Tis The Season...

I cannot believe it has been a month since I posted and yet again, I can. It has been a very busy month.  November was turkey month, since some in my home still eat meat. I cooked 4 turkeys that I bought on sale and cut the meat off and packaged it in the freezer for later consumption. We also went to the coast and bought 40 lbs. of fresh shrimp right off the boat for freezing in 1 lb. packages. I estimate we save close to $200 buying in bulk this way. We used 1/2 lb. lb of shrimp and caught about 10 lbs of fish, surf fishing, one day. I also took this time to restock my pantry, bulk ordering, whole wheat, hard red wheat, soft white wheat, soy beans, couscous, navy beans, cinnamon, and spelt pasta. I also bought a case of sweet potatoes. My husband and son took the muscadines I had harvested and froze in August and thawed and juiced them. This process netted about 25 pints of muscadine jelly, the fruit was free so it was the cost of the sugar, bulk purchased in 50 lb. bag, the pectin and seals. In January I will reorder almonds, coconut, and other baking supplies that I will deplete over the holidays

Coffee Scoops - Walnut
And large Cherry Bowl
Made by Appalachian Treeworks

       This year I have made a concerted effort to be frugal and shop small business for Christmas. I bought from Appalachian Tree Works ( http://www.appalachiantreeworks.com/pages/treen.php ) and Red Wolfe Gallery, some beautiful wooden ornaments, a dough bowl, coffee spoon,  and baguette bowl. From Creative Memories a family recipe book I created, and then I am working on some of my own crafts. I will also have a family calendar put together soon. It has been fun looking for alternatives to the main stream shopping mode we normally use. Every one of these things is American made too. I have had to be careful, in some of my small business ventures, because while they in themselves are a small business many of their items are not American made and I had a goal to buy only Ameircan to help keep more Americans at work.
       There are a few things that have krept under the tree not made in America, but they were items specifically asked for by an individual, next year I will try again, until we are 100% made in America. The thing is this has been one of my most enjoyable Christmas seasons I can remember. I have loved the beautiful handcrafted quality of the things I have purchased or made. I have enjoyed looking at the artistry of our culture and people. I have enjoyed learning new things and making things from the heart, instead of just buying to get it over with. I look forward to doing the shopping for next year and what I can find artistically, handcrafted for friends and family. If you have not tried this approach before give it a shot, it is so relaxed and enjoyable. It grabbed at my artistic side and allowed me to have more than the grab and pay experience. I honestly appreciated the craftsmanship of the pieces and things I bought or made for those I love. :) Happy shopping!

Good Medicine for Cold Weather...

As the cold weather begins to appear and the frost is on the pumpkin, or in some places snow, I am slowly setting in for the winter months, firewood stacked, some still needs splitting, and we will need to gather some more as that is how we heat our home in the winter. Also this will be the year we heat our winter water with the fireplace. My hubby has designed and built a water pipe system that fits behind our woodstove and as we heat the house it will heat our water. I will wander up to the garden to cover my last surviving squash with straw to hopefully ward off the frost and give me maybe another week of squash. The lettuce will get the same treatment. I need to trellis my sugar peas as they are almost bearing size. One great thought will be my dinner is already in the crock. A wonderful soup for a cold and rainy evening.

White Bean and Vegetable Soup - Caryn's Recipe with a twist

2 cups white beans soaked over night
2 large carrots diced
2 small potatoes diced
1 large onion chopped
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 c. fresh dill or I used 2 tsp Italian seasoning
juice of half a lemon
8 c water

Rinse and sort beans; cover and soak over night, I do this right in my crock pot
Drain and rinse beans, cover with 8 cups water
add diced carrots, potato, and onion
add the spices and cook in crock, if starting in morning cook on low, if in the early afternoon cook on high for two hours and shift to low until mealtime
turn off crock and add the lemon juice
serve hot :)

The truth about going green...

I remember a good bit of this following story...

"In the line at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags werent good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, We didn't have the green thing back in my day.

Thats right, they didn't have the green thing in her day. Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But they didn't have the green thing back her day.

In her day, they walked up stairs, because they didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. They walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time they had to go two blocks.

But shes right. They didn't have the green thing in her day.

Back then, they washed the babys diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right, they didn't have the green thing back in her day.

Back then, they had one TV, or radio, in the house not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a pizza dish, not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, they blended and stirred by hand because they didn't have electric machines to do everything for you. When they packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, they used wadded up newspaper to cushion it, not styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.

Back then, they didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. They used a push mower that ran on human power. They exercised by working so they didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But shes right, they didn't have the green thing back then.

They drank from a fountain when they were thirsty, instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time they had a drink of water. They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But they didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar and kids rode their bikes to school or rode the school bus, instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. They had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And they didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

They didn't have the green thing back then..."

I also remember reusing paper grocery sacks for book covers, to set out cookies on, to cut open and reverse to wrap packages in, walking to the grocery store which was about a mile away, we did not put things in ziploc bags, they went into wax paper bags, that we used to start fires with on camping trips, dryer lint was not loaded with chemicals they were natural fibers so you could use them for fire starters too, used wooden matches rather than flickers that leave solid waste... we need to take a lesson from our seniors and how they grew up.

Preparing the garden for the winter

       It is almost that time again. The time when I put most of my garden to bed. It is sort of like making up the guest room bed for their next visit. First I clean off all old debris left from the summer garden and then my hubby tills the ground, twice. In my garden sprayer, I mix 1 cup dish soap, 1 cup antiseptic mouthwash, 1 can of beer and two cups of chewing tobacco tea that I made in a 1 gallon glass jar with 1 handful of chewing tobacco, and 1 cup of cola; fill the rest of the sprayer with water and spray on my soil. It kills bacteria and pests laying in the dirt from the past season. Then we cover it over with leaves until early spring. It is important to do your prep work for the spring in the fall. This mix also is all organic and has no chemical pesticides to leave traces in your garden.
      Remember to keep a journal of your garden work and what grew well and what did not, as well as where they were planted, so you can rotate crops in the spring, also how you prepped it for the fall. If you have a fall garden, as I do, I spray it down with the sprayer in which I added 1 bottle of beer, 1 bottle of soda and 1 cup of ammonia, and water to fill. I then saturate the ground. Then I much around my plants with leaves. The leaves will be turned under come spring and will really improve the soil.

To Buy or not to Buy apples that was the question

      We went and spent some time in the North Carolina Mountains. Breathtaking colors were spreading across the Blue Ridge. Cool crisp mountain air refreshed and vitalized us as we camped out. It was a great escape from home for a short time. We have always gone to the mountains in the fall, for my college reunion and refreshment, as well as mountain apples. But this year we could not bring ourselves to purchase the apples there. They have almost doubled in price over the last four years and the cause is clear...tourism. Make the money on those who come here for the novelty of saying they went to the mountains for apples, $16-20.00 a box. I try not to get into the spending frenzy of those who have added this to their reasons for heading to the mountains. I am still looking for the bargain.

      Will I get apples this year? Of course, but when I can get the same North Carolina Mountain Apples at my local farmer's market for $15 or less why haul them back from the hills and pay more. I know that saving money is about frugal lifestyles and good stewardship over what I have, so if I buy 8-10 boxes a year the costs add up if I get my apples in North Carolina. People drive the market and right now it is 'in' to purchase food on trips to the mountains. It looks like we are spending our money properly to feed ourselves, instead of buying some souveniers. We brought back pictures and memories and will buy our apples at home :) They came from the same orchards and taste the same, but the savings of $10-40.00 is that much sweeter.

The Best Oatmeal Cookies that double as bread...

       When planning a backpacking trip or looking for a unique durable meal for the out of doors. One of our favorites is the following oatmeal cookie recipe. On one of our campouts in the mountains of North Carolina, I ran out of bread and lunch was already upon us. I looked through my staples and meal prep kit and saw little to work with. I had peanut butter, almond butter and jelly. Then I spied my cookie container. In it were nice large oatmeal cookies so I spread them with nut butter and a little jelly and it was an energy filled lunch, lots of fiber and great tasting. They are good for regular cookies too!
      I watch little to no TV, but was trying to see a weather update, when I saw Martha Stewart share this recipe.

Oatmeal Cookies - by William Nichols

Combine in mixing bowl
2 sticks of butter softened
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. dark brown sugar
2 eggs

Combine in a separate bowl
1 1/2 c. unbleached soft white flour(or pastry/cake flour)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda

slowly add to sugar mixture and mix well

then add
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. oatmeal, not cooked
and 1 c. dried cherries (opt. is to swap out some or all of the cherries for other dried fruit)
opt. 1 cup chips (chocolate, white chocolate, cherry, your choice)

bake at 350 degrees

This recipe calls for placing 2 oz. scoops of cookie dough on greased cookie sheet. This gives crisp edges. To make them more durable I place them on ungreased cookie sheet and they come out thicker with rounded durable edges. 
Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden brown.  

ENJOY!!!!

Native American Know How - The Three Sisters and Succotash

     I have begun looking at my garden plan for next year and reading seed catalogs and old magazines. In one of those magazines was a story about 'The Three Sisters." An intriguing title to say the least. So I read on. Native Americans believed in good stewardship of the resources they had so they tried not to waste a thing and they planned accordingly, while we buy things today to make life easier. This year I will be using the three sisters in my garden. What is it, you may ask? It is a planting style in which each plant benefits from the configuration of the plantings. The three plants are corn, running beans and squash or pumpkins. They are planted in clusters about 3-4 corn plants, 3-4 beans around the outside of a small hill maybe 12 inches around and then 3-4 squash/ pumpkin seeds planted in the middle. The corn acts as a trellis for the running beans to climb and the squash shades the roots and helps conserve water, as they fan out and grow from the center. I am excited about the possiblities this spring and the fact I do not have to find something to run my beans on, as well as the savings in water.


Here is a great recipe using the above plants in harmony

Three Sisters Succotash
(equal amounts of the three veggies)
Diced and cubed raw pumpkin/squash
Corn
Butter beans/string beans/ any other running bean
1 cup veggie stock

Cook veggies until soft; add about 5 leaves of fresh sage, julienned; 3-4 Tbsp of butter and fresh ground pepper, (opt) taste of garlic.