Sunday, October 30, 2011

Here is one delicious Bowl of Pumpkin Soup and two ( I really ate three) of my "Angel Biscuits" both were delicious..the soup was nice and creamy..(Thanks daughter for that nice little stick blender :o). I usually make a decent biscuit when I don't fret about it , but I try to keep Mrs B's on hand to save me some work..these were so good and fluffy, I think I'd better keep that skill going :o)
Sorry about those lines my underline just kept clicking on :o(

One pretty Pumpkin Pie with only one spot I spilled some filling on :o(  otherwise maybe it would look perfect, but it's all in the taste. If the taste is good I won't worry about it having a little blemish , I know someone who wouldn't give a kitty how many spots were on it..Can you guess who that is :o)
My stove is getting to the point where it has hot spots :o(  as you can tell on one of the Pumpkins. Well, Cathy@home  what do you think about these pies :o)
Don't think that's a lot of pie in this house :o)  Usually I make Sweet Potato and don't even bother to ask for that recipe.. When I finish this post (while Cecil cleans up the kitchen) I'm going to sit down the rest of the evening and rest..and give myself a big slice of pie and hope the heck it taste as good as it looks and smells..


Now here are three more Pumpkin cubed bagged and frozen..BEFORE using Penny to seal them..and that worked..after they were frozen sitting up last night in the freezer I took them and sealed them with "Penny" and there was no juice to come out and stop the process..that's the trick using the food saver. It gives me more flexibility on using it. Now maybe it will be my good freezing friend.:o)
While I was doing all the preparations for making the pies I put on some sausage and spaghetti for dinner ..this way I could get some rest...

That's all the cooking I'm doing today..I'm tired now and need to rest. I won't even do laundry if I had to :o) I still have a couple pairs of you know what :o) (naughty).:o)
Don't be giving me that look, it happens in every household I don't care how rich you are.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

This far with the Pumpkin

First thing I want to make is Pumpkin Soup!
So I may as well have all my ingredients ready, so here I'm frying up my bacon and my bowl of onions, peppers,carrots and thyme are waiting :o)..
This was one of the nicest pumpkins I've seen , the meat of it was a bright color and it was ripe and ready...it looked so good Cecil wanted to taste what Raw Pumpkin tasted like...so he took a sample :o)
He really thought the taste was good :o).
You can barely make out the pan in front that I have the peeled and cubed pumpkin. I made the soup and some of my "Angel Biscuits" and that was our dinner, it was very  tasty and I had enough made in that pot for two more meals of Pumpkin Soup..
Which i promptly put into my little freezer containers and they will make a nice lunch or dinner with a sandwich :o).I'm so frugal.
I love it when I can make so much out of nothing..Cecil paid $3.99 or $4.99 for it. and look how many meals I've already made


.plus I  saved some out for a couple of pies tomorrow which when I make them, I'll send a post..
In the meantime I froze the rest of the cooked cubes (five pounds) and put them into the freezer, hoping that "food saver Penny" would act like she should..even frozen as I worked she thawed  ( I don't work that slow).and I had to stop because of the water collection anyway..I put them into the saver bags and stood them up in the freezer...I'll try it again tomorrow and see if that works better. otherwise the "food saver" is dud! and not a deal.


I think the Seed from this Pumpkin shows a lot about how developed it was..even though it was a small pumpkin the meat was a bright color and the seeds are very large..I forgot to put money near the seeds to show how large and full they are...I'm trying to dry them in the Studio..maybe I'll toast a few also ..but I've done enough for today ...I'm still supposed to be resting ..(yeah right! )




Update:  I tried baking some of the seeds and didn't pay attention and baked them too long :o( so they were not edible :o(
at least I was smart enough to save some just for planting come Spring! :o) I'm still learning ...

Thursday, October 27, 2011

My Little Pumpkin

Here's my little Pumpkin :o) , I have great plans for it...I want to make some pumpkin soup, a pumpkin pie and put some away for more of the same treats...do you think I need more than one :o)

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sale of Looms

Since my health isn't what it used to be and my knee's have started acting like they belong to someone else..I've decided to sell my "Nilus Laclerc" floor loom, the knee action is just to much for me...I've decided to put an ad on Craigslist in NC for it  in Arts and Crafts..heres the link
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/art/2664980284.html Update: This loom is no longer available for sale..I do have a Triangle loom that I will put up for sale soon..

Side view and front view The loom is in perfect shape and I added some loops to make the change over for each project easier.

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Ginny's Saturday's Treat :o) CRABS

I haven't been out of the house in three weeks..resting ...So this morning first part take care of some business while the item was on sale...< that's for another Post :o)


After that mission on to the "Farmers Market".. where Cecil treated me to a dozen blue male crabs :o)  ( those of you who know about them , "eat your heart out " :o)

I couldn't wait to get home and pull out the pot and get the seasoning ready..:o) notice I'm doing a lot of smiling :o)
I had a can of beer that was left by one of my
grands about 3 years ago.. so I put that into 
the pot, added some vinegar, some water, and
a 1/4 cup (more or less) of Old Bay Seasoning
some crushed red pepper ...then added those
same seasoning over the crabs that I put into the 
pot one or two at a time..those little suckers
like to crab hold of anything and not let go.


 Turning the crabs isn't necessary, but I wanted to fit the whole dozen in at the same time , which still didn't work..I had three
I had to cook after the first were done...

Here is a dish fit for a Saturday Feast just for Ginny...Cecil doesn't care for them...He likes the meat , but doesn't like to "pick" tough..you can't pick..you don't eat :o)  that means more for me...I haven't had them in a long time..so I ate four at once. Then I packaged them up in three's and put into the freezer for two more treats later..One I'm going to have when I finish this post... :o)  They were Sweet, and delicious..

Friday, October 21, 2011

Persimmons 2011 Harvest


This year the Persimmon Harvest is very low compared to the past two years! First year the harvest was 18, the second year it was 17, this year it's only 5 but these 5 are larger than the first two years (according to Cecil) to me they don;t look any larger..At least I did get a few to get through the tough Summer we had this year...and it beats nothing. I still have some pulp left from last year that I need to do something with...

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Resting doesn't mean stop eating!


In order to preserve some energy I've been having "Subway" sandwich's a few times here of late...not being used to "the easy way"  in our house it's hard to just sit and rest regardless of how much you need too. I made "mind plans" you know the ones you get into your head just when and how you would do it so you get it done without a lot of  work :o).. I had Cecil lift that big frozen ham out of the freezer and put it into one of my stock pots..filled it with water and added all my spices, vinegar,Habenero peppers, garlic cloves , onions, rosemary. Cuban oregano..and maybe a  couple more spices I didn't mention...let that soak over night (while it defrosted)  then in the morning I drained all the spices poked holes in it and put it back into the water.after a couple hours..salted and peppered that ham..threw all the spices over it and cooked in in the oven about three hours ..took the Aluminum cover off and let it continue cooking ..All I can say it's  delicious..I didn't take a very good picture of it.. I had to debone it  (almost a 3 pound bone in it :o(  and then try to 'mold" it into slicing form..it will be better tomorrow.,,for sandwiches :o)

I was watching the show "Down home with the Neely's" and they made some fries that sent me reeling ...I wanted some :o)  So I pre boiled a few potatoes..drained them and added my spices,Pancho and olive oil and cooked them in the oven on the top rack while the ham was cooking...I "thought" I had prepared enough for the next day leftovers..well, do I have to tell you they were good and Cecil  spared no mercy partaking of them :o)  ( I helped too :o). 
Even trying to take it easy , I was on a roll :o).

Cecil went to the garden and picked up a couple of Boc Choy's for me and I prepared them for our veggie..I'm really enjoying Boc Choy and feel like a farmer when I harvest them for dinner...They won't last much longer ...I'm so glad I planted them...and next fall I'll plant double :o)...

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Fried Green Tomato's, store bought

I hope this video works, if not , I'm sorry! I wanted you to see those delicious green tomatoes bubbling in the pan :o)...I didn't have any left in my garden so I had Cecil try one of our favorite little stores..Hooray they had some...maybe he will be able to get more tomorrow..:o)

These three little tomatoes made us happy  :o) and wanting more of them..

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Cecil on his knees, two fold :o) Thanking God for this crop and picking the first fall crop of Broccoli Rabe (they were planted September 5th) :o)The greens were happy to see the rainfall and grew ..like we say "out of the box" :o) We couldn't wait to taste them..they didn't get the little blossoms on them, but who wanted to wait :o)...You see the little white pan..he picked two of them for my big red pot..and I made a pan of my "Special Corn Bread" ( with everything in it :o)  and we munched until we were full as two little pigs.
This pan is not showing how many greens were picked, but it's two pans squashed down and I used that big red pot to put them into for cooking..this is my harvest for this week.. I'm beginning to think there is no end to canning :o).. I haven't stopped yet!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011


Playing "Catch up "  Do any of you remember when that box bush in the middle (under the flowers) was replaced by a larger dying boxwood? and I thought it would never "catch up" ?  Cecil decided at that time to trim the old bushes down and give them new life . ..Well , at the time I agreed ..but I was devastated when I saw how short he cut them down and I thought..I'll have to think of something else to replace them..Time and more time they began to grow and now they have out shined even the New replacement :o). The new grown one is the deep green on the right :o)
You can barely see the Boxwoods on the left  (I didn't take a good picture :o(  but if you look closely on the ground you can see them they look small here but they are as tall as the first picture, and I'm happy about how well they have grown and are still growing ...we will now make sure to  keep them below the window boxes. Cecil is leaving me enough space in front of them for my Alyssum, they grew on one side and not the other :o( Spring I'll try again or do some transplanting..

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Apple Butter and Canning still going on

Some one gave Cecil some Apples that were getting very soft and I knew we wouldn't be able to eat them up before they got softer or spoiled ..so I decided to cut them up...cook them with seasoning of sugar, cinnamon,nutmeg and a little lemon juice.. It didn't take them long to cook at all..my motto "Waste  not want not".

That's where my old fashioned Chimmo ( spelled incorrectly.) came in handy without putting up the "Champion" I'm glad I didn't give this old tool away ..it has come in handy this year a few times :o)
it didn't take long to save those apples into something we would be able to eat and enjoy..we had at least three jars, during the cooking and then sampling :o) we ended up with one and a half pints of Apple butter..:o) it was smelling so good we almost tasted it all up :o)

I'm supposed to be resting, l would have hated to lose a blessing by not trying ...(best excuse I could come up with). tomorrow "laundry"..Cecil will help me, I put things in piles and that makes it easy.
Have a nice weekend..Saturday promises to be just right..for pleasures...
Today is Cecil's Birthday and we were to go out to dinner ..but like always something  gets in the way...oh well! we will make up for it during the week.. Anyway I was treated to a slice of egg custard pie :o) to celebrate and it was delicious.
My daughter was in New York and went to one of our favorite places in the world "Katz" if you have never been, you've missed out :o(  here are a few shots of that trip, don't forget to read his shirt :o) He is one of the two brothers that own Katz.




Then there is also "China Town" sights and foods to behold :o)
China Town..ducks and Chickens seasoned and mouth watering appearance.


Don't they look scrumptious! :o) wish I could tear off a piece and chomp down on it :o)...
Nothing like a tasty duck..

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Boc Choy

I'm a little happy to report that the Boc choy is growing well ( thanks Robin, glad I waited)  I might have to take the rest of them all up soon...these were the poorest looking specimens..I took up today just to see how they were doing ...I'm sure the rest are much better...I'm going to just do a quick shrink on the rest of them for the freezer soon.

I was running water on these to soak the dirt out of the bottoms..
I  tried to show the paper cups that I made to put the seeds in were still somehow still attached in the dirt (do a close up and maybe you can see bits of the cup) :o) you can see the roots are very strong looking..some of the leaves were yellow and that's why I took them up.
I salteed them in some butter and olive oil and they still had a good taste...and these were the worst looking ones..

Monday, October 3, 2011

Harvesting Puff Mushrooms




September is the time for "Puff Mushrooms" to appear..and you must get them before bugs begin to nibble and contaminate them for eating..So Cecil was quick to secure these and I prepared them right away..brushing away dirt etc..and then peeling and slicing them up.  It takes a bit of brushing and peeling before you can get them sliced up and ready to saute with some butter and a little oil ..then let them cool on a pan and 


put them into the freezer on the tray for easy removal to a freezer bag and use when ever you like in eggs, soups etc. Once they are frozen it's an easy job to break them apart ( some butter sticks to them, but most I use them with require a little butter and or oil. I think I'll make some omelets first thing..
The tray sits nicely in the freezer covered with Suran wrap. Once it was frozen I just put them into a Freezer bag.