September in My Kitchen

48°f this morning. 9°C,  warming to upper 60's, clear.

Time to look back and see what was going in my kitchen last month for Sherry's Pickings.

First, basil vinegar, made by putting basil blooms in a jar of apple cider vinegar and letting the basil infused the vinegar for a few days, then straining it off and bottling it up. It smells heavenly.

This is actually from October 1, but oh well! Homemade black walnut waffles with strawberry-cranberry syrup, also homemade,  and fresh butter from our milk girl. She provides us with fresh milk and butter every week. 

Also October 1, making applesauce which we will turn into apple butter next month. For now it's in the freezer.

Beet salad, which was my lunch one day while on vacation in Colorado. So good.

Another meal in Colorado. We ate well!

A Colorado breakfast, delicious French pastries. 

The Silver Dollar Saloon in Leadville, CO, where I had beignets! Very surprising thing to find in an old West Town.

Canning and preserving wound down this month, but I did make pickled pepper rings, and canned some peaches and fruit cocktail, chili and pinto beans. 

A neighbor brought us a nice Chicken of the Woods mushroom. I sautéed half and froze it, and dried the other half.

It dried beautifully. 

I made quiche twice this month. This one was mushroom, onion, peppers, and cheese. I also made some raspberry tarts.

My flowers are still blooming, so I have been picking a few small bouquets for the house. I found this sweet pottery vase for $1.99 at a thrift.

Our last cherry tomatoes. So sad to see them go!

I picked and dried herbs and peppers on my antique drying rack, found in 1975 at the site of an old house being torn down. It was on the trash pile!

Tea at the amazing teahouse in Boulder, Colorado.

The inside of the teahouse. You can see more photos here.

We got a little over a half bushel of apples from our young apple tree, which i made into apllesauce. All our other fruit trees frosted this year so had no fruit.

 

We harvested our Rainbow corn and the only 2 pumpkins from our garden, and also put away 2 bushels of butternut squash. We bought a bushel of nice potatoes at the farmer's market too, and these are also stored away for winter.

We spent many evenings out here by the firepit, sometimes having wine, and sometimes, on chillier evenings, hot chocolate or hot spiced cider.

Other things I made last month, but no photos:

• chocolate zucchini bread
• banana bread
• peanut butter cookies
• chili
• cornbread
• zucchini pasta casserole
• crockpot chicken and apples 

We also sliced three pork loins, bought on sale, into pork chops, and cut up ten pounds of chicken leg quarters and put all of this meat into the freezer.

I feel ready for the coming cold weather!

Still Blooming

53°f/11.7°C, mix of sun and clouds all day. High around 70.

The weather has stayed temperate enough, and with enough rain, to keep most flowers blooming, even this late in the season.

Here, you can barely see the bloom at the top of a very tall canna. That thing is well over 6 feet tall.

One snapdragon plant hangs on.

A lone pink rose blossom on a plant that is often eaten back by deer. 

I have tried several times to over-winter geraniums. Have you done this with success? I really like the color of this one, and would love to keep it alive, if possible.

My miniature red rose, a hardy little thing. It has had at least one bloom on it all summer long.

This mum makes me smile. It was a tiny thing I stuck in this shallow planted 3 years ago. Somehow it survives winter and keeps getting bigger. I think I will move it to the garden soon though, as it is just too big for its current home.

The blue lace hydrangea has more blooms on it than it has had in its ten-year existence.

I will probably bring this begonia inside for the winter. They are really messy, but they bloom all winter. If I don't kill them. I am pretty good at that with house plants!

Might bring this one in too.

I cut this white phlox back a few weeks ago, and now it's back in bloom!

Some of the roses are blooming.

The next two are miniature roses I planted this year.

This is a new vintage color this year, and I like it very much. I hope I can find these again next year.

One of the mums i planted the other day, wearing its hair net. It's hardly visible, but it sure keeps the deer away. The white mum above also has a hair net on.

The lantana is really showing off now. I must remember to plant more of it!

I cut back the Shasta daisies too, and they have also started blooming again.

One libe coneflower bloom; the rest have given up for the year. The sedum is having its best year ever. Usually the deer eat it before it can bloom.

I like this color combination.

Can you see where I stopped weeding? Must get back to it tomorrow.

Mr. Scarecrow is giving due warning!

Our only pumpkins this year. Oh well.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Pioneer Days, Wirt County

54°f/12.2°C, mostly clear. A gorgeous day after rain yesterday and overnight.

Wirt county is the smallest county in West Virginia,  and one of the least populated, with less than 5,000 residents (down 6% since 2020). It is also beautiful, with large farms, the lovely Little Kanawha River, and a charming county seat named Elizabeth. This weekend was the annual Pioneer Days celebration, and we drove up to see what was offered.

The whole event was centered around the stately courthouse, which houses what we were told is the only elevator in the county.  There was live music, activities for children, a horsedrawn wagon ride, Civil War re-enactors (who shot off a canon), crafts vendors, a car show and a parade (which we missed).

A free afternoon tea was offered inside this tent. 

The tea included a choice of beverages, dainty sandwiches and sweets.

The museum was open and was filled with items donated from the community, all carefully labeled and cataloged.

These was even this nice oak phone booth from the courthouse,

complete with phone.

The Little Kanawha Hotel, parts of which were built in1800, stands next door to the nuseum, and both are on the banks of the river. It is being lovingly restored and perhaps one day will once again be open to overnight guests, but for now it is a private residence. Tours were offered for the festival, and offered a fascinating history of the hotel, presented by the current owner.

On the hotel porch

A bowl of antique cut nails salvaged during restoration.

A quilt show was held inside the courthouse 

The top quilt won first place. No wonder!

Blast from the past 

Painted Lady butterfly on a butterfly bush bloom

A cute windshield made with old silverplate, hangs on the hotel porch.

Inside the original part of the hotel, with our tour leader. There were many ghost stories shared about the hotel.

The old well outside the hotel.

A lady told us that this milestone covers the old town well.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.