Fresh Off The Vine

Grape Juice, Grapes, Reflections,

We are thankful for a decent grape harvest this year, especially since we had no grapes last year.

We grown both Niagara and Concord grapes. My husband harvested them as they ripened. Since not all of the grapes on the same bunch ripen at the same rate some may have been a little under- ripe and thus more tart than the riper ones.

He ended up harvesting them in three separate batches – each about the size of the one in the above picture. I didn’t weight them but would guess each batch was between two and three pounds.

In the past I have used homegrown grapes to make jelly and wine, but the thing we enjoy the most is drinking grape juice with our breakfast. :)The juice is naturally tart so I add raw honey as a sweetener.

From the three batches I produced 11 pints of juice.

We currently have eight pints in the freezer. Yes, we have enjoyed this juice three times so far with our breakfast and I really don’t think the other 8 pints are going to last very long.

You’ll notice that I did freeze the juice in jars, so I thought I should mention that not all glass jars are suitable for freezing liquids. Jars, like the ones I have used, where the sides are straight and the opening is the same size, or maybe a little larger, than the jar are suitable for freezing. Jars that have a curved sides that form a neck and a smaller opening at the top should not be used for freezing. The following article explains in more detail https://www.gardenbetty.com/how-to-safely-freeze-liquids-in-mason-jars/. The other thing that is necessary when freezing liquids in jars, or other containers for that matter, is to allow plenty of head space in the jar. You can tell in my photo that the jars are not filled all the way to the top – that is what I mean by head space.

Thanks for visiting.

Now tell me do you prefer juice, jelly or wine?

Playing With The New Editor

Reflections

Though I have been able to manage publishing my posts with the new WordPress editor I still have a lot to learn. The best way to do that is to play with it a little bit, so I put some of the farm photos I’ve taken this month into a slide show.

Please let me know what you think. Do you like the side show format or would you like to see the photos all on one page and scroll down through them to view? I appreciate your feedback. 🙂

55 Things # 35 – For Lindell

55 Things, Reflections

Click here to learn more about my “55 Things” and here to view previous posts in this series.

Where does the time go? It was 24 years ago today that I gave birth to my youngest daughter, Lindell.

In keeping with my Disney dedications to my daughters I have selected two songs for Lindell. The first one reminds me so much of Lindell, who has worked as a hostess, waitress and bar tender.

I’m sure it is her beautiful smile and friendly personality that has made her successful in each of these positions. I have had several of her customers tell me that Lindell was their favorite server and how much they loved Lindell.

The second selection is also a Disney song. I chose this song as it reminds me of Lindell when she was young. “Stubborn” was the word that was often used to describe her. When ever I would think stubborn or hear someone else use the word I would correct it and use the word “determined” instead. As frustrating as it could be, I always wanted to put a positive spin on it.

Seeing how far she has come I am certain the her stubbornness determination has served her well. 🙂

Happy Birthday Lindell. I Love You. 💖

Garden Meals – Eating Well

Gardening, homemade, Recipe, Reflections,

Despite not following some of the gardening strategies that I had mentioned earlier this year, like planting by the moon and companion planting, our gardens have produced abundant crops. For the last several weeks we have been blessed to be enjoying meals prepared with fresh home grown vegetables. We are thankful to be eating well.

Some of the meals we’ve enjoyed include:

Yesterday’s Dinner – Beef Stew (with home grown potatoes, swiss chard, celery, tomatoes and garlic)

Thursday’s Dinner – Pepper Steak over White Rice (with home grown bell peppers, tomato and garlic)

Wednesday’s Dinner – T-bone Steak, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Acorn Squash and Sautéed Swiss Chard. (with home grown potatoes, garlic, squash, and Swiss chard)

Eggplant Parmesan

Stuffed Cabbage

Spaghetti – with home made/ home grown sauce

Corn on the Cob

Green Beans with Garlic Butter

Swiss Chard

Cucumber Salad

Tomato Sandwich

Banana Pepper Poppers

All this, my friends, is why we do what we do.

The Banana Pepper Poppers are one of our favorite side dishes. They are easy to make so I decided to share the recipe. (Please note that I am one of those cooks who does “a little of this and a little of that” so the amounts do not need to be exact. Feel free to put the word “about” in front of each ingredient listed.)

Banana Pepper Popper Recipe

6 – 3 to 4 inch banana peppers

4 ounces cream cheese softened

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

three strips of bacon cooked and cut into bits

a few shakes of crushed red pepper (optional)

bread crumbs (optional)

Slice peppers in half lengthwise and remove stem and seeds. Place in baking dish. Mix together the cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, bacon bits and crushed red pepper. Fill each pepper half with cheese mixture. Sprinkle each pepper with bread crumbs (optional). Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 30 minutes (until peppers have softened). Enjoy! 🙂

Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator they are even good eaten cold.

Are you eating any in season vegetables?

Do you have a favorite seasonal recipe you would like to share?