A Pot Roast and Strawberry Jam Kind of Day

55°f/13°C , cloudy and rain showers all afternoon.

Greener and greener

With rain in the forecast for the afternoon, I decided to spend the morning in the garden. And now I finally feel almost caught up. I planted garlic, peppers, tomatoes, marigolds, dill...I don't know what all, but all that's left to put in is limas, rattlesnake beans, cucumbers and squash. 

Then the rain arrived, right iron schedule. So it was indoors and cooking time. Venison potroast

and strawberry jam, both made from what was in the freezer and cellar.

What a nice day! I'm  ending it by watching the seventh season of Grantchester, a series I started watching at least 5 years ago. My English granny and my aunt and uncle lived in Grantchester, so some scenes are very familiar, especially this pub: The Green Man, where we went several times with my cousin Les, and once or twice with John too. I was so surprised to see it on the show that I had to pause the movie and take a photo! So I had to go back and find my own photo of The Green Man, posted after our visit in 2013.

How I would love to be there now! But I believe the pub actually closed in 2020.

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

In My Kitchen: February 2025

A review of February in my kitchen:

A new-to-me tea cozy by April Cornell. It's reversible!

I chopped and dehydrated most of the remainder of last year's bumper garlic crop.

Valentine's day dinner by the fire: steak, loaded baked potatoes, and salad. Simple and delicious. 

My Valentine's cake effort: chocolate cake with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting.

A cobbler made with fruits from the fridge that needed to be used up---canned pears, cherry pie filling, blueberries, peaches, some cranberry sauce. Yum.

Orange-cranberry scones.

And a stew made with all sorts of leftovers and bits and pieces as I was cleaning out the fridge. It was the best stew I think I have ever made, and I will never be able to duplicate it. 

Made but no pictures: banana chocolate chip bread, canned apple pie filling, canned pork, canned black beans, and I used up the rest of the apples in the cellar to make and freeze fried apples.

I think that was about it. Linking to Sherry'sPickings for the first-time! 

Now I need to remember to take photos this month for next month's roundup.

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

That Time of Year

64, cool and so nice. Some cloud cover has kept it comfortable so far. Yesterday reached 86, with a couple showers. We need more rain; it's getting very dry.

It's time to start cleaning out most of the gardens, sadly. Larry brush-hogged the garden that had the first onions,  potatoes, peas, and early corn so that one is finished. He will soon clean up the tomato and late corn garden, after he cuts the corn for shocks.

Here's some of what we gathered yesterday. 

The small peppers to the left were given to us by our friend Tamara; we are constantly supplementing each other's veggies. The broccoli on the left is producing tinier and tinier spears, but still delicious. I must learn how to encourage larger shoots next year. This has been our most successful broccoli year ever, so I am very pleased.

There were more squash, but we had them for dinner. The main plants died back, but some stems rooted themselves so we have "new" plants. So cool. I will string the cayenne peppers to dry later today. The tomatoes are fading fast, but a few stalwart cherry varieties are hanging on, thank goodness.

The last tomatoes from the big patch. They did terribly this year.

The large peppers were also from Tamara; she bought too many so gifted them to me. I am making stuffed peppers for the freezer with them. Our banana peppers have done gangbusters, and there are many still in the garden. I will make pepper mustard with some, freeze some, and stuff the larger ones for the freezer. So handy for a quick meal.

I started these mums in June, from tiny bit picked off some of my plants. So easy to start! Now I need to get them planted.

We didn't plant any pumpkins this year but had several plants come up from seed. We have harvested 13 of them. Considering that we did nothing at all to get them, I am a happy gardener! Beside them to the right is a maple tree I will plant soon; it and the wee hibiscus in the same pot both came up from seed in a flowerbed.

And of course, since I was in the garden, I picked a few small bouquets. 

We spent Tuesday with my cousin Tom and his wife, who will soon be moving to North Carolina, and my Aunt Georgette, Tom's mother. She will be 90 on her birthday but still gets around fairly well, although she said she is having balance issues. She still has a pet bird, and lives in a nice assisted living facility about 2 hours from us. As the nearest family, Larry and I will be "on call" whenever she needs us.

The past two days I have not felt up to snuff, probably just tired. So I took it fairly easy, just canned some Corn and Potato Chowder and some more grape juice. I also worked on data entry for the booths' records, and priced a few totes of items. But I did a lot of just sitting, resting, and even (shocker!) napping. I feel a bit better today, thankfully. 

Here's the recipe for the chowder, should you want to try it. It does not have to be canned, of course, but I like to have it on hand for quick meals.

As you can see, it has been a well-used page in the cookbook!

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

Rainy Saturday

69 this morning, with 90% humidity. A bad storm came through around 3pm, with wild winds and heavy rain. Our second planting of corn is now laying down flat, but that seems to be the extent of the damage, that we can see. It is still spitting rain at 7:30pm.

You would know that I heavily watered my big flower bed this morning, because the storms this week have been so unpredictable it is hard to know who will get rain and who won't.  Most missed us, so we have watered here and there because the heat is drying things up so quickly even if it does rain.

But the heat here has been nothing like what so many parts of the country, and indeed the world, are experiencing.  It has reached 90 a few times, but generally stays in the low to mid 80s, and nights in the 50s and 60s. So we turn off the AC at night usually, oy turning it on again in the afternoon. The kitchen gets a little warm if I am canning or cooking, but not unbearable. We have been getting the garden work done early in the day, and staying out of the sun and heat.

It has been, as always, a busy week. We picked the first corn and got it into the freezer, 

and I canned dill pickles, green beans and faux pineapple today.  Need to get this stuff marked and into the cellar tomorrow.

The beans and lettuce I planted Monday were already up on Thursday, as were the cucumber and cabbage seeds I started on Tuesday. Amazing to see them all sprout so fast. This morning I planted some celery plants given to me by a friend in the space where the lettuce was. I am hoping the storm didn't smash them to bits. I also did some cleanup in the flowerbeds and planted some Shasta daisies, zinnias, and another canna lily in the biggest flowerbed because there isn't much blooming in there now---and the plants were half price. Looks better out there now.

Wednesday was doctor appointment day in Charleston, to schedule my gall bladder surgery, which will happen August 1. I am trying to get the gardens in good shape before then. Also in August our youngest son and oldest grandson will both be coming in for a visit! I am so looking forward to that. And since I will have to take it easier than usual for a bit, I can relax and visit.

I finished painting the china cabinet and we took it to our booth in Ravenswood yesterday. 

I had a few other things ready, including a dozen grab bags, something new I have been trying. They sell pretty quickly. 

Larry built two of these little shelves this week too. 

A few other things we took in. So both places were restocked for the weekend.

Bad photo, but this is a spinning postcard rack. I found it on Amazon, and it is perfect for displaying in my booth, but was a real jigsaw to put together! 

Tomorrow we will go pick up the rest of a load of furniture we bought, and that is all we have planned. So maybe we will have a fairly slow day. I am more than ready for one!

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

Of Canning and Books

34 this morning, some patchy frost here but other places in the county had a killing frost. A pretty day, very windy. Some light showers the other night helped but it is still very, very dry. 

Well, every time I think I am back to blogging regularly I veer off course. Most days, I get busy and then when I finally stop for the day, usually about 7 or 8 in the evening, I am too tired to think well enough to post. But today, I decided to stop, at least for a while, and I actually have enough brain power remaining to write. 

What's kept me so busy? Let's see. I spent Monday mostly resting and generally movng slow. I did get some cleaning done, and then in the afternoon we had the pleasure of a surprise visit from our son, granddaughter Hannah, and her two children. What delight it is when children come to visit! Our grandchildren are all grown up now; only Natasha is still in high school. So now it's the great-grands we have to look forward to, and we don't get to see them as often as we'd like. After they left I got the first coat of paint on a small table, and listed some things on eBay, and that was the day. 

Tuesday I sorted out totes of items for our booths and got everything all priced. That doesn't sound like much, but there were 6 totes and it took a while. I had just finished up when Larry came in with a huge Chicken of the Woods mushroom.

And then he went back and got more! These were growing on a fallen tree, and Larry said he left about half of the mushrooms on the tree so that they will hopefully spread next year. So we worked together to get the mushrooms cleaned and canned, getting about 40 half-pints, along with a couple bags in the freezer. I saved the broth from where I had to briefly cook the mushrooms before canning, and yesterday I processed that to. It might puzzle the unsuspecting vistor to our cellar to see jars labeled COW broth. 

After putting up the broth, I moved on to canning some pie filling. The freezers were completely full and we will need space for venison, so I pulled out most of the frozen cherries, blueberries, and some strawberries and made a mixed berry filling using Clear-Gel--which, by the way, I like very much. It makes a really nice pie filling. I also pulled out the frozen cranberries from last year and canned cranberry sauce. Now there is at least some freezer space, and I will work on making more soon by making strawberry jam.

Today I dealt with the pears. 

They are really not fun to do for several reasons. Our tree is about 45 years old, a standard Bartlett that is about 30-40 feet tall. Larry has been pruning off the lower branches so he can mow under it, which means all the pears are well about our heads, almost impossible to pick. We use the apple picker to get what we can, but just have to wait for the rest to fall. And of course, when they fall, they bruise. This variety is very, very hard and takes a while to finish ripening after picking/falling, and of course the bruises spread and by the time the pears are ripe, there is a lot of bad to cut out. Some just have to be tossed, just too bad to use. It's so frustrating. Next year I think we will get some thick foam from a neighbor who works at a plant where it is made, and lay it under the tree to hopefully cushion the pears' fall. Do you think that will help? Or do you have any suggestions for picking the pears short of a bucket truck?

Tomorrow? Well, the last of the celery has to be cut and put in the freezer, and a good neighbor gave us a bushel and a half of apples. So I think apple pie filling and maybe applesauce is in my future tomorrow, along with taking care of the celery. I am working at the antique mall this weekend, so that will finish out this week. I declare, working might feel like a rest after this busy week. I told Larry that it seems like I have had little chance to get out of the kitchen! Which is fine really--the cellar is bulging with so much good food that I feel guilty at having such bounty.

I have been taking time to read, though, and have three really good books I am alternating between. The first is one I've mentioned here before: When Time Stopped by Ariana Neumann, 

It is slow going, as there is little to no dialogue-it's all narrative, but so well written and detailed that I find myself reading it slowly to be sure I miss nothing. It's a frightening story, actually, one that fills me with dread as I read because it details the growing restrictions and inhumane treatment of Jews in Czechoslovakia under Nazi occupation. What cause my dread is that the author's family deal with each restriction as it comes, and yet their photos and letters tell of a relatively happy, normal life as this black cloud hangs over them--and I feel sure that what happens to them in the end will not be good. But the author has amassed so many letters, photos, and artifacts that her telling of their story is compelling and absorbing.

The second is a book I have had for some time, and dip into most years in the fall: The Autumn Book: A Collection of Prose and Poetry Chosen by James Reeves. I was rather stunned to see its prices on Amazon. I am pretty sure that 146.00 must be an error. It's a very good read, but not sure it's that good.

I browse through, picking and choosing what to read. One selection prompted me to order the third book: The Natural History of Selborne, by the Rev. Gilbert White. The selection that intrigued me enough to place the order was simply dates and details of weather, birds, gardens, etc, in the author's gardens and surrounds of Selborne, in Hampshire, England, in September 1779. Okay, that might sound boring, but consider such lines as "began lighting fires in the parlor", "Mrs. Snooke's old tortoise retired underground", "Vast condensations in the great parlor; the grate, marble-jams, the tables, the chairs, the walls are covered with dew". 

You might notice that I have taken a leaf from his book and hae begun to write a bit more at the beginning of each post about the weather and other natural observations. I am thinking I may start another blog that simply catalogs such things as an ongoing natural diary, maybe starting on January 1 and keeping it for a year. To get back to the book, though--I have only just started it and am loving it. Rev. White begins his book with some beautiful poems, then goes on to describe the geography of his area, including the type of rocks, soil, trees and crops. Fascinating, considering this was written in 1779.

Off I go now to put yet another coat of paint on the little table--this one will be red, and I am liking it so far.

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

Wordless Wednesday: The Cellar, So Far

62, cool and sunny. Warmer and humid later, a small downpour, but sun returned.

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

Booths and Garden Talk

69 and muggy this morning. We're back to hot weather, but still not as hot as it was in August. We had some good rain this past week, and some very pleasant days.

The days are simply speeding by. I've been in the kitchen most of the time, still putting up tomatoes and peppers. I had a routine doctor visit Monday, and we worked at our booth in Marietta on Wednesday and our Ravenswood booth on Friday. So a week that was a bit broken up. Here's a few photos of the booths; I don't have but one recent one from Ravenswood, of the new display window, so I'll have to take some more this week. This is the new display, focusing more on primitive antiques.

And here's some from Marietta This booth is really full, since it's the only one we have there now:

The above photo is the dressing table I finished last week. It's such a pretty thing. I painted three other pieces last week, all taken to Ravenswood so I'll have to add photos of them when I get over there again.

I decided not to paint this little fliptop table, and see if it sells as it is. It would be a handy thing to have.

These planters are by McCoy, a brand that is collected by quite a few people in this area.

Stacking it up to make use of the vertical space!

It's funny, but I've gotten to where I really don't want to go anywhere; the more days in a row I stay home, the more I don't want to go out. It's not because of the pandemic; it seems to be because we simply have all we want or need right here. We are so stocked up with good food, plenty of books and movies, and loving pets. We have lovely views and gardens to look at, each other for company and when we want a little more people interaction, there's the phone or online--which isn't the same as face to face of course, but can fill the gap for long stretches of time. I'm not interested in traveling anywhere these days, really, which is such a change from how I used to be, always wanting to go. Perhaps it's because I hurt. Arthritis can really be a pain, in more ways than one. But as a lady in her 80's told me, "if it hurts it works", so I try to keep that perspective and get on with my days.

I made stuffed peppers for the freezer this week, and I tried something new with summer squash. The peppers are easy, just make your usual recipe, cooking the filling and stuffing the raw peppers. Then wrap each stuffed pepper in aluminum foil, then seal in plastic bags for the freezer. I put about 4 peppers in each vacuum-seal bag, enough for us for a meal. 

I thought I'd try a different approach with the yellow squash and young zucchini. I cooked them in boiling water with butter, salt and pepper--our favorite way to eat them, bagged in a ziplock bag in meal-sized amounts, then vacuum-sealed the bag. I am hoping the squash will taste just as good, or close, to freshly-prepared. As you probably know if you've frozen squash, the result is usually less than ideal. I've done some flash-frozen with an eye to making that squash-sausage--pasta sauce-cheese dish this winter, as I think they will work well for this. I've dried some too, to use in some recipes I've found online for dried squash. I dried it last year but never used them, but this year I will be sure to change that. 

Right now I have tomatoes in the dehydrator. I did these last year, and found that a great way to use them was to grind the dried tomatoes in the food processor and use as a thickener in pasta sauce and soups. It works great. 

I canned more pickled jalapenos this week, made more ketchup, and canned another 8 gallons of cider. The cellar is getting very full. I have a basket of jalapenos which I think I may dry. I've put away the garlic now that the bulbs are good and dry and we ended up with about a peck of them.

Here's what the cellar looked like a few weeks ago. I've added a lot more since this photo was taken.

Harvest time is definitely winding down now--I can see light at the end of the tunnel at last. Larry is digging the potatoes, which we planted very late, at the end of June. They've done better than expected. Deer got in the garden one night when the electric fence wasn't working and topped off the late beans and the sweet potatoes, so I'm not sure we'll get anything much from them. Larry's been harvesting the Indian corn for decorations, and there are still a lot of peppers coming on, but the tomatoes have slowed down, the cucumber vines died off, and a lot of the squash plants have died too. Kale, carrots and a couple other things are just coming up, so perhaps we'll have some later veggies there. But honestly, I think we're both ready for garden season to be over. I did buy Larry a compost tumbler this week and he's filled it up already. I may be buying a couple more of them if we like it.

But soon I can turn my mind and energies elsewhere. I haven't written much at all this year and would like to get back to it. My flowerbeds are crying for attention, and so are many corners of this house. It's been a very good summer, though, and I am happy to see the full cellar and freezers.

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

Canning in a Heat Wave

73 this morning, sunny. We've had several sunny days in a row, with an afternoon rain on Sunday. Very humid.

So it's still August, and I'm still canning and freezing the good things our garden is giving us. This is yesterday's production: corn and cherry tomato salsa, pickled jalapenos, dill pickles, and tomato juice.

This morning we tried freezing corn on the cob. I've done this before and wasn't thrilled with the results, but I'm trying again. In this method, you cut the ends off the cob, leaving the husks intact, put in bags and freeze. I used the vacuum sealer, and I am hoping that makes a difference to the taste. Last time I tried it, the corn just didn't taste right. We shall see.

I used up a whole 5 pounds of cherry tomatoes to make the salsa--click the link above for the recipe. It's not a difficult recipe, just a lot of chopping, normal with any salsa I suppose. I substituted parsley for cilantro and used regular chili powder since I didn't have the chipotle kind the recipe calls for. It tasted good but I'm waiting to taste it cold on chips before deciding if it's awesome or not. The pickled jalapeno we have tried, and it's delicious. My jalapenos are not hot--I grow a mild variety that has the flavor but not the heat. 

I also divvied up some large packs of blueberries that I stuck in the freezer in their plastic clamshells; I put them in bags and vacuum-sealed them. So two jobs done already. Now peaches are in the sink and I will have to see what I can do with them, as they're full of spots and such. Not the best, but the only ones we have for this year.

The weather has been so humid, and will be getting hotter as the week goes on. We will probably reach the 90's today, so we're trying to get as much done before the afternoon heat as we can. I expect this heat wave will end with bad storms as that's the usual pattern. But meantime we may well have to break out the sprinklers and hoses again if we don't get at least some showers.

I went out last night and tried to clean up my late garden. The poor thing has been completely neglected these last few weeks and looks it. The kale is bug-eaten, the radishes have gone to seed, and I think Larry cut down some of the onions with the weedeater. Well, they were pretty covered up with weeds, so no wonder. We managed to salvage some of it. The Lutz beets look great, the third planting of squash is bearing, and the lettuce looks surprisingly good. Once this heat passes I will get out there and stick in some more seeds. And hope I can give it more attention now that we're almost through with the major part of the canning. I think.

Listening to the news of Afghanistan I have such mixed feelings. On the one hand, I firmly believe the US should never have gone in there, especially considering the sad history of foreign intervention in that country. Why should we have thought we would be any different than the English, the French, and the Russians? On the other hand, I understand the drive to contain terrorism. And the poor people caught in the middle of it all, or who worked with the US--their plight is truly frightening. I am not an isolationist, but there are times when I do wonder if we should just mind our own problems, and leave others to their own devices--or is that vices.

We spent Sunday in the backcountry of Calhoun county, at a friend's house so far back they can't get mail service. They are planning to sell their place now that the husband has health issues, and have lots of things to sell. We spent a busy afternoon looking through piles of stuff and just visiting, and then came home with a vanload. We will be going back soon for another load. This is one of the hardest, and yet in some ways, one of the best ways of finding merchandise for our booths. It is not easy to talk money and prices with friends, especially when they know I can't pay full value because I need to make a profit. But they know their things will find good homes, and I am honest with them about what I can afford to pay--if it's not enough, I'm not insulted, and if I offer less than they want, they understand and aren't insulted either. 

I'm sure there is other news, since it's been a while since I posted, but I need to get back to the kitchen so I will close now. I hope everyone is well, avoiding Delta, and staying cool.

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

Bye Bye Ducky, and Hello Tomatoes...Again

70 and very muggy, rain most of the day, heavy at times. Warmed to about 75.

I am so enjoying this rainy weather although the grass is growing like crazy. The water table is certainly being replenished thanks to Tropical Storm Fred. I'm wondering where Grace will go? Hopefully she will benefit some other water-starved area.

I mentioned a while back that a neighbor gave us two chicks and a duckling, didn't I? Now, our place is not suited at all for ducks. There's no pond or creek, and our little run is often dry. Besides the lack of water, a bird of any time free-ranging here is easy pickings for the many other critters we share this habitat with--foxes, raccoons, hawks, possums, weasels, minks, skunks, etc, etc. So what could we do with a duck?

The problem was solved today when my son flagged me on a Facebook Marketplace post. A lady was looking for a duck to be a companion to the one she had. I messaged her and after a little discussion, it was settled. Our duck found a new home. The lady is delighted with her free duck, and we're happy it has a good home. It was so cute, though. I was really tempted to keep it but common sense told me not to even think about it.

Other than the duck business, it's been an uneventful day. We made more tomato juice, this time using the Black Krim tomatoes exclusively. It is the most delicious juice we've ever made. The black tomatoes have a deeper color and are so flavorful. 

A Black Krim tomato, with a little garden dirt still on it. I love the color variations of this variety.

We also canned some whole tomatoes--these were Better Boys--and you can see the difference in color between them. The only additions to the juice were salt, pepper and a little hot sauce, so nothing to cause a color change.

About the only other thing we got into was dicing peppers for dehydrating, and Larry did some weed-eating when the rain stopped while I packed eBay sales and listed a couple things. I finished painting an enamel top table that Larry made by replacing the very weird top on a nice wood table with a porcelain top from our stock. Yes, we have several of those tops stored away, just for this purpose. I'd intended to take this table to our booth, but now I am thinking of keeping it. I could use another work surface in the kitchen; today we were hard put to find space for all the stuff we were working on.

There was a nice surprise in the mail, something I forgot I'd ordered. Who would have through flowers could be shipped like this? I will use these to replace the worn-out pansies in a few planters. A little surprise gift to myself.

Tomorrow is booth day, and a break from the kitchen. But there's a half bushel of apples waiting on me for Saturday, and I'm sure there will be more tomatoes and cucumbers too. It's a bountiful time of year, and what a blessing it is to have it. And what joy to be able to make sandwiches like this!

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