November 7, 2012

President Obama wins the election...

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PUMPKINS.....this is the first time I have done it all by myself...

Ross normally does it.

cut the pumpkins in half, scoop out the seeds, scoop the junk

off of each piece of pumpkin and place on a baking sheet.....



bake at 350 degrees ... took about 90 minutes before it was soft

remove the meat from the skins, put into a bowl....I used a stick blender to

make it smooth...you can see the difference in blended and not ....

a pie calls for 2 cups of pumpkin...so I filled up my freezer bags

with enough to make 2 pies each.....8 pies total...woohoo!!!

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now onto the seeds......rinse the junk off of them and drain...

In a bowl mix 3 cups of seeds , 2 Tbsp of veggie oil and 1 tsp of salt

place on a baking sheet....bake at 300 degrees for 60 minutes

keep moving them around with a spatula until they are crispy brown.

I remember having pumpkin seeds as a kid and loving them...

these tasted AMAZING!!!

all of the junk that got scooped out...and the cooked skins

went to the Chickens... love using every piece of the pumpkin...

not a SINGLE thing went into the garbage can.

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Had small groups from church tonight...it was a great meeting!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

November 6, 2012

ELECTION DAY!!!!

we finally got to vote once Ross got home from work...

the line wasn't that long...Ross was # 654 to Vote in our

small community....that was at about 5pm...so that is a really

good turnout....what a PRIVILEGE it is to mark those boxes!!!

we will find out later tonight/tomorrow who is the

President of the United States.....I LOVE the process!!!

we were up several times during the night checking

on the summer sausage.....it got to temperature about

8:30am so it smoked for over 13 hours....

it tasted WONDERFUL!!!  had some on crackers with cheese

while watching the election results...

canned the venison....made 4 quarts

very simple process.....stuff the chunks of meat into hot quart

jars.....add 2 beef bouillon cubes and close with a lid/ring...

(no water/liquid needs to be added)

process in a pressure canner for 90 minutes at 15 lbs...

it makes such a wonderful juice....

we use this to make an amazing stew.....open one jar and throw

in a bag of frozen mixed veggies and some potatoes and

you are good to go!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

November 5, 2012

started the day out in the teens.....crazy cold for this

early in November.

After work I planned on canning pumpkin....then

Ross got the first deer of the season and everything changed...

you know it is hunting season when this is on

your kitchen table....

lots of plans for this first deer....the backstraps get cut into

little steaks and frozen....



we wanted to make our own summer sausage.....now that we have

a smoker....so we bought a kit from Gander Mountain...the brand is

PS Seasoning & Spices...plain summer sausage kit...comes with all

the spices and the casings.

Step 1....grind up the venison...

Step 2...grind up the pork fat...

(when we had our hog processed, we asked for the pork fat)

Step 3.....mix them together and grind again...

Step 4....stuff the meat into the casing...

Step 5...hang them in the smoker...we made 5 sticks...



follow the rules on the package....will let you know how they turn out.

Our meat grinder is a Waring Pro .....works like a dream!!!

the rest of the venison will be ground for hamburg and tomorrow we

will can some.....stop back by to see the process...very simple.

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this daylight savings time thing has my chickens all screwed up,

this chicken mama came to the front porch to remind me how

dark it was at 6pm....crazy animals...

the chickens get out of the pen sometimes....but in all

the years of having them....I have never had one come up

onto the front porch.....I picked her up and took her back

to the pen...gotta love living on the farm!!!

salads for dinner....

will be smoking the sausage into the early morning.

Pleasant Dreams!!!

November 4, 2012

had a great day at church.....take a listen at

www.h-hcc.org

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went to the Marina and handed in the boat key.....they

will take it out of the water, winterize it and shrinkwrap it!!!

Looking forward to next summer with the family hanging

out on the pontoon!!!

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picked the rest of the cabbage from the garden...

ginger root....finely diced....

looking for more green tomato recipes.....looked at

several Chutney recipes.....took pieces from each one

and added some of our own stuff....here is the final product....

Fall Harvest Chutney : yielded 20 pints

10 lbs diced green tomatoes

2 1/2 diced onions

10 apples diced...we used Fuji

2 1/2 cups brown raisins

2 1/2 cups yellow raisins

1 cup craisins

1 cup dried cherries

5 cups apple cider vinegar

5 cups brown sugar

10 cloves minced garlic

5 Tbsp fresh ginger root

4 tsp salt

2 jalapeno peppers diced

1 small head cabbage chopped

bring to a boil....let simmer about 2 hours.....boiling water canner for 20 minutes

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put the rest of the tomatoes that are partly red into the cellar...

paper on the bottom of a cardboard box, then fold the paper over

and put 1 more layer of tomaotes.....

once downstairs on the bench...I cover the boxes with paper

so that the ethylene gas that the fruit gives off will stimulate ripening.

we will have tomaotes until december for sure....Love It!!!

watching football.....

Lions, Steelers and Green Bay all won...it was a GREAT day!!!

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Steaks and Potatoes for dinner...

Pleasant Dreams!!!

November 3, 2012

went and picked up another hog this morning from

Nagel Meats in Homer Michigan...we paid $170 for the

hog and $66 to process it.....so $236 total...

we received 106 lbs of pork back...so $2.23 a lb...

this included...bacon, sausage, hams, pork chops,

pork steaks, soup bones, pork ribs and extra fat that will

be added to the venison when we make summer sausage.

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put the hot peppers, that were picked yesterday in the

smoker...along with some jerky meat....

the recipe for the jerky seasoning is....

1/2 cup each of....cajun seasoning, chili powder, garlic salt,

garlic pepper seasoning and brown sugar...

tasted amazing!!!!

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the peppers after they were smoked ( approx 2 hours )

were put through the food processor and the juice was

added to 3 quarts of stewed tomatoes, 10 cloves of garlic

and 1 onion.....this was all brought to a boil and then canned

in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes....yielded 12 pints

we have never made this before.....it is like a tabasco

sauce.....Ross has named it Smoked Hot Pepper Sauce.

picked several heads of lettuce today.....crazy that on November 3rd,

in Michigan.... there is still lettuce growing in the garden....

cut up the spinach lettuce to freeze for dips....

cleaned and bagged the rest for the fridge...and then of course

had salads for dinner tonight.

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

November 2, 2012

wonderfully busy day....never left the farm ...woohoo!!

Mid 40's today and for the next 7 days as well....

sad day though...started putting all the porch furniture away

for the winter  (everything goes in the greenhouse)

picked the hot pepper plants from around the cedar

tree in the front yard....



LOVE my new baskets from Tractor Supply....got 3 of them...

should be set for several years!!!!

made several things to get ready for the weekend...

Mayo - recipe on April 21

Ranch Dressing - recipe on June 15

Worcestershire Sauce - recipe on July 22

had chicken strips and french fries for dinner... bad for me

I know...however...I dipped them in homemade ketchup and

homemade ranch dressing....so it was perfect!!!

Pleasant Dreams!!!

November 1, 2012

pulled the rest of the tomato plants today...

104 lbs of useable red & green

picked 46 lbs that will be given to the chickens....

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here is a cool before / after picture....

the lunchmate tomatoes on May 1st

and today (6 months later)....look at the root system

just crazy to think that this plant came from such a small seed...

2012 TOMATO STATS

* 892 lbs of canning tomatoes and

over 100 lbs given to the chickens....

* an incredible 1,000+ lbs of tomatoes

 produced from 155 plants

* picked 13 batches of tomatoes

Pleasant Dreams!!!