Time got away from me

The first weekend in December we took off for Festus and Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. Friday we did a mini tour in the old town of Ste. Genevieve.

Our first stop was Asl Pewter Foundry on 3rd street. Here Bernie is checking a out a drop hammer. 

Next door was our friend Stanley Winkler's blacksmith shop. However, it was closed. We left a card for him in his mail slot on the door.

A beautiful old home across the street. 

After we checked into our hotel room in Festus, we met up with blacksmith John and his wife Eileen. We thought we ordered small drinks?!?!

Matt keeps a spotless shop. It's an automative repair shop/teaching school.

The meeting on Saturday was well attended. Lunch was KFC and it was delicious.

We got home Sunday and I came down with the worse head cold. It lasted for over 2 weeks. Thanks to the blacksmith hubby for giving it to me. 

Here is a new lebkuchen recipe I tried. They are delicious!!

This is Brenda Gantt's orange slice cake. Most of you probably have watached her videos on Facebook. 

The cake is very sweet!!!

Here is my nighttime project, while I watch TV. A little embroidery. 

These were the last of the turnips from our garden. After we pulled these, the garden was plowed.

Now we have turnip kraut fermenting in the basement!

I finally got my tree up. This Gingerbread man tried to run away, if you can believe that. He not only broke his leg but crashed Noah's ark. Bad boy!

We canned our first Venison last week. Gosh is it good!

I made gumdrop candy. When I was a kid, this was one of my favorite Brach's candies 

Here's the recipe.  You're welcomed.

Sorry for the sweet overload but you know it's Christmas time!

Life is good.

Visiting Central Missouri Product auction

Week before last we made a trip to the Central Missouri Produce auction near Excelsior Missouri. This is a Mennonite/Amish group that sells the most beautiful produce. 

 Chestnuts!!  

They referred to these as weed balls. The auctioneer said they are used in flower arrangements as you will see in the next picture. I'm not sure of the real name, because Google failed me here.

 Notice the bird feeders, and all the weed balls. 

Lots of gourds and mini pumpkins. The were big lots of big pumpkins but I didn't get a picture of them. 

 After we stopped at Weavers, our little Jeep wrangler was pretty full. 

Some of our beautiful purchase from the auction. We have already turned the 3 boxes of turnips into turnip kraut. Yes, kraut, I've blogged about it several times before, check it out here.   

A day in the country is always good. Life is good!

The Garden's end

It's a bittersweet day. The garden got a killer frost last night. I guess all good things must come to an end.

On yesterday's post I talked about the green tomato pickles. Since we knew the killer frost was imminent, we decided to try our hand at making some.

We picked all that was left which came to about 11 or 12 pounds.

We cut them up along with some onions and sprinkled them down with canning salt. They sat overnight in the refrigerator.

The next day, they were drained and a pickling solution was made.

The end results was 5 quarts and one pint. Now the waiting starts, 3 weeks before they can be sampled.

Here is the recipe we used for sweet and tangy green tomato pickles.

We also canned the last of our turnip kraut. 42 pints. We've done this before and here is a link to previous post on making turnip kraut.

And so we close another canning season with the shelves stocked full. 228 pints, 53 quarts jars, plus 27 qt bags in the freezer full of corn, not to mention the 15 gallons of blackberries. Now if the blacksmith bags a deer, we will be set for awhile!

Turnip kraut

42 jars equals 1 well deserved cup of hot tea.

Red Rose tea as a matter of fact.

If you'd like the Turnip kraut recipe, I posted it last here last year.

Now I'm off to enjoy the music of popping lids. Music to my ears.

Dinner tonight

Candied green beans, fried turnips and smothered pork loin.

My friend Tammy at Flat Creek Farm was telling me how to fry turnips. Today on PBS I saw the Lidia's Italy show. She had a guest cook from Arkansas cooking with her. They made skillet fried turnips.

Here's the recipe the best I could copy.

Saute about 4 slices of diced bacon until crisp.

Add 1 clove of garlic and 1/2 of an onion, chopped.

Add 5 to 6 medium diced turnips and 1 diced potato.

Continue to fry for 5 to 10 minutes.

In a small bowl mix 2 teaspoons sugar, 2 Tablespoons water and 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar.

Add to skillet to de-glaze.

Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

These were really good!

As for the candied green beans, here is what I did. The recipe is my own version.

Dice 3 slices of bacon and fry until crisp.

In a casserole dish add 1 can partially drained green beans.

Pour the bacon and some of the fat over the beans.

Add about 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Mix and bake 1 hour at 350.

Okay so we had a little pork fat for dinner. But gosh was it good!

After dinner, it was time to make the turnip kraut. We filled a 6 gallon and a 3 gallon crock. It will take about 2 weeks to sour before it can be canned.

Okay I know this blog originally started as a quilting blog, and believe me it will return to that. However, sometime food gets in the way.

I did some sewing today. I'm still working on two small quilts. My printer is out of ink, and I need that to make some paper piece patterns. Hopefully the snail mail tomorrow will deliver the cartridges I ordered.

The weather was beautiful. I washed some windows in between sewing.

Time to rest now.

The end of the season

Today the weather was gorgeous. It did not rain! That in itself is great. (October had 22 days of rain, totaling over 12.33 inches)The temperatures were in the low 60's most all day.

Today was bittersweet, because boating season has come to an end. Soon the snow will fly and that is not the time to go boating on the Osage River.

So BT and I took the boat about a half mile from the house to the public boat ramp. It was the site for the St Thomas Ferry prior to 1964.

The boat was backed just barely into the water and turned on. After the engine warmed up a product called stabil was mixed into the gas. This prevents problems from the gas sitting over the winter.



While I was waiting for the winterizing to be finished, I spied bittersweet in the trees. BT and I went to survey the vine. We quickly realized it was way to high in the tree for us to collect.






The rest of the day was spent around the house. I washed a couple of loads of clothes. We played with 2 of the grand kids. The third one was deer hunting, youth season opened this weekend. One jeep was washed.

About 2 o'clock, BT grilled some deork burgers. In case you don't know what that is, it's ground deer and ground pork mixed together. It beats beef hamburgers anytime.

About 5, just as we were ready to retire to the recliners, the neighbor called. He had turnips ready for us to dig. After all it's about time to make the turnip kraut again.

And how do you clean a bushel of muddy turnips? Why the power washer of course!

Time to crash now, this time change has us exhausted.

9:51 PM 59 degrees

Where has the week been going?

My week started with me winning my first blog giveaway!!! I am so excited. Thanks Pam Kitty Morning!



This is an antique oak planter I bought Sunday at an auction. It will look awesome once we refinish it. I can just see Boston ferns in it. If only I can keep them alive. I am hoping it will match the beams beside it once we take the old finish off.

Here is a wall hanging I am making for Rita. The loons on the bottom are for a second hanging.

My how time flies when you have so much to do. This is my backyard. Can you see the leaves Bentley and I have raked so far? There's plenty more to do. I will take any volunteers to help!

While in the backyard, I used some of the oak leaves to help protect the roots of my knock out roses. It's an elevated bed and I'm hoping this adds a little protection. Who would think the roses would still be blooming in the middle of November?

And then there's the first 9 pints of turnip kraut. The second crock is so full it bubbled over in the fermenting process. Good think BT chose to set it next to the drain in the basement. We are guessing there should be about 30 - 35 pints in that 6 gallon crock.

We tried a jar for dinner tonight with our country cured Burger ham. I first diced and cooked some butter golden new potatoes. I cooked them until the water started to thicken, then added the kraut and simmered it about 40 minutes. Yumo!

Another 2 days this week, I washed beams. Did you know the beams are 18 feet from the floor in all three bedrooms? That was a lot of ladder climbing. This picture is in our bedroom. I also made a new curtain for the half-circle window. The other two rooms have quarter windows. They received new curtains too.

Today was my shopping day. I took time out to stop by a tag sale. I arrived about 8 minutes before it opened. I was probably about #23 in line. At precisely 10:00 they opened the front door and took in 10 people. As one person would come out, 2 would go in. I found this sweet little porcelain pitcher for $3, a cane for $3, a plastic sewing box (with 6 cross-stitched blocks and thread) for $3. Add another buck for a swifter for the daughter and I was out of there in no time.

With all this work, I worked my regular job on Monday. Darn that reminds me, I have to work there tomorrow too. Shoot!

Tonight I made two huge pots of soup. Posole for one pot and chicken and rice for the other. I cheated and made a box cheese cake too. Tomorrow night is the beginning of "Deer Camp". The best part of camp, it's just 2 miles from home. So you may not hear much from me the next day or two. No I'm not a hunter, but I can keep busy while the guys are away playing!

60 degrees, 9:29PM

Making turnip kraut

Now to make turnip kraut you need some nice firm turnips. This one is monster sized. After I took this picture and was busy peeling BT found an even bigger one.However, it was shy and didn't want it's picture taken.


Last Saturday I was given a 5 gallon bucket full of turnips by Brian and Lisa. thanks guys! I worked them up and made about 2 gallons in a five gallon crock.


This week my son and his friend Randy brought over another 5 gallon bucket and a feed sack full! This time we have a 5 gallon crock full of kraut.

* Here we are peeling and shredding. The kitchen was a complete mess when we finished. Sheds of turnips on the counter, the cabinets, the floor and us!

Next you cut them into chunks to fit into the food processor.

Place about 8 cups at a time into a large crock. Mix in salt and a very scant amount of sugar. Work it through, in other words give the turnips a nice massage.

Keep layering and mixing in salt and sugar as you go. Than weight it down with a dinner plate with a gallon jug of water on top. Cover with a cloth and let it ferment. This usually take 7 to 10 days. If a scum appears on top, ladle it off. Store this in a cool place, not your kitchen. If you chose to do it inside your kitchen, your whole house will have a new scent, if you get my drift!

Test taste after 7 days for sourness. Once soured, you cold pack it, 10 minutes for pints, 20 for quarts. (Thanks Delphine for the times).

When you use this, you just heat it up, season with bacon if you like or eat plain. We also cook diced potatoes and add to the kraut too. Let it simmer for a long time, the creamier the better!

* picture taken by 7 year old Grandson, can't you tell by the angle?

Saturday morning 38 degrees at 8:30