Candy?

For those who know me and my health problems...

Thanks to Kim Vlasnik for the cartoon

We Are The Many - Makana

Just heard this and the reasons behind it...
This young man was singing at the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
dinner.
President Obama was the keynote speaker.

Potatoes Need Love too

Rosy Spud was well-loved by her fellow tubers, but she couldn't understand why....

Tab Benoit - I Put A Spell On You [Audio]

I like to hear remakes of the oldies but, goodies.
And, this Louisiana boy does it well.
He plays primarily Delta Blues with his Fender Telecaster guitar.
Oh and he's not bad to look at either!

Indian Summer

In the fall, it seems that almost any warm day is referred to by most people as "Indian summer."

And, while their error is certainly not of the world-shaking variety, they are, for the most part, in error. Here is criteria for an Indian summer:

• As well as being warm, the atmosphere during Indian summer is hazy or smoky, there is no wind, the barometer is standing high, and the nights are clear and chilly.
• A moving, cool, shallow polar air mass is converting into a deep, warm, stagnant anticyclone (high pressure) system, which has the effect of causing the haze and large swing in temperature between day and night.
• The time of occurrence is important: The warm days must follow a spell of cold weather or a good hard frost.
• The conditions described above must occur between St. Martin's Day (November 11) and November 20.
  

Why is Indian summer called Indian summer? There are many theories. Some say it comes from the early Algonquian Native Americans, who believed that the condition was caused by a warm wind sent from the court of their southwestern god, Cautantowwit.

Our Garden This Year

The garden is being put to bed. It's taken us this long as the weather had held off for a good long while. We were also covering sections of it to protect it from those early light freezes and frosts. And, the only things left in the garden were cold tolerant plants.

Yesterday I finally got to the brussels sprouts and cabbages. They were pulled or, plucked, cleaned and checked for bad spots or, bugs. And, processed for saving for winter eating. Oh, and plus we each had a big dish of sprouts for our dinner. Dusted with a bit of nutmeg.... my, oh my, was that ever good.

We are still eating fresh, red, huge beefsteak and best boy tomatoes! When the time was upon us, we went and pulled and wrapped in newspaper the most perfect of the greenies left on the bushes before the first hard freeze happened. I am so glad we did. And, it's been about a month or, more since we did. And, that's why fresh tomatoes are still gracing our dinner table every night.

I also pulled or, cut the chives and the parsley out of the garden. Cleaned and washed they are in the dehydrator. I will fill a couple of my smaller mason jars with those handy little herbs and vacuum seal them. I use parsley in just about every dish during the winter, primarily for the color and..... because mostly it reminds me of summer time.

We added manure to most all of the empty garden beds. We have built with Freecycled material, a 3 bin composting system. And, we have that "hot" cooking right now with extra manure in it to break down some of the load of stuff being dumped into them out of the gardens.

It's been a grand year for our garden. We have eaten well from it, have stored a whole bunch of goodness from it to feed us this winter and we have shared it's goodness with friends. What more could we have asked for?

"When the Frost is on the Punkin"

WHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock, And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock, And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens, And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence; O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best, With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest, As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock, When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees, And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees; But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock— 15 When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn, And the raspin' of the tangled leaves as golden as the morn; The stubble in the furries—kindo' lonesome-like, but still A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill; 20 The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed; The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover overhead!— O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock, When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock. Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps 25 Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yaller heaps; And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern-folks is through With theyr mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage too!... I don't know how to tell it—but ef such a thing could be As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me— 30 I'd want to 'commodate 'em—all the whole-indurin' flock— When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

Tomato Info

I just came across this fact when reading up on tomatoes.

Outdoor tomatoes, if taken care of and watered properly can yield 10 lb each.

I also read if it's a good year, you can expect sometimes up to 20 lb per plant.

Well this being a very good year for us..... and we had over 70 plants in the ground,
does that mean we harvested somewhere between 700 to 1400 lbs of tomatoes?

I wish I had weighed our harvest.

Mind boggling numbers!

Green Tomato Ketchup

Ingredients:

• 6 pounds green tomatoes
• 3 pounds onions
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons mixed pickling spices, optional
• 2 cups vinegar
• 1 cup honey

Preparation:

Slice green tomatoes and onions; place in a large pot with pepper, mustard, and Worcestershire sauce. If using, put the mixed pickling spices in a small cheesecloth bag and add to the mixture. Pour vinegar over all and cook for 4 hours over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Carefully puree mixture in a blender; strain through a mesh strainer. Return to pot and bring to boil; add honey. Immediately fill 6 sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch head space. Wipe the jar tops and threads clean with clean damp towels. Place hot sealing lids on the jars and apply the screw on rings loosely. Process in boiling water bath in a deep canning pot for 5 minutes. Remove the jars and cool completely. Tighten the jar screw rings to complete the sealing process. After jars cool, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. (If lid springs back, it is not sealed and must be refrigerated.) Let jars of green tomato ketchup stand at room temperature 24 hours. Store unopened product in a cool dry place up to one year. Refrigerate green tomato ketchup after opening.
Makes 6 pints of green tomato ketchup.

Are you tired of green tomatoes yet?
I am but, I have buckets and buckets of them still to process into something.
I think we must have picked about 50 pounds of them three days ago.
Big sigh.......

Old-fashioned Tomato Ketchup

Homemade ketchup is rich, full-bodied and infinitely better than the over-processed, corn syrup-laden commercial version.

Ingredients

7 pounds tomatoes, chopped

2 cups onion, chopped

1 cup bell pepper, chopped

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1 1/4 cup cider vinegar

Spice packet:

12 whole cloves

15 whole allspice

6 cardamom pods

1 teaspoon coriander seed

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

Method

Place chopped tomatoes, onions and peppers in a large pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Press through a food mill to make a smooth sauce.

To make the spice packet, cut a 5-inch square of cheesecloth, place the spices in the centre and tie closed with a piece of twine.

Return the sauce to the pot and add sugar, vinegar and the spice packet.

Simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes to an hour until the sauce has reduced down to the desired consistency. Stir often to prevent the bottom burning.

Remove from the heat and discard the spice packet. Ladle the thickened sauce into hot, sterilized jars leaving ½ inch headspace and heat-process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

Makes about 3 pints.