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

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

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

Sour Cream Berry Pie Recipe

During the summer months I love to enjoy the fresh fruits of the season through pies. Recently I had used some black raspberries for jam and didn't have quite enough left over to make a pie with, but still wanted to incorporate them into my baking. Then I remembered reading a recipe for a sour cream berry pie in the Mennonite Community Cookbook. It seemed a somewhat unusual recipe and at first I was hesitant to give it a try. My curiosity got the better of me! Sour cream berry pie is a recipe I will keep on hand to bake often since it doesn't require as much fruit as a classic fruit pie. The texture is delicious and I found that the berries were still the main flavor of the pie.

Sour Cream Berry Pie:
2 1/2 cups elderberries or blackberries*
1 cup sugar**
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup sour cream
Pastry for 1 (9 inch) crust

Wash berries and place in an unbaked crust.
Combine sugar and flour.
Add sour cream and blend thoroughly.
Pour mixture over fruit.
Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue to bake for 30 minutes.

*I used 3 heaping cups of black raspberries.
**I used 3/4 cup of sugar. My berries were quite sweet and I felt an entire cup would be too much.

I look forward to baking this pie recipe again using different berries. I think red raspberries would be wonderful. Come September I hope to make the elderberry variation too!

 This recipe can be found in the Mennonite Community Cookbook. I purchased the 65th Anniversary Edition a couple of years ago. It is a lovely cookbook. Some of the recipes are a bit more old-fashioned than what I would typically cook, but there are still many that are timeless and delicious!

What new recipes are you enjoying this summer?

Black Raspberries and Clematis

This summer we have been abundantly blessed with delicious raspberries, both red and black. Ever since I was a little girl black raspberries have been a favorite. For many years they grew wild along the edge of my mom's yard. My sisters and I loved to pick and eat blackberries on hot summer days. Very often we had enough for a pie too.

About four years ago Adam planted both red and black raspberries at our home. In the picture above you can see the row of black raspberries to the left and red to the right.

It has taken time, but it is certainly a blessing to see the bushes reach their full potential and produce enough berries to be useful.

We had enough berries to make two batches of jam (20 jars). I love making lots of jam each year. Family and friends are always pleased to receive a jar of jam. I feel like it is a way to preserve some of summer for the winter months.

Each year my clematis brings me so much joy! The previous owners of our home planted the clematis. It was a lovely surprise the first summer we lived here.

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

April

Earlier this month we enjoyed the first of our springtime flowers, crocuses. My little girl loves flowers and was excited to pick dainty bouquets for our kitchen table. In the picture above you can see her collection of bouquets in her tiny tea cups.

 Jemimah loves to color, and I am grateful to find a wonderful variety of coloring pages through Pinterest. I am always especially pleased to find scripture verses for her to color. Over the past two months Jemimah has memorized all of the verses comprising the Romans Road. It truly blesses my heart to hear my daughter recite the many scriptures she has memorized over the past year.

 Our new hens have begun egg production! After a long winter of not collecting any eggs it has been wonderful to have an abundance of eggs to share once again. Since we have a variety of breeds this time, it is nice to take note of the variances of the egg shell colors. My sister commented how some of the eggs are almost mauve in their hue.

 Over the winter Jemimah learned to embroider. Embroidery was one of my favorite pastimes when I was a youngster, however I will admit I didn't learn to embroider quite as young as Jemimah has. She spent many painstaking hours creating this precious kitty tea towel for me. I know that I will treasure it forever!

 My most recently completed project is a crocheted afghan. It has been quite a while since I crocheted an afghan. It had been on my mind that I would like to crochet an afghan for our living room.
My grandma was quite prolific in her crocheting of afghans. All three of her children, as well as some grandchildren were gifted with multiple hand crocheted afghans. Growing up I always loved to nap under one of grandma's afghans. I thought of my grandma a lot while crocheting this afghan. It was my grandma who taught me to crochet, and this pattern is very similar to a pattern she crocheted a number of times.

 I am really pleased with the end result! It is super cozy and I love the stitch pattern. It was fun to crochet as it was not overly repetitive, but was simple to memorize.

Did you all have a nice Resurrection Sunday? We did, even if it was quiet and different. One of the special treats we enjoyed this Easter was chocolate cream pie. I thought I would share the recipe today. Over the past few years it has become a family favorite and one of my most requested desserts to bring to family gatherings. In fact my one sister always asks me to make her a chocolate cream pie for her birthday and wedding anniversary. : )

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix ingredients well in a medium saucepan. Then add:

3 3/4 cups milk (I recommend whole milk)
Cook over medium-high heat. Stir constantly. Mixture will come to a boil. Boil 1 minute or until the pudding is thick. Then add:

3/4 cup chocolate chips
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix well. Pour into an already baked pie crust. Chill in refrigerator until completely cool. I typically allow my pie to cool overnight in the refrigerator. Then top with homemade whipped cream, and if you are feeling extra festive maybe some sprinkles.

To close I would like to share a devotional I recently read in David Jeremiah's daily devotional Turning Points.
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 Unwavering

The Lord has promised good things.
Numbers 10:29

In his commentary on the book of Joshua, John Calvin wrote, “Our faith, unless founded solely on [God’s] promise, must be continually wavering…. Faith ought properly to recline on the truth of God alone.”[1]

Are you troubled today? The Bible says, “For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion” (Psalm 27:5).

Do you feel weak? The Lord declares, “My strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Are you anxious about how a situation will work out? Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

For every pulsing thought, there is a pulsating Scripture. There’s always a Bible verse waiting to be requisitioned to your need. Search it out and write it on the tablet of your mind. If our faith is founded solely on God’s promises, we’ll be unwavering.

That which God promises to us in word he seals by act.
John Calvin

 

 "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust."
2 Peter 1:2-4

Quiet Days

Already we are feeling spring in the air! Usually we have snow on the ground, and more in our weather forecasts, in the middle of March*. This week has been warmer and rainy.

Adam has been busy in the garden this week. He has cultivated a couple of beds and is getting ready to plant peas and beets.

  Before the springtime flowers are in full bloom I wanted to share some pictures of my African violets. At this point they aren't blooming quite so profusely as they were when I took these pictures back in January. I love how my African violets are most vibrant during the long winter months. They help cheer me through the dark winter days.

  Once spring arrives I will need to re-pot my violets. Two of my plants have grown new plants.

  During the winter months I tend to enjoy baking more than I do the rest of the year. When I was growing up my mom would often bake a recipe called "Cinnamon Flop Bread". I loved waking up to the smell of cinnamon on a Saturday

  Baking something delicious is a great way to make a dark rainy day feel cozy and comforting.

   The picture above shows what the "bread" should look like before baking. The cinnamon flop in the blue pan has been sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, while the other has not. I did this so could see how to distribute the butter.

Cinnamon Flop Bread

1 cup sugar (I use brown)

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 Tbsp. melted butter

1 cup milk

Mix and spread into two greased pans. I will often use one bread pan and a pie plate, but two bread pans would work too.

Dot with one stick of butter that has been cut into small pieces. Sprinkle with mixture of 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes

  Recently I sewed this dirndl for my daughter. She loves wearing this style of dress and was especially pleased with the pink ribbons! It is a very versatile outfit, lately she has been wearing the dirndl with a turtle neck or tee-top. Once the weather is warmer the dirndl will be worn with a white peasant blouse.

 The dirndl pattern I used was designed by my mom with a little help from myself. My mom makes a variety of European inspired dresses and sells them here.

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."
Psalm 91:1-2 

*I wrote this post last week.

Jam, Zucchini Bread and A Doily

 Zucchinis are one of my favorite vegetables! They are incredibly versatile, just yesterday I was commenting to my mom how many ways I have incorporated zucchini into our meals. Last night we enjoyed a supper of zucchini pancakes, corn on the cob, tomatoes and cucumbers- all from our garden, and for dessert zucchini brownies. It is such a blessing, especially since our first few gardens at our home were complete failures

In the picture above I had made a savory cheddar cheese zucchini bread and double chocolate zucchini bread. When I make the double chocolate zucchini bread I substitute the 1/2 cup of sugar with 1/3 cup honey, making it a little healthier. My daughter, niece and nephew all refer to the double chocolate zucchini bread as chocolate cake. It truly is a delicious recipe.

 Another recipe I tried for the first time this year is Peach Maple Jam. Adam made maple syrup this spring. Much of it was boiled over an open fire and it has a marvelous flavor. It was fun to find a jam recipe that could use some of Adam's syrup. The flavor of the maple syrup and vanilla combined with peaches is unique and absolutely delightful.

 Recently I finished crocheting the doily pictured above. It was a fun project and the design is one of the prettiest I have seen in quite a while. I love the unique shape. It looks perfect on my kitchen table under our oil lamp. The pattern I used can be purchased here.

 This was our first year to plant sweet corn. Jemimah loves corn and was extremely excited to plant corn with her papa this spring. She monitored her corn daily and compared her corn's growth with the corn in surrounding fields. You can imagine how thrilled she was to eat the first ears of corn from our garden. : ) We have been eating corn a few times each week for the past couple weeks. Jemimah has been very pleased to pick the corn for supper and then husk it. I love to see her carrying the freshly husked ears of corn in her apron skirt. 

We are already planning to plant more corn next year in hopes of having enough to freeze or can.

Right now I am collecting up tomatoes with plans to make pizza sauce and spaghetti sauce.

Do you have a favorite zucchini recipe? Or a favorite jam recipe?

"Make a joyful noise unto God, all ye lands: Sing forth the honor of his name: make his praise glorious" Psalm 66:1-2