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 Vol. 1
Week 26: July 2, 2021

Firstly, thank you for being here, Dear Reader! Do you have a cup of tea or coffee ready?

I get a lot of questions about gardening and cooking from scratch using wholesome ingredients and have long dreamed of a beautiful website where I could share my simple ideas and creative recipes along these lines. A huge thank you goes to my web designer, Peter Hulce, of PHD Studios https://phdstudios.com/ who was easy to work with and did a terrific job creating a beautifully cozy destination with this site. Thank you, Peter! Thursday June 30, 2021 was my official “Website Launch Day.”

While Peter and I were paddling hard (at least I was, I don’t think Peter ever broke a sweat) organizing the last-minute details for this site, we were also dealing with unusually hot weather for June in Oregon.

Southern Oregon saw temperatures of 110-117F (43-47C) this past week; our daytime high at Chocolate Box Cottage was 111F (44C), lasting several days. I love summer, it is my favorite season, but 90’s in the house is not fun! 

Our chicken eggs are fertile, so gathering eggs twice a day ensures our eggs remain fresh. To deal with heat, chickens hold their wings up and away from their bodies and breathe through open beaks – it looks as though they are panting.

Coping Strategies for Hot Weather ~ share your ideas in the comments!

• Planning productive tasks in the mornings
• Cool showers and wetting my hair in the afternoon and evening
• Chilled melon and homemade yogurt pops for snacks
• Being mindful to drink water often
• No-cook meals
• Absolutely no baking
• Hanging laundry out to dry on the porch railing instead of using the dryer
• Gathering eggs twice a day
• Lowering my expectations on housework and productivity in general

Toby settled into the heat. He hopes this picture is a step in the direction of re-naming “dog days of summer” to “cat days of summer.”

Early mornings saw me scurrying around feeding and watering animals, gathering eggs, and watering the garden and the pots on the front porch.

You can find Dragon Tongue beans here at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. https://www.rareseeds.com/store/vegetables/fall-favorites/dragon-tongue-bush-bean

You can find Red Rosie basil seeds here: https://www.highmowingseeds.com/organic-non-gmo-rosie-basil.html

Heat Wave Surprises ~

• Potted geraniums did not seem to mind the heat as long as they were kept watered
• We did not lose any chickens
• Sunburned trees
• So many visiting butterflies! 

The heat did not deter dozens of Swallowtail butterflies from visiting Chocolate Box Cottage! Wherever a sprinkler was running, we would see butterflies gather for water.

Do you love homemade ice cream as much as I do? A countertop Cuisinart electric ice cream maker is perfect for couples and small families.

Read more about Candlelight S’mores here ~ https://chocolateboxcottage.tv/recipe-box/candlelight-smores/

Hello from Twin Creeks, where we awaited 4th of July fireworks! I have been working on this quilt made by the English paper piecing method (EPP) off and on for years, mostly off. Fabric diamonds are basted over templates cut from discarded manilla file folders, then stitched together by hand to form stars. I named this quilt “Sand Stars,” and I have a long way to go…

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary Vol. 1

Week 25: June 25, 2021

I was able to persuade Sam to take Monday off this week. He’s been working steadily on dismantling the wood shed and other maintenance projects without much of a break and we had heard that the local lakes had been stocked with fish: rainbow trout!

This week, the photos speak for themselves. Come along and enjoy!

Crowbar in hand, Sam dismantles the very old wood shed, piece by piece. The roof was ruined, but much of the wood is salvageable, with trimming.

The old wood shed is officially dismantled. The floor of the wood shed was made of pallets to elevate firewood, keeping it dry. Those have been pulled up and Sam has placed the posts for the “new” wood shed, which is rotating from its original footprint to face the garden.

One of three piles of wood salvaged from the old wood shed, which will be used to build the “new” wood shed. Lots of nail pulling and trimming will be needed. Sam’s goal is to build the shed without buying anything.

Hard work deserves a reward, doesn’t it? A morning spent fishing at Medco Ponds was just what we needed. Going on a Monday meant we had the pond to ourselves.

Sam cast his line and within 2 minutes he pulled in the first rainbow trout!

In a short time, Sam had caught his limit: 5 rainbow trout.

Meanwhile, I walked along the edge of the pond trying to identify all the plants and trees that I could name, to the music of frog song. This is a type of horsetail, a useful plant in the world of herbal medicine.

I pocketed a sizable lump of pine resin. Well, not literally because it’s too sticky to put in a pocket. I use pine resin in salves and for making beeswax wraps. A petrified lump such as this is what I prefer because it is easy to shatter into slivers with a hammer, whereas fresh sap is sticky and more difficult to work with.

Back home, the daylilies are popping. This is one of three islands of daylilies at Chocolate Box Cottage.

The daylily flowers are smaller this year than in years past, but still vivid and cheerful. And delicious! Note the strappy leaves. This is an identifying characteristic of daylilies. Other types of lilies, such as Tiger lilies and Asiatic lilies are not edible.

The rainbow trout Sam hooked inspired me to create a special dish to accompany them. These edible and unsprayed daylilies are stuffed with ricotta cheese which I flavored with chopped fresh herbs (oregano, marjoram, parsley, sage, and lemon zest).

Fresh-caught rainbow trout, stuffed daylilies, and popcorn okra made a very special lunch for day-after-Father’s Day.

I’m loving all the shades of green along the greywater stream at Chocolate Box Cottage. Yellow dock, mint, and cattails feature prominently.

Toby, our grumpy Maine coon cat, takes a midday siesta in the heat.

Moth mullein blooms in the bee yard, mixed with St. John’s wort and Himalayan blackberries.

Close-up of moth mullein with its pretty purple centers. These are popular with florists.

I keep a salt shaker and small paring knife in my gardening basket. There’s nothing like a freshly pulled radish, rinsed under a garden hose, sprinkled with salt, and eaten on the spot!

Plans for a medicinal and tea herb garden are formulating in my mind for this underutilized fenced garden area above the vegetable garden. Currently fennel, garlic, pumpkins, and a few stray raspberry bushes grow on the right side and on the left, just out of view, are violet artichokes and an isolation bed of a tomato variety I developed that bears small, orange, pumpkin-shaped fruit.

Inspiration for my herb garden.

I call this ledge my water bottle shelf. Pearl calls it a look-out perch.

The view framed by the greenhouse window changes with the season. Now the sheep pasture is browning in the sun-exposed patches.

I was delighted when this swallowtail butterfly allowed me to capture it with my cellphone camera amid the rose campion.

A generous basketful of greens picked for supper. I chose kale as the main ingredient and added smaller amounts of Swiss chard plus an assortment of wild greens: borage, plantain, pigweed, prunella vulgaris, and radish leaves. The fennel and lemon balm on the chair to the left of the basket will be chopped and added over fish.

Sam and I call this a $30 dinner: sautéed rockfish from the Oregon Coast (thank you, Margaret!) over boiled greens with preserved lemon and lemon wedge.

A thoughtful gift from a friend this week: artichokes and a cookbook! She also delivered a handful of her homegrown shiitake mushrooms, and 3 raspberry plants from her garden! Thank you, Jenna.