Instead of celebrating America this weekend I spent most of my time canning. Saturday I made bread and butter pickles along with some "cowboy candy" which is made with jalapeño or banana peppers. Sunday we went to the Steadman family reunion. ,Monday the 4th my husband and I canned vegetable soup.
We have been so blessed this year with an abundance of vegetables. Canning to me is a very satisfying chore. It's hard work and I love hearing the lids "pop" when they seal.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Garden Bounty
The thing that makes gardening so worth the effort is the bounty. It brings to mind the old adage "you reap what you sew" and in this instance you really do!
Squash is one of my favorite vegetables. Growing up we only ate it fried. I have several recipes that me and my family really enjoy. One of my husbands favorite recipe is Squash Casserole. We also like a creamed version cooked in a skillet.
I am getting so much squash and zucchini that I have already been sharing the bounty!
These are a few of my favorite squash recipes! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Yellow Squash Casserole
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Zucchini, Squash, Cucumbers
|
Squash is one of my favorite vegetables. Growing up we only ate it fried. I have several recipes that me and my family really enjoy. One of my husbands favorite recipe is Squash Casserole. We also like a creamed version cooked in a skillet.
I am getting so much squash and zucchini that I have already been sharing the bounty!
These are a few of my favorite squash recipes! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Creamed Squash
by Shirley Loveless
YIELD 4 or 5 servings
ACTIVE TIME 10 min
TOTAL TIME
30 minINGREDIENTS
- 4 or 5 squash, sliced
- 1 can Pet milk
- 1 stick butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 4 or 5 squash, sliced
- 1 can Pet milk
- 1 stick butter
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1/4 cup sugar
INSTRUCTIONS
- Stew squash then drain.
- Put in frying pan
- Add 1 can Pet milk, butter, sugar, salt and pepper
- Bring to a boil then cut down to low and simmer till it thickens.
- Stew squash then drain.
- Put in frying pan
- Add 1 can Pet milk, butter, sugar, salt and pepper
- Bring to a boil then cut down to low and simmer till it thickens.
NOTES
My mother in law gave me this recipe but there were not actual measurements. So basically the sugar, salt and pepper are to taste.
My mother in law gave me this recipe but there were not actual measurements. So basically the sugar, salt and pepper are to taste.
This is one of those recipes that you really do not measure and is just thrown together and it is delicious!
Yellow Squash Casserole
allrecipes.com
INGREDIENTS
- 4 cups sliced yellow squash
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 35 buttery round crackers, crushed
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 3/4 cup milk
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons butter
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Place squash and onion in a large skillet over medium heat. Pour in a small amount of water. Cover, and cook until squash is tender, about 5 minutes. Drain well, and place in a large bowl.
- In a medium bowl, mix together cracker crumbs and cheese. Stir half of the cracker mixture into the cooked squash and onions. In a small bowl, mix together eggs and milk, then add to squash mixture. Stir in 1/4 cup melted butter, and season with salt and pepper. Spread into a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cracker mixture, and dot with 2 tablespoons butter.
- Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.
Chicken and Vegetables Medley
by Shirley Loveless
INGREDIENTS
- Chicken Thighs (boneless, skinless)
- 3 cups potatoes sliced round and thin
- 3 cups squash sliced round and thin
- 1 sweet onion, sliced thin
- 1 or 2 green sweet peppers sliced
- Seasoning Salt
- McCormick Kickin Chicken Seasoning
- Butter
- Aluminum Foil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat Oven 350°
- You will need a big sheet of aluminum foil and spray one side with Pam non-stick spray
- Slice potatoes, squash, onions and peppers
- Spread on the foil in layers in middle leaving enough room on sides and ends to fold and make a pocket
- Season the vegetables with the seasoning salt to your liking
- Season the chicken with the McCormick Kicken Chicken Seasoning
- Add chicken to the top of the vegetables
- Add pats of butter to your veggies
- Form pocket with the aluminum foils and seal tightly
- Place in 9x13 Glass or aluminum pan and bake for 1 hour
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Strawberry Freezer Jam
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| This is what I have left to do! |
This is my Mother-In-Law's recipe:
Strawberry Freezer Jam
4 cups sugar
Mix berries and sugar well
Separately combine 3/4 cup water, 1 box Surejel and bring to boil, boil 1 min stirring constantly
Stir the Surejel/water mixture into the strawberries and stir for 3 min.
Ladle into jars
Leave at room temperature for 24 hours. Put in freezer.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Spring Time Planting
I was so ready for spring that I used an app to countdown the days this year. I got an earlier start than last year. It was a wet spring and thankfully raised beds tend to dry out pretty fast.
Preparing raised beds is pretty easy. We have a tiller that is small enough for me to use or my husband will just run it through the raised beds. We prepare our raised beds in the fall by adding manure and compost. Also a winter crop such as turnip greens or clover can be planted in the bed to help keep the nutrients in the soil. Whichever you decide to do it can be easily tilled into the soil.
We also rotate the crops which helps with nutrient depletion in the soil, lessons the need for pest control and the reduction of soil-borne diseases. I roughly draw a diagram of my raised beds so I can keep up with the rotation from year to year.
We planted potato's, onions sets and seeds the last weekend of March.I bought my tomato plants from my dad and planted them on April 12th. I am very envious because he opened his own greenhouse (Steadman's Greenhouse)!! I had asked him to plant Jet Star and Early Girl which are two of my favorite tomato plants. I also bought cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, and yellow squash plants. I planted those plus radishes, okra, green beans, lettuce, green, red and yellow bell peppers seeds on April 18th. I covered everything with straw and gave it a good drink of water. The straw will help keep the moisture in the raised beds. There are other things you can use to mulch the beds as well such as shredded news paper, pine needles, grass clippings and burlap to name a few.
There is always a chance that something planted by seed may not come up. Darren re-sewed our green beans an okra.
Now all I have to do is keep the bugs off!!
We also rotate the crops which helps with nutrient depletion in the soil, lessons the need for pest control and the reduction of soil-borne diseases. I roughly draw a diagram of my raised beds so I can keep up with the rotation from year to year.
We planted potato's, onions sets and seeds the last weekend of March.I bought my tomato plants from my dad and planted them on April 12th. I am very envious because he opened his own greenhouse (Steadman's Greenhouse)!! I had asked him to plant Jet Star and Early Girl which are two of my favorite tomato plants. I also bought cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, and yellow squash plants. I planted those plus radishes, okra, green beans, lettuce, green, red and yellow bell peppers seeds on April 18th. I covered everything with straw and gave it a good drink of water. The straw will help keep the moisture in the raised beds. There are other things you can use to mulch the beds as well such as shredded news paper, pine needles, grass clippings and burlap to name a few.
There is always a chance that something planted by seed may not come up. Darren re-sewed our green beans an okra.
Now all I have to do is keep the bugs off!!
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Quilting Frames
I am so excited! Today the boys and I went to my mom and dad to visit. I have been asking them about my grandmas (a.k.a. Nanny) quilting frames since she moved in with my parents and today I got to bring them home!
My grandma has the beginnings of Alzheimer's which is known as dementia plus she has Macular Degeneration not to mention she doesn't hear very well. Despite all of that she is a very independant woman and stubborn as an old mule. She still wants to do the things that physically she can't do. She misses gardening, canning, sewing and reading.
My grandma will be 90 in December yet she was able to show me how these quilting boards worked. Her mom would hang them from the ceiling and when they stopped quilting for the day the boards were used to roll up the quilts and get them out of the way. My mom remembers helping them make the quilts too.
She remembered that her grandaddy made them. The quilting boards were made by her granddaddy in the late 1800s. Her dad replaced two of the boards when she was younger. They were made with poplar wood and are over 100 years old!
My grandma has the beginnings of Alzheimer's which is known as dementia plus she has Macular Degeneration not to mention she doesn't hear very well. Despite all of that she is a very independant woman and stubborn as an old mule. She still wants to do the things that physically she can't do. She misses gardening, canning, sewing and reading.
.JPG) |
| Quilting Boards |
My grandma will be 90 in December yet she was able to show me how these quilting boards worked. Her mom would hang them from the ceiling and when they stopped quilting for the day the boards were used to roll up the quilts and get them out of the way. My mom remembers helping them make the quilts too.
She remembered that her grandaddy made them. The quilting boards were made by her granddaddy in the late 1800s. Her dad replaced two of the boards when she was younger. They were made with poplar wood and are over 100 years old!
Sunday, September 7, 2014
Volunteers
Its a spaghetti squash, no its a watermelon, no its a pumpkin!!! This was the progression of a volunteer plant that came up in our compost pile. I have never grown pumpkins before so I had no idea that they start out yellow, then turn green, then orange. Its a nice surpirse and I don't have to buy any this year.Of course where there is squash there is squash bugs and we lost a couple pumpkins. I hate those bugs; nothing except stomping them will eliminate them. We had alot of squash bugs this year.
The pumpkins grew from the seeds of the ones my boys carved last October. They had a good time throwing the seeds at each other. Which is why we also have a vine next to the front porch.
Monday, September 1, 2014
Canning Season
Canning Season - Hard Work in Hottest Weather
by Nancy Steadman (Permission to Post given by Nancy Steadman a.k.a my Mom)
"Canning' season is here again, and as I ladle my vegetable soup into jars, I think back to my childhood, and how different canning time was then. My Mother and Father were divorced and my mother and I went to live with my Grandparents, who had eight children. Since my mother was the oldest, I was only three years younger than her youngest sister. With this house full of people, my Grandmother had to "put up" a lot of food for the winter.
My Grandmother had electricity, but no running water. the water was carried from a spring about a fourth of a mile from the house. The water was dipped from the spring with galvanized buckets. I, being the smallest person in the house, carried water from the spring in a thoroughly washed lard bucket which was as much as I could tote.
The first step in the process of "canning" was to haul out the glass jars that had been emptied during the winter, and wash them. Granny had two galvanized wash tubs which were usually used to rinse clothes that were washed on the wringer washer, but were turned into "soap and rinse" tubs for the jars.
While washing my jars in the dishwasher, I think about what a tremendous task it was just to clean something back then. The water was heated in a dishpan on the wood range and then poured into the tubs. Washing jars was one of my jobs. I didn't like doing it, but gladly went under the shade tree with the tubs to escape the horribly hot kitchen. Even though Granny had electricity, she had no electric stove or air conditioner.
The jars were then placed upside down on the stove in a long pan, with only enough water to cover the mouth of the jar. This was done to sterilize the jars. The lids were added to the water also. The jars and lids were boiled for about two or three minutes. The jars were then set upright in the hot (not boiling) water so they could be filled with vegetable or fruit or whatever was to be canned that day.
Granny would fill the jars with fresh vegetables from the garden: tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans, peas, okra, potatoes, beets, and then some of these were mixed together to make vegetable soup, (my favorite). She would also can apples, pears, peaches, blackberry jelly, blackberry jam, all these foods we couldn't wait to dig into when winter came. It was our touch of summer when the cold winds of winter blew around the house.
When I married, I was happy to escape "canning season". Mama carried on the tradition, but I wanted to part in it. It was too much trouble. But, now I realize, as I admire my own jars of vegetable soup and canned peaches sitting on the counter, that I was missing something. It was the satisfaction to be had from doing something that my Grandmother had to do in order to feed her family.
by Nancy Steadman (Permission to Post given by Nancy Steadman a.k.a my Mom)
"Canning' season is here again, and as I ladle my vegetable soup into jars, I think back to my childhood, and how different canning time was then. My Mother and Father were divorced and my mother and I went to live with my Grandparents, who had eight children. Since my mother was the oldest, I was only three years younger than her youngest sister. With this house full of people, my Grandmother had to "put up" a lot of food for the winter.
My Grandmother had electricity, but no running water. the water was carried from a spring about a fourth of a mile from the house. The water was dipped from the spring with galvanized buckets. I, being the smallest person in the house, carried water from the spring in a thoroughly washed lard bucket which was as much as I could tote.
The first step in the process of "canning" was to haul out the glass jars that had been emptied during the winter, and wash them. Granny had two galvanized wash tubs which were usually used to rinse clothes that were washed on the wringer washer, but were turned into "soap and rinse" tubs for the jars.
While washing my jars in the dishwasher, I think about what a tremendous task it was just to clean something back then. The water was heated in a dishpan on the wood range and then poured into the tubs. Washing jars was one of my jobs. I didn't like doing it, but gladly went under the shade tree with the tubs to escape the horribly hot kitchen. Even though Granny had electricity, she had no electric stove or air conditioner.
The jars were then placed upside down on the stove in a long pan, with only enough water to cover the mouth of the jar. This was done to sterilize the jars. The lids were added to the water also. The jars and lids were boiled for about two or three minutes. The jars were then set upright in the hot (not boiling) water so they could be filled with vegetable or fruit or whatever was to be canned that day.
Granny would fill the jars with fresh vegetables from the garden: tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans, peas, okra, potatoes, beets, and then some of these were mixed together to make vegetable soup, (my favorite). She would also can apples, pears, peaches, blackberry jelly, blackberry jam, all these foods we couldn't wait to dig into when winter came. It was our touch of summer when the cold winds of winter blew around the house.
When I married, I was happy to escape "canning season". Mama carried on the tradition, but I wanted to part in it. It was too much trouble. But, now I realize, as I admire my own jars of vegetable soup and canned peaches sitting on the counter, that I was missing something. It was the satisfaction to be had from doing something that my Grandmother had to do in order to feed her family.
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