tee pees and fire starting

 

While I've been painting, all nice and warm in the study, the kids made a tee pee out back. Now Steve is teaching them alternative methods to starting a fire. They want to sleep in there tonight . . .  should I remind them that it is WINTER?! Not to mention it looks a little crowded for sleeping, but I guess in a survival situation it could possibly keep one out of the elements. Should I tell you that is why they were building it? Wonder what kind of "survival situation" they are anticipating?

strawberry jam recipes

These are the jam recipes we made this summer.....
Strawberry Jam with Pectin Added
Ingredients:
2 quarts strawberries
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 package powered pectin
7 cups sugar (yes, 7)
Method: wash strawberries; drain. Remove stems. Crush strawberries one layer at a time (over crushing the berries may effect the gelling process). Combine strawberries, powered pectin and lemon juice in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Add sugar,  stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. (I use the dishwasher to sterilize my jars and time the canning so the jars are hot out of the dishwasher to fill. I only remove them as needed so they stay hot.) Adjust two-piece caps. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Yield: about 8 half pints
I follow the general canning instructions in my Ball Blue Book of Preserving. It always takes longer than I think for the canning water to boil, so I start the water on the heat first to be sure it's boiling when the jars are ready to process. It can boil until I'm ready for it if needed. Also start the rings and lids in a separate pot to simmer so they too are ready. We learned that if you're picking the berries fresh to choose some that are still green as they are naturally higher in pectin and will help the gelling process, especially if using the recipe without pectin, below.
Strawberry Jam
Ingredients:
2 quarts strawberries
6 cups sugar
Wash strawberries; drain. Crush strawberries one layer at a time. Combine strawberries and sugar in a large saucepot. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly to gelling point. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

on strawberry jelly

In years past the girls and I, together with my mom, sister, and nieces, have picked strawberries and then spent the day making jam and canning it. This June we were able to pick berries and my mom helped us with the canning and pie crust! In typical fashion, we picked too many berries and couldn't process all of them in one day, no matter how many berries M3 ate throughout the day.

We closed out the day with a double batch of berries cleaned, cut, crushed, and stirred together with a million cups of sugar. It was the plan to make this batch without Sure gel according to the canning book recipe. And we left the mixture in the fridge overnight to finish the next day (not according to the recipe).

The plan was for the girls and I to return to my sisters the next day, cook the berries and process them that afternoon. My sister was at work so Makenna and I boiled the water for the hot water bath that would seal the jars, sterilized jars and lids, and boiled the berries in an effort to get them to their gelling point.

That's where the plan fell apart. I couldn't get the berries to gel and my faithful mother spent the afternoon babysitting the boiling brew with me, reading the canning book, and calling more experienced canners for advice. At one point she was napping on the couch (this was only weeks before she passed and she tired very easily from all the extra activity) but she still jumped to her feet and rescued me when the pot boiled over and caught on fire.

I never did get those berries to gel (I just canned it thinking it would make good ice cream sauce) but I will always remember how mom never stopped being my mom. Even as sick as she was she still did everything she could to help me with my crazy projects (like making jelly without Sure gel). I miss being able to call her when I can't figure out the instructions to a crochet pattern or need help with a recipe. I'm still not sure if I can make a thanksgiving turkey without her help. And I never did figure out how to get my homemade noodles to taste like hers. She still had a lifetime of advice to give me. There is still so much more I need to learn from her. And there are still so many more questions I want to ask. Like why didn't my berries ever gel, for starters.

on pigs

Pigs are ready at the butcherer. We are picking up this afternoon. Contact me if you are interested in knowing what cuts we have available.

Kittens and other wonders of the world

Mercy, our very fat cat, had her kittens today! Three, one of which did not make it (I had to bury him which is something I never saw myself doing two years ago). We may or may not be keeping them depending on the gender, but they still need names. One is black and the other is white. Any ideas?

And this is my very proud and handsome barred rock rooster, which stopped to pose for this picture, that needs a new home. I have two barred rock and one Rhode Island red rooster that all need new homes. Too many roosters in one run!

In Which God Changes My Heart

I learned a new prayer since moving to the country and have had to pray it more times than I can count. It goes something like this:

Lord, make me OK with this. I am outside my comfort zone and I need you to change my heart.

Let me tell you that God answers prayer! He changes my heart to be able to handle the situation or condition in question and to do it with joy and thankfulness. And sometimes, after a time, He even takes it away altogether. For example, when we first moved into the house the well water was the color of tea. I considered it undrinkable and dear husband bought me gallons of water from the store for drinking and cooking. However, we still had to bathe and wash laundry with it. This was the first time I prayed that prayer while filling up the tub. Lord, make me OK with tea colored water for bathing. Please change my heart. He not only changed my heart, but after nearly 6 months He fixed the problem altogether and now we have potable water that is clear and doesn't stain all our whites yellow!

My next prayer was that He make me OK with handling, preparing and eating different types of meat. If my husband is going to raise animals, hunt, and butcher them "in house" then I'd have to have a major heart change in order to take on this challenge with a happy heart. I confess that after a year I'm still not fond of venison, but I've watched (from a distance) as my husband butchered both rabbit and pig and I've enjoyed the product of both. Last week we butchered our second pig and the result was wonderful (better than the first attempt!).

It took a truck to hoist her up for butchering, she was large! I know this is hard to look at but then imagine having to eat it the next day! So you don't have to ask, her name was "Second Breakfast."

Since I'll forget later I'll post my notes on prep here: We injected the loin with marinade and let it soak in the extra overnight then cooked it over charcoal and hickory chips for 5 hours at low temps (225). When the inside temperature reached 160 we wrapped the loin in foil and packed it in a cooler with newspaper to rest for an hour (next time I'll take it off at an internal temp of 140ish because I learned that it continues to cook while "resting"). Finally we pulled the pork along the grain and mixed in a bit of BBQ sauce.

Rub (for 8 lbs of meat):
1/4 cup ground black pepper
1/4 cup paprika
1/4 cup raw sugar
2 tbs. salt
2 tsp. dry ground mustard
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Marinade
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup apple juice cider
1/4 cup water
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. of rub recipe
2 tbs corn syrup

In Which The Critters Multiply

This is Solomon. Makenna's Holland Lop.

This is Mercy. Our new barn cat.

I am thankful to see the kids taking ownership over many of the animals. With a little help from an expert (thank you for all you do to help us, Pastor G!), the girls picked a flock of chickens and a beautiful rooster to start their own brooding flock. I can't wait to see if they make some chicks in the spring! They are also in charge of Mercy, the new barn cat. And Makenna purchased a holland lop that she is rasing as a pet (we're not allowed to eat this one). Now, enough animals! (OK. Maybe one more cat--Mercy needs a friend.)

Events of a Fallish Nature

The Lord has been good to us this fall. With the help of family and friends, we have butchered one hog (with another ready this weekend), many rabbits, and more chickens than I can count. We harvested veggies and made spaghetti sauce for the freezer and we are blessed to have four mature apple trees on the lot that make wonderful cinnamon apple sauce and pie filling. These trees are an answer to prayer for this city girl who hoped to someday have a micro-orchard to tend. I now pray that we can learn to be better stewards of the resources that He has given us. Even so,  in our inefficiency we have filled the freezer, fed our family and friends, and had plenty left over for the animals. I can't wait to see what the next growing season brings and what lessons we learn.

In Which I Just Adore Living in the Country

Lilacs?

The view out my kitchen window.

Deer teeth. Yuck.

Maddie reaching for the baby bunnies.

In Which Charlie Declares Us Farmers to Anyone Who Will Listen: An Apology

According to Charles we are "farmers."

Let me apologize now to all of the actual farmers out there that work for a life time perfecting the art of farming and take incredible risks to supply us with meat and produce that we can purchase and consume at our whim!

But what's a boy to do? He won't really remember living in the suburbs. I can't determine that he even remembers the old house. He's surrounded with tractors, animals, dirt, and fields everywhere he turns. So I can see where the confusion is. But he also thinks his name should be something more heroic like "Aragorn" or "Darth Vader" or something. (As if I'd name him after Darth Vader!) Oh, to be a boy and the whole world seems so big.

In Which We Successfully Breed Rabbits (finally)

Turns out rabbits have a bit of a season of productivity, so to speak. Now that the days are longer and they are getting a bit more light they are breeding successfully. We've had three new litters: the first had only one baby which did not make it; the second had six (pictured above); and the third had four, two of which died. I find it dampens the spirits to get so excited when the babies are born and to find some of them didn't make it. I wonder if I'll get over it eventually?

In Which I Change Makenna's Name to Fern

When the husband comes home with a "Storey's Guide to _______" (fill in the blank with the farm animal of your choice), I know that that animal is coming soon. The last book was about pigs. Now, I'm all about bacon. Who doesn't like bacon? Bacon's good! But these little guys are too cute to eat. Let's hope they ugly up as they get bigger otherwise they'll have to spend a long time in the freezer until I forget which package is which pig.

Rule No. One: We never eat a pig we know personally.

Makenna spent all day with the pigs yesterday teaching them where to find water and food. I went out to bring her in at bedtime and she was snuggled up with them in the straw and an old army blanket. We had a day-long debate over naming the pigs. I just think Petunia is a funny name for a pig. But after seeing her be so fond of them already we decided to go a different direction. One is named "Second Breakfast" and the other "Elevenses."

Rule No. Two: Don't name the animals.

What I learned about pigs.
By AMK

Pigs are noisy eaters. Pigs slurp loudly when they drink. Pigs snore. Pigs like to nose around in the mud.

Rule No. Three: Don't model your manners after a pig.

In Which I Welcome Spring

All right, it's time for me to update this baby. I know you all (all 2 of you) are waiting with belated breath. The question is, should I make one big long post or shall I divvy this up in smaller installments over the next week? Hmmm, what to do? What to do?
First I want to report that we made it through the very cold and snowy winter! The owners of the house have been very good to us and faithfully plowed our driveway all season! I am sorry to say that the house is still 65 (which any girl knows is cold) but the porch is sunny and warm and before I know it the house will be too warm and I'll lament not being able to open half the windows. Still, after a winter in a drafty old house, I'm looking forward to it and am so pleased to sit on the porch in the sun and get so overheated that I can't stand it anymore.

Makenna took this picture of a flowering bush near the house. We've never seen the property in spring so it's a lot like Christmas in April as we watch everything bud and guess what it will look like when it blooms. We are taking a water color class and I'd love to attempt this photo in watercolors. My skills will have to vastly improve so we'll see. Maybe I'll post the results if it's not too embarrassing.

In Which Makenna and I Major in Culinary Arts

Makenna and I are perfecting our butter making technique. We're getting better at making sticks of butter to use for baking. We form each stick into 4 ounce portions, wrap them in cellophane and store them in the freezer. This video is of Makenna pressing the butter to remove all of the liquid (I worked so hard to get this video rotated, but now that I'm at the library and it's still not right, you'll just have rotate your screen, or just your noggin, either way). I'm certain there is a better way to do all this pressing, but I haven't figured that out yet. It's a lot of work, and I mentioned to Makenna, Wouldn't it be easier to just buy butter at the store? She didn't think so.
I wasn't happy with how long I was able to rinse the butter. I think my water was too cold and the butter firmed too fast. The taste would have been improved if I could get a few more rinses in. I was a little ambivalent as to whether or not it was going to work, but overall we were pleased with the shaping. Wouldn't it be cool to have an old wooden butter mold or stamp and press the butter into pretty designs?This lump is my bread machine attempt at whole grain bread. Not so pretty and just as hard as it looks. I have a better recipe and I'm going to stick with the hand kneading for now.Last week we made 6 batches of cookie dough to freeze. We formed the cookies into balls, let them set up in the freezer, and store them in zip locks. Makenna was so tickled by the fresh eggs making the dough so yellow, she had to take a picture.

I've started the process of making my own sour cream with our own homemade clabber which you add to the cream to make it "sour" cream. I can also add it to the milk that comes off the butter to make cultured buttermilk for baking. And here all this time I thought if you let milk set out too long it should be thrown away.

In Which the Chickens Begin Laying Eggs

There are three things which are stately in their march,
Even four which are stately when they walk:
The lion which is mighty among beasts
And does not retreat before any,
The strutting rooster, the male goat also,
And a king when his army is with him. Proverbs 30:29-31

I love our chickens. I thought it would be the rabbits, but not so much. They have no personality compared to a chicken. And a hen has very little compared to a rooster--but I'll save that for another post.

Now when the hens start laying it takes some time for the eggs to find their shape, so to speak. We're getting about 3-4 eggs a day and you never know what they'll look like.

The left egg is fairly normal, although a smallish egg, but it's at least "egg shaped."

I've never seen an egg like the one in the middle. Kinda makes one wonder, huh?

The cute little egg on the right is from a new layer.

In Which I Wonder "Could I Really Eat Something that Started Out that Cute?"

The bunnies are adorable. They have little fuzzy, twitchy grey noses and they fall asleep with their heads in the feeding tray. They only way I could eat one of these is if they stayed in the freezer long enough that I forget where they came from and if I'm really hungry.

In Which the Krumm's Learn to Butcher Chickens

Since butchering our first deer, we butchered 29 roosters, a second deer, and have had one litter of bunnies. (The three females we thought were pregnant turned out to actually be one male and two does that may or may not be of breeding age. Live and learn.)

I didn't take many pictures of "judgment day"--I was just too fascinated by our associate pastor teaching Steve and Makenna how to butcher chickens by hanging them by their feet and cutting off their heads. And I was a little distracted by the dogs eating chicken feet as snacks. And who couldn't enjoy watching Charlie, who was the official chicken chaser, catching the roosters whenever someone was ready for the next bird to butcher? I know. It's not a normal life.

In Which Big Mama Lays an Egg

Since the harvest and the fall leaves dropped we can see our neighbors houses. The house across the way (there's no better way to describe it) has a beautiful red barn that I can see out the parlor window. It's not my barn, but still I love looking across the field at it which is almost as good.

A few weeks ago we met one of our neighbors. He brought us a chicken (did I say I love living in the country?). It's the best house warming gift I've ever received.

This chicken, being born in May and a bit older than the others, has won the distinctive name of Big Mama--ALL the others are named Henrietta. (I know, I know, you're not supposed to name the animals. But sometimes I can't resist. I'm thinking the rooster will be Cornelius, but I haven't decided yet.)

Yesterday Big Mama gave us our first egg. Check it out:
We don't expect the others to start laying until late January or even February so we'll all have to fight over the 5-6 eggs a week until then.

In Which I Wonder Where to Start

It has been over a month since my last post. Sometimes I feel so lost without being able to blog--sad isn't it. Every now and again I get a craving for a Facebook hit and I still daydream about how nice it must be to text. But mostly I've grown accustomed to the media-free lifestyle that we've established and am enjoying how freeing it is. I quite prefer it over our old ways. Do you know how much time not having/doing all those things frees up?

I've been sewing, tatting, crocheting, reading and learning how to reverse applique.

I sit longer and linger and laugh with the children over good books.

I'm learning how to care for animals, how to butcher them, how to breed them.

I'm already more in touch with the cycle of the seasons and I know what it is like to be cold in an old farmhouse.

I stand still under a sky so clear and a moon so bright that it looks to be daytime and I listen to the coyotes howl and bark and pack together in the woods to hunt

I watch the sun rise out my kitchen window (you know I can see all the way to the horizon and it's glorious).

I wake up at 3:30 and listen to my roosters crow and I drift back to sleep praying over my husband, my children, my home, my church, my family, my friends, my community.

I marvel over our first egg.

I watch the farmers harvest their fields and learn from them about their machines and their planting cycles.

I watch the cat practice hunting with a bit of leaf and my great dane run off with a choice piece of deer and bury it.

I watch the bunnies twitch their noses at me.

I've learned how to sneak down the hallway and the staircase in the early morning, avoiding all the loudest creeks, so I can sit alone in the quiet and study the Word.

I clean the bathtub every other day from the rust stains of well water (I call it "God's water").

I wonder what wonderful old wood might be under our dining room carpet.

And I've learned to be far happier with far less--which really turns out to be more.