Let's make some Sweet Homemade Butter

In the olden days ( should say a step up from the floor model churners :o)  this item was done in a large bottle and was called "Butter Churner"  next to it is the Modern "Churner"
Which is a dream today for making your own Sweet Homemade Butter that you can add your own Herbs or Spices to taste.. I chose not to add salt to this batch, which took all of a minute and less than two wow! it surprised me to no end...I was sure I'd have to separate the whey or buttermilk before I got Butter..no such thing with this new finagled Processor my daughter gave me. It went so fast I thought I had blacked out for a minute :o).

All Thing considered this will become a regular routine for me making my own butter. I'd like to add some Herbs and Spices to it..It will be a great experiment to find how each Spice or Herb will affect the taste of butter...Guess I may as well attend to the Laundry now that the Butter is done.Thank goodness at  least the washing machine will do the job..no more hot tubs outside and washboard..in the City of NY as a child we had a bath tub in the Kitchen covered by a Tin Top, the top was removed for Laundry day and bath night.. If you were lucky you found an Apartment that the Tub was in fair shape inside...they were sometimes used to make Homemade Liquors "Moonshine". People in those days did what they had to do to survive, I guess Just like today, only it's done in different ways.Being old has a lot of advantages (sometimes :o)  Some like to hear about the "Olden Days" , I can only go back so far, when I do it brings a smile to my face reminiscing. Heck! I remember when milk came in a glass bottle and there really was cream on the top.

Saturday's Cobbler and Part of Sunday's Dinner :o)

This is Saturday's Pear and Apple Cobbler.
This time I used my head and made it in a larger pan, it was just juicy enough, next time less sugar in the middle, but the Crust is just the way Cecil likes it...Crispy and Sweet< doesn't that sound like a description of me :o)

Here's Cecil showing the size of the Rutabaga and greens while I take the picture
It felt real good to be able to go to the garden and pick a meal for Sunday's dinner.
It was time to pick that Rutabaga and I'm glad I didn't have to  shoot Cecil in the foot, he has had a taste for them for the last two weeks. I've still got a little Country ham to use as seasoning, so we both will be happy campers!

I wanted you to see all the dirt on the bottom and how large this one grew, the leaves in the sink are from it and I snapped a couple more from the others to make a good sized meal. Next year we will
certainly grow more of them. This is the first time we have grown Rutabaga also. I know I don't have to say how proud we are,and blessed, our cup is truly running over.

The Photo on the Right is showing the
Rutabaga cut..the dirt part goes to the compost the rest will be sliced, diced, boiled and I'm hoping to add my own "homemade butter" :o) I'se a Farmer...

I'm still Canning Greens

I'm waiting for the Canner to finish the time limit to take the jars out! I have to say Cecil and I have been well blessed with Greens this year...(every year, but these we grew :o)
We worked all day yesterday picking and cleaning mixed greens and this morning I got  them into the Canner ..I don't have to cook we are having leftovers Okra & Tomatoes with a pot of rice ( I used one of the ugly carrots :o) with it, and some backbone with gravy :o) Later I'm going to make a Cobbler for the weekend.. I wanted to show you the growth of the "Side Garden" :o) We are very proud to use every inch of space that we have  been blessed with (except I don't have no chickens :o(

This is a long view and it's the left side of the house and I think it's really neat. the Broccoli Rabe didn't do so well this fall,but it was great during the Spring so I forgive it.

This is a closer view of some of the Collards and Red Cabbage.

I think the Red Cabbage is doing so well, and I'm proud as the dickens of them. Do a close up and see their beautiful hue :o)  I hope they have the time to "head up". This is the first time Cecil and I have planted Cabbage and we are so proud of them. They will go into the freezer, I think canning would make them mush. I meant to get a "Foodsaver"by now so it would suck out all the air of the package...I have that little Ziploc thingy, but I think the Foodsaver might be a little better.

The Savoy Cabbage isn't doing too badly, but it's obvious it's not as large and full as the Red Cabbage, it's welcome just the same. I have some regular Cabbage and also some Collards in the Box and Garden.

UPDATE: Here are 6 nice full jars of Mixed greens that will be mighty tasty during the  Winter.I didn't add any bacon to thisbatch.Just added some salt.Now to get my Cobbler going and that's it for today.I tried to lighten the left side but keep running into trouble but you get the picture.

  

This Post is about a Complaint and a possible Solution!!

I want to know if anyone else out there is being bombarded by telephone calls from Health care companies or any other telemarketers ...they start off with "is there a diabetic in this household etc..."
Or they have gotten real smart and show up on the TV as a local county dept. which makes you think it's something you need to address by answering the phone...
All these calls are coming into my home from 9:15 am until 8:30 at night.
Many of these calls were coming from "Call Central" , I have tried to re-dial them , I've gone on line to no avail...online there isn't anyplace you can connect with them, unless you want to use them for your business...At one time the "Atterney General's office would be able to stop these calls....
After much complaints, and @#%^& I was finally able to get some information from my telephone provider that I'm hoping will help..I called the "Do Not Call" number that I got from "Google" and placed myself on the register for "do not call"  I hope this is the end of the calls I have been receiving and also be of help to someone else who is being annoyed and driven insane by these type of  calls...

Lousy Looking Carrots :o(

Are these the lousiest looking home grown  carrots you ever saw? Maybe so, but they are more than enough to add to a couple of dishes (I do mean a couple too) like a tablespoon with some onions and salute before adding rice to it...what a delicious taste.
I only planted one little cube of Arugula, and it has lasted all summer , I'm left with just a couple of hands full to pick at a time, they taste pretty good on a sandwich too.
Back to the carrots, I had three more that went on the compost pile..when I pulled them up...it seemed that something had lodged right into the middle of them and survived living off my carrot.. At least now I know that carrots aren't so hard to grow, and that's encouraging. The beets were no where to be found...maybe something totally destroyed them :o(
I'm still up to my waist with greens :o) it's exhilarating to see them, and to realize they are Mine all mine :o)

Just couldn't leave the blog hanging today

Isn't this plant just one of the prettiest thing in the fall...I've had it so long I've forgotten it's name!
I brought it with me from NJ. it used to sit near the front door in the corner as you came up the steps..here it sits in the corner near the back door on the Patio. I think it thinks it's in the same place :o) it gets shade really most of the day but rays of sunlight gives it what it needs.

Here is another transported beauty from NJ. I didn't take such a good picture of it, I needed to bend down a little...but my back said "straighten up girl before you throw something out of whack" and I quickly did.
sometime you have to follow your mind, if I threw my back out , I wouldn't be able to put away Cecil and my picking greens again today. It seemed to take us much longer today than last time, then we realized we picked more :o)  (we are greedy little guts when it comes to greens)
We started about 11am (I slept late)  and we picked and picked...each time we said that's enough we would see one that looked to good to leave, and before we knew it we had picked all day :o) it was like eating potato chips  we couldn't just pick one :o) As I write this blog ....this is what's waiting to be washed , blanched, and jarred..after I add some bacon in the bottom of each jar..guess I'll be up half the night :o)
I took this picture twice (once to remove the towels covering the so the wind wouldn't

blow the leaves away..and then to show the three containers full, and one of the containers I had on the table is hiding behind a container of ivy leaves ..Oh well!
Professional photographer I'm not..green grower, :o) that's my name.

Wasn't I supposed to be resting today?

Last night we had a storm and it rained cats and dogs, I slept through it all even  the thunder and I'm glad I did..I was supposed to just rest today in order to ready and able to put away some Brocolli Rabe tomorrow., since they had grown much from the last rain.
Cecil checked out the property this morning too see if we had any damage, and coming back to the house remarked how the greens had grown so much, I peeked from the Patio and decided I better walk down there and get a closer look. Before I knew it I was picking them and muttering to myself "never put off tomorrow what you can do today".. Well, they looked so good and Cecil took pity on me and decided to "hire" himself to me... So as we worked he saw that it's not an easy task to pick and clean a lot of greens! He did everything he could to get fired :o) but I reminded him I would be the one to cook them and he better earn his plate ..so he gave up and went to work :o)...the chair is empty cause I'm taking the pictures.

This was a perfect day to get the job done. It was windy and cloudy, but that kept Cecil, me and the Greens cool. we had a good system going and had a little fun doing it. Talked about the kids and old times etc. I wanted to make sure I had more greens this time than last..(4 jars)...By the time we were done
it was nice to sit in the "Chair Beds" for a rest. Dinner was Bar-b-que sandwichs made from the last of the delicious Pork roast I made Sunday.

The jars will be cleaned tomorrow and put into the "Canning Closet".
It feels real good to get that job done, and I'm pleased that I got  7 fully packed quarts. Cecil says he wants a little rice and he is good to go...Give me some hot fried cornbread with Jalepeno's and I'm good to stay :o)
Turned out to be a good day,
lets see what tomorrow brings!!