Shamrock stems become tender and lanky after their long wintry residence indoors.

February can be a hard month in terms of cold and snow in my neck of the woods. Green is rare except in my bay window where many of my plants are  clustered for sunlight and warmth. Among them are plants I put outdoors when the temperatures become more moderate. This little space in my house preserves my plants, but also lets my eyes feast on verdant beauty.

Also. about this time of year, the shamrocks start to look spindly and less healthy looking.  Even though I have watered and fed them over the winter, they wear a paler green than I would like. Some have stems that have dried and turned an unwanted amber color. The long stems tangle with each other and become near-to-a-nuisance.

Roots put forth new, stable, short stems after being clipped off. The plant will soon green out and begin making delicate pink flowers to cheer up my home while I wait for spring.

The shamrock root is a small bulb. When I want to produce more plants, I separate and re-pot the bulbs. This year I will refrain from the dividing of roots.  I have enough plants for this summer and will not start any new roots now.

I will, however, give them some TLC.  They will get a trim. When I take the leaves and stems off of the plants, the root which is still full of life, will put forth new, young, fiddle-head-looking stems.  Healthy leaves and blossoms will come again.  Their look-of-new-life will declare  the happy thought that, “Spring is coming.”

If trimming your shamrock interests you, check out this website. http://www.flytrapcare.com/phpBB3/trimmings-of-a-shamrock-plant-t10021.html

For your convenience, we have a shamrock design in our catalog.

photo credits:Wenda Grabau

Now it is December and we have experienced warming temperatures.  The white blanket of snow has turned into a combination of green and brown. Often the skies continued with clouds, dropping drizzly rain and sleet.  Other times, thick fog hung over the land.

These weather conditions do not make good conditions for making my family’s traditional anise cookies for Christmas.  At this late date I almost despaired of making any. With my children returning home for Christmas, it has been my wish to have some available for our holiday.

So, today, imagine my delight when I saw the sun shine.  Granted a few wispy clouds passed by the farm, but the sun has been a constant.  I whipped up a batch of Anise Cookies quickly and set them out to rest on my cookie sheets.  Tomorrow morning they will be popped into the oven.

I think that this high pressure system rolling through our area is a Christmas present that came early.  How kind of the Lord of heaven and earth to send  it my way.  He looks after big things and even the little things in our lives.

If you want to try anise cookies for yourself, look for the right weather conditions and follow this link to the recipe you want to try.  Or check out this link for another recipe that could bring you delight.

photo credit: MIKI Yoshihito (´･ω･) via photopin cc

To sing to/with our friends at the care center, some plans had to be made and implemented. Before leaving the house:

• I tuned my guitar.
• I fed our cat.
• I donned my red-silk Christmas jacket.
• I found the German words of “Silent Night” or “Stille Nacht.”
• Hymnals and guitar in tow, I set off to town.

The weather, though foggy, provided for good clear roads, as I traveled. My timing worked well. I made it to the care center a bit ahead of schedule. Hurray, my plan worked!

This time of year brings back memories of Christmases past, with songs and carols of the season. We brought a home-made bass, 2 guitars, a tambourine and microphones.  We used the piano provided by the care center. We sang and occasionally the audience joined in a sing-along. What fun it was to reminisce musically.

Many residents at the care center grew up in German-speaking homes. What a pleasure it was to sing, “Stille Nacht” for them before we entered into the worshipful singing of the English words to “Silent Night.” How special it was to view residents singing along.  In any language, this Christmas is a reflection of that first Christmas that has influenced and forever changed so many of our lives.

Our care center friends certainly helped kick-off the Christmas season for me and my musical partners. They may think we served them by singing.  But, it is my opinion, they served us.

I hope that you, too, will find some creative way to share the joy and love of Christmas with others.  Wherever you are, whoever you are, Jesus’ birth was for you. He came into this world to bring you deliverance from your sins. Do have a Merry Christmas.

As the angel said, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10, 11 (KJV)  Rejoice, Christmas is for you.

There is still time to share some Christmas joy and love by sending Christmas card designs from our store. Happy browsing and Merry Christmas!

Photo credit: Bretta Grabau

If unchecked, these vines can kill the supportive tree.

Also, in mid-August, we see  wild cucumber blossoms coming forth. They are delicate white flowers that decorate it’s fruiting stem.

I had no more patience today when I saw them on my trees.  I pulled down several of the vines climbing on our arbor. Besides pulling down vines, I severed the vines from the parent plant. My goal is to prevent the fruiting and new plant growth.

Blossoms, of course, form a fruit.  It is a spiny globe that will house seeds to plant more of their kind in the area.

At the end of the growing season, the spent wild cucumbers become ghostly shells.  The released seeds lurk silently awaiting the next growing season, ready to cover underbrush or trees in next year’s scenery.

photo credit:Wenda Grabau
photo credit:Wenda Grabau
photo credit:Wenda Grabau
photo credit: aarongunnar via photopin cc
photo credit: Shezamm via photopin cc

We freeze several trays of popsicles in preparation for haying and for treating our grandchildren when they visit.

Here is the recipe I use. We have used several flavors, but the favorite color is red.

Popsicles

• 1 (3oz). package of flavored gelatin dissolved in 1 cup of boiling or steaming hot water
• add 1 package of same flavor Kool-Ade
• add 1 cup of sugar
• add water to make the total volume of the mixture to equal 2 quarts

Pour into molds to make popsicles.  I use the Tupperware variety.  Freeze.

(I have used the lemonade flavor Kool-Ade with several colors of gelatin and it works.)

I hope you enjoy these frosty treats.

photo credits:Wenda Grabau

You may order it from our store .

A Future Pickle

I picked cucumbers.  My recipe calls for scrubbing off the black points of the cucumber and soaking them in cold water for one hour. My dill is not ready.  Can I still make pickles?

Frozen Dill

I can pickle using last year’s dill.  That’s right.  I froze dill last year.  It works just fine.

Fresh-looking Dill from the Freezer

The frozen dill comes out of the package frosty, perhaps, …

…but it is green and flavorful. I rinse the herb before I use it and pack it in the canning jar.  I put one big flower (or the equivalent of dill leaves) in the bottom of the jar and when the cucumber slices are packed in I add one more.

Frozen Dill in Use

With this recipe, it is not hard to can only a few jars of pickles at a time.   I do process these in a water bath.  I have tried that before and it gives me a mushy pickle.  Without the waterbath, the pickles come out crunchy.  The downside is that the jars do not all seal well.  I store the unsealed jars in my refrigerator.  They are delicious.

New Pickles Made with Frozen Dill

I think it is time to go back to my garden and see if there are other cucumbers on the vine waiting for my attention. They do look inviting on my  cellar shelf.

photo credits:Wenda Grabau

I did not try it till yesterday when I recruited my daughter to make them.  She baked the cookies while I snipped my freshly-picked green beans.  She mixed them by hand, not by machine.  The dough was stiff.  She had to knead or mix the dough with hands.

The recipe was to yield 26 cookies, but we got a few more than that. These cookies are not the type a chocolate-lover wants to snitch. They are too large for that. The large size actually helped me to use more self-control.  I saved my tasting till the rest of my family was home to enjoy them with me.

I recommend them.  When my husband came in from his long day of work, he sat down in his favorite chair and my daughter presented him with a plate of these cookies.  With surprise, he declared, “Now, that’s a cookie!”

You will notice that they are almost too big for the mouth of our cookie jar. They can only go in one at a time. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies

Preparation time: 45 minutes          Baking time:10 minutes per pan         375° oven

• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp. baking powder                             
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
  
• 1 1/2 cups LAND O LAKES Butter, softened
  
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
  
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed brown sugar
  
• 2 eggs
•  1 T. vanilla
• 1 (12-oz. )  package (2 cups) real semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda in medium bowl. Set aside.

Combine butter, sugar and brown sugar in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often until creamy.  Add eggs and vanilla.  Continue beating, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low. Beat gradually adding flour mixture, until well mixed. Stir in chocolate chunks. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Bake for 10-14 minutes or until light golden brown. (DO NOT OVERBAKE.) Let stand 1-2 minutes. Remove from cookie sheets.

26 jumbo cookies                                                                                   Tip: For 2 1/2-inch cookies, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. 4 dozen cookies.

Jars are interesting.  If you have been a grocery shopper for as long as I have, you will notice that many jars of food on the grocery shelves are not glass any more.  Ketchup and mayonnaise are prime examples. Now they are sold with plastic bottles.

Plastic works for a one time use.  Glass on the other hand, can be washed, even sterilized, and be re-used, as long as it does not get broken. I use my glass jars over and over. For instance, I use gallon jars for canisters and baby food jars for storing homegrown herbs and spices.

I have a bunch of the old glass bottles from years past.  For jam or jelly, I use old glass jars with their lids that I have saved from buying olives, maraschino cherries, ice cream toppings and preserves. (That is called re-cycling.) They work great for jellies sealed with parafin wax or for freezer jams.

For anything that needs to be stored in pints or quarts I use mason jars. The two part lids come in handy. The vacuum produced from the heat and the cooling of my preserved foods gives me the ability to store these foods on the shelf and not in refrigerator, freezer, crock or root cellar. Mason jars are made to withstand the pressure and temperature of a pressure cooker. As long as there are no chips on the sealing edge at the top of the jar, the seal should keep very well. If you are buying jars at an auction or garage sale, avoid chipped or cracked jars.

Glass jars are a real help around this farm. I hope these tidbits of information help you in your recycling of glass jars. Re-using them may come in handy for you, too.

Photo credits: Wenda Grabau

Ripe Currants, Currant bush,

After we finished picking in the prickly, red raspberry patch, my daughter and I were delighted to find that there were some currants ready for picking, too. We both spent time picking till the sun finally set.

Fresh-picked Currants

We got a good crop. Of course, I wish we could have gotten twice as many as we did. These thornless bushes made the harvest painless.

You will notice from the photo that several berries grow on a tender, green stem.  I pick them stem and all.  Once I get them in the house, I wash them and remove the stems.

Extracted Currant Juice

I mash the currants, add water to the berries, bring them to a boil and let it simmer 10 minutes. The juice is then strained through several layers of cheesecloth.

Processing Currant Jelly in Water Bath Canner

The pectin is added to the juice and brought to a boil.  Sugar is added and the mixture is boiled again. The juice is skimmed to eliminate foam in the jelly.  The jelly is ready to ladle into prepared mason jar and processed in the canner.

The Finished Product

When finished the jelly is cooled

Label Notes Item Name and Date

and labeled.

These jars of jelly will remind us of the delight of summer now and during the winter. 

photo credits: Wenda Grabau