Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 37: September 17, 2022

They are four to six weeks behind, but we finally have tomatoes for canning. We have watched and waited, praying that we would have a harvest to preserve. It is small, but we are thankful. There are more yet to ripen, if the weather cooperates.

As we harvest tomatoes, I evaluate both plants and fruit for seedsaving. We grow mostly open pollinated heirloom vegetables instead of hybrids, which makes it possible to save our own seeds for replanting next year. Or imperative, if viewed through the lens of genetic posterity; some of the veggies, fruit, flowers, and herbs we grow and eat are no longer commerciallly available as seeds.

The Japanese Plum tomatoes featured here are becoming quite rare and have disappeared from seed catalogs. I would be saddened to see this sweet, meaty canning tomato disappear!

Evaluating Japanese Plum tomatoes for seed saving. The colander holds the true-to-type fruit with characteristics I am selecting for: size, shape, color, no green shoulders or cracking.

Note: From time to time I recommend products and business that I use and/or patronize. Some are affiliate links, some are not. All are ones that I use and have confidence in. Qualifying purchases may earn me a small commission at no cost to you, so thank you for using my links!

Seeds to be fermented, washed, air-dried, and saved for replanting.

Washed, peeled, blanched, and cubed tomatoes simmer briefly before being packed in jars with lemon juice, salt, and one of 3 herb seasoning blends. Juices from the pot are added to bring the contents up to proper headspace measurement, rims are cleaned, and lids applied – with bands fingertip tight. At last, the jars are placed in the steam canner.

Click the highlighted link to learn which tomato varieties are best for canning, plus tips for canning what you’ve got, even regular salad and beefsteak tomatoes.

Small apple harvest

We also had a small apple harvest this week. Beautiful, crisp, delicious, unsprayed apples. Unusual hard late freezes killed fruit production on most of our dozen or more apple trees and all of our plums, peaches, apricots, pears, and cherries. Only the very late flowering trees escaped the frost. Two more apple trees will supplement the buckets pictured, hopefully providing enough for us and some to trade with a friend.

Note the damage to the trunk of the apple tree. This apple tree is a fighter. At some point it suffered an insect infestation that was taken care of by woodpeckers and it survived.

Homemade botanical vinegars

After 4 weeks of fermenting and daily stirring, vinegars are strained through a cloth-lined colander into a clean bowl.

This jar will be aged until it reaches a pH of 2.5-3 and the flavor matures. (Though I will likely utilize this one as an ingredient in my homemade cleaning products, such as All Purpose Cleaning Spray or as an all natural fabric softener.)

Update on Lavender

About 4 weeks into convalescence, Lavender is able to put a little weight on the broken leg, briefly. She enjoys her private quarters with her own dish of food and water and no competition. And on hot days a chunk of watermelon!

Soup season begins

Knoephla, German egg dumpling noodles, dried and frozen last autumn during an egg glut, were made into the first pot of soup of the season.

Sam required biscuits, so I baked salted herb scones. He did not object. I used my regular Cream Biscuits / Cream Scones recipe, adding a generous 1/4 cup freshly chopped herbs and salted the tops before they went in the oven!

The elegant, textural beauty of Queen Anne’s lace umbels, dried.

Samuel’s projects

The winter’s wood is in and woodshed is full. The final bit came from the three beetle killed pines in our pasture and Sam worked on cutting and moving the wood as time allowed. It is done and we are relieved and thankful.

Though the weather is still pleasant, autumn is making herself known with shortening days and a few drifting leaves. There is a tang in the air which speaks of change. Truthfully, I live for summer. I am not a big fan of autumn, and have to work hard to accept it. I’m working on it.

New video

Pizza Night | Homemade Pizza with Frozen Bread Dough

You will be surprised how easy it is to make a large, delicious, homemade pizza with dough you have prepared ahead and frozen! You will have your pizza in and out of the oven and on the table quickly – and everyone is going to love you for it!

Miriam and I took a spontaneous walk to nearby waterfalls in the company of this little canine angel, Charla.

Basil cuttings rooting in water to provide fresh basil leaves for winter meals.

Soapmaking, here I come!

Thanks for visiting Chocolate Box Cottage!

See you next week,
Michele and Samuel

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 32: August 13, 2022

The screen door is open most evenings, a small holiday in itself. The yellow Adirondack chairs are pressed into service, the front porch is abloom with pink and red geraniums. It is too warm for supper there, but the garden teepee is becoming a favorite comfortable spot again as greenery wends its way up.

Could anything be more fitting than zucchini, in some form, for dinner in the teepee? That’s how Sam and I celebrated our First Date Anniversary, with grilled burgers served on zucchini slice “buns.”

Sam and I met through mutual friends, TJ and Charity Weber, who thought we were perfect for each other and decided to play matchmaker! I worked with Charity at the local Grange Co-op, Sam and TJ worked 2 jobs together at the time.

Sam came to meet me for the first time at work and asked me out to dinner. Our first date was to take place Sunday July 13, 2003. Tragically, my Dad died unexpectedly the night before our first date.

We didn’t go out until more than a year later, August 14, 2004, after a chance meeting at the Post Office. Coincidence is God’s signature and we quickly fell in love.

We celebrate all the special days: First Date Anniversary, Proposal Day, and our Wedding Anniversary. And we celebrate many other small things!

We have invented a basketful of small holidays and sprinkled them through the calendar:

First Day of Summer – with homemade ice cream

First Zucchini – with fried Zucchini Moons

First Tomato – we share it

Wisteria in Bloom – with pictures

Locust Tree Flower Flurry – grilled supper under the falling petals

Final Load of Firewood – a nap and a movie

This is just a sampling of small holidays of summer. We also celebrate clean floors, internet outages, and new baby animals of all kinds.

We are ready to mark any occasion, especially the small ones, with a special dessert, a picture, a picnic, a walk, or whatever suits.

How about you? Do you celebrate any private or “made-up” holidays? Do tell!

First sunflower… another small holiday? Chocolate Cherry Sunflower is a show-stopper.

Thornless blackberries mingle with wild ones along our garden fence. First ripe berries means blackberry cobbler or pie!

Gorgeously flavored Amarylla tomatillos are best when fully ripe, so sweet! This Polish variety was bred to thrive in the cooler summer conditions of inland eastern Europe. I didn’t used to consider tomatillos desirable as an out-of-hand snack, but these have changed my mind.

Our little dog, Squirrel loves to spend time in the garden with me, nose in the dirt. On this day, she uncovered a treasure: skin shed by a snake!

Small Chamomile harvest to be dried for tea. The variety is called Zloty Lan and I appreciate the extra-large size flowers. Larger flowers equal more tea. They have a fruity floral scent that is calming to the tummy and the disposition. I left plenty of flowers to self-sow. 

Another variety of chamomile, Kelway Golden, used for dyeing, is just coming into flower against a backdrop of Persian basil.

Goldenrod – a gift from a friend, Michael Villareal. In search of a cup of red wigglers (worms) for a new worm bin.

New video

A garden tool basket is almost like having an extra set of hands in the garden! No more lost time hunting for missing pruners or gloves; you will know right where they are. All those small items, too, like a tape measure for measuring off planting spaces, pencil for making notes in your garden journal, and more. You can bring your water bottle along, effortlessly, so you stay hydrated in the heat!

Zucchini Slice is a dish that Australian friend Amanda Roberts has been prodding me to make for a while. I finally made it and it was an instant hit. Sam makes waffles for breakfast.

Mix up a big batch of bread dough once a month with my Whole Wheat Freezer Bread Dough recipe, either by hand or using an Ankarsrum mixer. You can thaw and bake a loaf each week to keep fresh bread in the house and if a piece of dough hangs around too long in the freezer, it’s still great for pizza night!

Recipe for pizza sauce made from a can of tomato sauce or from tomatoes you’ve dried from your garden (pictured) is included in the pizza recipe! Make pizza just the way you like it.

A delicious summer meal of tabouli salad made with spelt grain, spiralized curly fries cooked in a cast iron skillet, and grilled steaks. Feeling blessed.

We said goodbye to our beloved Pastor Dennis Mortimore and his wife Joy as they retired to Grants Pass. Tom and Sheryl O’Neal, Pastors of a neighboring church, gave a beautiful tribute to Dennis. 

We make Tea and lunch at Mom and Rolly’s a small holiday. This week included a bunch of grandkids, so fun! Sisters Savannah Hulce, and Gigi and Alyssa Hill, Miriam and Mom’s BFF Joy Longiotti joined in the fun. Joy brought a newly finished quilt top to show and lunch was open-face egg salad sandwiches, fruit salad, sliced garden cucumbers, and iced tea.

Thanks for stopping by, see you next week!
Blessings,
Michele

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 31: August 6, 2022

Hollyhocks are surely among the most charming symbols of country life. In former days these blooming spires adorned many an outhouse. When we moved to Chocolate Box Cottage we knew we wanted a row of them in front of our porch. We tried to grow hollyhocks for four years, planting the brown disk-shaped seeds saved from the double apricot hollyhocks my Dad grew by the front door of my parents’ house with zero success. Not a single seed germinated.

This year we gave up and bought fresh seeds. Hollyhocks are biennial plants that bloom the second year; we did not expect any flowers this year. So why is there a stately hollyhock blooming where we did not plant it? We are regarding it as a gift.

Sam and I both have an appreciation for butterflies. This is the first year we have not seen a single Monarch butterfly! I planted a patch of native narrow leaf milkweed collected locally to remedy the shortage – hopefully next year.

What we do have are gorgeous yellow and black striped Swallowtail butterflies and clouds of cabbage whites, a mundane name for pretty little white butterflies. I am so happy to see them, I don’t even mind much sacrificing the fennel, parsley, and kale crops to the hungry caterpillars.

Swallowtail caterpillars eat fennel and parsley, while cabbage whites lay teeny tiny eggs in the undersides of the kale leaves. When the caterpillars hatch they chomp their way through the kale, leaving leaves so holey they resemble lace, but that is okay. There are plenty of other things to eat in the garden just now.

In the garden

We are not spending as much time in the hammock as we would like. It hangs there tempting us, but it has been too hot to enjoy it. Instead we sometimes get up too early and go outside to look at the sky. How amazing are the heavens! How lovely to see stars, not smoke!

Hammock days will come and we will enjoy them when they do. For now, I am grateful for sunshine, and when I go to the garden to harvest a zucchini or a generous handful of basil I remind myself to be present, breathe in the scent of greenery and heady aroma of basil. It is good.

If it weren’t for the leaves, you probably would not believe these ruffled pink flowers are California poppies: Watermelon Heaven California Poppies!

Persian basil, a new favorite with purple and green mottled leaves grows like a weed among the artichokes in the herb garden. We are adding it to grilled meat and vegetables, including yellow crookneck squash, often.

Have you ever watched an artichoke bloom?

A bed of culinary herbs is showing a good crop of sage, Bergaarten and tricolor, soon to be harvested, plus rosemary in the background.

Up and coming laying hens are eating voraciously. The cage Sam built them is moved to fresh greenery every few days.

Gathering daily bunny rations: clover, plantain, self-heal, dandelion, pigweed, curly dock, and chickweed.

Field horsetail, Equisetum arvense, is an interesting plant that grows in moist soil along ponds and ditches in our area.

A volunteer mullein, Verbascum thapsus, that I couldn’t bear to pull. Such a valuable medicinal plant and it’s been great fun to watch it grow by the kitchen door.

It was time to refill the onion powder spice jar. Herbs that we don’t grow ourselves are purchased from bulk bins at Food 4 Less. I bring my old Smucker’s jam jars given to me by my mom to the store. The jars are weighed one time and a sticker noting the weight is placed on the lid so we aren’t paying for the weight of the jar.

My back stock of purchased spices is stored in a plastic shoebox. You may want to stock up now on spices for winter baking.

New video

Last week I shared my method of freezer prepping bread dough using the Ankarsrum Assistent mixer and there were requests for the same recipe made by hand, so here it is. Mix up a big batch of bread dough and freeze it in loaf portions. Over the course of four weeks, thaw, shape, and bake one loaf at a time to keep your family in bread for a month.

Zucchini

You were expecting zucchini to appear somewhere, weren’t you? Here it is. Grated and going into the mixer bowl for a truly divine dessert: Chai-Spiced Zucchini Cupcakes with Caramel Frosting.

More zucchini, nicely grilled by my wonderful grill-master husband, Samuel. Marinated briefly in fresh lemon juice and olive oil, with a shower of freshly chopped Persian basil, zucchini and yellow crookneck squash are delicious on their own or drizzled in Caesar dressing and served with grilled chicken apple sausages.

Fur baby

Our sweet Squirrel.  (Yes, her name is Squirrel – Sam’s idea and she lives up to it.)

Bookshelf

An oldie but goodie, Stocking Up by Carol Hupping was considered the Bible of more nutritious forms of food preservation that use less sugar.

Check my favorite online seller of used books using my sharebooklove link. Click the highlighted link in the previous sentence and then type the title of the book into the search bar when you get there. If they don’t have it in stock, create a wish list and add this book to it. Using my link earns us both points towards free books! Thank you for supporting my business, I appreciate it.

* This post contains links to products and vendors I use and appreciate for their quality and usefulness. Some are affiliate, some are not. I may earn a commission from qualifying purchases when you use the links I provide; this does not change your price.

Thank you kindly for visiting Chocolate Box Cottage. If you would care to share, I would love to hear what you are enjoyed about your week.

Blessings,

Michele

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 30: July 30, 2022

As Sam’s weather station registered 100 degrees and above day after day, the cats held a meeting. An unlikely ringleader presided. “Dog days of summer” was deemed pointless, as the dogs are indoors, so the hottest days of summer were renamed: Cat Days of Summer. (Caps necessary)

Committee members

1. Jasper, the unlikely ringleader, used my own planner against me
2. Pearl appears soft and sweet, but she means business
3. Toby likes to throw his weight around

Cats are very persuasive, so of course they had their way. They are naturally making all kinds of unreasonable and excessive demands:

1. Supplemental rations of tuna, as “cat days of summer” are too hot for hunting

2. Revolving door policy. Fancy way of saying I must open the door to let them in/out at their whim

3. Fresh running water, continually available

4. No petting or brushing of fur, whatsoever

Etc, etc, ad nauseam

Goodbye July

We say goodbye to July; the surrounding landscape turns tan and crisp.

Bunnies were relocated to the kitchen…in cat carriers. The frozen milk jugs just couldn’t keep them cool enough.

Hands down the most amazing fruit salad I have ever had, street food style. This man started with perfectly ripe fruit: pineapple, cantaloup, watermelon, cucumber, and mango. He peeled everything and cut it in bite-size chunks, layered it all in clear deli cups and added a generous amount of chili sauce and fresh squeezed lime. Oh. My. Goodness.

Hot summer supper of mostly watermelon with a little cold chicken and bread and jam. Homemade Bread and homemade Vanilla-Laced Pear Jam!

Hello zucchini!

We say hello to zucchini; the squash plants turn up the volume!

A honeybee visits a squash blossom; tiny spaghetti squash are forming.

Fortunately I have an endless supply of delicious but non-cat-approved recipes that use zucchini: sautéed, zoodled, julienned, fried, stuffed, frittered, and more – all perfectly scrumptious! Above is the simplest treatment of zucchini: Tender Crisp Sautéed Zucchini with onion and garlic. Mmmm!

Julienned yellow crookneck squash and zucchini join sliced radishes in the salad bowl with a mustardy vinaigrette that is down-right crave-worthy.

Grilled squash are always welcome with steak or any kind of grilled meat! These 4H/FFA steaks were the best we have had in a very long time.

Zucchini Fritters with a bowl of garden fresh salsa make a welcome evening meal in the heat of summer.

Garden view

On my belly in the garden, seeing things up close. That is Persian basil on the right. The vintage A-frame greenhouse is behind me.

New video

A recipe for you Ankarsrum Assistent mixer owners, perfect for summer! Mix up a big batch of freezer bread dough with your super-mixer and divide it into 1-loaf portions to freeze. Later you can thaw, shape, and bake one loaf each week and have a fresh loaf each week for a month!

Mean roosters

Two mean roosters had to be culled. They were too mature for good eating, but will make excellent soup or broth. We raise chickens for eggs and generally purchase broiler chickens from local producers, so we do not have chicken processing equipment. The simplest way Sam has found to process a bird or two is to skin it. This way we can avoid plucking.

Bookshelf

The Vegetable Butcher by Cara Mangini.  If you want to learn knife skills for vegetable cookery, this is your book. All the cuts are illustrated clearly and lots of great recipes using veggies!

Check my favorite online seller of used books using my sharebooklove link. Click the highlighted link in the previous sentence and then type the title of the book into the search bar when you get there. If they don’t have it in stock, create a wish list and add this book to it. Using my link earns us both points towards free books! Thank you for supporting my business, I appreciate it.

*Please note this post contains links to products and businesses that I use, trust, and appreciate. Some are affiliate, some are not.

I hope you enjoyed this lighthearted view of a hot summer week at Chocolate Box Cottage. If so, you might enjoy following Chocolate Box Cottage on Facebook.

Thank you for reading and God bless you!

Michele

Let’s make a delicious homemade pizza! You can put as much or as little cheese and toppings on it as you like!

You will be surprised how easy it is to make a large, delicious, homemade pizza with dough you have prepared ahead in your freezer! You will have your pizza in and out of the oven and on the table quickly – and everyone is going to love you for it! Just remember to keep the toppings thin in the very center so that it cooks through. 

Watch the video and see how easy it is!

Step 1: Prep the Bread Dough

We are using my Freezer Bread Dough recipe to save time.

The recipe is available in two forms: one for making the dough by hand and another for using a heavy duty stand mixer. Videos are available for each recipe and are linked at the bottom of this page for your convenience.

Basically, what you are doing in these two recipes is mixing up a big batch of bread dough, portioning it, and freezing it. Once a week you pull out a piece of dough, let it thaw overnight in the fridge, and bake a fresh loaf of bread.

But sometimes you may want a pizza instead of bread – and that’s okay!

The leavening power lasts about four weeks in the freezer, but if you have a piece of dough that has been lingering in the freezer a little longer, it will still make good pizza.

Step 2: Thaw the dough

The night before or in the morning, take a 1- loaf portion of dough from the freezer, place on a plate and thaw overnight or all day in the fridge.

Step 3: Preheat the oven

Preheat the oven to 450F (230C) with a rack in the center or a baking stone in the center or lower one-third of the oven.

Step 4: Shape the pizza crust

Spread 1 tablespoon of olive oil on a 16-inch (40 cm) pizza pan or a large 14×20-inch (36×50 cm) cookie sheet. Unwrap dough and place in center of pan. Use your hands to pat the dough out 1/3-inch (.8 cm) thick to cover the pan. Or roll the dough out on a clean, oiled work surface and then transfer to the pan, stretching to make it fit. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It will taste good!

Step 5: Add toppings

Spread pizza sauce evenly over the crust, leaving a 1-inch (2.5 cm) margin around the edge. Now, add your toppings! Sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar cheese (if using) over the sauce, a little more around the edges and less in the middle so that it will bake evenly. Add cooked meat and any veggies or other toppings you desire. Top it all with grated Parmesan cheese.

Step 6: Bake

Slide the pan in the preheated oven and bake 12 minutes. Turn the pan in the oven and bake 2-5 minutes more, until the cheese is bubbly and develops gold freckles. Use a pancake turner to lift the pizza and peek underneath to be sure it is well baked on bottom. 

Step 7: Time to eat!

Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Cut in pieces with a pizza cutter or a pair of clean kitchen scissors. Enjoy!

Note:

Two recipes for Pizza Sauce are included in the printable recipe: one made simply with a can of tomato sauce and the other with dried tomatoes and boiling water in a blender.

Watch this video if you would like to stock your freezer with bread dough for a whole month – made by hand with a bowl and a wooden spoon.

Choose this video if you would like to use a heavy duty stand mixer to help you stock your freezer with bread dough for a whole month. You can use an Ankarsrum Assistent like me, a Bosch Universal, or a KitchenAid Pro-Line mixer. If you have an Artisan Series KitchenAid, you will need to cut the recipe in half because your mixer bowl is smaller.

Print the recipe below and keep it in your kitchen notebook!

Pizza Night: Homemade Pizza with Freezer Bread Dough

Print Recipe

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Pizza night is easy and stress-free when you start with freezer bread dough! The recipe for Freezer Bread Dough is linked below. You can choose to bake a fresh, hot loaf of bread each week for a month, or make a pizza! Simply thaw a piece of dough the night before or all day on a plate in the fridge and decide on your toppings. When evening comes, you are ready to make a delicious homemade pizza!

• Author: Michele Pryse, FNTP

Ingredients

1 loaf portion of freezer bread dough made by hand or with a heavy duty mixer

Olive oil for the pan and your hands

Pizza sauce, see recipe(s) below

8 ounces (225 g) mozzarella cheese, grated or thinly sliced

4 ounces (120 g) grated cheddar, optional

1/2 cup (45 g) grated Parmesan cheese

Toppings as desired: cooked and crumbled bacon or sausage, cherry tomatoes or olives, thinly sliced vegetables, etc.

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. The night before or in the morning, take a 1- loaf portion of dough from the freezer, place on a plate and thaw overnight or all day in the fridge.
2. When you are ready to make a pizza, preheat the oven to 450F (230C) with a rack in the center shelf or a baking stone in the center or lower one-third of the oven.
3. Spread a tablespoon of olive oil on a 16-inch (40 cm) pizza pan or a large 14×20-inch (36×50 cm) cookie sheet. Unwrap dough and place in center of pan. Use your hands to pat the dough out 1/3-inch (.8 cm) thick to cover the pan. Or roll the dough out on a clean, oiled work surface and then transfer to the pan, stretching to make it fit. It doesn’t need to be perfect. It will taste good!
4. Spread pizza sauce evenly over the crust, leaving a 1-inch (2.5 cm) margin around the edge. Now, add your toppings! Sprinkle the mozzarella and cheddar cheese (if using) over the sauce, a little more around the edges and less in the middle so that it will bake evenly. Add cooked meat and any veggies or other toppings you desire. Top it all with grated Parmesan cheese.
5. Slide the pan in the preheated oven and bake 12 minutes. Turn the pan in the oven and bake 2-5 minutes more, until the cheese is bubbly and develops gold freckles. Use a pancake turner to lift the pizza and peek underneath to be sure it is well baked on bottom.
6. Remove from oven and cool in the pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Cut in pieces with a pizza cutter or a pair of clean kitchen scissors. Enjoy!

Notes

Pizza Sauce – starting with a can

1 8-ounce (225 g) can tomato sauce

¼ teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon sugar

A few grindings of black pepper, optional

Open the can of tomato sauce and stir the seasonings into the can. Your pizza sauce is ready.

 

Pizza Sauce – starting with dried tomatoes

½ cup (40 g) plain, no-oil dried tomatoes, heaping and packed

½ cup (120 ml) boiling water

1 clove garlic, peeled

¼ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

1 teaspoon sugar, optional

Place all ingredients in the blender jar, put lid on, and whiz at low speed for 30 seconds to chop the tomatoes. Increase speed to medium-high and let the blender run until it forms a mostly smooth sauce. You may need to stop the blender once midway and scrape down the sides to  make sure all the tomato pieces meet the blades.

*Note: If you do not have a blender, you can use a food processor to make pizza sauce. Pour the boiling water over the dried tomatoes in the bowl of the food processor. Let sit 5 minutes to soften the tomatoes, then add remaining ingredients. Process until mostly smooth.