Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 51: December 24, 2022

What with the Christmas baking, chimney cleaning, and restarting the indoor salad garden we are as busy as Santa’s elves! What a busy and blessed week at Chocolate Box Cottage!

Indoor Salad Gardening

Let’s start with salad gardening. Growing salad shoots in cereal bowls keeps us in salad greens all winter, right up until the outdoor garden is producing.

Traditional “sprout” seeds like broccoli and peas join microgreen seeds, buckwheat and tendril peas. In about a week, they are ready to harvest with scissors.

By planting a batch of bowls every few days, the indoor salad garden keeps producing. Enjoy beautiful gourmet salads with just a little work.

Christmas baking

Looking for an easy, festive drop cookie?

Mix up a batch of Confetti Cookies; they’re simple, colorful, and fun! A delicious vanilla cookie batter is shaped in balls, rolled in sprinkles, pressed with a glass, and baked. The satisfying cake-like flavor of these cookies will grab you!

Granola is always a welcome gift. This batch of Pecan Promise Granola will be divided: 1 tray gifted and 1 tray kept.

There’s nothing quite like homemade pies for Christmas and it’s (almost) as easy to make two as one. One for Christmas Eve and another for breakfast on Christmas morning with coffee, tea, and cottage bacon (ham). See my recipe for Butter Pie Crust.

Miriam and I enjoyed an old-fashioned Christmas baking day which included these delicious apple pies and a batch of Confetti Cookies.

And since I was not planning to bake bread, I decided to use up the accumulated starter in my jars by making a batch of German Bread-Spice Crackers this week. What is bread spice? A mix of spices used in German breads; brotgewürz in German. It varies, but mine includes caraway, anise seeds, fennel seeds, celery seeds, and coriander seeds, ground to a powder.

I added most of the sourdough from the jars to the Ankarsrum mixer bowl, leaving enough behind to feed and maintain my starter. Whole grains were milled into flour in my KoMo grain mill, including whole wheat, spelt, rye, einkorn, and millet.

Cracker dough was rolled very thin – the thinner the better – then cut in squares with a fluted pastry wheel or crinkle cutter. Docking the crackers with a fork releases air bubbles. And don’t forget to sprinkle with salt! I don’t have an exact recipe for these, I go by feel.

Sam’s projects

Samuel has been mysteriously busy in the barn. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but I am sure it will be good. We agreed to give each other practical gifts this year, and I asked for a pantry makeover, while Sam hinted at a backpack leaf blower. The “economy” leaf blower he has been using for years is giving out – it’s requires tinkering each time he wants to use it.

We both could use new wheelbarrows. A stout metal one for Sam, capable of hauling firewood, hot coals, rocks, dirt, and manure; a plastic one for me, to tote compost, potted plants, and garden harvests to the kitchen for preserving.

Samuel climbs the ladder to the roof for several tasks: blowing leaves off, cleaning out gutters, and cleaning the chimney.

In addition to cleaning the chimney, Samuel disassembled the stove pipe, carried it outside and cleaned it out; vacuumed out the elbow in the brick chimney; emptied the wood stove of ashes; cleaned the glass window.

Christmas Tea

Weekly tea at Mom’s took on a Christmasy theme this week. Granddaughters Miriam and Savannah + Emberly joined us for non-alcoholic Holiday Wassail, homemade clam chowder, fruit salad, carrot sticks, and Confetti Cookies. So thankful to have Mom and Rolly to celebrate with.

Gift baskets

I whipped up a triple batch of Maple Vanilla Syrup and added jars to a couple of Christmas gift baskets. This basket for my son Clayton includes Hot Cocoa Mix + a bottle of mint extract, dried Paragon pear slices, Pecan Promise Granola, gourmet coffee, Vanilla Lace Pear Jam, Vanilla Maple Syrup, Roasted Tomatillo Salsa Verde, and a half gallon jar of Goldenkraut (not pictured).

This Christmas gift basket for my sister’s family includes a full dehydrator batch (9 trays) of blackberry applesauce fruit leather along with a variety of pear preserves: dried, jam, and butter + Crock Pot Apple Butter + Maple Vanilla Syrup nestled in paper shreds in a thrift shop picnic basket.

Fermentation

I finally got around to straining my made-from-scratch Persian basil vinegar. It tastes and smells delightful and the color is captivating! After straining the herbs out, the resulting young vinegar was transferred to a boiled jar with a lid to complete fermentation.

In about a month to 6 weeks it will be ready. I can already envision Persian basil vinegar used in salad dressings and marinades for meats and vegetables.

Christmas Eve dinner included Old World Roast Beef and Vegetables, like my Grandma used to make. The roast is first soaked in clabber or cultured buttermilk for 1-3 days, then drained and baked with root vegetables.

I love this spattered yellow and white enamel roaster! I use it for roasting meat and veggies and for baking bread.

Family pictures

Bookshelf

In honor of Christmas, I encourage you, dear reader, to read the story of Jesus’ birth in the Bible. You’ll find it in Luke chapter 2. Like many families, we cherish the tradition of reading this story every Christmas Eve.

Merry Christmas, dear reader! I wish and pray for God’s best for you this Christmas and in the coming year.

Blessings,
Michele and Samuel

Note: 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.

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 29: July 23, 2022

We are marveling over the blueness of our un-smoky skies! Sam and I remind each other almost daily how nice it is to not have smoke from wildfires polluting our air! How nice it is to breathe clean mountain air in the summer! To see stars at night and the moon a pearl instead of a pumpkin.

Sam’s projects

Sam traded in his plans to go fishing for a day spent replacing the radiator in his new-to-us (bought in December) truck. Very grateful he caught it before it overheated and blew a head gasket or ruined the motor. Later he was spotted (through a screen) surreptitiously washing my car.

Garden and food

The garden inspires our meals this time of year and I am conscious of a sharp thrill of sufficiency when I go with my basket to pick whatever is ripe. Zucchini daily, raspberries sometimes!

Harvests this week included zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, eggs, Meyer lemons, Zloty Lan chamomile, Persian basil, and garlic.

One special meal we ravenously enjoyed was a veggie-forward version of Spätzle (also spelled spaetzle), and Cream and Lettuce Salad. I find myself especially grateful for my heritage of thrift, received from my German-from-Russia (Ukraine) mom and Norwegian dad. Though they were not first generation immigrants, they held onto old ways of making do, nowadays known as sustainability. As an added bonus, I can make 49 different meals from flour, potatoes, cabbage, onions, and milk.

Hotter weather has arrived and we prayerfully hope no intentional fires will be set. The gardens are at least partially mulched, chicks and bunnies are shaded and equipped with cooling devices, the sheep’s water tank is on a drip.

Zucchini Moons are our quintessential start-of-zucchini-season dish. Egg battered and fried in butter, Zucchini Moons are delicately delicious and satisfying.

The sight of scale insects on my cherished Meyer lemon tree galvanized me into action. With persistence and know-how it is possible to squelch these parasitic insects. I have already wiped each branch and leaf down with a cotton round soaked in witch hazel (rubbing alcohol works, too). Next: spray thoroughly with my homemade All-Purpose Disinfectant Cleaning Spray, wait an hour, then rinse with a hose. Tree must be positioned in the shade. Direct sunlight can damage vulnerable leaves.

Family goings on

We were blessed with a visit from Cameo this week. In 3 days we squeezed in a visit with grandparents, dinner out, a girls’ movie night, lake day with paddle boards, and grasshopper pie. So much fun spending time with adult kids.

New video

Let’s solve those fruit leather problems so that your fruit leather turns out gorgeously leathery and delicious every time.

A favorite kitchen tip

Applying “meal prepping” principles and strategy to bread means mixing up an extra large batch of bread dough by hand or using my Ankarsrum Assistent mixer and freezing it in loaf-size disks. As needed, thaw one piece of dough and bake a loaf of bread.

In the summer I do my best to avoid using the oven, but we need bread in the house, so if I am going to bake I try to make my oven multi-task. Here I am baking a small pumpkin saved over from the 2021 harvest in a pie dish along with a loaf of whole wheat bread.

Thrifty swaps

Four pints of homemade Maple Vanilla Syrup added to the pantry. It’s not “real” maple syrup, but is made of simple ingredients and saves us quite a bit of money with recent price increases.

In need of a new curling wand, I checked the stores and was shocked with the price! This particular wand is regularly priced $55. I paid $8.50 at Goodwill and it still felt like too much, for a used item. 

Long before the Pioneer Woman, there was Jane Watson Hopping, the Pioneer Lady. My all-time FAVORITE cookbook author, Jane retired to southern Oregon and I had the pleasure of meeting her in high school! The subtitle reads “A Celebration of Summer’s Bounty” and that is exactly what it is! Recipes use fresh produce from your garden or local farmstand; lots of simple meals perfect for hot weather, delicious fruit-centered desserts, and scrumptious baked goods. As with Jane’s other books, you will find quaint poetry and stories that will bring a smile to your lips.

Her books are out of print, but I would like to invite you to search for it at my favorite online seller of used books. I am sharing my ShareBookLove link with you. (If you make a qualifying purchase, we can each earn a free book!)

Wishing you a wonderful week, but also knowing some of you dear ones are struggling with anxiety and fear, serious health diagnoses, family problems, and financial difficulty. Please know you can message me anytime for prayer.

Blessings,

Michele

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 28: July 16, 2022

It’s the heart of summer and I am loving it! The garden is flourishing, the foraging baskets are picked full again and again, tea with Mom has become iced tea, and this week featured a German-style sausage lunch.

A quick pic on Mom’s front porch, left to right: Michele, Joy, Donna, and Miriam.

Even though I bring lunch, Mom enjoys helping with the cooking – especially if it’s her favorite German sausage.

A generous handful of the sweet peas you see pictured in the basket below made their way into this summery salad. Joy brought dessert, soft and chewy oatmeal cookies dotted with dried fruit. Mmm!

Foraging baskets

One day’s picking and foraging yielded St. John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum; wild sweet peas, Lathyrus latifolius; calendula, Calendula officinalis; red clover, Trifolium pratense; and wild chamomile, matricaria discoidea. Each has its place in my kitchen, apothecary, and/or tea station.

On another morning: common chives, Allium schoenoprasum; feverfew, Tanacetum parthenium; and yarrow in pink and white, Achillea millefolium.

St. John’s wort was given a quick wash in the salad spinner before being finely chopped and weighed for a glycerin preparation known as a glycerite. St John’s wort can be useful to people who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD. (I am not a doctor, but it has helped me tremendously, so take this as a personal testimony.)

Working around the homestead

We are putting our heart into the many homestead maintenance and improvement projects we have going this summer while trying to balance work with play.

I can’t say we are always successful. I will admit we probably work too much and too hard. But we took time to attend the memorial service for a man we often sat next to at church, Dick Mast, and went out to lunch.

Sam took a Saturday to build a new cage for the growing chicks to give them room to spread. They love picking at the grass and weedy herbs beneath the wire floor. He rigged up a heat lamp in case of a cool night and I clothes pinned an old sheet over one end for shade.

Garden delights

The garden has gotten off to a very slow start this year. In a usual year, we would be inundated with summer squash by now and the vines would be clamoring up the teepee. The ephemeral beauty of this Giant Rattle Breadseed poppy is captivating.

Sadie, our muscovy (duck) hen, is determined to be a mother. I discovered this nest tucked in among the roots of a black locust tree.

Food and family

We enjoyed lunch at a local Mexican restaurant where our daughter works. Seating on the patio overlooks the Rogue River. She tricked us out of paying the bill and we were delighted to see Miriam’s BFF Margarita by chance.

Adding more fruit leather to the pantry and eyeballing what is there to cook with. I see dried tomatoes and zucchini slices, and colorful crushed tomatoes, for starters.

New video on YouTube: Best Fruit Leather Method walks you through making your own homemade fruit leather from fruit to beautifully rolled up in jars!

Schupfnudla and Turkey Ragout dinner. Schupfnudla (pronounced shoopfnoodla) is a simple bread-like noodle made from leftover mashed potatoes, eggs, and flour, while the ragout is made of leftover turkey and chopped veggies and herbs.

Cherry Carob Cookies, an allergy-friendly treat I still enjoy. The mixer in the background is my Ankarsrum Assistent in pearl pink. You can click on the highlighted words to learn more about this serious kitchen appliance. Thank you kindly for using my affiliate link.

Instant Pot fail.  We ate the food off the top.

Our sweet little dog Squirrel is enjoying a cozy nap. She is 15, approaching 16 and we are so thankful for all of the years with her.

Bookshelf

I was fortunate to meet author Carla Emory in 1999 when the world was preparing for Y2K. The Encyclopedia of Country Living is a compendium of basic skills and homespun wisdom. It is also the story of a woman who held onto her dream in spite of an adverse marriage.

You can find a reasonably priced used copy of The Encyclopedia of Country Living at my favorite online used bookseller. Thank you for using my affiliate link, which gives me points towards more books!

Small Swaps

I am putting real thought and effort into using up odd bits of food rather than throwing anything away, or even composting it.

This week I pulled 2 sad green onions out of the fridge. They were anemic, wilted, and on the verge of becoming slimy. I decided they would be salvageable if trimmed and peeled and they were.

I also decided not to buy any more green onions – for a while at least. The chives growing in the wine barrel on the patio are lush and we should be eating them! To that end I made the mental decision to swap chives for green onions in my cooking, and I harvested, chopped, and dehydrated half of them for the pantry.

Small swaps like this free up dollars in the food budget for other things. I would love to hear what small swaps you are making to balance your budget. Have a wonderful week!

Michele

Are you wondering if you really need a steam juicer? The answer may surprise you!

Not just for kitchen maximalists, the large preserving tool known as a steam juicer may earn its place in your preserving kitchen even though it is a one-job tool. Because it does its one job so well.

It is the way of fruit trees that the bulk of the fruit ripens all at once. If you have backyard fruit trees, I don’t need to tell you how difficult it is to make use of the bounty.

It is likely most of the fruit falls to the ground, where it rots or gets carried off by wildlife or livestock. Perhaps a mix of both. I’m not begrudging the deer and birds their share. In fact, it is kindness to leave a portion for animals. But fruit that falls to the ground to decompose is a bit sad and feels wasteful. This is food that could be claimed and used in the kitchen, before it drops rather than create a sticky mess on the sidewalk or lawn.

Enter the steam juicer, a marvelous contraption that easily converts large amounts of fruit into juice!

Steam juicer, deconstructed

The steam juicer is made of 4 sections:

1. Water pan
2. Juice kettle
3. Food basket or colander
4. Lid

Function of each section and order of placement:

1. The bottom section, the water pan, holds water which is heated for steam.
2. The Juice kettle comes next. It holds the juice and contains a center cone to direct steam upwards to the food basket or colander. It also has a short curve of metal tubing that directs the juice into the hose on the outside for dispensing.
3. The food basket is a giant metal colander with holes on bottom and up the sides. This is where the fruit goes.
4. Lid goes on top!

Fruits to juice

• Berries
• Elderberries
• Cherries
• Peaches, nectarines, apricots
• Plums
• Pears
• Grapes
• Crabapples and apples
• Pineapple
• Rhubarb
• Tomatoes
• Veggies, too – you can make your own homemade version of V-8 tomato-vegetable juice blend!

One I have wanted to try, but haven’t is quince. Let me know if you have and what the results were.

How to use a steam juicer

I use and love my Back to Basics Nutri-Steamer steam juicer. Directions below are my modified version of the manufacturer’s instructions, based on my 13 years experience with this tool. Be sure to check your instruction booklet if you have a different model.

1. Fill water pan 3/4 full with water (add 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar if you have hard water) and place it with the juice kettle and lid on the stove over medium-high heat. Set the food basket / colander aside. When the water boils, reduce heat to medium, making sure the water continues to boil.
2. Meanwhile, wash and prepare the fruit. Small fruit such as berries, cherries, and plums can be juiced whole. Larger fruit like apples do not need to be peeled or cored, but are best cut into pieces to facilitate quicker juicing.
3. Make sure the drain tube is pushed on the drain spout as far as possible and place the clamp on the tube, a few inches from the end. Set the juice kettle on the water pan.
4. Place colander filled with the fruit on top of the juice kettle and cover with the lid.
5. When the steam begins to escape from the upper portion of the steamer, start timing. Make sure the water continues to boil and produce steam.
6. Wash a heat-proof container, such as an 8-cup (2 liter) glass batter bowl, and any jars needed in hot soapy water and allow to air dry.
7. Set the container at a lower elevation than the steam-juice by using a bar stool, chair or small table to hold the container.
8. For clear juice, do not stir the fruit while it is processing. For pulpy juice, it is okay to stir occasionally once the fruit has softened.
9. After about 45 minutes to an hour, the tubing will be full and you may begin dispensing juice. If you wait too long, juice will overflow the juice kettle and flow down into the water pan. Wearing a long pair of clean rubber gloves, carefully release the the clamp and set it aside with one hand while your other hand holds the tube in the container. CAUTION: use extreme care; juice is hot enough to burn. Keep children, pets, and distractions away. Allow the juice to flow until the container is nearly full or the juice runs out, whichever comes first. Replace the clamp and allow another 20-30 minutes for more juice to collect in the juice kettle.
10. Ladle and then carefully pour the hot juice into prepared jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace for canning. Immediately add canning lids and rings.
11. Dispense more juice into the container as in step 9 and fill more jars.
12. Repeat dispensing a third time to take advantage of as much juice as possible. There will be little left by the third time.
13. Process in a hot water bath or steam canner according to the chart below.
14. When processing time is up, turn heat off and let jars rest in the canner for 5 minutes to prevent siphoning. Then use jar tongs to lift jars from canner to cool on a folded towel with an inch (2.5 cm) between them.
15. After 12-24 hours, remove rings and check the seal on each jar. Lids should appear concave and tight, with no flexing. You should be able to lift each jar with your fingertips, holding it by the edge of the lid.
16. Gently wash jars in cool to lukewarm water to remove any sticky residue on the outside of the jars.
17. Label with name of product and date and store in a cool, dark pantry.

Note:

Never allow the water pan to run dry. Filling the water pan 3/4 full should be plenty to allow for a full juicing session. If consecutive batches are planned, be sure to check and refill the water pan between each batch.

Time-saving tips for elderberries

1. Spread clusters of elderberries out on cookie sheets and freeze, uncovered, until solid, about 6 hours or overnight.
2. With elderberries still in the freezer, set up your workspace: put the water pan on the stove to heat, as in Step 1 above. Place food basket / colander in your clean sink. Have a bowl or compost container ready to receive the stems. Put on a pair of clean kitchen gloves.
3. Retrieve one tray of elderberries from the freezer. Pick up one cluster of elderberries and quickly rub it between your gloved hands over the colander. The berries will fall into the colander and the stem goes into the compost container. Repeat until all clusters are cleaned of berries, working quickly before they thaw.

Things to keep in mind

The steam juicer is a labor saving tool, but it is not fast. Think of it like a Crock Pot. Load the food, in this case fruit, into the steam juicer, and let it do the work. It takes about 45-90 minutes for the juice to extract. Make sure to keep the water in the water pan boiling steadily but not violently the entire time. You can use this time for other tasks – or read a book!

I have found I can easily run two batches while doing other things at home without feeling stressed or hurried. It just happens in the background of a stay-at-home day. Your life is different than mine. You may be able to complete more or less batches than I do.

Clean those bags of frozen fruit from last year out of the freezer by juicing them. (Another idea is to make Fruit Leather or Fruit Butter.)

Ask friends and neighbors if you can utilize their unwanted backyard fruit. Most people will be happy to let you come pick in exchange for a jar of juice!

Canning direction links

Apple juice Also crabapple, pear, peach, nectarine, apricot, plum, cherry, blackberry, blueberry, strawberry, pineapple

Grape juice

Tomato juice

Tomato-vegetable juice blend

The USDA no longer recommends canning elderberry juice since recent testing shows most varieties of elderberries are considered borderline to low acid. Elderberries in my area of the Pacific Northwest are acidic enough to water bath can. An optional commonsense approach would be to acidify and process as for tomato juice or tomato-vegetable juice blend or to freeze the juice.

Secondary products

Later, when time allows, you can use your home-preserved juice to make jelly, syrup, gummy candies, flavored kombucha, spiced hot cider, and more!

Leftover fruit pulp

1. Add some of the juice back to the pulp and cook it down into fruit butter. Refer to my Crock Pot Apple Butter recipe for general guidelines.
2. Make fruit leather / fruit rollups. See my Best Fruit Leather Recipe for directions. Having trouble with your fruit leather? See the Fruit Leather Trouble Shooting Guide.
3. Feed to chickens
4. Add to your compost pile

Cleaning

Allow the steam juicer to cool completely, then empty the water pan and juice kettle of any remaining liquid. Remove the clamp and wash all pieces in warm, soapy water, allowing water to flow through the hose to rinse it clean. To remove white film in the water pan or discoloration in any of the sections, clean with white vinegar and a soft cloth. To polish the exterior of a stainless steel steam-juicer, dampen a cloth and rub gently with Barkeeper’s Friend to restore shine. Rinse clean and dry with a soft towel. Store in a safe place without the clamp on until needed.

Happy steam-juicing!

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 25: June 25, 2022

Amid rapidly rising costs of everything from food to gas to electricity, we are watching a domino effect take place. Everything affects everything else.

If we were ever lulled into a sense of mistaken identity, thinking that luxuries were necessities, well, it’s time to wake up.

Every household has decisions to make about how to handle the string of dominoes that intersects with its budget. Sam and I have been having just such a conversation.

We do not have it all figured out, and we anticipate that the times we live in will require ongoing adjustments.

Let me tell you about two small changes we have made. I hope they will spark creative thinking in your house.

The first, inspired by a Texas longhorn that meandered through our yard, is that we are swapping Sunday drives for Sunday strolls. We didn’t do this weekly, but Sam and I used to enjoy the occasional Sunday drive. We would hop in the truck and, without a clear destination in mind, drive around the mountains and see what there was to see: forest, waterfalls, lake, river, wildlife. Sunday drives were always spontaneous and we always came home feeling filled by nature.

We can get that same feeling by taking a stroll or going for a bike ride, so forthwith Sunday drives have been replaced with exercise – not a bad trade! We are fortunate to be in good health and able to do so.

The second small change involves maple syrup. The rear bottle is our last bottle of real maple syrup.

When the price went from $4.99 on sale to unavailable, to $12, I decided not to buy it. I am going back to making homemade “maple” syrup for cheap.

Cooking from scratch at home is a potent weapon in the homemaker’s arsenal. The pictures below give you a peek into what we ate this week.

A good countertop spiralizer like the now-discontinued Inspiralizer transforms zucchini into elbow macaroni shapes. Bonus: its’ gluten-free! Add your favorite pasta salad ingredients like olives, grape tomatoes, cheese, and a zesty vinaigrette and you’ve got a great salad.

Coconut Battered Rock Fish in the pan and on the plate. So good with homemade kraut, melon salsa, and the Spiralized Zucchini Pasta Salad mentioned above.

For Father’s Day, a favorite dessert for Sam: Marble Bundt Cake. It doesn’t last long at our house! Peanut Sponge Bars are thinly frosted and given a sprinkle of chopped peanuts. YUM. PS. Find a beautiful, heirloom quality Bundt pan here.

I have been turning last year’s fruit in the freezer into fruit leather.

I am loving these charming labels designed by JES. I bought them from her shop on Etsy! She has many more labels available for canisters, herbal and beauty preparations, canning jars, more. Such a simple way to add a note of grace to your kitchen, pantry, home-canned goods, and gifts!

You’ve baked a big batch of homemade bread…now here’s how to wrap it up and freeze it for best quality.

Appreciating the roses, despite the thorns, and summerizing my workspace for the day.

Puttering with flowers is free. Calendulas grow freely in our vegetable garden and their cheerful blooms glow like sunshine. I dry whole flower heads on trays in my Excalibur dehydrator at 95 F.

Last week’s mint harvest, dried and jarred. Last year’s leftover mint is bagged and added to the top of the jar to be used first. Work continues in the Apothecary Garden. An island was planted with Zloty Lan chamomile, Watermelon Heaven California poppies, and Pink dandelions, with a pawpaw tree grown from seed in the center.

Chicken math strikes again! Sam stopped by the feed store to exchange a bad bag of rabbit feed…and came home with 9 more chicks instead! Five Rhode Island Reds + 4 Colorpacks (what on earth are those?) added to 9 Sapphires – 1 dead = ?

I’m learning the uses and benefits of wild plants like wild edible sweet peas and more on our homestead property. A never-ending educational adventure.

I would like to hear what types of swaps you are making in order to make ends meet. I hope we can inspire each other to make the best of things, turning sacrifices into upgrades.

Blessings,

Michele

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 24: June 18, 2022

Half of me is grateful for ample rain, the other half is worrying summer will be too short to ripen heat-loving garden crops like tomatoes, peppers, squash, beans, and melons. Silly, isn’t it? Because half grateful is really not.

The waterfall we drive over every week on our way to and from church reminded me that God is not stingy. It – the waterfall – does not work to be worthy of filling, it merely accepts the rain God sends.

Determined to see, really see, with fresh eyes I saw much to be grateful for.

Many of our fruit trees were burned by late frosts and will not bear fruit this year, but we have a freezer full of wild blackberries and huckleberries we did not plant or tend, which can be turned into homemade fruit leather, and an abundance of green herbs for food, tea, recipes, and remedies – free for the taking! (I just have to stay ahead of Sam and the weedeater.)

Want to learn to make really great fruit leather? See my method here: Best Fruit Leather Recipe with 20 Tips for Success.

Having problems making good fruit leather? See my guide here: Fruit Leather Troubleshooting Guide.

Gardening brings a good kind of tired. Here I am working hard to harvest herbs ahead of Sam.

I took a moment, actually several, to watch a snail. Have you noticed a snail is never in a hurry?

Heaping basket of plantain, raspberry leaf, mint, self heal, red cover, and wild chamomile proved tempting to the chickens. I think they viewed it as a buffet. I did manage to get the herbs arranged on dehydrator trays and set them to dry at 100 F ( 38 c) in my Excalibur dehydrator.

Last summer’s extreme heat (110-117F for what seemed like forever) hastened the death of half a dozen big pine trees on our property. The power company came this week and felled 3 that were completely dead and even as we mourned their loss we couldn’t help but be thankful for the warmth they will provide our home when fed to the wood stove.

One of my two favorite apple trees, a Gravenstein, plus a grouping of great mullein, Verbascum thapsus.

Wild irises and barbed wire separate our pasture from the neighbors’. Pretty little clover blossoms open fuchsia pink and fade to blush.

After seeing the price of eggs in the grocery store, we decided we needed a few more laying hens to offset what we lost to predators this winter.

This week’s video is especially for you if you own an Ankarsrum Assistent mixer and want to bake large batches of whole wheat bread. I walk you through my treasured family recipe that I have baked for over 20 years and show you all the “little” things that help you produce your best bread ever. Bread that is soft and fluffy and makes great toast and sandwiches. Bread your family will love!

Own a Bosch Universal or a KitchenAid? I made videos with printable recipes for you, too! Visit my channel by clicking the video above and locate your video.

Chicken Burrito Bowl, assembled recently during a freezer meal prep session and cooked in the Mealthy multipot. (Like an Instant Pot)

Blending a special tea for a special friend who is sick with an awful cold. I can’t express what a nice feeling it is to open my little apothecary and find all the ingredients are there waiting. I learned the skill of tea blending by taking an absolutely wonderful course!

Though Darkness Descend is the riveting true story of the Huguenots in France in the 1600’s by Janet Joanou Weiner. First book in a trilogy and I am eagerly awaiting the second! (Free on Kindle as of Sept 14, 2022)

Jasper leans on the windowsill, thinking deeply about life.

Each of us has experienced a staggering amount of change and loss in the past 2 years, much of it uninvited and unwelcome.

And yet if we push ourselves to look deeper we will certainly find that there has been good in the middle of it all.

Please tell me: what good have you found in the midst of the last 2 years’ change and loss? Let me know in the comments, I respond to every one.

Blessings,

Michele

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary Vol. 1
Week 32: August 13, 2021

This week feels like a continuation of last, and I suppose that is entirely correct. Preserving season begins with small harvests spaced out between weeks: a tray of berries to freeze and herbs to dry for food and medicine.

It starts small, but soon turns into an avalanche and no matter how well-prepared I think I am, it is always overwhelming.

Sam and I went back to our favorite picking spot and picked another 2 1/2 gallons of huckleberries. I made a double batch of Huckleberry Lime Jam with Pomona’s pectin. The flavor is a delight and so is the fact that it is mostly fruit and very little sugar when compared to using traditional pectin.

It was a pleasure to add eleven jars of delicious jam to the pantry shelf, minus the one we ate immediately with a loaf of Farmhouse White Bread made with Dakota Pioneer Everlasting Yeast.

Preserving Season Begins with a Trickle of Berries and Herbs ~

The generous bounty of a harvest kitchen always warms my heart. In addition to bread and jam, there are plump zucchinis to turn into Zucchini Velvet Soup base for the freezer and a nearly-full basket of Dragon Tongue beans; yellow with vivid purple streaks, the beans will be eaten and shared.

Find the Zucchini Velvet Soup base recipe here: https://chocolateboxcottage.tv/recipe-box/zucchini-velvet-soup/

Freezing Huckleberries ~

Blackberries, blackberries, and more blackberries…

I could pick 2 gallons every other day, given the time. My goal is to freeze 10 gallons of blackberries every summer. This takes us through oatmeal mornings, berry muffins, cobblers and crisps, with plenty for jam or to make into syrup for waffles and pancakes.

Homemade Berry Fruit Leather ~

Using (eating) what was stored in preserving season is part of the natural cycle.

Berries remaining in the freezer when berry picking season rolls around again are converted into Fruit Leather rolls, a jammy, sweet portable treat the whole family loves.

Berries are best picked in the cool of the morning, before the sun softens them. Still, I end up with berry-stained fingers. I don’t really mind. Being able to step outside and pick berries in summer reminds me of my childhood and imparts contentment.

August 2021 Walkabout ~

A walkabout is just what it sounds like. A walk about our homeplace, notebook in hand, a time to notice what is happening with the landscape, the plants, trees, and animals. Sam and I do this at the beginning of each month.

While Sam and I have long done occasional walkabouts together, usually on Sundays, I credit Donna Sullivan Smith, herbalist and founder of Miss Magnolias Moxie’s Learning Community, with bringing clarity and purpose to these fun excursions.

Donna provides a monthly list of questions to ask ourselves as we wander our property. It is a great tool for getting acquainted with your property and/or neighborhood’s resources. I’ll drop a link to Donna’s learning community below and invite you to join us!

https://missmagnoliasmoxie.mn.co/feed

Overgrown Cucumbers ~

One more aspect of preserving season is making use of imperfect product.

If you garden, sooner or later you end up with overgrown cucumbers. These cucumbers, believe it or not, are PICKLING cucumbers.

Pickling cucumbers are meant to be harvested small, 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 cm) long, while their skins are thin and tender and before the seeds have a chance to toughen. Young cucumbers make crispy pickles, which is what we all want!

Still, there are uses for overgrown cucumbers. One of them is a quick curry, not at all authentic, but quite delicious with poached fish or chicken.

Feel free to leave your ideas for using overgrown cucumbers in the comments below. I read every one and appreciate your ideas.

Fennel Appreciation ~

I leave you with this picture of our fennel planting. The umbels (flower heads) are in various stages of readiness: some are blooming, to the enjoyment of pollinators and Swallowtail butterflies, others are heavy with seeds ripe for picking.

Fennel seeds are what give many sausages and Italian and Indian dishes their signature flavor. Mild, slightly sweet fennel seed is occasionally compared to anise. Fennel bulbs are edible and delicious, also. Do you use fennel in your kitchen or apothecary?

This may not be what some would consider a pretty picture, but knowing the delights and benefits of fennel surely increase its attractiveness!

Blessings to you this week, Michele

Ps. Click the link below to read last week’s Cottage Diary entry.

https://chocolateboxcottage.tv/cottage-diary/the-land-of-berries/