Sunday Quotes.....Sunny....cool...70's

Cleaning and scrubbing

Can wait till tomorrow

For babies grow up..

We've learned to our sorrow,

So quiet down cobwebs

Dust go to sleep.. 

I'm rocking my baby,

And babies don't keep! 

 

 

 

 

 

Jalepeno Jelly....Chilly... 50 (first time I've posted that in awhile!)

                                                             Jalapeño Jelly

 

2 ½ cups finely chopped Bell peppers

1 ½ cups finely chopped Jalapeño peppers
1 cup vinegar (5 % acidity)
5 cups sugar
1/3 cup (well rounded) Dutch Jell **See note

 

Remove seeds and veins from all peppers and finely chop, use a food processor on pulse to chop—don’t over process—you want small pieces you  don’t want puree!
Combine all peppers and vinegar in a large heavy bottomed pan, over medium heat, add Dutch Jell and stir well with a wooden spoon, bring to boil, add sugar all at once. Stir till dissolved, bring back to a rolling boil, and boil for 5 minutes if using Dutch Jell and 1 minute if using Sure Jell. Ladle into hot half-pint jars, wipe rim and cover with lids, process in hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove from water and cool, check for seal!

**Note: Dutch Jell can be found in bulk at many health food stores if you can’t find it substitute one small box regular Sure Jell.

**This recipe is written for people who have canned before, if you haven’t I suggest researching home canning procedures first!

Especially good on warm buttered cornbread! 

Snippets & Snatches....sunny...much cooler..70's

                             Snippets & Snatches

 

It was a good year for your transplants

It was a bad year for gardens

It was a good year for squirrels

It was a bad year for your fruit

 

The first year we lived here our neighbor who had also moved here from afar told us, "no two summers or no two winters are  ever alike here". His words are so true. This year, which could have been a great growing year with all the spring rain and not too much excessive heat turned out to be a very low yielding year BECAUSE of the continual rain. Surely the rain didn't produce the bumper crop of squirrels,  BUT everyone is complaining that they robbed all the fruit trees. Yesterday I spotted this one pear left on a young tree so I took a picture and then picked it quickly. Usually we pick large amounts from our at least 40 year old tree. But all summer I've been tripping over the half eaten pears the squirrels have been throwing to the ground, and now there are none left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well at least the Rose of Sharon's I transplanted in May and only watered once have done well!!!!

 

Snippets & Snatches...Sunny...80's

                                       Ozark Mountain Rocks

 

These mountain rocks are very old

I know this for sure

Because long ago this I was told

"Rocks are needed to hold mountains together

Through tornadoes & earthquakes

And all kinds of weather"

 

The Ozarks....cloudy...80's

The Ozarks are home to many interesting people, flora and fauna as I've mentioned before....... here's a snippet from our archives about the  indigenous  Black Walnut.

Over half the nations black walnuts used in cooking come from the Missouri Ozarks.
Stronger tasting than the English walnut, if you've ever tasted a black walnut chances are you remember it.
 We here in the Ozarks are mostly snowed in this week. A good time to stay in and bake. This not quite cake, not quite brownie, not quite cookie recipe, is probably best described as a 'snack cake' and is good as a light dessert or for a mid-morning coffee break.
                                                                    
                                                             Ozark Treats
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup coffee
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 rounded Tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup black walnuts

Cream together butter and sugar, add coffee and stir till mixed. beat in egg. add dry ingredients and beat till smooth, fold in raisins and nuts (if you don't have black walnuts, English walnuts or pecans can be used)
Pour into a greased 9x9 inch pan and bake at 350* for 30 minutes.
enjoy with coffee or tea on a cold day.

This is my adaptation of a recipe that  originally came from this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Take-Hills-A-Chronicle-Ozarks/dp/1432610759
A pretty good read if your interested in the life and stories from the Ozarks. Check out your local library to see if they have it.

Some interesting facts, stories and pictures about Black walnuts:

http://www.nemahaweb.com/blackwalnuts/trees.htm

http://thelibrary.org/lochist/periodicals/bittersweet/fa79h.htm