Moolie - Happy Thanksgiving :)

[Denim Deb]

Be kind of a long ride and I'd probably manage to make it for the one meal on your menu I don't want-tuna fish.

 

[moolie]

Lol, we'd switch meals/days for company

Looking ahead at a super busy month, gotta keep my nose to the wheel and just get it all done and then it won't look so scarey.

 

[moolie]

Just keeping track of a few things I've posted in other threads:

From How's your garden now?

Mostly done now, but still have some hangers-on:

Peas and wax/green beans got pulled out a couple of weeks ago, those did well enough for fresh eating and some soup canning despite a crazy slug infestation.

Last of the carrots got pulled on the weekend, over 60 lbs The big ones are all stored away in damp sand in 5 gallon buckets, the small ones are in the fridge awaiting canning up for soups and stews today.

Greenhouse peppers, celery and tomatoes (Rutgers, San Marzano) are still producing well and should do for a few more weeks. The peppers and celery have gone into recent soup and spaghetti meat sauce canning.

Garden tomatoes (Early Girl, Rutgers, Yellow Pear, San Marzano) are just ripening (taking their time since the nights started getting cool, we're into frosty nights now and are covering everything each night).

Cukes didn't do squat, pumpkins are small and I need to get some straw to put under them for insulation now that we're into frosty nights. Also going to pull off any new flowers from now on so they can put on some growth.

Corn is doing really well, but the ears are still small--hope that any frost we get here and there will be light and miss them.

And a recipe for our family's traditional Birthday Cake, which can also be made with spelt flour:

It's the Cocoa Fudge Cake on this page , scanned from an old 1970s McCalls cookbook, one of the first things I bought with my own money as a kid.

I use butter instead of the shortening called for, and I use buttermilk or soured milk (1 tbsp of lemon juice in the milk measure) instead of just regular milk.

When you substitute spelt flour for whole wheat flour in this recipe you need to add at least another whole cup of flour, but make the recipe with regular whole wheat flour first so you know what consistency to make the batter, then just do it the same with spelt.

The recipe calls for a rectangular pan, but it also works really well in two 8" round pans for birthday cake layers. We usually use butter icing or cream cheese icing (a fave around here) although I don't personally eat icing, I eat the cake and then pass the icing to hubs or the kids.

 

[TanksHill]

Gotta love those gophers!!!

So how do you plan to store the carrots? Do you can them?

g

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I hope I can grow up to be as organized as you are - I am really impressed with your organizational skills!

 

[moolie]

Lol, I have to write it all down to be the little bit organized that I am

Gina, I wrote a little bit about the carrots above, but the smalls we are canning up in pints for future stews and soups, and the big ones have all been stored away in 5 gallon buckets layered with damp sand. I do have a tupperware veggie container in the fridge for fresh eating carrots as well

 

[moolie]

Hubs canned up 14 pints of carrot smalls last night while I was out at a meeting. He's made jam in the past, and helped with other canning before as well. This is a super busy month for me due to various work and volunteer projects, so it was great that he volunteered to take care of the smalls

Hit the farmer's market today and found great deals on a box of McIntosh apples, a basket of apricots for jam, and also picked up a small basket of cherries just because they looked yummy. Also got 20 lbs of potatoes from one of the Mennonite Colony farm stalls and they threw in some lovely corn on the cob.

Then today was baking day: I made 16 whole wheat flour tortillas, 3 loaves of banana bread, 5 dozen oatmeal cookies, 6 dozen peanut butter cookies, and 2 pans of brownies--all in the freezer now for school lunch snacks. Home made pizza for dinner tonight!

 

[Denim Deb]

I read that too fast. At first I read it that hubby had taken care of the SNAILS!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Gotta love them snails - yummy escargot! Did he can them with lots of garlic butter???

That's awesome that he took it upon himself to help like that. Gotta love a good man!

I wish we had some really good farmers markets here. There are a couple in Houston, but the few times I drove in I was pretty disappointed. I'll have to give it another try.

I miss baking. With a diabetic husband, we don't eat much of anything baked, hardly ever have bread in the house. AT most a few crackers to go with salad. Sorry, not gonna whine...much...sorry....

 

[moolie]

No, no snails! We're finally winning the slug war in the garden, and the garden is almost over for the year. No snails!

He's very pleased with himself because all of his jars sealed, I told him that's normal and that I very rarely get a jar that didn't seal.

Sorry to hear about your husband's diabetes, I can't imagine having to be mindful of the limitations all the time. My friend's daughter was diagnosed when she was 9 and they have had a heck of a time trying to get her condition under control--she's been in the hospital several times over the past couple of years. I don't know all the details because she doesn't talk about the specifics, but it's pretty all-consuming for her.