Blackberry Liqueur

I am gonna try this this summer to preserve fruit.

Wild Blackberry Liqueurs
3 cups vodka
1 cup syrup
as much fruit as I could pack in the jar with the vodka and syrup.

Let sit for at least a week before straining. Let it sit on the counter by the sink for longer than a week. Up to 2 or 3 weeks. Strained out the mixture once and add more berries for another couple of weeks.

Party Mix recipe for super bowl

Chex mix

3	cups Corn Chex® cereal
3	cups Rice Chex® cereal
3	cups Wheat Chex® cereal
1	cup mixed nuts
1	cup bite-size pretzels
1	cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces
6	tablespoons butter or margarine
2	tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2	teaspoons seasoned salt
3/4	teaspoon garlic powder
1/2	teaspoon onion powder

The original recipe includes Corn Chex®, Rice Chex® and Wheat Chex®. You can mix and match to suit your taste—just use a total of 9 cups of cereal.

Health Focus

To reduce the fat to 2 grams and the calories to 80 per serving, use 3 tablespoons margarine instead of the 6 tablespoons butter, omit mixed nuts and use fat-free bagel chips.

Special Touch

Make enough of this favorite mix to package up as gifts for special friends—it’s so good and always a welcome surprise!

1.	In large microwavable bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In small microwavable bowl, microwave butter uncovered on High about 40 seconds or until melted. Stir in seasonings. Pour over cereal mixture; stir until evenly coated.
2.	Microwave uncovered on High 5 to 6 minutes, thoroughly stirring every 2 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool. Store in airtight container.
Oven Directions Heat oven to 250°F. In large bowl, mix cereals, nuts, pretzels and bagel chips; set aside. In ungreased large roasting pan, melt butter in oven. Stir in seasonings. Gradually stir in cereal mixture until evenly coated. Bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on paper towels to cool, about 15 minutes. Store in airtight container.

Things I have learned this year of doing without.

My parents lived through the depression. They told stories of lard sandwiches. My mother had jam because my grandfather worked at a sugar factory and  brought home sugar before the war and rationing started to provide for his family. Food storage is a way of life for me. Twice I have suffered job loss and my food storage kept us going. My goal is to always have a years supply. My supply is down to bare bones with this last year of unemployment. I also use my food storage as a hedge against inflation. I buy at today's prices so I don't have to buy at the increased cost tomorrow. It seems like lately cost of food is only on the rise so the more I buy and put away now the more I save my family in food dollars tomorrow and the next day. I can fresh produce in season and never turn down free food. I was grateful to get to pick a large pear tree this fall. So we have plenty of canned pears. I was able to glean somewhere around 400# of white potatoes and I am still trying to get them all canned. As my jars empty and I have enough canning jars for a load I refill them with what I am given. We will be eating potatoes for years to come. But that's ok it makes me feel good knowing my jars are full and I can make a meal for my kids. My parents taught us to eat things like macaroni and tomatoes or macaroni and milk. So I am never without a box of macaroni in the house to feed hungry children. Bread and butter fills hungry bellies too and stretches the meal. I recently learned that I like to add oatmeal to my hamburger to make it go further too a trick from the depression era cookbook I just read. And while I will never make myself a lard sandwich the health benefits of lard are being rediscovered and it does make the flakiest pie crusts. Well I got to go I am boiling a chicken carcus to make bone broth who knew that after making my stock this same way my whole life I am now trendy as well as healthy.

Tinctures

But  tincture making really goes beyond just being a method of preservation, it’s a way to extract and concentrate the healing and beneficial properties of an herb and preserve them for a long time, often for many years. Use a 1 quart glass canning jar. Add herb. Use 2 cups of vodka to cover. Mold and bacteria can develop and ruin a tincture if the plant matter isn’t completely covered so add more vodka if necessary. Label the concoction, shake the jars a few times a day to assist the extraction process, and allow it to steep for a few weeks before straining off the plant material.   It’s also important to “top up” with the alcohol as the plant matter expands or alcohol evaporates.  Yes, it really is that simple. Use the herb of your own choice.

 Deb R. used to make these every year for christmas open house. I lost the recipe and was so excited to find it again. She used club crackers and mixed nuts. Another childhood memory in the form of taste buds. I don't think I can wait till christmas to make these.
1 box club crackers
2 sticks salted butter
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup nut pieces (maybe more for you tastes)

Line 10×15  pan with heavy-duty foil and spray with Pam so you can remove foil easily. Cover pan completely with single layer cracker, break crackers to cover pan.Combine butter, sugar and vanilla in heavy pan. Bring to full boil over med-high heat, stirring constantly. Boil for EXACTLY 5 min, don’t stop stirring.Pour over crackers evenly. Sprinkle nut pieces over top.
Bake 350 on middle rack position for 10 min.
Cool on rack, peel off foil and break into random pieces.

Almost back to school time again for year rounders

It's almost back to school time for CamCam, our highschooler. (The rest of  us have been doing it year round.) We will be sad to see her go as having her around is great for all of us. Her summer was filled by a trip to NYC, a new trampoline and another trip coming up to KY. I feel so blessed that she was able to travel so much this summer. Skills she learned this summer include  a lot of driving time logged and trying several recipes to learn the secret of baking bread. I am very proud of how much help she is around here (when she doesn't have that teenager attitude). We had a lot of adjustments this spring and summer and she was a champion through it all.

Instructions( I have found around the web and copied to one place) for Growing from Produce:


Celery: The next time you chop celery, save the crown (the bottom), place it in a shallow bowl of water until the center leaves turn green and sprout, then transplant it into your garden. Or, just plant the crown straight from crisper into garden, keeping the top of the crown at soil level. Not only is celery a yummy vegetable, it attracts beneficial insects that keep unwanted bugs at bay.

Garlic: Separate cloves and plant the largest ones pointy-side up, under about 2 inches of rich, well-drained soil. Plant garlic around roses to reduce black spot and sooty mold.

Horseradish: In the fall, plant the tuberous horseradish roots horizontally under 2 inches of soil that’s been well-worked with compost. The plant is invasive and spreads quickly, so plant at the end of garden rows or in areas where they have room to wander. Harvest with a pitchfork in late fall.

Ginger: Select a plump ginger rhizome with many small, growing buds. Plant just under rich soil in a spot with filtered sunlight and wind protection. Avoid planting in low-lying areas, or in spots with poor drainage.

Beans and peas:  It’s easy to plant any dried bean or pea. Just push the seed under 1-2 inches of loose, rich soil in a location that gets at least 6 hours of sun each day. If your soil is hard clay, grow beans and peas in a container. (We bounght a bag of 15 bean soup mix at the grocery store for our seed)

Potatoes: If you’ve ever kept a potato too long in a bowl, you’ve seen the plants begin to sprout. Place the potato in a 10-inch-deep hole, and cover with rich soil. As the plant grows, continue to mound soil around its stem. Harvest potatoes in late fall.

Tomatoes: If you love heirloom tomatoes, cut them in half to scrape out their seeds. “Ferment” seeds in a glass jar with about a cup of water for 2-4 days. When a foamy mold appears, rinse and dry seeds on a paper plate. Start tomato plants indoors in containers, then transplant to a garden spot with full sun.

Peppers:  The ones with four bumps are female and  are full of seeds. So if you are buying the pepper with the idea of saving the seeds look for the ones with four bumps.

Apples: Place seeds on moistened paper towel in sealed Ziploc baggie and keep in fridge for about 1 month until it sprouts.

From the Spice Rack:

Poppies: For a brilliant floral display, shake poppy seeds directly from the container onto well-drained soil. Lightly press into the ground and cover with a dusting of soil. Thin seedlings to about 10 inches apart.

Sesame: These seeds grow into flowering plants that are resistant to heat, drought, and pests. Press seeds 1 inch into well-draining soil. Water lightly for 3-5 days after planting, then as needed. Be sure not to over water, because sesame plants do not like to sit in wet soil. Harvest in about 150 days after seed pods open and seeds are thoroughly dry.

Dill: Dill is very easily grown from seed sown in later spring to early summer. Bear in mind that dill does not transplant well, and is best being sown direct where it will continue to grow. Select an area where permanent regrowth of dill won't bother you; dill will easily self-sow after you've first planted it.

Mustard Seed:
Red Pepper/Chili Pepper:

How to plant a Three Sister's Garden
We first heard about a three sister's garden at the Forest Hill Nature Center, near our home. With our emphasis on gardening I thought we should try to plant one this year. We saved our pumpkin seeds to plant.The beans came from our bag of soup mix beans.

Basic Directions: 1.In late May or early June, hoe up the ground and heap the earth into piles about a foot high and about 24 inches across. The centers of your mounds should be about four feet apart and should have flattened tops.
2. First, in the center of each mound, plant five or six corn kernels in a small circle.
3. After a week or two, when the corn has grown to be five inches or so, plant seven or eight pole beans in a circle about six inches away from the corn kernels. 4. A week later, at the edge of the mound about a foot away from the beans, plant seven or eight squash or pumpkin seeds.(We are doing half and half so at least the kids will have zucchini to harvest)
5. When the plants begin to grow, you will need to weed out all but a few of the sturdiest of the corn plants from each mound. Also keep the sturdiest of the bean and squash plants and weed out the weaker ones.
6. As the corn and beans grow up, you want to make sure that the beans are supported by cornstalks, wrapping around the corn. The squash will crawl out between the mounds, around the corn and beans.

Color Science Experiment to go along with our spring planting

Here is an experiment that takes minutes to set up and all the ingredients are already in my kitchen cupboard.

Get three clear glasses. Fill two of them with water, about 2/3rd. Put in a few drops of yellow food coloring in one, and a few drops of blue in the other one. The two cups should have the same amount of water.

Set the two cups, with the empty one in between the two. Place a cloth strip cut from a t-shirt first in the blue cup, and the other end in the empty cup. One end of the second cloth goes in the yellow cup, and the other in the empty cup. The cloths should be just long enough to make a bridge between the cups, otherwise, the magic takes longer.

While you wait for the magic, get your little scientists to predict what might happen. What will happen to the cloth dipped in the water? What will happen to the empty cup? What will happen to the cups full of water?


In about 6-10 minutes see the results. 

Discuss how water is drawn up through the plants roots like the cloth.

If you haven't watched this video on "how the wolves change rivers" you should it is so amazing. It is short and to the point. Great for kids studying the ecosystem.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

Seed Bank

We are collecting seeds and expanding out tree study to include edible fruits and vegetables this spring. (Science)
1.We sent away for some seeds from the USDA. All older varieties we will blog our results in sprouting rate and growth. We chose seeds the pioneers would have brought with them. Now we are just waiting for them to arrive.
2.We also found some places on line that are sending free seeds if you send them a SASE with a list of what you would like to grow. We choose two to send away for garden seeds from.
3.While we are waiting we are sorting and counting our beans (Math) and putting them into baggies by type for our "seed bank". I know I should be like all no GMO and Organic but first we will build our seed bank and then we can afford to be more picky about the origins of our varieties.
 
4. When we go to the farm store and buy seeds we will look for open pollinated and heirloom varieties to buy.
5.The kids are really enjoying looking for seeds from our food produce. I should never have to buy green pepper seed ever again. The ones with four bumps are female and those are full of seeds. I found instructions on how to sprout apple seeds in the refrigerator by putting on  a damp paper towel in a sealed plastic baggie for about a month. We plan to try this the next time I buy apples. We even saved our navel orange seeds for our seed collection.
6.My spice cabinet had various red peppers, chilli peppers,dill, and celery seed.
7. I saved common garden sage seeds from my plants last fall and also planted some in small pots I left out all winter for the kids to see sprout up in spring. I also saved seeds from our Rose of Sharon bushes to add to our flower seed collection. (I had this activity planned for quite some time.)
8. We are cutting pictures out of seed catalogs along with growing instructions for each kind of seed we collect. These we are putting in the baggie with each seed type.(Fine Motor skills)

BAKING SUBSTITUTIONS
Brown     Sugar:   2    Tblsp.                 Molasses, 1cup white sugar. Mix         unti      l blended.

 Butter:1 pound shortening, 1/2 salt, 1 2/3 c condensed milk, Whip     the shortening and alt. Add      the condensed milk a little at a time and blend.

Corn  Syrup  :1cup sugar and2 cups water   boil until thickened.

 1 egg=1 tsp              unflavored gelatin

We are starting our Veggie Garden Indoors right now. Call it Science and life skills rolled into one.

 How to get seeds for free:
1. Check your spice rack — Many cases you can plant seeds from your spice rack. Some ideas, mustard seed, dill seed, coriander, poppy seed, celery seed. If your spice rack is lacking you can pay a few cents buy a teaspoon of organic spices in bulk. My local Amish grocery store has a section of these.
2. Save seeds and starts from your produce- green peppers, tomatoes, green onion roots, celery bottoms etc.... can all be regrown or started from seeds. 
3. Get free vegetable seeds from the US Government: Have a little experiment or study you want to conduct and report the results on your blog?  Check out the National Plant Germplasm System from the US Department of Agriculture.  Within a database of over 10,000 species of plants you are sure to find some vegetables for your experiments.  Even shipping is included though can be time consuming to find what you are looking for.
4. Buy a bag of soup bean mix-mine had northern beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans 9not sure these will sprout)2 kinds of lima beans, cranberry beans, yellow eye beans, small white beans,navy beans, black beans, kidney beans, white kidney beans, pink beans, and small red beans. It also has splint lentils that will not grow and will need to be picked out. I plan to sort by type and plant a pot of each type.

October ideas:


His store of nuts and acorns now
The squirrel hastes to gain,
And sets his house in order for
The winter's dreary reign.
Joyce Cary

Eagles soaring in the air

We had a chance to watch a pair of eagles while out camping in our favorite spot. The kids couldn't believe how big they were. The eagles spent about half and hour circling above hunting or fishing above our heads.

Corn husk dolls

Kids Made corn husk dolls from the sweet corn husks while camping.

Forage fun for our native american studies

Wild Food in Season August

 Blackberry,  Common Comfrey, Common Mallow, Crayfish, Elderberries,  Giant Puffball,  Gooseberry, Hazelnut, Horseradish,  Milk Thistle, , Rabbit, Raspberry, Rosehip, Salmon, ( Wild Chicory Flowers,  Wild Mint, Wild Strawberry, Wild Thyme, Venison, Yarrow

Wild Food in Season September

Beech Nuts, Blackberry, Burdock Roots,  Common Comfrey, Crab Apples, Crayfish, Dandelion Roots,  Duck,  Elderberries, , Giant Puffball, Goose, Grouse, Hawthorn Berries, Hazelnut,  Horseradish, Juniper, Rabbit, Raspberry,  Rosehip,  Wild Chicory, Wild Marjoram, Wild Mint, Wild Service Tree, Wild Strawberry, Venison,  Yarrow

Found a peanut!

Found A Peanut
- child’s song (to the tune of Clemetine)
Found a peanut, found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now,
Just now I found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now.
Cracked it open, cracked it open,
Cracked it open just now,
Just now I cracked it open,
Cracked it open just now.
It was rotten, it was rotten,
It was rotten just now,
Just now it was rotten,
It was rotten just now.
Ate it anyway, ate it anyway,
Ate it anyway just now,
Just now I ate it anyway,
Ate it anyway just now.
Got a stomach ache, got a stomach ache,
Got a stomach ache just now,
Just now I got a stomach ache,
Got a stomach ache just now.
Called the doctor, called the doctor,
Called the doctor just now,
Just now I called the doctor,
Called the doctor just now.
Penicillin, Penicillin,
Penicillin just now,
Just now I took Penicillin,
Penicillin just now.
Operation, operation,
Operation just now,
Just now an operation,
An operation just now.
Died anyway, died anyway,
Died anyway just now,
Just now I died anyway,
Died anyway just now.
Went to heaven, went to heaven,
Went to heaven just now,
Just now I went to heaven,
Went to heaven just now.
Wouldn’t take me, wouldn’t take me,
Wouldn’t take me just now,
Just now Heaven wouldn’t take me,
Wouldn’t take me just now.
Went the other way, went the other way,
Went the other way just now,
Just now I went the other way,
Went the other way just now.
Didn’t want me, didn’t want me,
Didn’t want me just now,
Just now they didn’t want me,
Didn’t want me just now.
Was a dream, was a dream,
Was a dream just now,
Just now it was a dream,
Was a dream, just now.
Then I woke up, then I woke up,
Then I woke up just now,
Just now I woke up,
I woke up just now.
Found a peanut, found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now,
Just now I found a peanut,
Found a peanut just now.

My sister taught me this when I was little.

Science rocks!

I found a website to order an kit of coal samples to use in our science rocks geology studies.
 http://teachcoal.org/energy-and-you/
We are studying Michigan history and industry so this will fit in nicely. It takes 2 weeks to get here so I can't wait.

Hartwick Pines, Old growth trai, and logging museum

Today we tired out the kids by going to Grayling, MI to the Museum at Hartwick Pines State Park. At least I can say that the park pass on my plate got used this year. The kids really enjoyed it. Although littleman and Camryn had more walking than they bargained for.  The Museum was small but hands on. They also had several tanned hides the kids could touch. Live animals we saw included birds, a chipmunk, a grater snake that almost ran into Jon, a badger hole, minnows, and two black squirrels. The logging museum was interesting. There were two men in old time clothes cooking on an open fire at the museum. It was all free with our pass on the license plate. Not a bad way to spend a saturday morning exploring.