The Persimmon's are ready :o)

It always seems like such a long wait for the Persimmon Tree to ripen and bear it's fruit.
The first year I had about 17-18 pieces of fruit
It's a pretty nice size fruit..and sells expensive at our local store.That's what made me buy
the tree in the first place. Cecil doesn't like the fruit, I'm real happy about that! he eats faster and more than me. :o)



While I'm at it, let me warn you all of what the stores latest tricks are. You ever see a price marked down on the shelf and when you take it to the register, the price is regular? Well, that's the trick, I think it's done intentionally, Why! because it happened to me three days in a row at three different stores. Their excuse is that the clerk stacked them in the wrong place.
Don't believe it! Leave it there on the Counter, they will eventually get tired of re-placing it.These are not little stores doing this . It's the big boys. They figure you will have gotten tired standing in line and the item is one you don't want to come back for ...so what the heck! your going to bite the bullet. Cecil is embarrassing, he talks about it and Loudly! Me I leave it on the counter , give a silent Birdy and walk away! :o) I'm terrible.

Sweet potato vs Yams

These Sweet Potato's almost made it into jars, first i baked a few to get an idea of their taste.
1.They weren't naturally as sweet as I've had before..
2. They were too "stringy" not a good candidate for my "Sweet Potato Pie's"
3. You don't get better out of a jar than what you put in.

So these will not be "Canned" I will wait for the "Yams" to come forth which should be quite soon.They are always here in time for Thanksgiving. Just in case someone doesn't know it ...Yams don't have the "strings" like sweet potatoes, so they are a better candidate for sweet potato pies...and they are sweet. One is yellow (Yams)and one is red (sweet potatoes).
According to Cecil :o)...He is supposed to be the "Country One".
UPDATE: There is a lot of articles about sweet potato vs Yam..on the internet if you google for it....I just gave a "laymans" explanation. :o)

Another Tomato Day

Here's the start of another Jarring session with tomato's ..or I should say the other half of tomato's for soups or Okra with Tomato's.
I already put the pot on with the processed tomato's to cook for sauce while I wrestle with the rest of these to leave whole.
Compared to what I saw at the Farmers market and decided I may as well bite the bullet and get them, didn't want to be sorry about it later in the year's end. I was pretty snug about going into the box garden and picking up some basil to cook into my sauce..It was to cook until the sauce was half of what I put in the pot. That worked out pretty good  for me  I ended up with six quarts of sauce and four quarts of whole tomato's.

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The This pot full cooked way down to about half the amount it looked pretty good at the end of the process.Since the Basil cooked down with it , I just left it in.
The pot had to be skimmed from time to time but it worked out fine ..I used the new "best friend" ( new food processor).
One day soon I'll be  showing off  the "Canning Closet" that I converted from the sewing supplies closet. ( I think I need another shelf. ( Don't tell Cecil).

I don't think that's too shabby for a day's work!
In fact I gave myself a reward WE didn't need. It's enough to last all week and into the next (maybe) then I'll make a cake! Not that we need a cake, but the house is awful boring without some kind of sweets.

I decided to make a Pear and Apple Cobbler. Making sure it had enough liquid to make a nice juicy cobbler I put a little too much of every thing, good thing it boiled over on some tin foil :o(  it was tasty as all get out :o0

Cecil's Birthday

      Happy 84th      Birthday to Cecil

I have no idea what this item was used for..but I have invented a use for it. In the spring when my garlic comes up I will hang it outside on the Patio and let them dry lying on it. This way the smell can stay outside ,instead of inside with the dehydrator. It's hung up by it's own little hanger attached to it. Good idea right! and it only cost me $2. at Goodwill :o)
I thought it was a good little item and the price was right. :o)

A Farmer never knows what the Day will bring!

This morning when I got up, I knew I wanted  Pancakes and bacon for breakfast, and that's what we had. Then I took a walk outside to view "The Farm" ;o)  and before I could get too far, the Collards in the new box were calling for my attention. When I checked them out, I heard them say  "its time to pick me," Some of the smaller leaves at the bottom were touching the ground and some were turning yellow from it.
The leaves were getting so large I couldn't see them growing any larger and they were truly growing "out of the box". I'm a city girl, but nature talks to you if you listen!

So picking I did,and after Cecil took a look, I had to pick more than I thought I had.
They were beautiful, a few worm holes here and there, but not enough to destroy them. I literally washed each leaf to make sure I didn't miss anything clinging and making sure the "dust" we applied was washed off throughly.  I surprised myself with the way in which I changed my usual way of canning greens, I added some Country ham bits (tablespoon) that I was going to use for cornbread to each jar. (saw that on the Internet, and thought it a good idea, did it with 3 jars which I will label as such).
Not too shabby for a day's work! Greens grown on my own land by my own hand. Gives one a sense of satisfaction.

Today while checking the Acreage Cecil spotted these mushroom growing along the neighbors fence on our side. They look somewhat like the ones I had growing in the front yard last year..I was afraid to eat it (being not familiar with it). The old adage "When in doubt throw it out".

I wish some mushroom expert out there would  take a look at these pictures and tell  me what you  know (or think). Is it a special blessing or "Forbidden Fruit" in our little "Almost an Acre" Paradise.
The meat is a milky white color,and quite solid. I can't think of any other description of it in comparison except the white around the store mushrooms, there just isn't any gills.

They look as if they would fair well saute with some onions for many dishes besides eggs. Do a closeup and let me have your opinion, Especially you readers that have those massive farms. Thanks.
UPDATE: The mushroom is a " Puff Ball" and its edible.

Here are the mushrooms being fried in a little butter and oil. I put about 1/2 cup into Saran wrap packages, into a container and ended up with about 7 packages. They will go into scrambled eggs, omelets or anything else I can think of. Yesterday I made Spaghetti sauce and added one of the  packages to it and the sauce was delicious.