Pictures from July

 July was a beautiful and busy month. I always enjoy July, as I feel that it is filled with summer's best. Trips to the lake, picking berries, stunning sunsets, garden produce, family picnics, beautiful flowers, well as you can see I could go on forever!

We were very blessed with an abundance of berries in our garden this year. I was able to make jam from our home grown strawberries, black raspberries and rhubarb, so far. I still plan to make red raspberry jam from our garden at some point. I also had enough berries to freeze for the winter months ahead.

There is nothing quite like a pie made with fresh berries from the garden! It gives us such a good feeling to see the hard work of planting and caring for our plants come to fruition.

Although we have planted blueberries they are very slow to grow. The picture of the plant above was taken at a beautiful blueberry farm we visit each summer. Our annual trip is one of my favorite summer traditions! This year I went with my mom and sister, with her children. It was fun to see the cousins enjoy their time together and competing to see who could pick the most blueberries!

 

One evening Jemimah brought in a basket of bell peppers she picked. She likes to pick flowers from her wild flower garden and then arrange them among the vegetables. She finds great delight in surprising me with beautiful bouquets and displays of her flowers.

I am grateful to have a nice supply of peppers in my freezer for the winter ahead.

We are thrilled to finally have some ripe tomatoes. They seemed to be a little slow to ripen this year. We have a few different heirloom varieties, which is a real treat. Above is another example of Jemimah's creative expression in vegetable/flower arranging. : )

The geese have grown so fast! They are such characters and seem to find ways to amuse us nearly every day. Axel is a little aggressive with people he doesn't know and becomes very vocal at his annoyance when unknown guests arrive, like the gas delivery man yesterday! He also finds great delight in chasing our poor little dog Darla Mae and chasing Jemimah while she rides her bike. He has gone so far as to bite her bike tire. I'm glad to be on his good side, so far!

 

Jemimah spent time this summer working on her embroidery and learning how to sew on the sewing machine. After completing a couple of hand sewn projects she was ready to try her hand at using a sewing machine. She sewed a patchwork quilt for her dolls and did a great job! I was so proud of her hard work, and blessed when she won best of fair at our county fair for her quilt.

Over the summer I hand embroidered a little runner/dresser scarf. I found the stamped embroidery kit at a little quilt shop in our area; they were selling a number of vintage stamped embroidery projects for 50cents- $1. I purchased several, some appear to be from the 1950's. 

I also added a couple of new (to me) vintage apron patterns to my collection. I am hoping to find time to sew them over the next few months, and maybe add them to my shop. I really like to button back closure of each design.

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer! 

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" Romans 11:33

Pasta Salad Recipe

Today I would like to share with you my favorite recipe for pasta salad. Earlier this month I made pasta salad for a Fourth of July picnic at my mom's house.

 

Pasta Salad:

 

1 box (12 Oz.)  tri-colored rotini pasta

1 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 carrot, shredded

1/4-1/2 onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cup pepperoni, cut into pieces

1 can (6 oz.) black olives, sliced

Dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 TBSP. water

1 TBSP. honey

3 TBSP. Parmesan cheese

1/4-1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

black pepper to taste

 

Directions: 

 

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until al dente, rinse under cold water and drain.

 Whisk together ingredients to create the dressing.

In  large bowl combine pasta, cheese, bell pepper, carrot, onion, pepperoni, olives and salad dressing. Refrigerate overnight. 

 

This salad is a summer favorite in my home! It is very versatile and can be adjusted to suit your family's preferences. 

I also made a cake for the picnic. It was a simple boxed cake, but I thought it may be worth sharing despite the fact in was not entirely made from scratch.

 

 Cherries in the Snow Cake:

 

1 box white cake mix (*ingredients needed to bake cake)

1 box instant pudding

2 cups cold milk 

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 can cherry pie filling

Directions: 

Prepare and bake cake according to directions. 

When cake is finished baking and still warm poke cake with the end of a wooden spoon handle. In bowl combine pudding mix with milk. Stir until smooth and let sit 2 minutes. Pour pudding into holes of warm cake. Place in fridge a couple of hours to cool.  Prior to removing cake from fridge, beat heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla, until stiff peaks form and it has become whipped cream. When cool, top cake with whipped cream and cherries.

*When the boxed cake mix called for oil I used melted butter, and it place of water I used whole milk.

Since it was July 4th, I decided to try and form the cherries and some blueberries into an American flag. My attempt was a little crude, but everyone seemed to like my less than perfect flag cake.

It was a lovely Fourth of July picnic! We were very blessed with a warm, sunny day. We enjoyed good food, patriotic music, fireworks, and best of all, being with family.

"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Psalm 33:12a

 

 

Feathered and Furry Friends

Happy Summer! I hope you all have enjoyed a beautiful spring.

This spring we were blessed to add to our flock and I thought I would take some time to share pictures of our feathered and furry friends.

For some time now Adam has been interested in purchasing some geese. He had read articles about the benefits of geese, and that they prove to be a good alarm/guard against predators. After losing all but two of our hens over the past year he had been looking into options on how to better protect our hens. Some recommend geese as they will alert their owners of harm and even scare away predators.

 It wasn't too hard for Adam to convince me that we needed geese. Especially when I met the sweet little gosling above! Adam had ordered two Embden geese, unfortunately when the shipment arrived at the store, one of the goslings had not survived the trip. The store we purchased from had a mix of other goslings to choose from and this little dear caught my eye, she is a White Chinese.

 In just over a month the geese have grown so much! Both geese are loving and enjoy being held. In the evenings Adam and I will sit in our lawn chairs with a goose on each of our laps.

 Adam has named his Embden goose Axel, after the character in Journey to the Center of the Earth. Axel is an impressive goose already, he is twice the size of my goose. I love the picture above, as it looks like he has a crazy tuft of blonde hair! Both geese have lost most of their baby fuzziness and are growing beautiful white feathers.

As I mentioned earlier we lost all but two of our hens to a hawk and possum. We decided to add ten new chickens to our flock. The business we purchased chicks from has an incredible variety to choose from. My daughter and I had a difficult time limiting our selection to only ten birds! Each of the ten chickens is a different variety, many of which we never raised in the past. Some will even lay blue or green eggs.

The chicks are harder to photograph than the geese as they are constantly moving about. They love to flap their wings and "fly" about their pen. We love to watch their adorable antics!

Our two remaining hens have been enjoying the company of a distinguished gentlemen. Our neighbor's rooster comes over every morning to join our ladies on a stroll about the lawn; come evening he escorts the hens to the hen house and returns home. It is truly comical to watch him walk the hens home, cut across the lawn and then pass under the fence to his own yard. We have dubbed him Sir Reginald Rooster, but call him Reggie for short. Reggie is the most conversational chicken I have ever met, he is always clucking away over every inch of lawn and will even crow in Adam's garage to request an ear of dried corn.

We also purchased two turkey chicks this spring. Much to Jemimah's dismay Adam plans to have the turkey butchered come fall. Adam hopes to have a truly home grown Thanksgiving this year.

Since it has been awhile since I last posted you have not yet had the chance to meet our puppy, Darla Mae. She joined our family last summer and has been an absolute delight! Darla Mae is truly the sweetest little dog I've ever met. In the picture above she is wearing a sweater I crocheted.

Since I can't resist cute puppy pictures I had to include a picture of Darla Mae from last summer soon after we brought her home.

Adam has also begun beekeeping. We're all hoping to eventually enjoy a wonderful yield of honey, but in the meantime we are finding pleasure in watching the bees collect pollen from our various flowers. It is beautiful to see the bees return to their hive with their back legs coated in yellow pollen. Bees are such amazing creatures. How good the Lord is to bless us with His incredible creations.

 We were somewhat surprised by a recent visitor to our garden. One evening Adam spotted this enormous snapping turtle in our  vegetable garden. We stood by and watched as the turtle began to burrow down into the tilled soil. We all kept our distance, since snapping turtles can be quite dangerous, but enjoyed an up close observation of a large snapper at work.

I hope you have enjoyed this little update about our animal friends. Hope to chat with you all again soon!

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches." Psalm 104:24

Christmas Cookies

 

Today I would like to share with you some new cookie recipes my daughter and I have recently enjoyed baking. This year I decided to try some new cookie recipes, as I tend to make the same cookies every Christmas season. All three new recipes were well received and have been added to my cookbook for future reference.

This summer one of our favorite read aloud books was Pippi Longstocking. In the story Pippi is forever baking and eating pepparkakor cookies. Jemimah was shocked by many of Pippi's antics, including when Pippi rolled out her cookie dough on the kitchen floor. After baking a batch of pepparkakor cookies we could easily see why Pippi would bake such large batches of these cookies, they don't last long. Pepparkakor cookies are delicious and have a wonderfully spicy flavor.

 

Pepparkakor Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened 
• 3 1/4 cups flour
  
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
  
• 2 teaspoon cinnamon
  
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• ¹/₂ teaspoons ground cloves
• 1 1/2 cups sugar (I used all brown, but I think the recipe recommend white)
  
• 1 egg
  
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  
• 1 tablespoon water 

 Directions: Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Cream butter and sugar in a separate bowl. Add egg, maple syrup, and water to butter and sugar mixture. Beat until fluffy. Gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until well combined. Cover bowl and chill dough for at least an hour to make the dough easier to handle and roll out. Once chilled, roll dough until about 1/8" thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out dough into shapes. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until cookies are lightly browned on the bottom.

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Jemimah discovered this recipe in her Club House Jr. Magazine. They were a lot of fun to make and the finished cookies were scrumptious! The design and flavor are perfect for Christmas. I know that from now on candy cane cookies will be part of my Christmas cookie rotation each year.

 

Candy Cane Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• red food coloring

Directions: Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, peppermint, vanilla, salt and baking powder. Gradually add flour, mix well. Set aside half of the dough. Add red food coloring to one half of dough. Chill dough for at least one hour, so that dough is easier to work with. Once chilled pinch off a piece of dough, about 2 tablespoons, from each color. Roll each dough into a rope that measure about 5" long. Twist both ropes together and  then curve top to create a cane shaped cookie. Bake in a 375 degree oven 9-12 minutes.

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During the Christmas season I often think of my grandma and all of her wonderful baking. Each Christmas she would give our family a shirt box filled with an assortment of homemade cookies. My sisters and I were always excited to see what grandma had baked that year. One of my favorite cookies were grandma's mincemeat cookies. They tasted so old-fashioned and festive. Unfortunately grandma never shared the recipe and after her passing we were unable to find the recipe in her cookbooks. However, awhile back I read a recipe for mincemeat cookies shared by Jennifer that sounded similar. I finally tried baking her recipe and it tasted just like the cookies I remembered grandma baking! They are truly a special treat. I encourage you to visit Jennifer's blog and try baking her recipe for mincemeat cookies.

I hope you will enjoy trying the cookie recipes I shared today. Have you tried any new cookie recipes this season? If yes, do you have a new favorite to recommend?

P.S. A few years back I shared some favorite Christmas cookie recipes. If you are interested in seeing the post here is a link.

 

"O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens." Psalm 8:1

Apple Pie and October Memories

October was truly a lovely month. I don't remember an autumn with prettier foliage. The picture above was taken while driving down my grandpa's driveway. Grandpa lives down a fairly long driveway, tucked back amid the woods. The entire driveway was lined with golden foliage, this picture doesn't do justice to just how beautiful the golden leaves looked in person.

We were able to take a couple of day trips in the month of October. Our favorite was our visit to Letchworth State Park. The trees were just beginning to change color, the weather was pleasantly cool, and it was such a treat to see so many amazing views of God's marvelous creation!

 Letchworth is often referred to the "Grand Canyon of the East". While there we saw the actual home of Mary Jemison, a rustic log cabin. She is buried at Letchworth and they have a monument honoring her, as well as a historical display of her life.

The three waterfalls were truly splendid! Our little girl was absolutely delighted by the waterfalls, as she had never seen a waterfall that large or impressive before.

Not far from Letchworth is Mount Morris, the town where Lamplighter Publishing is located. We were pleased to have the chance to visit Lamplighter and tour their book bindery and recording studio. It was a treat to see how they create the beautiful books in their collection. We were deeply impressed at all the hands-on work that goes into creating each volume.

When the days grow cooler I look forward to baking my favorite Autumnal recipes. Nothing say "fall" like apple pie. I thought I would share my favorite recipe. It is the recipe my mom always made when I was growing up. It is simple, but delicious.

Apple Pie

6-7 cups apples, peeled and sliced

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

4 tablespoons melted butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Combine all ingredients. Pour into pie shell. Top with crust or crumb topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. 

Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup flour

1 cup oatmeal

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup butter

Blend well. Sprinkle over pie evenly.

We didn't have our first frost until nearly the end of October. It gave us ample time to enjoy the flowers in Jemimah's wild flower patch. She was bringing in little bouquets nearly every day. The wild flowers brought us all much joy this summer.

The zinnias were my favorite in the mix. I loved the combination of vibrant and soft colors.

I had to snap a few pictures knowing that these would be some of the last fresh flowers we would enjoy until spring.

A sample of how the daily mini bouquets had a tendency to take over the kitchen table.

I hope you have all enjoyed a beautiful October as we have. May you have a blessed week!

"O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth." Isaiah 25:1

August

This bouquet of flowers came from our wildflower garden.

August has been a busy month of gardening, canning, home improvements and beginning our homeschool year. It feels as though we have accomplished a great over the past few weeks.

We have been so pleased, blessed and grateful with the success of our garden this year. Adam tripled the size of our patch dedicated to growing corn, and it was wonderful to enjoy homegrown sweet corn so often this summer. We even had enough corn that I was able to freeze several quarts for the winter ahead.

Adam has compiled a collection of  garden pictures that we hope to share in a post here soon. As you can see from the picture above Adam grew almost everything this year! The cantaloupe has been a favorite. The flavor is so sweet and special during the last of these hot summer days.

As I type this I have over a dozen jars of spaghetti sauce and a dozen jars of pepper jelly resting on my kitchen counter - all made with produce from the garden. It is such a joy to know that come winter we will still have a taste of this beautiful summer to enjoy!

Earlier this week I made plum jam. It remains a family favorite. I am always delighted when I am able to find locally grown plums. They are so delicious and they make the perfect jam!

In the evenings I enjoy sitting back with a good book or some handiwork. Currently I am reading Duskin by Grace Livingston Hill. Reading a Grace Livingston Hill book is like meeting with an old friend, some of the situations are similar book to book, but enough is different to be entertaining. The theme of God speaking through His Word is woven throughout Duskin in such a natural and beautiful way. The main character has promised her mother that she will  read her Bible daily while away from home on a business trip. At first she is annoyed by her mother's request, but as the story progresses she realizes that God is using the book of Proverbs to guide and direct her course.

The evenings have been cooler of late and I have been finding some time to knit again. This summer was quite hot, so my knitting sat tucked away until now. The blue yarn is being knit into a cardigan for my daughter. The natural yarn is a scarf.

Earlier this month I canned several quarts of peaches. While I had fresh peaches on hand I made peaches and cream kuchen, a recipe that my grandma shared with me years ago. It is one of Adam's favorites, so much so that I made it twice in one weekend.

Peaches and Cream Kuchen

Crust:

2 cups flour

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 butter

Combine flour, sugar, salt  and baking powder. With pastry blender cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Turn mixture into lightly greased 8"x8" pan. Pat firmly against bottom and sides of pan.

3 cups of sliced peaches (fresh, frozen or canned may be used)

 3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

Arrange peaches over crust. Combine sugar and cinnamon, sprinkle over peaches. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

Beat 1 cup heavy cream and 2 egg yolks together. Pour over peaches. Bake an additional 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Allow to stand 10 minutes, serves warm. Yum!

My mom, daughter and I visited a lovely greenhouse/farm market one day this month. Jemimah was excited to discover this stunning display of pink petunias. We had to snap a few pictures of her among the flowers.

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." Ephesians 3:20

Elderberries and Bluebirds

 It has been a while since I last posted here. Life has been busy and my blog always seems to take last place on my list of priorities. Between finishing up our homeschool year, gardening, homemaking, sewing and just enjoying my family, the months have moved along too quickly for my liking!

 Today I thought I would share some pictures of our elderberry bushes. Some may remember back to when Adam first planted the bushes in 2017. I am amazed how they have grown so huge in just three years! We will have to use a ladder to reach the uppermost berries.

 The blossoms are as large as my hand and they smell absolutely heavenly! In fact you can smell their fragrance several feet away, especially on these warm summer evenings. We are excited, and hopeful, for a grand harvest of elderberries this September.

 We have been delighted with our little family of Eastern bluebirds that have nested in one of our bluebird boxes this year. It may be hard to see them clearly in this picture, but there are four babies. The baby on the lower left hand side is beginning to show blue feathers.

Eastern bluebirds are very special to me. My grandma and mom were some of the first in our area to place bluebird boxes in their yard, about 30 years ago now. Both studied bluebirds and were very attentive to each bluebird family that nested on their properties. I remember one year a family of baby bluebirds had become wet and dirty due to a tremendous rain storm. My mom and grandma worked together to gently clean the babies and create a fresh nest from grass clippings that had been left from mowing the lawn. At the time it seemed a bit risky, but they did a great job. All of the babies survived and eventually left the nest.

 Hopefully I will share a post dedicated to our garden in the near future. Adam had outdone himself this year! Despite the lack of rain we have had in our area, our garden is thriving. Praise the Lord! We are all eagerly anticipating the first tomatoes and corn on the cob of the season.

 The lettuce in the picture above was found in one of my flower beds. The seed must have been carried there by the wind. It made for a delicious salad.

 This was our best year yet for rhubarb. I was able to make two batches of vanilla-rhubarb jam. If you have yet to try this jam recipe I recommend you make a batch soon! It is by far the most delicious and unique jam I have ever tasted.

We love to sit outside in the evenings and watch the sunset. I thought this sunset was a beauty, however my picture pales in comparison to how the sunset looked in real life.

I hope you are all enjoying a beautiful summer surrounded by God's great creations!

"For the word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth.
 He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Psalm 33: 4-6