Little House at My House

This is purely a 'Look what I made' post. I came up with an idea to make a peg people playset for kids and my niece and nephew for Christmas. This is the first one, a Little House on the Prairie set for my daughter who loves the books and anything pioneer.



I really enjoyed making this and have even been thinking of selling a few at my Etsy Store.



I think I will make another for my niece for Christmas and include a copy of the book. It's sweet to think of her playing away with her little house while her mom reads the book to her.

I have some other ideas brewing in my head. Eventually I want to make little tables and maybe a bed. I plan to take a woodworking course in November and I am really looking forward to it.

Tally Ho!

Each year I try to do a bit more than last year. Although this year I must say my efforts were a bit lack luster. I did a bit but not as much as I would have liked. I have a lot on my mind lately when it comes to simplicity, my life style and how I feel about this whole thing. I tend to be pretty philosophical about things. I make myself crazy thinking too much and I guess that's what happened this year. Philosophically I am in a rut but none the less I did manage to put some things up this summer.

Here's the current tally.

Canning

9 jars of Homemade Strawberry Juice
16 jars of Homemade Strawberry Lemonade
10 jars of dill pickles
8 jars of raspberry jam (we have a few jars left over from last year)

Freezing

30L of strawberries
20L of blueberries
20L of raspberries
10 lbs of corn
10 lbs carrots
6 lbs of broccoli
2lbs of tomatoes

Storage

10lbs of onions

To do:

More broccoli, lots of cauliflower, carrots and tomatoes. I would also like to try salsa again before October. I need to buy potatoes for storage, apples as well. We do not have a cold storage or basement or anything at this point so we really are limited in that regard.

I am not going to be freezing apple crisps or pies this year. We did not go through them all last year. I may just make a few as the winter goes by with the bushel of apples in storage.

Maybe next year I will have found my 'umph' again, because this year I have been completely lacking in motivation, definitely down in the dumps and not feeling myself lately.

Yogurt Pops

At the beginning of summer I ordered two sets of BPA free popsicle molds from Amazon.com, made by Tovolo. I love, love, love these molds. I bought the star molds and the space ship molds. When they arrived, the kids and I never looked at summer treats the same way.




Aside from juice, we experimented all summer seeing what concoction we could dream up. I had a batch of ice cream that wouldn't set and we needed to leave. I couldn't just keep the ice cream maker going so I poured the semi-ice cream into the molds and shoved them in the freezer. It was great! The handles did slide off and we needed to eat them with a spoon but I figured out they just needed more time to de-thaw and pull away from the sides of the mold.

I also developed this recipe, a simple but very healthy popsicle. Yogurt pops.

You will need:

1 cup of frozen or fresh strawberries,
1 to 1 1/2 cups of yogurt (any flavour)
Popsicle mold

Place your strawberries in a food processor or blender and puree. Add your yogurt and mix. You can sweeten with honey but we don't bother. Pour your yogurt fruit into the molds and place in freezer to set. Remember to leave a bit of head space because they will expand when frozen.



Easy, healthy and oh-so-good!



Since buying my popsicle molds I have not bought popsicles, freezes or any treat this summer. We simply just make our own. I am so glad I found an alternative to all those freezie wrappers, or plastic wrap on store bought treats. These molds are easy to clean, easy to make and better for the environment. Love it!

Blanching and Freezing

I have been busy getting our school year going while trying to put as much up for winter as I can. One of my favourite methods of preservation is freezing. Unlike canning, freezing fruits and veggies does not detract from the foods original form. You don't need copious amounts of sugar, lemon juice or vinegar to keep the foods safe for winter. Canning is very time consuming and can be expensive when buying additional ingredients. Freezing keeps the food in it's natural state until you are ready to eat it.

Here's an archived post from a previous year describing the process of blanching, a must-do step in order to make the best of your vegetables.

Blanching & Freezing Vegetables and Fruits

Summer's bounty is all well and good but what do you do with all that sustenance once it's brought in from the elements. Scientists say that food enzymes begin to break down the minute items are detached from their mother plant. Food can decline quickly if not stored properly.



Certain foods can hold their own if conditions are right. Potatoes, rutabaga, and apples** can all 'over winter' well enough in cold storage but what to do with the rest.

I like freezing a certain amount. I preserve by canning when I can. Storing canned items takes no extra electricity to sit on a shelf, not like frozen food that needs a near constant supply of energy to stay frozen. But you can not can everything. And so freezing becomes a great advantage in our day and age.

Almost all food can be frozen but most need to be put through a process called BLANCHING, a quick boil process that stops the enzymes from progressing and subsequently spoiling food. Without blanching a certain food's texture will become... well let's just say undesirable and leave it at that.



Blanching and freezing the harvest seems to be this long hidden secret. A secret that forces everyone who is not 'in the know' to buy commercially frozen produce at astronomically high prices, never knowing how much they are being ripped off. It doesn't take much time either, and when you think about it, it saves oodles of time in mid-winter when making a soup and all you have to do is pull these frozen garden delights from the freezer all washed, sliced and ready to go.




Blanching works well for lots of foods. My favourites are carrots, corn, brocoli, cauliflower, and sometimes tomatoes.

Here's how to blanch: wash and cut your vegetables while having a pot of water coming to a boil on the stove. Once the pot reaches a rolling boil, fill it with your vegetables and start the timer. It usually takes 2 to 4 minutes depending on what you are blanching. Time varies depending on the variety of produce so make sure you check below. At the end of the allotted time, drain veggies in a strainer and then submerge in ice cold water to stop the cooking process. Once the veggies are cool to the touch, you can pull them out of the water, let them dry for a few minutes and then pack in freezer bags or storage containers. Freeze right away.

Blanched veggies are good for soups, stews, casseroles, and as steamed side dishes. And researches say that frozen veggies are so similar to their fresh state that they contain the same amount of nutrients as those found in fresh veggies. And compared to how much food needs to be altered to can it, that's a pretty good deal. They should be consumed in 1 year.

Here's a list of various food that can be frozen and their blanching times.

Asparagus: small 2 minutes/ medium 3 minutes/ large 4 minutes

Beans (Green and Wax): cut 2 to 3 minutes/ whole 3 to 4 minutes

Beans (Lima): small 2 minutes/ Large 4 minutes

Brocoli: small to medium 3 minutes/ large 4 minutes

Carrots: 2 to 3 minutes

Cauliflower: 4 minutes

Corn (Cut, whole kernel or cream style): 4 minutes

Corn on the Cob: small 7 minutes/ large 11 minutes

Parsnips: 2 minutes

Peas: 2 minutes

Rutabaga (turnip): Blanching not required

Summer Squash (Zucchini): 3 minutes best for soups

Winter Squash (Pumpkin): Bake at 350F for 40 to 60 minutes. Boil 15 to 20 minutes. Steam 30 to 60 minutes. Cool in refrigerator.

Tomato (Whole or diced): cut an X on the bottom, scald for 1 to 2 minutes because it helps to remove the peel.



** Apples and Potatoes should never be stored over winter in the same room as each other... apparently apples don't like their earthly cousin (the pomme de terre, literally translated as apple of the earth). Actually apples omit a gas as they continue to ripen which causes potatoes to spoil.

Any Anne Fans Out There?

I adore Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea and anything related to Lucy Maud Montgomery. For years I have been collecting books, visiting sites and stumbling upon historic places related to one of my heroines. I was fortunate enough to be born in Southern Ontario, a place where L.M. Montgomery herself lived for the majority of her life. Ontario is just rife with places related to her, her books and all movies produced by Kevin Sullivan.

In 2007 my family and I visit Prince Edward Island, our 'Anne Trip' where we took in everything authentically Anne. I felt no guilt while dragging my family around visiting Maud's old haunts and places that inspired her beloved stories.



Much of the movies were not filmed in PEI but were actually filmed in Ontario at various historic sites. The White Sands in a historic restaurant in PEI but usually the shots in the Road to Avonlea series were body doubles, much cheaper than flying actors from Toronto to the site.

This past summer the kids and I have been visiting historic pioneer villages, not only to haunt some sites related to Everything Anne, but also to learn more about our ancestors in the hopes it will inspire me to continue my journey to simplicity.

We live 30 minutes from the Museum which houses the blue school house used in the second Anne movie. This is also the museum I volunteer at while demonstrating spinning. I have no digital pictures of this site so I will have to snag one the next time I am there.

In Toronto there is Black Creek Pioneer Village where a lot of filming for the Avonlea television show took place. We first visited last year but enjoyed it so much we wanted an encore this summer. My daughter is also convinced that part of the American Girl Felicity movie was filmed here. This fact I can not substantiate so I am not sure.

The actual Road to Avonlea main street were just building facades built in a field in Uxbridge, Ontario which were dismantled after taping ceased. L.M. Montgomery lived in Uxbridge before moving to Toronto when her husband retired. Citizens in Uxbridge are still working on a museum commemorating one of their most famous residents.

Maud also lived in Norval, Ontario. I stumbled upon a garden and plaque erected there in her honor while driving through one day. There's a big sign that says Lucy Maud Montgomery Garden, so of course I had to stop and take a stroll through it.

This past week we went to Doon Heritage Crossroads, in Kitchener. Two major scenes were filmed here including one with Rachel Lynd sitting on her porch watching Matthew Cuthbert driving by in a buggy, wear a suit! "He's not going fast enough for a doctor." This is the porch. The house was yellow and white back then.






There is also a scene filmed here for the Anne Sequel movie, where Anne comes out of the Post Office, Gilbert Blythe and her walk through the main part of town and then ride bikes through this covered bridge. It's a lovely scene.






L.M. Montgomery wrote one book, The Blue Castle, set outside Prince Edward Island. It was set in her second most beloved locale, Muskoka only a short drive from here. In the next week or so we plan to visit the Bala Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

There is another Museum near Hamilton, Ontario that hosted the movie crew. The Westfield Heritage Village has the train station, the Hammond Sawmill and the Hammond's home and stairwell where Anne heard she would be sent back to the orphanage.

There is so much here at my fingertips, I feel blessed to be 'a part of it'. I can visit as often as I like and get a real feel for the places from our not so distant past. I find these historical sites just dripping with history and inspiration. I could go back again and again.

Is that a Show Garden?

Discovered two cantaloupe shells this morning, with no melon left. Something with small hands, most likely a raccoon, made a small hole in the shell and scraped out all the insides. This is getting to the point of ludicrousness. Since the corn scandal I have been thinking very pensively about crop protection. I had thought a fence would work for the deer, when I believed they were my only real threat but now I see the problem is so much deeper. So now I have begun to contemplate a solar-powered electric fence.

When taking my bee keeping course, the bee keeper had solar electric fences around both his chicken runs which were movable around the yard. At the time I had thought that would be a good solution for chicken predators, but now I see its use as a crop protector as well.

Three years ago I started my little garden. I was tired of putting it off while saying 'we're not going to be here that long anyway'. We live in rental housing at the moment while we search out our homestead. I had (and still have) all these lofty ideas of the size and yields of my 'real' garden all the while trying to be satisfied with what I have here. I have come to realize how satisfying this mini garden is for me, even if I don't get to enjoy all the bounty. My little garden has taught me so much like:

Don't let your broccoli go to flower.

Don't over crowd.

Don't let the weeds get too bad because there IS a point of no return.

Don't trust the garden center tags, especially if they say you can grow red peppers in Zone 5.

Don't let your four year old help you 'pull weeds' unless they understand what a weed is.

And last but not least, when something is ripe pick it because it's not a show garden for goodness sake.

Life lessons learned and now I am so much better prepared for my 'real' garden... and perhaps the real house that goes along with it.

Kaiser Buns

These buns are great for burgers, sandwiches or just warm with butter.


In a small bowl or glass measuring cup stir together;

1 cup of warm water
2 1/2 tsp of yeast


Set aside.

In a large bowl mix;

1/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
1 tsp salt
2 cups of flour
2 tbsp of sugar

Add the yeast mixture to flour and beat until smooth. Stir in 2 more cups of flour to form a soft dough. Let rise in oven with the light on, or in a warm place for 1 hour.

Punch down. Form buns (8 to 12) and make cuts in the top like an X, and let rise again for 20 to 30 minutes.

Bake at 400F for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.