Corn on the Cob

Nothing beats fresh from the farm corn on the cob but blanching and freezing that corn is a good second best. I started blanching and freezing locally grown corn a few summers ago. Once I figured out the technique I was blanching everything I could find.



Blanching is like semi-cooking food, halting enzyme production which ultimately spoil food over the long run. It is a better technique than just washing vegetables and throwing them in the freezer. Blanching creates a nicer texture while simply freezing vegetables can make them stringy, too soft and just not palatable.







So here's what I do:



De-husk corn and remove silks. Wash and set aside.



Boil a large pot of water on the stove. Once at a rolling boil add as many corn as you can fit. Let corn sit in the boiling water for 2 minutes, no more. Then immediately removed and plunge in ice cold water to stop the cooking process.







Now you may cut the corn into niblets or leave on cobs and freeze whole. I use to use individual bags but found it very wasteful so now I use larger freezer bags.







These two bags equal approximately 18 cobs of corn. I did the math last summer and found this to be very cost effective vs the frozen corn purchased from a store.

When Good Tomatoes Go Bad: Round Two

I have made an unpleasant discovery among my tomato plants this week. The ones which turned orange first have an unmistakable rotting spot on the bottom. I picked nearly an entire basket of rotten tomatoes from my 30 plants and just about cried. I still have more ripening as I type and upon inspection they all seem to be doing fine, so what the heck happened to this first round of tomatoes.







Apparently I have a crop suffering from Blossom Rot, which is a condition brought about by lack of calcium in the plant and surrounding soil. This can also be an issue for plants experiencing a higher than normal dry spell because moisture helps the plant soak up calcium.



I don't think my problem was the soil, more than likely the root of the cause (no pun intended) was the three week period when we had a municipally imposed watering ban. For nearly four weeks in July we experienced less than 2 inches of rain fall. This would not have been an issue had I installed rain barrels but as it is, rain barrels are on my extremely long list of household needs and I simply had not gotten there yet.



As I was canning pickles and jams, I let my canning "bath water" cool before spreading it over my plants. I did whatever I could to keep them alive and prayed for rain lest I loose my whole crop. It seemed to work because the plants are alive but the fruit is lacking calcium.



A suggested cure is sprinkling Epsom salts while planting next spring. Another source suggested egg shells. I shall have to try this in the future and see how my tomatoes fair. For now I shall watch and wait, hoping I get enough to can whole or even mix in to make salsa. Only time will tell.



In other news I harvested some more goodies from the garden; a cantaloupe (musk melon), three green peppers and some more onions hiding in the dirt. Not all is lost. It's still been a great year.

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.

Strawberry-Kiwi Juice Concentrate

Homemade juice is both cost effective and better for your overall health.

I can control how much sugar gets used in the juice. I can control whether or not the juice is organic. And I can support the local economy by going straight to the farmer. Plus, it's just one more step to self-sufficiency.

From a pure cost perspective, it's a pretty good deal. Let me give you a break down. Each basket of strawberries costs me approximately $8. One basket made about 18 jars (125 ml) of juice concentrate. That works out to 44 cents a jar. Once prepared (diluted) each jar creates slightly less juice than 1L. 44 cents is a great deal for healthy and often organic treat.

I am not a big fan of juice from a nutritional standpoint. Let's face it, we are much better off eating the actual fruit then resorting to a fruit extract laden with sugar. Fruit has more fiber in the actual pulp than in the juice. Water is a much better beverage by a long shot. But, local strawberries in January are hard to come by, sometimes you want a little treat and hey, why not give it a try? So I did.


This recipe can be used for any type of juice actually. I just happened to try strawberries first because they are ready the soonest in the season.


I made two recipes, and finished with 22 jars of homemade juice concentrate. It was so easy I see myself trying my hand at some blueberry concoctions once they are ripe. We tried the recipe below using Strawberries and Kiwi. I also tried this recipe for Strawberry Lemonade at Homemade Serenity and it tastes so good.

Straight-Up Any Old Fruit Juice Concentrate

Select your fruit or combination of fruits. Wash, peel, hull, whatever just get them ready.

Place in a sauce pan with just enough water to separate the fruit, so it can somewhat bob. Do not add too much water though.

Start a slow boil. Once boiling remove from heat. Mash with potato masher and return to heat until slowly boiled again.

Line colander with several layers of cheesecloth. Place a large bowl beneath to catch juice.

Pour liquid into colander. And let the liquid seep out of the cheesecloth. Once most liquid has run through, twist cheese cloth and gently squeeze out any last bit in the pulp. Compost pulp.

Add sugar to the juice while it is still warm. You choose as much or as little sugar as you want. You can always add more sugar later when you dilute it so it is best to underestimate than over estimate.

Now your juice is ready to can in a waterbath canner (10 minutes), or to freeze in mason jars.



I like to can my juice so it doesn't take up room in my freezer. Canning also uses less overall energy compared to frozen food that needs near constant cold to stay fresh. If canning, please be sure to add 1 tsp of lemon juice to the bottom of your jar before placing juice in. This raises the acidity level to can it properly and safely.

See that's not so hard!

Red Fruit of the Gods

We went strawberry picking Tuesday. We filled four baskets full but I don't think that will be enough for all the canning and freezing I do. I will have to get some more next week. We go to a local berry farm, where they grow strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. They also have a lot of fresh local produce but it's too early in the season for most things. I was eying the new potatoes but simply must wait a few more weeks. Right now they resemble the size of ping pong balls!

Stealing a taste! Nothing beats the sweet taste of a strawberry fresh from the field. These strawberries were perfect for homemade juice!

The Blue Castle and Simplicity

Yesterday I finished reading The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I love Montgomery's work and this one is by far my absolute favourite. I read this book for the first time three years ago when I first began my simplicity journey. I didn't realize it then but the reason why I love this book so much is because it's a representation of the life I would like to live.



Looking over the lake at a large mansion Barney and Valancy have this conversation...

"Would you like a large house like that, Moonlight?" Barney asked once, waving his hand at it. He had taken to calling Valancy Moonlight and she loved it.
"No," said Valacny, who had once dreamed of a mountain castle ten times the size of the rich man's cottage and now pitied the poor inhabitants of palaces. "No, it's too elegant. I would have to carry it with m everywhere I went. On my back like a snail. It would own me, possess me, body and soul. I like a house I can love and cuddle and boss. Just like ours here. I don't envy Hamilton Gossard 'the finest summer residence in Canada.' It is magnificent but it isn't my Blue Castle.

And so Valancy is right. The burdens of a big house and a big life to match are plentiful. A grand house requires money, time and energy. A life oozing possessions is a life of servitude to clean and care for them. A minimalist life is one of freedom to pursue your passions.

If you know a bit about L.M. Montgomery you know that she loved her Prince Edward Island above any other place in the entire world. After she married and left the Island she never did return. While living in Ontario she discovered Muskoka, around here known as Cottage Country where people come up from Southern Ontario and Toronto to spend the summer. She found this section of the world strikingly beautiful as well. So enamored was she that she ventured to set one book outside of PEI and that book was the Blue Castle. Obviously she held the region in very high regard.

This book is a venture in homesteading and self sufficiency. Montgomery's character Valancy retreats from the town and her oppressive clan to find a life of peace and tranquility in the forest she loved. While living "Up Back" Valancy found her Blue Castle living amongst nature; the water, the trees, the rocks and wildlife. She ventured into town when need arose but for the most part she stayed at home with her books, her companion, her cats and the life purposely and deliberately chosen.

I wonder if L.M. Montgomery ever dreamed of such a life. My guess is she probably did, and it is from her own desires to turn her back on modern society (and the burdens she bore from it) that the story "The Blue Castle" was born.

Whole Wheat Raisin Bread

Oh so good and good for you too! Molasses gives it the rich brown colour and adds a taste of downhome cooking.


In a large 4 cup liquid measuring place:

2 1/2 cups of warm water
4 1/2 tsp of yeast

Mix together set aside.

In a large bowl, place:

6 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
4 tbsp of margarine or butter
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tsp of salt
3 tbsp of molasses
3 tsp of cinnamon (or more if desired!)

Mix together and slowly add water/yeast mixture. Mix in mixer or with hands until dough pulls away from side and forms a round dough in centre of bowl.

Add 1 cup of raisins.



Knead by folding dough and pressing with your palm. Knead until dough is uniform.

Place tea towel over bowl and place in Off Oven with oven light on. Let rise 40 minutes. Knead once again, and rise 30 minutes. Form into loaves and place in greased loaf pan. Allow to rise again. Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown, and pulls away from the edge of the loaf pan.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

Making Butter

It's really quite simple and oh so satisfying. Nothing tastes better than homemade butter on homemade bread. Simply divine! Yet another thing to check off my self-sufficiency list!



Start off with heavy cream, the heaviest you can get a hold of. In my neck of the woods, the heaviest available is 35%, commonly known as Whipping cream. A lower cream content can also be made into butter but it takes longer.

Whipping Cream recently went on sale in my area so I pick up some. I am using 500 ml of 35% cream and two 500 ml mason jars.

Fill jars half full and place on the lids. And now shake! You don't have to shake vigorously, just keep the liquid moving.




After about 10 minutes the cream gets thicker.




And then it will almost solidify. At this stage it becomes hard to shake and it really feels like you aren't doing anything because the cream is stuck to the outer edge of the jar and then...puff! The whey separates and you have a big lump of butter in the middle splashing around.



We kept shaking for a few more minutes before emptying the whey (cloudy milk) and adding ice cold water. Shake around again. Pour out, add more ice water. Keep going until the liquid is pretty clear. Pour out remaining water.



Then put your butter on top of a cloth. I used a cheesecloth in this picture but the fibers were too far apart. A linen cloth would be best. Squeeze the cloth around the butter and let the remaining whey drip out.



It's important to get the whey out or else the butter will expire pretty quickly. Then remove cloth, and place butter in your desired container and refrigerate!

Since I was doing two jars my daughter volunteered to help with one. We had a shake off, to see who's would turn into butter first. She won by the way but only because I was stopping to take pictures.

You can also make butter using a blender or food processor or a mixer. To get directions for this method check out Down to Earth

My 500 ml ( 1 pint) yielded almost two cups or one pound of butter. Let's forget about self-sufficiency for a moment and look at the numbers. At the regular price of $3.59for whipping cream, this process hardly makes it worth it when pre-made butter costs $2.99 but when whipping cream is on sale for $1.99 it makes financial sense. It certainly can provide a nice treat at a Thanksgiving or Christmas feast!

Quilted Table Runner

I tried a new block pattern, the Pinwheel pattern. It is pretty easy to assemble. Each triangle is cut from a square and then those triangles are mismatched with a contrasting colour and sewed together.



I have a few more pieces to put together to make another runner but I have a feeling I won't get to it before the end of this harvest season. As it is I have two twin sized quilts and two wall hangings I wish to get done before Christmas. And I also have my son's Halloween costume to complete but my sewing machine decided to keel over while I was doing the hem of my daughter's costume. Of all the times for my sewing machine to die it had to be when I am most busy and gearing up for the holidays.

I have a vision for my quilts. Eventually I would like a quilt done up for all seasons (harvest, Christmas, Spring, Winter etc) so that my quilt rack will always have something current and decorative. We are always snuggling up on the couch with my quilts but when we are not using them they are on display. Quilts are wonderful. They provide a use while being viewed as a piece of art as well.

Giving Thanks

This time of year is so magical. It is the time when the crops are in, stored away for winter. It's the time when people come in from outside and spend more and more time beside one another.

I have always had reverence for autumn but this year for some reason my wonder is so much more pronounced. I have put more up for winter than I ever had in years passed. I have canned more, blanched more and prepared more than ever. It feels good to have a stocked freezer and pantry.

I am more thankful for what we have now that we have pared down our lifestyle. I am grateful for the time we have. I am aware of the many blessings in my life today. I can not say things are really all that different from the way they were last year. We still live in the same house. We still hang in the same circles and we still enjoy (endure?) the same level of income.

I feel my new found gratitude is rooted in my increasing self-sufficiency. I have more control over our successes and failures than ever before. I am finding my true self, (my authentic self if you will allow me to be entirely cliched).

For all these things I am giving thanks.

The 100 Mile Diet

Has everyone heard of the 100 Mile Diet? When I first heard of it a little more than a year ago I thought it was another crazy scheme to loose weight, you know something like the cabbage soup diet or grapefruit diet. Turns out the authors of the book, Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon, meant DIET in the traditional sense, the make up of what we eat.



You'd be surprised at the amount of food that, although grown right down the road, is being brought in from other provinces or states, even other countries. My family and I, well actually I mostly, have been shopping the last year with this in mind. I noticed a massive display of strawberries in my regular market. It was the height of strawberry season here so naturally I thought I can enjoy a summer delicacy without much guilt yet when I looked at the package I noticed all plastic clam shell packages had been imported from California. There is a fairly large berry farm right down the road and I knew their fruit, picked fresh from the plant was sweeter, redder and would last longer.

It angered me to think that my local grocery could not support our local farmers, save the environment and our taste buds. Locally picked produce is so much better when picked in it's prime and eaten shortly after. Even my 9 year old daughter notices the difference between store bought strawberries and the ones we pick ourselves from the field.

I have known for a long time that I wanted to exert more control over where my food comes from. I am a locavore at heart but have fallen short of actually sourcing out all the local food until recently. My resistance to actually taking on the diet is purely financial. If money was no object it certainly would be nice to rely solely on the food produced locally but let's be honest, local food and local farmers can not compete with the large agribusinesses who's profit margins matter more than animal well being. Local food is expensive and my inner tightwad has been sabotaging my efforts to live completely from food produced here.

On some things I have had to swallow back my Ebenezer tendencies but in others I just can't. I can not see paying $5 for a dozen eggs even if they are organic (in my house local trumps organic considering how many hoops small farmers must jump through around here to get an official designation).

I came up with a plan, not an excuse but something my family and I can better live with while making the transition. We're calling it A Whole Lot of Local. It's a combination of Whole foods (foods closest to it's original source, without processing) with a lot of Local. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot... 75 per cent local is a number I have in my head but we will see how the winter goes.

We kissed Tim Horton's goodbye with one last shabang. We've been traveling around checking out farms and farmers markets sourcing out our food. Even my daughter has reminded my son that we can't go to McDonald's "because it's not a 100 Miles"... he thinks the diet means we have to walk a hundred miles before we can eat anything, got to love kid logic.

Certain things we will allow. Sugar, for the time being while I source out conversions to honey or maple syrup sweetened recipes. Black tea for my husband, who has also promised to give herbals another try. Yeast for my baking, and a small amount of lemon juice for canning. We plan to treat ourselves with a box of clementines at Christmas like the pioneers. There will be other exceptions I am sure but let's face it, so much of the world economy is driven by international trade that many places in Canada that would have produced flour or yeast have migrated down south. One of the points of this diet is to keep what we have alive and thriving here in Ontario and perhaps encourage more producers to give it a go here as well.

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to give local eating a try. An entire meal can be prepared using only locally sourced ingredients. Even if most people don't think an entirely local diet is not for them, making small local purchases can go along way to help the bigger picture.

Happy Thanksgiving Canadian readers!

Apple Harvest

We went apple picking at a local farm and truly enjoyed ourselves. My husband found this lovely gem among all the apples we picked (a bushel) and presented it to me. "I must have picked this one for you." He can be so sweet.

I usually make 10 apple pies and 10 apple crisps and put them in the freezer unbaked. We bake and eat them throughout the winter. Last year we barely got through them all so I think I will only make a few of each. But I still wanted to pick a whole bushel with a plan to store the rest.

Since I have a rather large sack of potatoes in my back room (our pantry) that space is a 'no-go' for my apples. Apples and Potatoes don't get along well, you see, and I would hate to have rapidly ripening bushel. So I stashed them in my linen closet up stairs. The hideaway gets no light and there is no nearby furnace vents which keeps the spot relatively cool. We have no basement and the temperatures in our attic vary so greatly I would not trust anything to survive up there.



There are a few things to worry about with apples: Bruises and close contact with other apples. These two things can wreak havoc on an apple harvest. To combat this apples must be sorted. Any fruit with breaks in the skin, bruises or soft bits should be used for pies right away. All reasonably 'perfect' apples can be wrapped in newspaper (not the coloured paper) and placed in a container. The apples are kept from touching each other so if one does decide to decline, apples sitting around it won't degrade as well.




Apples should stay firm for a good three to four months if stored like this.

Foraging

The idea of foraging for food is an old one, but one that is almost frowned upon nowadays. Somehow our society has equated foraging with scavenging or dumpster diving. While pockets of people are still passing on these age-old skills a lot of people without a mentor to guide them are hesitant to start.

What plants are edible? What if I mistake a poisonous plant or berry? Some people are sure that the work they expel while hunting down food is too much, especially when a supermarket, just down the street, is filled to the rafters.

While intrigued with foraging, I am one of those who does not have a mentor and so it was one of the things on the bottom of my skills-to-learn list but I did know I wanted to learn.



The kids and I got a crash course yesterday when meeting up with friends to hike a local trail. Right at the start of the trail I spotted two trees with bright red apples on the branches. The trees were hidden by smaller trees and bushes all around. Looking from the trail you would not have noticed there were apple trees without looking up.

My daughter was sure they were "crappy apples" but I didn't think so. After our walk the kids were hungry but I didn't have anything besides water, so I joked about them climbing the apple tree for a snack. And they did! My daughter was the first one to bite in and she said they tasted so sweet!

We spent nearly an hour picking apples by any means necessary. Both of the trees were so densely covered with neighbouring plants one trunk could not be accessed. Left to their own devices the trees have grown gnarly, and their branches were high. There were thorn bushes as well but getting threw that was half the fun.



The kids climbed as far as they could, they began using sticks to nudge apples from the spots and eventually when all that were in reach were gathered they began throwing the sticks and collecting whatever fell.

We gathered enough for an apple pie, I am sure. Even though some are a bit scabby it will peel and the fruit inside is quite sweet. In the end, it was such a good day and I was so happy coming home with my backpack full of 'found' apples that I felt closer to self-sufficiency.

The Deceitful Nature of Tomatoes

Tomatoes look so unassuming on the outside. Their harvest is usually plentiful leading the harvester to image a plethora of wonderful products to make. Don't be deceived my friend, nothing is as great a disappointment as the deceitful tomato.

In order to prepare tomatoes for anything really, they must be peeled. The best way to peel a tomato is by cutting an X in the bottom and then blanching (boiling) them for 2 minutes before plunging them in cold, cold water. This process makes the skins loose and easy to peel...it also makes them slippery, slushy and that's not the half of it.



After they are peeled they must be seeded. The ideal tomato variety for canning is the Roma tomato also known as Paste Tomato. Roma tomatoes have far less seeds and juice than other varieties but still be prepared to lose half their bulk once peeled and seeded.

A large basket of tomatoes can quickly turn into barely enough to complete a recipe. I planted 24 seedlings this year and have harvested about about 25lbs. The first harvest last weekend garnered 2 freezer bags of diced tomatoes (for chili)..yup you heard me TWO!

I have another full basket here that I hope will be enough for a few jars of salsa, but I doubt it. I will need to find another source but given the massive amounts of rain received this year such a feat may be easier said than done.

Harvest Time II : Preserving your crops

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 emzymes 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 emzymes 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.

Harvest Time

Even the worst gardens have triumphs and here's mine. My carrots and tomatoes arrived with great abundance. I felt rather giddy digging out my carrots, not caring that most were smaller than my smallest finger. No matter. What ever they lacked in size they made up for in quantity. I am not sure why I was so surprised at their success. I planted parsnips last year and had a bumper crop. My soil here must be good for root vegetables.




My tomatoes also prospered, despite a bit of blight from overcrowding (my fault) and far too much rain (Mother Nature's oversight). I spent the summer on constant suspense thinking at any moment we could get word that we would have to vacate our rental house while my husband was still finishing up school. Such a turn of events would have us homeless and nearly penniless so needless to say my mind was elsewhere... what's Gaia's excuse?

Because of our external woes, I found myself lacking "umph' in a lot of projects around here. My flower beds are completely over run with weeds, and my vegetable garden did not fare much better, although anything which gave us sustenance seemed to get more attention than things that survive purely on looks (do you see any parallels here?).

But all's well that ends well. My husband graduated school two weeks ago and started work at his new job yesterday. We have been permitted to stay another year which gives us more than enough time to shop around for our homestead (yet another step in the right direction). And I now have oodles of tomatoes to make salsa.



My garden is a parallel to my life it seems. This summer started off with a future of uncertainty, about the same time that my brocoli, cauliflower and lettuce were eaten by unknown sources (without my permission). Now that everything has panned out for us off the 'homestead' it seems our homestead has been generous enough to provide a few delights as well.

Just goes to show, happiness is truly homemade.

My new pal

We adopted a cat today from the SPCA. He's a sweet guy with beautiful markings. I am so glad we stopped in to the shelter on Friday. He's fitting in rather well.

The shelter staff named him Regal and so we tried to come up with a equally royal name. Julius, Ceasar, Henry, Prince, Rex all came to mind but then it hit me. Augustus. It is August after all.

So he seems to be all settled in. Although he has been sneezing an awful lot... the shelter staff told me it's the kitty version of the common cold and should clear up on it's own. Poor guy...perhaps we should name him Sneezer Augustus instead.

The Genreal Store

I am constantly amazed at how far we have veered from our origins. There was a time in our history, and not so distant history, when people knew the owners of the shops and the workers behind the counter. There was a time when if you bought something and it was defective you could bring it back no questions asked because the person who you bought it from remembered you. Such service would be hard to find these days and so it is always something worth noticing.

On my way home from my spinning guild meeting, I stopped at a farm stand to buy corn and check out some of their other locally grown produce. I ended up leaving with 5lbs of potatoes, a couple green peppers and a dozen ears of corn. As I was searching, a teen-aged girl offer to keep my peppers near the register until I was ready. Then when I picked out my potatoes, both her and her younger sister where there ready with a bag to put my potatoes in. They laughed at their readiness but I thanked them warmly. It is not everyday you find such great service and I walked away knowing I would be back.

I have always wondered, when leaving a big box or smaller chain store, how difficult it would be for the person behind the counter to just smile. I don't care about having a meaningful conversation or even any kind of conversation at all but it would be nice to feel like my presence in the store is something less than a burden. I always leave those bigger stores with a 'how dare I' feeling, like I should have just stayed home so these workers would not have to serve me.

At this farm stand, I felt the complete opposite. They were happy to see me, glad for my business, why I might go so far as calling them grateful. Yes, that's it! Grateful. The young ladies working at this stand felt a greater connection to their family's livelihood. That connection, the no middleman approach, promotes true emotions and feelings where often in our day and age there is none.

These true, deliberate encounters that happen every day along road sides and at farmers markets, or even online (from small businesses) are coming back in vogue. We are craving these face to face, name to name exchanges. And who can blame us, after so many years of big business calling all the shots, we've realized that we wanted something more. Patronizing family businesses, local farmers and people we know is one simple way every one can choose the live more consciously.

In a Pickle

Not much goes into pickles. You need pickling cucumbers, some spices, vinegar and water. Oh yes the water... I made a mistake on that one since I hadn't read the directions clearly enough to realise only soft water would do. By the time I had read this it was too late and I was already reeking with dill. Apparently hard water makes the liquid in jars darken and do not make the best pickle. While trying to figure out if I should start over, I asked my husband, "Well what would the pioneers have used?" Of course they would have used hard water since most well water is hard water. So I plunged ahead.

I bought my pickling cucumbers at the market that morning from a lovely stand that gave my daughter a gooseberry. It was like a grape she said, only mushier. I will have to patronize them more often.



This year I used the Bernardin dill pickle mix, since it was my first time making pickles. Next year I will make my spice water from scratch. Of course since I was using a mix, I ran out of spice water before I ran out of cucumbers. I guess my conservative estimate of 5lbs a basket was not quite so conservative. In steps my amazing neighbour who happened to stop by moments before. Mix box in hand, she went to the store for me. I was planning to give her some jars anyway but her help sealed the deal.

Surprisingly, pickles are fairly easy. I read both the instructions in the box and the ones in my book looking for the way in which I cook the cucumbers. Turns out you don't, the spice water reacts with the cucumbers making them soak up the spice and soften. With no long cooking times like with jam, pickles are an easy starter for anyone looking for a way in with the canning world.

We tried some tonight, some thin slices on our burgers. My son, a picky pickle eater was the first to try. I knew I had met approval when he started groaning loudly as he chewed... you know the kind of groan that means absolute delight. I was so pleased.