Look what came in the mail today!

I written about my hopes of one day owning a dehydrator. It is a purchase that has not made it to the priority list.

But a reader upgraded to an Excaliber and offered me her Nesco dehydrator! I am so excited to own a dehydrator and can't wait to use it! Thank you so much Kathy!

I often say that I don't blog for profit. Blogging is not an income producing hobby to me. But you readers have blessed my life repeatedly. Maybe it is not always something so tangible as a box on my doorstep, but your emails, questions, tips and friendship is a valued gift.

You are on my blessing list today!

Classic Picture Books - Part 1

Recently several of you have mentioned how much you enjoy book suggestions for your children. If you know me, I love to talk about books - I just didn't know that anyone enjoyed listening!

The following list is books that I consider children's classics. Many of these books I remember from my childhood. Others I was found while searching for books for my children but all are at least several decades old.

Every child should be on a first name friendship with Petunia, Corduroy, Angus and Frances! And these books should be easy to find in any library.


Little Toot by Hardie Gramatky
A big job for just a little guy.




Corduroy by Don Freeman
We all wish for a home and a friend.


 
The Story of Ping by Marjorie Flack
The setting in China makes this book endearing.


Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban
Frances visits our dining room table when we have a picky eater.

 
Chanticleer and the Fox illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Classic tale with one of our favorite illustrators.


Petunia by Roger Duvoisin
Proud Petunia finds that she needs to learn to read to be wise.


 
Angus and the Cat by Marjorie Flack 
Sometimes an enemy becomes a friend!



A Pocketfull of Cricket by Rebecca Caudill
A cricket travels to school in a pocket!

I'll stop there - and share the rest of my list later.

I'd love to hear about the books that you fell in love with as a child - and now enjoy reading to your children.

You can find more of my favorite children's books in the lists for winter, spring, boys, girls, nature and agrarian books.

September in my Garden

Not much is happening in my garden this week. I venture out between showers to grab a tomato or pepper but the five plus inches of rain this week means LOTS of mud!

I know we have nothing compared to those who have experienced 15  or more inches of rain. I'm actually enjoying some indoor time to catch up with some projects. After a dry summer, rain is music. But I'm guessing that my September garden list may need to wait until October.

September can be a wonderful gardening month. The weather usually cools, but the harvest is often abundant. The problem with September is that I'm usually burned out. No longer is fresh veggies exciting as in the spring. The war with the weeds and bugs has been given up. Chewed sweet potato leaves no longer make me angry. Just eat the old things and see if I care.

Because I don't really care that there is more beans out there. Three foot tall weeds fail to annoy me. I hope that no one walks back to the garden, since I choose to ignore it. I know that frost will soon come and put an end to all garden ventures. The garden will lay waste, slowly my enthusiasm will build, by spring I'll be desperate to get my hands in the soil again.

If the garden does dry out, there is plenty of garden tasks, if I'm motivated to get out there and do them. 

Here is my list of jobs for this month in my garden.

1.See if the ground hogs left any pumpkins untouched. A quick search apparently found every pumpkin, few that there was, with teeth marks. If any escaped, allow to cure.

2. Dig potatoes. Our late planting of potatoes is actually still green but the plants should be dying back soon. We like to plant the bulk of our potatoes late (mid-June) so that they are picked in cooler weather and last longer into the winter.

3. Continue enjoying the garden produce. We are still picking green beans, tomatoes, squash and peppers but it will soon be ending so I want to take advantage of each opportunity. Late broccoli is almost ready to begin harvesting.

4. Plant more lettuce and spinach for fall harvest. I also want to start our raised bed/hoop house again.

5. Clean up the perennial beds, trim back the old flowers and divide perennials such as day-lilies, so that they can get re-established before cold weather.

6. Plant some pansies in the bare spots of the perennial beds. Pansies planted now usually live through the winter and are the first cheerful face to greet the spring!

7. Dig the sweet potatoes before first frost. Not expecting to find much of anything. We planted late and the ground hogs have been eating the leaves all summer. But maybe...

8. As areas of the garden are finished for the season, spread some compost and till the soil.

9. Watch for signs of the first frost, and before it hits, pick all peppers. I like to chop them up, spread on baking sheets, freeze, then place in bags for easy use in recipes all winter.

Writing about it (almost) gets me excited about getting into the garden again! Some crisp autumn day, you will  find me out with my hoe, appearing to enjoy every minute. Today, I'll enjoy the rain and a cup of tea!

Do you call this vacation?

Back again.

Not that we really went anywhere.

To those who asked if I was sick, or if we were on vacation.

Nope.

I never felt better (except for fatigue) and I wouldn't call the last week "vacation".

I had no intention of taking a blogging break, but somehow the tyranny of the urgent swallowed me up. For most of the summer, with a desperate dog paddle, I kept head above water.

Until the past week. Somewhere between starting school, watching pears rot in their crate and tomatoes finally begin ripening, plus all the usual laundry, bickering children, and empty stomachs - there wasn't enough hours left in a day to give attention to the computer.

I knew if I sat down to type, all you would hear was a dull whine.

And no one wants to hear about my horrible housekeeping that allowed mice to move into my kitchen cupboards. I'm not sure what I hate worse then mice - maybe snakes? At least my son is thrilled with another money making opportunity as he gets 25 cents for every mice he catches.

It was the kind of week when the car needs new tires, each of the children's bikes takes turns breaking, and the bathtub leaks into the basement ceiling. Ed is about to hire a full time maintenace person around here. Except that we couldn't afford it.

And speaking of leaks...apparently I wasn't quite busy enough since I started (yet again!) to potty train the two year old. I'm trying to see small signs of progress,  meanwhile, the new floor is being thoroughly initiated to life in a house with small children and she has gained the nickname "Puddles".

We did go camping this weekend. But by the time we packed up half the house for a two night trip ten miles away, it was not feeling much like vacation! I thought surely I had overpacked and I'd bring half the clothes and food home. But no, the food found it's way into hungry bellies and every last item of clothing returned wet, sweaty, and otherwise grimy. Several pairs of pants took a trip directly to the trash can. How do boys destroy clothing that fast? But have so much fun doing it!



Tired of the whine yet? If I knew what was good for me, I'd delete this post. But for all of you misguided souls who think I am some sort of wonderful, here is proof that I'm not. Because I've only shared half of my bad attitude, my short temper with my children, my desire to never preserve another jar of anything in my life. Is mothering, gardening, and homeschooling worth it? This week I wasn't sure.

Praise the Lord, I don't need to be ruled by my emotions. Thank Him for sisters that help with canning. And for a husband that spends every night of the week fixing something and unpacks that mountain of dirty laundry. For the spirit of God that speaks through the preaching of the Word. (We were camping at a church campmeeting and were able to take in numerous services throughout the weekend.) For the fellowship of Godly friends who spur me on to work with joy.


I do love my family and the children God has given. I do gladly give my hours to cooking, teaching, laundry, and mopping up puddles. I look at my seven year old and know that time is fleeting. Some day (so I am told) I'll look back on this week with sweet nostalgia.

But for now, I'll just go set another mouse trap.

Peach Salsa

A friend gave me a jar of peach salsa last week. Ed and I opened it one night after the children were in bed. Maybe I shouldn't admit that we consumed most of the jar! I finally said that we had to stop since I wanted a little left to photo!

This stuff is awesome! It is a sweet mild salsa, though the heat could be adjusted to your taste.

Peach Salsa

10 lb tomatoes - cubed
5 lb peaches - peeled and chopped
5 cup onion - chopped
2 jalapeno peppers - chopped
10 green sweet peppers - chopped
3/4 bunch cilantro
1 cup vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup salt
2 tsp oregano
3 tsp cumin
3 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 pack Mrs Wages salsa mix
3 heaping T clear gel
1 can tomato paste

Bring everything to boil. Simmer 5 minutes. Can 20 minutes.

Disclaimer: I've discussed the safety of canning recipes with some of you. To me this recipe seems safe since it contains tomatoes and peaches, both high acid ingredients, and vinegar to acidify the onion and peppers. But it does have clear gel, an ingredient not recommended in salsa by the experts. So make your own decision at your own risk.

Pickled Hot Peppers

Another recipe that I'd like to try. This one from my mom.


Pickled Hot Peppers

1 1/2 pounds banana peppers,sliced thinly
1 pound jalapeno peppers, sliced thinly
1/4 pound serrano peppers, sliced thinly
6 cups vinegar
2 cups water
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped 

Place the banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, and serrano peppers into a large pot. Add the vinegar, water, garlic, and onion. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Ladle peppers into jars, and fill to the top with the liquid, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. 

Can in boiling water canner for 10 to 15 minutes. Refrigerate jars after opening.

Note: Though peppers are low acid, the vinegar makes them safe for boiling water canning. But I'm no scientist so use any recipe on this site at your own risk!:)

Corn and Bean Salsa

Typically I usually share tried and true recipes that we love. But everything I'd like to blog about - I haven't done. Yet.

August seems like the perfect time to share recipes to preserve the garden bounty. But my tomatoes are so slow at ripening, I finally gave up watching them and started school this week. Whenever they decide to turn red, we'll take off a day and do tomatoes.

For the rest of the week, I'm going to share preserving recipes that I would like to make.

If and when I make these recipes, I'll be back to share pictures. In the mean time, maybe you want to give these recipes a try. All these recipes come from great cooks and come highly recommended.

Corn and Bean Salsa

The first recipe is from my sister-in-law Sonya. She often introduces me to something I'd never attempted on my own. I have a little late corn that is almost ready, then I'm making this!

1 gal.(or more)  peeled and chunked tomatoes ( I discard most of the seeds & juicy centers)
5 large chopped onions
1 large green pepper

I just throw these next three ingredients in a food processor and finely chop.
4 jalapenos and 2 serrano peppers (just because the neighbor gave them to me, you can just use 1 extra jalapeno instead of of serranos)
1/3 bunch of cilantro
7 large cloves of garlic

4 cups of cut-off fresh corn
2/3 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of salt
1/4 cup of vinegar

Simmer 1/2-1 hr. until mixture is reduced and desired consistency. If desired, add a thickener such as cornstarch.
Add  
1 large can of black beans (drained & rinsed)
Stir, ladle into jars, and can for 15 min.

All of these amounts are approximate, and can be tweaked to your preferences. My salsa was really mild, so if you would like to pep it up a bit, leave the jalapeno seeds in.

Edit to add: Jami reminded me that a low acid salsa needs to be pressure canned. The corn and beans in this recipe make it low acid. I'd recommend pressure canning it to be safe. Also, thickening salsa is not recommended by the experts. Use the recipe at your own risk.