Sunday, July 13, 2014

It's been a Loooooong time!

Let's see--if anyone still reads this I apologize for the lack of posting. 

I still don't have much interest in quilting.  Hopefully that will change in the near future.  But until then--well,  life still goes on.  :  )  

Our little doggie, Sissy,  had puppies in April; three of them.  Unplanned.  Neighbor's Chihuahua.  She had them.  No problem.  Long story short--birthed, nursed, weaned and given away. 

About the time her puppies were old enough to give away it became apparent that Stitches, our kitty, was pregnant!  Her kittens were born July 1.  Five of them.  Wowsers!  All these girls are getting a trip to the vet.  Soon. 

And lately I've been busy making jelly, jam, pickles, and relish.  We found wild plums. I think some call them sand plums.  So I made jelly and jam.  Mixed some with peach juice and cinnamon.  And then one of my quilting buddies has a big garden and gave me two big bags of zucchini and yellow summer squash along with some cucumbers.  Hog Man helped me cut, slice, grate, etc. We will have soups this winter with added cubed squash.  I can make zucchini bread from the grated zucchini.  And we'll see how the sliced squash fares.  I blanched it and froze it in a single layer before bagging in freezer bags.  I will let you know.  And the cucumbers--we're enjoying sliced at mealtime.  I've made two different relishes.  And oh yeah, I made yellow squash pickles.  Love those things!  So the house has had some very nice scents going on lately. 

I made these wonderful little yellow summer squash fritters.  Some of the squash was a little big.  You know how a few will get big on you.  The seeds are too big to really enjoy steamed or fried so what to do.  I scooped out the seeds and grated some and mixed up my version of a fritter.  With  two cups grated squash I added one large egg,  half of a small onion chopped--stir together.  In a separate bowl I put a little less than a cup of all-purpose flour, 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon baking powder,  1/2 teaspoon Lawry's seasoning salt,  dash of black pepper --stir all together then add to squash mixture; stirring until all dry ingredients are mixed in.  In the meantime heat about an inch of vegetable oil in a pan.  Using two spoons drop about a tablespoon into hot oil.  Cook on both sides until golden.  These are so good. 

So the water bath canner has been seeing some action that it hasn't in recent history due to the drought around here.   I scrounged around in the garage for more canning jars.  I found some pretty jelly jars I didn't know I had!  Reminds me I need to see if there are some more.  We found some wild mustang grape vines.  We had a vine down by the barn that we didn't even know we had.  A few grapes --I picked them and juiced and it's in the freezer waiting for more.  We located some more vines on a country road near one of Hog Man's leases he checks every day.  They are still green.  He's keeping an eye on them.  I've never made grape jelly from Mustang grapes but I hear that it is really good.  :  )  It's a lot of work but I really enjoy all the bounty. 

I hope you are enjoying summer in your neck of the woods!
Blessings,
Catering Quilter

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