves.  I got so warm I took off my coat and laid it on the bench.
And then one thing led to another and the night brought us our first snow cover.

 Pride Captured in a photo...

Pie with Benefits

I don't know what it is with me and quantity, but I have a hard time using 8 eggs, 2 sticks of butter, or a whole carton of yogurt...  I previously avoided these types of  recipes and found one with 3 eggs, 1 stick of butter, and so on. I have turned a new leaf. Thanks to my parents and mother-in-law, who always show up with gifts of the food we enjoy, I had excess this week.  Including, three containers of yogurt, 3 packages of bacon, and 4 dozen eggs.  We made sponge cake, lemon curd, and this delicious yogurt pie!

The title "Pie with Benefits", comes from the probiotics in the yogurt, the Vitamins of the squash, and very little sugar.

Fall Yogurt Pie: Must Make Yogurt Cheese 8 hours + prior

Graham Cracker Crust
2 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter melted.

Pour warm butter on crumbs. Mix well. Reserve  1/2 cup in another heat proof bowl. Press into shallow pie plate, creating a thick crust at sides.  Bake both pie crust and extra bowl at 350F for 8-12 minutes.

Yogurt Cheese:
Place in a colander a few layers of cheesecloth.  Put colander in a bowl that will suspend it and allow whey to collect beneath without touching colander.  Place one 32 oz container of plain whole milk yogurt in cheese cloth. Tie closed with string and tie to a wooden spoon that reaches across colander.
Let drain for 8-12 hours in refridgerator.
You will have yogurt cheese (like cream cheese) in colander and whey below.  Save whey in a sealed glass jar for other uses.  Fermenting veggies, making bread, adding to recipes instead of milk...

Filling:
1cup pumpkin or winter squash ( I had a quartered piece of butternut squash left over)
3 tbs. maple syrup
1 tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Yogurt cheese

Blend squash or pumpkin with maple syrup first in a blender or food processor.  If you need more moisture add a small amount of yogurt.  Too much moisture may not set up.  Then blend other ingredients until smooth.  Taste and adjust sweetness or spice.
Pour into cooked and cooled pie crust.  Sprinkle extra crumbs on top.
Make a little bowl of scrapings from blender and a little bit of crumbs for your little ones (or you) to enjoy now.
Chill pie at least 1 hour, more if possible.

*Inspiration came from Moosewood Cookbook's Yogurt Pie.

Making time for each other when doing things for others

 I was up late cooking apples my friends helped peel and slice. I hoped to can 15-20 quarts to give to the local Homeless shelter. One pot burned terribly, one just a bit before being saved, and two large pots awaited the food mill and canning. As soon as I awoke this morning, I was making applesauce again. My boys were also up late.  They somehow managed to attend the first 1/2 hour of the applesauce party before bedtime round two.
Although a little sleepy everyone was chipper. I fixed the boys some toast with apple butter and gave them a bowl of mandarins to eat for breakfast.  Then they played and I worked on applesauce.  They then made cards to give with the applesauce.  Then they played again, nicely.
And then I noticed that I still had a bit of work to do, they were just about out of patience, and it would be hours until my help (grandma and grandpa) arrived.
So I packed a quick lunch, put two trikes and a pot of the burnt applesauce in the back of the car, and after picking up a coffee for Mama, headed to the park...Oh what a good idea!

We rode our bikes into the safety town, ate our picnic, and my 4 year old noticed there was a lot of trash.  He wanted to pick it all up.  I grabbed a kitchen size trash bag from the car and we practically filled it by walking around the park.  Oh the joy it invoked.  We were so happy to pick up trash that I do believe for a moment we skipped in unison.
I do not believe in preaching to your children.  I think most teaching is through imitation and observation. What I do, is much more important than what I say. It brings tears to my eyes to witness them doing something I would love for them to do, especially when I said nothing.
My heart ached with love for these little people who found pleasure in making this park more beautiful.
The joy stayed with us through the day.

Little guy trotting with joy.  He even stopped to pick a dandelion seed head to blow in the wind.

Then ever the comedian in bloom, noticed Mama with a camera and stuck his fingers in his nose.

 We took the burnt applesauce to the Breakneck pigs to enjoy. I parked the car so the boys could watch the meat birds, and adorable puppy, while I bought some grain, feed, veggies, and stew chicken.
All that talk about feeding the pigs must have spurred some creative juices.  They spent the rest of the afternoon building a pig home and gates until Grandma and Grandpa arrived.
And then, I got back to the applesauce...

A very dirty stove, which gets replaced tomorrow.

15 quarts complete.

A boy and his Chickens

Big Brother with Brahma

Was it only 3 months ago my little guy turned 4 and brought 3 new baby chicks home to live with us?
Yes. And they have grown so much together in this time.
He will sit with his chicks and feed them greens through the run.
Or he decides to take one out on an adventure.  He finds them a good spot for worm hunting and keeps close.  Umm, covering Little Red in the leaf pile was not one of the best plans...
Oh but the adventure, the lessons, and the love...

Little Red, Soma, Astra, Sammy

A Devoted Repurposer

I actually bought 12 canning jars this year and then found out that most of my family has canning jars. My mom in her basement, my aunt in her barn, and my uncle in his barn. So each trip to Prospect I get a few more.

 I took a walk down memory lane last Friday. I haven't been in my grandfather's (now uncle's) barn for years.  But it is a place of fond memories.  I share many of the stories from the farm with my boys. The story of Chocolate the cow (who I bottle fed), grandpa feeding the cats after dinner, playing in the empty chicken coop, riding on the manure spreader (only one time after extracting manure from my long locks), driving the truck in the pasture when our legs were two short and one sister operated the steering wheel while the other sister measured the gas and break (I will share this after they are 17 years old!), and the smell of the barn when there were cows, hay, and grain. There are many more stories and some of them came rushing back as we walked around the farm yard so different from my childhood, but still rich with memories.
 I guess it has been about 15 years or more since there were cows in the barn. My uncle said he moved the canning jars out about 10 years ago. But as I raked through buckets of canning jars among old straw and barn dust it seemed like yesterday that I was there. I remember taking my grandfather's soft hand and walking across the drive to the barn.  We would walk into the old milking area and fill a bucket with the feed from a big trough.  The smell of the grain is permanently present in my memories.  He then carried it into the larger part of the barn and fed the cows grain before climbing into the hay mow and tossing down a few bails.
So here I found myself, in a sea of dirty canning jars, in a space filled with memories. What does a sentimental repurposer do? Set limits, evaluate how much space you really have in the car, imagine the look on your father and husband's face when they see them, form a plan to clean them before the previous mentioned ever sees them, and last choose the most likely subjects to become clean and therefore enjoyed.

My early afternoon was filled with memories.  My late afternoon filled with scrubbing, Clorox, carrying buckets of hot water from my father's basement, and a few impatient family members wondering if I would be finished by dinner...

The jars after they were removed from the Barn at my Uncle's.

The jars on their trip to my house. The lidded jars were cleaned on a previous trip.

In my sink.

Ready to be my new granola or oat container.

These are the "new jars"  I have used for dry goods. They will become canning jars again.  My vintage jars will be used for these.

Oh, but it was well worth it!  They came clean and will be used for many more years.

I went on this canning jar expedition with the intent to have enough canning jars to donate applesauce in some.  I will use the jars that have been well stored in my pantry, my mother's basement, or by my Aunt for this purpose.  I will keep the ones I worked so hard to scour clean.  When I use them I will think of my grandparents, my uncle, and the farm of my childhood.