With a New Year comes a few new changes

With the new year comes a few small personal changes here on the farm. One of these small changes is our home décor. I know this sounds a bit odd, but I've always had a taste for the finer things in life but could never quite decorate our house with a certain old fashioned formal flare, until now. I've always had a passion for the Victorian era. The houses were magnificent and people had a very formal refinement, something that has been long forgotten, especially in these modern times.

I had found a website a couple months ago that cater to the Victorian era. They have everything from women's hats and clothing to home décor and everything in between. The website is
victoriantradingco.com.  Since finding the website, I've noticed it seemed to go hand in hand with one event the women in the Sweeney family love to participate in and host, and that is the tea party. The women get together in their big funny hats and we sip tea and eat gourmet finger foods. Being a little on the eccentric side I decided I needed some Victorian style hats for these tea parties. As I would look at everything the website had to offer I noticed "affordable" items for the house that I just couldn't do without. With Christmas fast approaching and family members needing ideas for things to get me, this seemed the perfect opportunity to revamp our home, and so it began.

However, with the new décor I realized that I needed a new me. Most people say that to create a new self, you must start from within and work your way outward. Well while that may be true for some its not for everyone. I for example need to work outward in. For starters, growing up I was taught to behave like a lady, although I'm pretty sure I didn't quite achieve this goal completely. I was always more of a tomboy.  However, I still remember the basics of polite society.

So, to work on myself there are a few things that need to change. For starters, like with everyone's new years resolution, I need to loose weight. The second thing is that I need to use my manners more often, and to brush up on basic etiquettes and put them to use in everyday life.

I  also need to teach these things to Skylar. I've taught her the basic manners, but I feel she needs a slight bit of refinement.

So, these are our small personal changes on the farm and while it may be a little odd or maybe even outdated in our modern society, I feel that getting truly back to the basics will improve our lives a little more.

Christmas in the bayou

In Lutcher, Louisiana, (which is where I am originally from,) we have a special Christmas tradition for lighting Santa's way on Christmas Eve. We build huge unique Bon fires on our levees that boarder the Mississippi River. The construction of these elaborate Bon fires begin at the end of November. The residents build Bon fires in the form of swamp cabins, castles, tanks, or whatever floats their boat. On Christmas Eve night around 7:00 pm we light the Bon fires to light papa Noel's way through the bayous. In the bayou papa Noel doesn't have a sleigh of reindeer instead he arrives in a pirogue driven by gators. Papa Noel uses this method of transportation in the swamps and bayous of Louisiana because according to legend and history the reindeer refused to go through swamps and his sleigh was too big to navigate the swamps. Many of the original settlers would build homes in the swamps and lived on whatever food the swamps provided. There are still homes and camps in our bayous and swamps that are very much inhabitable and to many living in the swamps as their anscetors did is still very much apart of every day life as well as tradition. With the lighting of the Bon fires to light the way there is yet another tradition, the festival of the Bon fire. Being Louisiana we tend to find any reason to throw a party. So the festival of the Bon fires began. On this night everyone and their families come out to do a little celebrating while lighting the Bon fires on the levee. We come together as a community andput differences aside and pass on the tradition to our kids. 

The Tea Party

Since being with Sean the last couple of years and us moving onto  our farm, I have grown a lot as a person and have been thrown into a pleasantly strange new little world. While Sean seems to have grown up in a family that has a bit more social standing than mine, I have realized that I'm not completely out of place.  Keep in mind that neither I nor Sean have ever come from money although neither of us have ever really wanted for anything.

My grandparents, like most peoples grandparents who came up during the great depression, had a classy refinement that would be hard pressed to be found in the younger generations. My grandmother, who to this day has always had an Audrey Hepburn quality to her, tried her hardest to teach me proper manors and how to be a lady. My Grandfather, who seemed to have a clark gable refinement to him even when hunting and fishing, always tried to teach me to be smart and tough. I think my Grandfather won out as I grew up a tomboy. Always wanted to go fishing and hunting when I was little. My Grandmother use to try and talk me out of fishing but would give in as it was more lady like than hunting, which I was never allowed to do.

My mother, as well as my grandparents, has always worked but my mom has never been an outspoken person where my aunt, her sister, has always had a refinement that matched my grandmothers and an outspoken wit to match my grandfathers. I myself have always been more on the shy quiet side and always lacked a certain confidence when around others. Although I have mastered the art of "social illusion".  Most people who meet me, even the ones who've known me awhile, don't believe me when I tell them I'm shy.

When I say I've grown a lot since being with Sean, it's true. I've been yanked out of my shell and  thrown into social situations that I'm not use to being in.  One of the things that the Sweeney women love to do and have seemed to make into an art form is to throw tea parties.

When most people think of a tea party they either think of little girls sitting around playing dress up and taking to stuffed animals and drinking imaginary tea from tiny cups. The other image that comes to mind is of old Victorian women sipping tea in the gardens and having idle chit chat and gossiping.

Well, I can assure you that I had no idea what to expect when I was told that I was attending a tea in lieu of a bridal shower last October.

My soon to be sister in law, Bridget, who is also the tea party throwing guru of the Sweeney women , told me that sky and I were to wear dresses and funny hats to the tea. Luckily I had two 50's style sundress that fit both sky and myself and I just so happened to have an old straw sunhat from when I was a kid, Sky had a fedora that just so happened to go perfectly with the dress she was to wear.

Well, the day of the tea party arrived and as always sky and I were fashionably late. I was a nervous wreck and it takes a while for me to get half way descent looking hair.

When we got there, Bridget's living room had been turned into a very formal dinning room. The tables were set with fine china, candles, napkins, silverware, the works. Finger foods were passed around and tea was poured. There was laughter and idle conversations. To me it was something out of the handbook for the rich and social.

As of recently, Sky and I had been invited to another Tea. This one for Sean's grandmother's birthday. This time it was a little less formal but equally as nice. When we got home from this last tea, I had made up my mind that We needed a tea set. I do like to drink hot tea from time to time, but I've never had a "proper" Tea set.


By the time Sean had gotten home from work I was busy studying and shopping for tea sets.
I even read up on the proper etiquette for tea parties. Sean and I finally agreed on a tea set by the time we went to bed, which if all goes well I'll get for Christmas. I even went as far as to take Sky and her best friend Cindy to the English tea room the following Saturday. Sometimes I tend to throw myself full heartedly into things, This whole tea thing is one of them.

In all of my craziness I did learn a ton of new information. Apparently the art of the Tea party is not dead and is actually making a come back. The art of Tea has never and will never be dead in England, mind you. However, it does seem to be making a come back in the southern states. I can't speak for the northern states. 

I will be posting another blog on tea etiquette, for those of you who may be interested and I will try to also post a few recipes on tea party foods.  

Halloween party

Well our first annual Halloween party went over really well. Everyone who came out had a great time and enjoyed great food. However, next year will go a little smoother. We'll have all the decorations up no later than the night before and most of the cooking will be done the night before Or the morning of. For Sean and I Halloween night was hectic trying to get everything done and cooking while people were showing up. Needless to say we had so many leftovers that we're still eating them. 

Halloween at Sweeney manor

This year on the farm, or as we've come to call it "Sweeney manor", we are hosting our first annual Halloween party. We don't seem to have as many Halloween decorations as I remember so aside from buying most of my Halloween decorations to expand our assortment of ghoulishness I found a few diy projects. 

Since we don't have nearly enough decorations for inside as out, I got creative. I remembered that I had an old deck of tarot cards (been having them since highschool) grabbed some black felt large enough for our round coffee table, and while searching high an low for the cards stumbled across an old brass candle holder that Sean had and a pillar candle that I bought recently. So all I did was lay out the felt, place the cards on the felt( 7 lined face up and the rest face down spread out), placed the candle holder and candle on the table and presto simple diy creepy Halloween fortune ( or misfortune) telling table complete ( as pictured above with effects added).The only thing I'm missing is a crystal ball:) 

My next diy project was a ghost :

I used a styrofoam head

Cheese  4 large layers of cloth 

Glue

Modgepodge

eyeshadow

Fishing line

Basically, you glue the cheesecloth to the styrofoam head in a cross pattern. One strip unfolded goes on from the front of the head to the back. The next strip goes on from ear to ear. Next you glue on the two other strips where there is room on too of the head. Let glue dry. Then cover the head and face with the modgepodge. Once dry attach the fishing line through the top of the head for hanging. Finally add eyeshadow to the eyes and highlight the nose, cheeks and chin and add color to the lips. Let dry completely and you're ready to hang.

My next project was the guest bathroom:) 

While the shower curtain, the toilet cover, and the mirror cling are obviously store bought, the bathmat and guest towels are painted by hand..... Literally. 

I saw the bathmat done up and for sale for 27.00. That was way too much to pay for a bathmat. So I went to dollar general and picked up a bathmat for 6.00. Already had the red acrylic paint and also purchased the towels for about 2.00 a piece. All we had to do was put the red paint on our hands and feet and go to town:) so we did. I was also able to make a tablecloth for our outdoor BBQ table the same way using a plastic tablecloth we got for a dollar at dollar general. These are great for adding a bit of gory slasher fun that kinda has a very Norman bates feel to it ;) 

My other favorite, is "mr. Creeper". 

He's almost as simple as the bathroom. All we used for him was an upright wooden coat rack, Sean's old black cowboy duster, some old shirts and rags for stuffing and an old goofy mask. Really anyone can make mr. Creeper. He's actually one of the best props we have at Sweeney manor. 

Halloween lantern

A quick inexpensive way to light your path on Halloween. Mason jars are so versitle they can be used in so many ways. We had done some mason jar lanterns for sky's 12th birthday as part of her Rustic themed birthday party a couple years ago and I've decided to repurpose them for Halloween. 

All you need is mason jars

Copper wire

Votive or tea light candles (flame or flame less)

Water color paint

Wrap the copper wire around the top of the mason jar creating a handle.

Use red paint to create the blood drip on the jar

Let dry and place the candle inside and you're done. 

Super simple lantern for Halloween either for the little ones to carry on their hunt for treats on dark Halloween nights (for this use led candles) or to light a pathway. 

Simple Halloween decoration

All you need for this cool decoration is some Spanish moss and two ravens or crows. 

Take the Spanish moss and create a nest around the chandelier or wherever you're using it and then attach the ravens or crows with floral wire to make them stand up. 

Simple, quick, and super easy:) 

Quick and easy pumpkin bread

Makes two loaves.

3 cups of sugar

1 cup of cooking oil

4 eggs

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

11/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2/3 cups water

1 15 ounce can pumpkin

Grease the bottom and sides of two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans and set aside.

In a very large mixing bowl beat sugar and oil with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add eggs and beat well. Set aside. 

In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Alternately add flour mix and water to sugar mixture beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Beat in pumpkin. Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 55-65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Cool in pans until completely cool. Remove from pans and serve

Halloween preparations

It's never too early to plan for a Halloween party or to welcome the changing of the seasons. 

This year we are hosting our first annual Halloween party on the farm. If we had thought of it sooner I would've started planing back in July, but as it goes we're starting now. Since this is our first Halloween party on the farm we're starting off kind of small..... Meaning lots of people and a small amount of decorations. 

Since Halloween is about fun and mischief and things that go bump in the night...for most people ,We've decided the creepier the better:) but we have not forgotten the more traditional reasons for Halloween. It's a time to honor our loved ones that have past and to include them in our gatherings on Halloween. It's also a time to welcome the fall and ask for blessings over our crops and livestock to be fruitful in the coming year. 

With all of that in mind we're incorporating a little bit of everything into out Halloween festivities this year.

 A quick and very easy DIY decoration 

Idea that can be used year round and can incorporate any season, mine are in honor of the coming fall,are homemade broomsticks;) 

I happened to see this cool little set of very long dried grass and wood chip flowers and decided it would make a perfect broom and started looking around for a "broom stick" and found these twisted bamboo looking sticks which went perfectly. 

Basically to make the broom all you need is:

Twine

Something stick like that is sterdy 

Long grass or very fine wooden sticks

And flowers

To make the broom place the bouquet on top of the sticks and bind the very top of the bouquet onto the sticks with the twine tying the twine into a knot to secure it. Next take a small length of twine and tie it to the top of the stick making a loop for a hanger. Super simple and takes all of 10 minute to make. 

Most craft stores should have similar bouquets like the one pictured above and those fun long twisty sticks used in floral arrangements. 

Another cool decoration idea, if you have a fireplace, is candles. I found some black candle holders at hobby lobby that have that antique rustic look to them and some deep red pillar candles. 

These give an elegant touch to any fireplace, but on Halloween with a little cobwebing it'll have a creepy yet elegant feel. 

When decorating for a Halloween party it never hurts to use your own furniture in the creepy decor. For example if you have an old grandfather clock like we do 

( kind of odd to have a grandfather clock in a mobile home, but then again I've always called this place my doublewide mansion.) feel free to put cobwebs all over that bad boy, and don't forget to add some to the inside ( provided it's not so old that your fiancé who is sometimes like a bull in a china store hasn't broken the key in two and you can still open the clock). Also winged back chairs and even lazy boys can be made to look creepy so use them. 

 

I've also ordered a couple of animated props from spirithalloween.com

This website has everything for a perfect Halloween party. Personally we had to have the animated antique doll that roams around and because my daughter loves to "sew" her mouth shut (just a fun little creepy makeup thing she's come up with using string and glue) we also had to have the evil rag doll that  consequently sews her mouth. 

I also found a three tiered planter that I will be using as a food tray and as a centerpiece for the table. 

It was one of those things that you're not looking for and happen to find that just happens to be perfect for Halloween, but can be used even for a southern springtime tea party when dressed up with some bright flowers. 

The next thing is food... What to serve your guests. 

This year I will be making pumpkin bread as one of my finger foods. Pumpkin bread just screams fall and Halloween and oddly enough thanksgiving. 

The recipe I use makes two loaves and is super simple. I'll put this recipe, and other recipes I mention  up in another post. 

The next thing I will be serving is a bat ball. Basically it's a cheese ball with blue tortilla chips for wings and olives for eyes. I don't currently have a picture of this but I will post one closer to Halloween. 

We will have finger sandwiches,a veggie tray, and some devilish deviled eggs. 

Since we have a pile of logs that need to be gotten rid of we're also planning to have a bonfire complete with hot dogs and toasted marshmellows. Along with whatever other creepy goodies I can come up with:) 

Hope this gives all of my wonderful readers some good ideas for any fall and Halloween preparations this year :)   

Healthy back to school snack

Looking for the perfect back to school snack for the kids? Here's a great recipe for even the pickiest of kids and a great idea to preserve your tomato harvest....if there's any left to save:)

Homemade sun-dried tomatoes!!!!!

I found this recipe the other day and even though I'm not a fan of tomatoes,unless they're in salsa or tomato sauce, I found that I was unable to stop eating them. 

This recipe is so simple it's a wonder I hadn't tried it before. 

All you need is:

Tomatoes (any amount you'd like )

Brown sugar

Olive oil ( I use homemade herb infused 

               Olive oil but any olive oil will do)

Sea salt

Dried hebs (optional)

Non stick baking or cookie sheets. 

Preheat oven to 225 degrees 

While the oven is heating, slice the tomatoes lengthwise. Place in single layers on the baking sheets. Once the tomatoes are on the sheets add salt to taste, drizzle the olive oil over the tomatoes, sprinkle with brown sugar and your dried herbs if using. 

Place in oven and bake for about 5 hours. check the tomatoes at 2 hours and flip the tomatoes over sprinkling with a little brown sugar as needed. 

At the 5 hour mark take the pans out. If done the tomatoes should be dried and slightly crunchy. If they still look a little on the juicy side you can put them back in for another hour or two but make sure bit to burn them. 

Once all the tomatoes are finished let cool about 5 minutes and serve or store in an air tight container or ziplock and freeze. 

Been busy

I know I've been away from the blog for a little over a month now, but we've been pretty busy lately. Aside from working on the farm we have two other houses that we're trying to fix up so we can get them on the market to sell. As far as the farm goes the vegetables and trees are doing beautifully although we lost our avocado tree do to too much water last month. Our strawberries are pretty much finished for the year and our tomatoes are out of control with their production. The herbs are still doing very well and the mint has exploded and is growing faster than I can clip it back. We've produced the best tasting squash and have watermelons still on the vine. 

We also have two does that frequent the property, twitchy and peanut. Peanut likes to graze through the garden from time to time and just today I figured out why we hadn't seen much of twitchy in a while. Twitchy is a momma. I was watching some survailance video from our cameras and saw twitchy grazing through the front tree line and noticed something following her. Well at first I thought it was a smallish dog stalking her, the footage isn't that great, until she crossed our driveway and a few seconds later this cute little fawn jumps out of the tall grass plays in the driveway for a second or two and playfully runs off after twitchy. Sky and I decided that the new baby is to be called sprite since she seemed to be so playful. 

Summertime canning

June and July are two of my favorite months in the garden. The blueberries are in full swing and either just right for harvesting or just about right depending on the blueberry bushes you have. On the farm we have two different types, couldn't tell you the names lol, but one type gets ripe berries in June and the other in July. I am not expecting a big blueberry harvest this year since my blueberry bushes are still young yet, but I have been getting a few. 

Also, the wild blackberries are continuing to ripen daily around the farm. I love blackberries but I don't love their thorns. Earlier in blackberry season we managed to pick about 8 cups of blackberries before I kind of have up:) all of the blackberries we have on the farm are wild, which means they're all in the woods. That's great and all but the Mosquitos are a pain in the neck literally and then you have to watch for ticks and snakes. I haven't given up totally on blackberry picking, simply because they're there and they're free. I'll be picking more again soon. 

With all of the summertime blooming of fruits, vegetables, and berries it's no wonder that the summer is also canning season. Lately I've been steadily canning anything and everything I can get my hands on. So far I've done blackberry jam, berry wine jelly, salsa, tomatoes, mint jelly, red pepper and garlic jelly (which tastes like sweet and sour sauce), red onion jelly, lavender wine jelly, orange/ pineapple marmalade, and have also made two herb infused oils. I haven't even touched my yearly flavored syrups yet but that will be coming shortly. 

Vacation and the farm

Trying to get vacation time is hard enough, but when you have jobs,a farm,and animals to take care of it's even harder. On Monday and Tuesday Sean decided that we needed a mini vacation. So, we packed up the truck and picked up a good friend of Skylar's and Sean's mom and went to Biloxi. The five of us had a great time. The girls stayed with Sean's mom at one of the casino hotels and Sean and I stayed in one of the other casino hotels. The hardest part of this trip was the planning. We could leave mini monster (the cat) home alone for days with enough food and water but we can't do that with jack(the dog). So, we had sky's boyfriend zack take care of the animals while we were gone. The other thing was what to do about farm itself and all of the plants and trees. So again zack came to the rescue and took care of the farm for us aswell. 

While having a 16 year old boy take care of our beloved pets, the house, and the farm made me very apprehensive I'm glad he came through for us and he seemed happy to help out. 

Ordinarally I would've brought jack to my moms house and have them take care of jack for us while we were away. Jack tends to be somewhat of a handful at times and I guess my biggest worry about having zack take care of him was that jack would act up or get loose while zack was taking him out.

We are currently scheduled to take another mini vacation sometime this month, but this time it'll just be Sean and me. I'm looking forward to it and even though it's just for two nights I'll have to decide what to do ,not only with sky, but with jack as well. Sky's wanting to stay home for those two nights and she's old enough and responsible enough to do so, but we'll see if I let her stay home. 

Attempted murder and a creepy pasta

The title of this post sounds like the plot or title from an Alfred Hitchcock movie, unfortunately, however, that is sadly not the case. I write this post today in light of a senseless tragedy that took place over the weekend in Wisconsin involving three 12 year old girls. According to the news articles I've read about this case two of the 12 year old girls had planned to kill their friend, also 12, by stabbing her to death during a sleep over at one of the girls houses but then changed the plan and instead brought her to a wooded park area and took turns stabbing her there all because of a popular creepy pasta character named slender man. The two girls who were arrested both seemed to feel or acknowledge some degree of remorse for what they had done, with one stating that neither could go through with the act at first and then one of the girls saying that part of her wanted her friend to live. The 12 year old victim thankfully survived and is, at last news update, in stable condition.

I only know about the slender man stories and the creepy pastas because my very creative daughter, Skylar and her friends, love to read all of the creepy pastas, including the ones about slender man.
I find nothing wrong with the creepy pastas myself as they are creative and no worse than kids telling scary stories at a slumber party. One of the guys who hosts a creepy pasta website had said in a written statement on his site  that he started his site for writers so that they may  improve their writing techniques and styles. He then noticed that not only were young adults enjoying the stories posted but also teens, so he used his website to also help teens become interested in reading and help them to improve upon their writing skills as well by allowing them to send him stories they had written themselves and would critique them giving helpful hints encouraging them to improve and only posting certain ones to the site.  

Being that he knew that the creepy pastas may not have some parents approval, whether due to story content or character portrayal and violence, he writes in his statement that he had gladly helped many parents to block his website from their children, when a parent would email him on how to do so. 

I mention all of this because the media and the general public, including the two 12 year old girls who committed this heinous act of violence toward their friend, are all looking for someone to blame and unfortunately in this case the blame will not fall entirely on the two girls, nor their parents, but sadly on fictional stories about very fictional characters and events.

As history has shown us time and time again, when there is no one to actually place blame upon due to our fear as parents to say hey, maybe I was a bad parent, or maybe I really should have been paying more attention to what my child was doing or who they were talking to, or I should've been more vigilant and then I would have noticed odd behavioral patterns in my child. Or us as a society that can't be accountable for what is taking place in our country and to admit that we as a society have failed our children in more ways than we can count, or even to place blame upon a child for what atrocities they may have committed because it is too unbearable to think that someone so young could be so cruel and ruthless, and never ever admitting to ourselves that their innocence has been replaced with cruelness because of what we as a society have taught them.  We place the blame squarely on the shoulders of inanimate objects, guns for example, someone's ideas, whether in movies or music, or the creative scribbling's of an imaginative mind. Simply because we cannot face our inner demons and admit that maybe, just maybe we as a society are to blame.

As a mother, I take great pride in my child. I strive as any good parent would to push her in the right direction both in school and in life. I let her be her own person and even though we may not always see eye to eye on everything, I at least know that I've instilled within her good moral and family values, to be a strong person, free thinker, a good friend, and to accept other people for their differences, and to stand up for her peers that may not be strong enough to stand up for themselves. I have never really had to worry about what Skylar reads or what she looks at online, or even who she talks to or hangs around. I give Skylar the trust that she earns. I have never had any false pretenses about Skylar making mistakes, because everyone makes mistakes everyday. I also never had to worry about her not knowing the difference between fantasy and reality.

I am not a  perfect parent by any means, nor is Skylar the perfect child...... not even close. Skylar and I have come to the comfortable understanding that both of us are still learning. I'm still learning how to be a good parent, even though she's 14, and I still have a lot of learning to do as each day is different and I never know what is going to come out of that child's mouth at any given moment or what she may get herself into, and Skylar is still learning about the harsh realities and great pleasures of life. How to become her own person and learning who she is and who she wants to be.


Here at Sweeney's Farms and Orchards, lovingly referred to as simply "the farm", our hearts and prayers go out to the family of the courageous 12 year old victim, the victim herself who has a very strong will to live and a guardian angel protecting her. Our Hearts and prayers also go out to the families of the two girls who committed this horrible act as I'm sure this is not easy for them to have to go through and live with. Prayers also go out to the two girls who committed this crime in hopes that they will fully understand the error of their ways.

I would  like to take this time to remind everyone to spend more time with their children and pay better attention to what goes on in their child's lives. What happened to these three girls was a very preventable and horrific tragedy.

 It is not for us to find and place blame where there is no fault. 

Lavender Wine Jelly

 

This wonderfully fragrant jelly is a lost treasure and perfect for Springtime. The blend of herbs and lavender compliment each other for a uniquely delicious jelly that is reminiscent of Victorian springtime picnics.

 

2 cups dry white wine

2 combined tbsp. of fresh lavender, sweet basil, lemon thyme, pineapple sage, cinnamon basil, and rosemary. 

2 cups granulated sugar

1 pouch liquid pectin

 

 

In a large sauce pan combine the wine and herbs. Bring to full rolling boil over high heat. Remove from heat, cover, and let steep for 20 minutes.

Transfer to a dampened jelly bag or sieve covered with dampened cheesecloth over glass measure. Let drip undisturbed for 20 minutes or until you have 1 3/4 cups of infused wine.

 

In a large sauce pan over high heat combine infused wine and sugar stirring constantly. Bring to rolling boil that can't be stirred down, add liquid pectin and boil hard stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Quickly skim off foam, and ladle into hot jars.

Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Mint Jelly

While I'm relatively new to the whole Jelly making process, I find it fascinating. To read how to make certain jellies, it sounds like a long drawn out process, but in actuality it's as easy as making tea.

One of the herbs I planted on the farm this year was Chocolate Mint. Chocolate Mint is one of my all time favorite herbs to grow for no other reason than it's flavor and fragrance. I read recently that chocolate mint is named more for it's chocolaty purple colored stem more so than it's flavor. I tend to disagree as the author of that article must not have ever tasted chocolate mint fresh off the vine. Chocolate mint has a strong mint flavor with a notably soft chocolate undertone that mellows out the strong mint flavor for a delectably unique taste.

Since Mint will grow like wild fire in any garden, yard, or farm once planted it's always a good idea to make use of the abundance of mint leaves.  Mint has a few good uses for all sorts of things. It's used in marinades, meat rubs, desserts, jelly and most commonly tea. It also has medicinal uses. A great example of this is using mint leaves to settle a nauseous stomach or to settle the nerves.

So here's how you make Mint Jelly:

You will need 1 1/2 cups firmly packed mint leaves

2 1/4 cups of water

2 tbsp. lemon juice

3 1/2 cups of sugar

1 pouch of liquid pectin

damp cheesecloth or jelly bag

food coloring


Wash mint leaves in cool water. Shake off excess water and finely chop the leaves.

In a large stainless steel pot, add water and mint leaves. Bring to boil over medium - high heat. remove from heat, cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Pour liquid into a damp jelly bag or sieve lined with damp cheesecloth set over a large glass measure. Let drip until you have 1 3/4 cups of mint flavored liquid.

In a deep sauce pan add mint flavored liquid,lemon juice, and sugar. Stirring constantly bring to a full rolling boil, that can't be stirred down,over high heat. Add in pectin and food coloring and continue to boil hard for 1 full minute. Remove from heat. Skim off foam and ladle into hot jars. Seal jars and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Putting the Farm to work ?

After giving away a couple of jars of my apple butter, strawberry Jam, Cherry Chutney, and Orange Pineapple Marmalade to a few people to try or as gifts, I've had several requests to start selling them.
I've been contemplating the idea for a little while now and think it's a great idea. It's also an opportunity to put our farm to good use aside from providing for our family and just selling our fruits and vegetables. The hardest part of selling my canned foods is coming up with a logo and labeling the jars. I've found a few good websites for the jar labels and for making a logo, the problem is I can't decide on the logo and need to find someone to make ingredient labels for the back of the jars. The easiest part of this is that we grow most of the fruits and vegetables here on the farm. I'm still contemplating the idea and gathering as much info as I can get my hands on and thinking up a business plan. I do think this would be a great opportunity to make a little extra income for us, but I guess I just need to see how it goes first and not bite off more than I can handle. 

Strawberry Jelly

 

Strawberry Jelly is a tasty treat for the whole family to enjoy!!!

 

 

Directions:

 

3 1/2 cups Fresh Strawberry Juice for Jelly

 

1 Package regular powdered fruit pectin

 

4 1/2 cups granulated sugar

 

 

To make the Strawberry Juice for Jelly :

 

Gently wash and drain  3 1/4 cups of strawberries, handling carefully to avoid juice loss. Remove the stems and caps. In a large sauce pan combine the strawberries and just enough water to prevent scorching, about 1/4 to 1/2 cups of water. Bring to boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover loosely and boil gently, stirring and crushing berries occasionally, just until the berries are softened, about 5 to 10 minutes.

 

Transfer strawberry mixture to a dampened jelly bag or strainer lined with several layers of damp cheesecloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip, undisturbed, for at least 2 hours or overnight to collect juice.

 

Once you have all of your juice, place the juice in a deep saucepan. Whisk in the Pectin until dissolved. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Add sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat and quickly skim off foam.

 

Quickly pour hot jelly into jars leaving 1/4 head space. Wipe rim and place lid and band. Tighten Band until fingertip tight.

 

Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes 

 

 

 

The Crazy Cat Lady

We've all heard about, or seen first hand, the Crazy Cat lady. She's usually old and unmarried and most often relatively reclusive, but how did she become the Crazy cat lady? I'm sure she started off with one or two cats as pets and couldn't turn away a stray preferring to be in the company of cats rather than the company of man, But is that the whole story or how it even began?

Since we've moved to the farm and inadvertently adopted the neighbors cat Big Ben, we've noticed more and more cats showing up. Tiny was the first to show up after Big Ben. Tiny belongs to the same neighbor as Ben but was the reason Ben preferred to stay at our farm. Tiny had a bad habit of beating Ben up and stealing his food. When tiny shows up we keep her occupied with a very small amount of food so that Ben can eat in peace and don't really give Tiny any kind of attention. We prefer to give Ben all of our affection as he's adopted us as much as we have him. From time to time we've also had a large long haired charcoal tabby with the cutest face a cat has ever possessed. He doesn't ever seem interested in a food hand out and too skittish for any kind of contact. We've also noticed a black and white cat on two occasions in the driveway that never gets closer than 100 feet of the house and seems to only be passing through. There's also the large orange tabby that seems to stay in the back close to the deer trail running at the sight of anyone. As of yesterday, we now have a skittish calico who is small and beautiful. She was looking for the Hand out of food we give Ben. She won't let you get anywhere near her but I did spot her sneaking onto the porch last night looking for anything Ben may have left. Of course if Ben doesn't finish his food we do bring his bowl and food inside, I'm not feeding every cat in the neighborhood after all.

Like I've told Sean, when I'm out in the country I seem to have the ability to attract every animal, domestic or wild, within a 5 mile radius.  I'm not sure why this is but I've been that way my whole life. On the two acre farm I lived on previously we had wild rabbits and raccoons. The wild rabbits would come running toward me from out of the woods as soon as they heard my voice or saw me. they use to stay by feet and eat from my hand whatever grasses I had picked. I really don't mind the cats, but I do miss my rabbits and raccoons.

way too much time on their hands

Recently I was reading a yahoo article about McDonald's new mascot "Happy."  Now I know McDonalds and other large businesses are constantly marketing and promoting their business and products and everyone and their brother will have something to say about it, but is this really news?

It seems to me that people have WAY too much time on their hands and not nearly enough going on in their on little lives when they're all in a frenzy over a cartoon character that is suppose to promote good health and fun, not saying that McDonalds if ever a healthy choice in any situation.

The problem with "Happy" is there is a major debate on, of all things, whether or not he's creepy. The debate has nothing to do with whether the food he's promoting is healthy or not for the kids, or if he's trying to teach children a lesson on healthy eating and good hygiene habits with his white teeth and thin arms and legs. Maybe even trying to send a message with his sneakers that making healthy choices, eating healthy foods, and getting out and being active and getting exercise is enjoyable and fun and can make you "Happy."

Sadly, no, the debate is on whether or not he's creepy looking. The worst thing of all is that all of the major news stations, not just the tabloid and gossip news for idiots, has picked up and reported on this new advertising technique. Apparently this cartoon mascot is more news worthy now a days then what is going on in the world. It's a sad day when you realize that people everywhere are so petty, immature, and uneducated and have nothing better to do with their time, that the most important thing in their lives to talk about is whether or not a cartoon is creepy.

Welcome to "Idiocracy".......... where we all sit around saying real slow "I like money"