It seemed like the end of last week, I found myself not being very motivated. So instead I simply enjoyed our day to day routines and playing with Licorice!
We were invited to a local school Christmas program, a friend invited us and well... we got to see Jackson perform too, this is the boy Cortney watched this summer, until school started. If you click the photo, you'll be able to see our friends son, Payton and Jackson on the opposite side. I was surprised to find that they did a Christmas program about Jesus birth. What a blessing that in the small rural communities there is no "Politically Correctness"*wink* It was a bit modernized though, as they were the shepherds we texting of Jesus birth, but all in all it was a nicely done program. The costumes were so cute!
I have some video of a few songs( Silent Night and What Child is This) but alas they take so long to download, if at all. *sigh*
This was Sunday morning, after all day on Saturday being fogged in, everything looked as if it were draped in tiny diamonds or crystals, simply breath taking! The camera didn't do it justice( click the picture to see a larger version.)
This is the Elderberry bush outside the backdoor.
Well the few remaining tomatoes were enjoyed fresh and then I decided to dehydrate the remainder. This way I can enjoy them many ways. I plan to put some in olive oil , I will put some in the blender and grind them into a tomato powder and finally I like them as a snack!
The tomatoes are officially done, now we'll begin processing the pumpkins, being sure to save seed for next season, then soak, salt and roast some for our enjoyment and cook down the pumpkin to be chunked and frozen and pureed for future pies, cakes and cookies, Ummmm, Ummmmm. The remainder we'll back down, save the seeds for roasting and feed as a supplement to our poultry during the long cold winter. We also have beets and turnips which we'll be cooking down for the poultry. Sadly our picky cows won't eat them, not even as a small token treat.
Well, time to get Cortney to work and then we'll be home long enough to feed Licorice, let him play for a bit and then off to the nearest city to TSC for grains and poultry feed. In the winter we like to keep a stockpile because you never know when roads are going to be bad. Plus Cortney still has some Christmas shopping to finish.
Blessings for your week :o)
16 comments:
no better store than TSC...;)
Beautiful pictures! I like to keep things stocked up in the winter. We keep a close eye on the weather with Kyles work and the animals anyways. I try to keep enough hay on hand too. Thankfully its some one more local and they deliver it! Feed is less than 15 miles too.
The tomatoes look good!
Beautiful pics! I'm glad you liked the cow washer.
I used to have a dehydrator and I loved it!
Wonderful photos! Thanks for much for sharing those! I love the hoar frost - so beautiful. The tomatoes make me hungry for fresh garden produce again.
I have a quick question for you. I tried to make tomato powder 2 years ago and totally destroyed my blender, it got almost kind of gummy. Were the tomatoes not dry enough or do you have any suggestions of what I did wrong? After doing some research on line I found many people who had the same problem and they suggested using a hand grinder. From this upcoming summer's garden I would like to try again, so any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you
Leslie
Beautiful pictures!! I love the thick frost. It really makes everything look like winter wonderland for sure. Thanks for posting them.
I was so pleased to find this post on dehydrating tomatoes (and more)... I found your blog through Melissa's blog (that I also found today). I'm really looking forward to reading more.
You are now my hero. how do you make the pumpkin puree? I just started canning this year. did peach and blueberry jams and canned tomatoes and pickles. wanted to do more but was sooo dry here this year that the garden really suffered. I also loved your pictures.
ND life,
Thank you for the info. I personally have NOT made tomato powder, just read about it this summer. I'll give it a try first in a small coffee grinder, I don't want to ruin my blender. If it get pastey I will try our grain grinder with the stone grinding plates. Thanks for the heads up :o)
Redgirl,
We just clean out the pumpkin, place it on a baking sheet( one with a bit of a side) add approx. 1/2 c. water and put it in a moderate oven 275F to 300F and bake until soft when poked with a fork. The remove it and let it cool. You at this point should be able to turn the pumpkin inside out and scrap off the flesh. The I add the flesh and 1-2 Tbsps. of water( if thick and dry) to my blender and hit PUREE, until it is smooth. You can then add to containers in the measurment needed for pie or whatever recipe you'll use it in and freeze it. If you choose to can it, you'll need to remove the pumpkin from the oven before it is completely cooked and cut into cubes. There is a recipe in the Blue Ball Canning Book. I have also made pumpkin butter( in small batches and stored them in the frig, as canning puree is NOT suggested.)
Hope this helps you.
Thank you everyone for your comments and compliments :o)
Blessings,
Kelle
Love the pictures, we have some of the same. Great Christmas feeling. Where do you find the time to do all you do...I'm tired just looking at the pictures of all your work. Keep it up and keep the stories coming. Love ya all.
the pictures of the snow in the trees are beautiful!! wow, they look so nice against the blue sky. and, i can just picture sitting inside looking at the pretty outdoors while eating those yummy tomatoes! glad you're stocking up on grain - that's a nice thing to know you have. picky cows! chickens will gladly have what the cows pass up! also, it is nice to see they did jesus' birth at the play - you wouldn't see that in california i don't think!!
What gorgeous pictures of ice on the trees!
We have the same granite counter tops in our kitchen. That's Blue Pearl from Norway. It is from near where My Honey is born.
Lois,
Thanks for the name of the granite. This is only on my ceter island. I was a piece of granite that had been discarded, due to a wrong cut and my friends scavanged it and gave it to us. It sat in our garage for years, waiting until I found a table, or Mike had time to make me one to use as a center island. Half the top is granite and the other half is cutting board. It's one of the most used pieces of furniture in our house*wink*
Blessings,
Kelle
Hi Kelle, What beautiful sparkly trees.
When you dehydrate your tomatoes are you just cutting them in half and leaving seeds and all in there? I sure hope to have enough next year to dehydrate them.
Thanks
Sincerely, Emily
Hi Emily,
I cut the tomatoes approximately 1" thick, and left seeds and all. The variety of tomatoes we grow are all pulpy type with very little juice. This is because we make so many sauces, it gives us more of what we want and less cooking down time to thicken.
Dehydrating is sure the way to go if you are lacking space, or as was our case jars* Uhum* Seems weird to say that as at one time we counted our jars( all sizes and we had well over 800 and we've even added to that, through garage sales, second hand stores, gifts from friends and farm auctions. :o) Makes me feel blessed to know we have such a wonderful aray for homegrown, homecanned goods :o)
Blessings,
Kelle
Kelle, thanks for the additional info on dehydration. I don't lack space (yet) for canning jars, it is just nice to have another way of doing things. When I lived in Palm Springs I built a little dehydrating box. I would grow and dry roma tomatoes. Just quarter them, seeds and all. In the hot dessert heat in my little box they would dry in less than 2 days and if I wasn't careful I could burn them. I broke the glass in the cover when we moved to TX. One day I will get it fixed and "fired" up again.
Yup, like you, I am always collecting more canning jars. I just need to grow enough to start using them all now!
Sincerely, Emily
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