Star Spangled Banner

Today I am getting ready for the  Fourth of July Celebration.  I am going to be doing some cooking and baking.  Tomorrow we are going to the "Wet Parade" out in Pueblo West like we have in years past, and are going to our friends the Jone's house afterwards for some food and fun.  We are all going to pitch in and cook.  

Meanwhile back at the ranch...   I was wanting to make a few easy decorations this year ; I had a few simple things that I do every year,  but had an itch to do something crafty, fun and easy. I ended up making this little banner.  I thought I would share it with you.  If you need a simple Fourth of July craft you can make with the kids... this is one you can add to your list.  The kids will have fun helping you cut these out.  I like to put on an old movie and watch it while I do stuff like this.

On the back side of your paper, draw star  shapes with cookie  cutters as a stencil.  I dug through my cookie cutter collection and came up with four different cookie cutters.  I used all four to make a variety of sizes.

Cut  your shapes out in  different "Fourth of July type paper"... even brown paper bags will work nicely in a pinch.

I happened to have an extra piece of burlap, so I cut some burlap stars too.

Cut the burlap stars using the paper stars as a pattern.  I cut them roughly and slightly bigger than the paper stars.

Sew them together.

Sew a little bit of looped ribbon to each end (you can barley see mine on the top right corner).  That works well for hanging it in a variety of places.   In the picture above I didn't have it looped over a hook or a nail, because I didn't have the space to let it hang the way I want to leave it. I just had it on this wall to get a picture (it is my only blank wall in the house.... I am going to hang this outside; but at the moment it is too windy to get a decent picture... this is the best inside wall picture I can manage..and its not a very big wall).

Sew the stars together in a variety of ways, some with paper and burlap combined, some with only burlap and no paper stars, and you can even layer some of the shapes and sizes... which I did, but can't show you, because I took these pictures in too much of a hurry and didn't remember to get a picture of each type... sorry.... now if I done this a week ago.... I would have had plenty of time to get it just right for you; but what can I say... the fourth of July is tomorrow.  I have to get to cooking.

I will hang them out in our patio after we get everything spiffed up out there today.

They twist and turn and dangle nicely.

Have fun, and have a great Fourth of July.

Preserving Basil

I love to grow Basil, and to have fresh Basil available as often as I can.  Its not always "do-able" to have it fresh, but there are "the next best things" that work really well.  It can be frozen, and it can be dried.  Either way, it still tastes better than buying dried Basil in the grocery store.  This year was a hard year for  us in the garden in every way.  But last year we did really well.  I froze and dried a lot of Basil, and it has lasted me until now, which I am very thankful for.  I did take pictures of my last years Basil preservation, so I thought I would share them for you now.

 Blend Olive Oil and Basil in the Blender.  The proportions don't need to be measured;  put whatever Basil you have in a blender and  add enough Olive Oil to make it pourable.  Keep adding olive oil a little at a time, and then blend until it is smooth. 

 Next pour it into Ice Cube trays.  Freeze it until it is hard.   

Pop the frozen cubes out 

 Place in Ziplock bags and back into freezer.

These can be added straight from the freezer into your tomato sauce.  It is wonderful.

I also dry a lot of Basil.  To dry, simply line a cookie sheet with Parchment paper and lay Basil out on top of it, trying not to over crowd.  Leave to dry for several days, turning the Basil periodically,

to equally expose all of it to dry.

 Enjoy

Peach Cobbler

 I got this Peach Cobbler recipe from my Mother in Law many years ago.  Its a classic to be sure, and I think its one of the best peach cobblers I've ever had.  My own addition to this recipe, is that I make it in a cast iron skillet, which for some reason just seems to cook it up perfect.  I have never tried to make a healthier version of this; I tell myself "somethings are best left alone";  but I have often thought of substituting the sugars for sucanat or another healthier sugar; the white flour for whole grain... just haven't ever gotten around to trying it.   It is made with pure, simple,  ingredients and love,  so it nourishes the emotionals in a way that only true comfort food can do... so there you go; its "health food"... ha ha.  It is also a very quick and easy dessert, so I love to cook it up for a special occasion or for company.  I am almost to the end of my home-canned peaches and before long, it will be time for another round of peach picking and canning.  This is a great peach recipe to suit that season.  I hope you enjoy it.

Pre-heat oven to 375.  Place 1 cube of butter in a  10-12 inch cast iron skillet and put into oven for

 2 or 3 minutes or until butter melts.

Measure out 4 cups fresh or canned peaches; skins removed.  Set to the side for a moment.

In a medium mixing bowl mix together 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 Tb brown sugar, 1 tsp salt, and 3 tsp baking powder.  

Pour in 1 cup milk and 2 tsp lemon juice, and whisk until well mixed.

Pour half of batter onto melted butter in skillet.

 Top with peaches.

 Pour remaining batter over peaches.

Spread batter and peaches evenly over pan.

 Bake for 45 minutes.

Mmmmm

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.

Peach Cobbler

Ingredients:

1 Cube Butter

1 Cup Flour

1 Cup Sugar

1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Salt

3 teaspoons Baking Powder

1 Cup Milk

2 teaspoons Lemon Juice
4 Cups fresh or canned peaches

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.  Place the butter in a 10 to 12 inch cast iron skillet ( I have used a 9x9 inch square casserole pan and a 9x13... you can of course use these with a slightly different result... still yummy) Put into oven for two or three minutes until the butter is melted.   While that is melting, measure out your peaches and set aside.  Stir together all the dry ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl.  Add milk and lemon juice whisk/mix together until well mixed.  Remove pan from oven and make sure the butter evenly coats entire pan.  Add half of the batter to the pan.  Add peaches on top.  Pour remaining batter over peaches (this batter will all rise to the top when cooking).  Bake for 45  minutes.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Garden Notes

This year in the garden, we decided to downsize.  Luke is in Oregon now, and with Steve's surgeries this winter and spring, we decided to go a little easier.  But life seems blank without growing something in the summer months doesn't it?  So we have planted in the 3 small beds up near our house.   It is nice to have them, but the battle rages  here in Colorado.  Grasshoppers, draught, scorching wind and fire have waged war. We have wells on our property that are a part of our business, and you would think with "that" being so, we would have plenty of water for our gardens.  But those wells are not close at hand for our use.  Our house and garden are connected to a shallow hand dug well, that, while it provides ample for our household, does not have quite enough to suffice for lawn and gardening projects when there is a drought.   Even in good wet years, we cannot manage the lawn from our well (yet in those wetter years the lawn is well watered by the Lord).   It is a little bit of  "The cobbler's children have no shoes" scenarios.  so,  our garden and yard struggles when we have drought.  The drought is very bad right now and fires are everywhere; it feels like the State is on fire.   This evening when we were driving home, there was so much haze and smoke covering the sky, that it seemed as if we were on another planet in a science fiction movie.  It has been very sad and sobering to think of how many people have lost their homes in Colorado Springs (over 500 at this point), and fires still going all over the State.  Such strange and sad days.  Gardening helps generate life, not only in the ground but in ourselves, and is always my way of  regenerating every summer... even if it is  a strain and a struggle.

Colorado soil is not the easiest soil to garden in, so we have been trying to improve and add to it in some way every year.  This year we took some of our soil to an "expert" in Colorado Springs, and he gave us some tips for how to improve our soil and we followed them.. I will do a recap at end of summer and let you know what I think, but so far; I am loving the items he told us to get.

I am a geranium nut.  Even though we can't grow geraniums year around here,  I do love to have them in pots around our patio area.  We set up our carport/patio area every spring with tables and chair and  flowers, to have a nice outdoor family room.  We like to eat breakfast and dinner out there quite often, as well as visit with friends.

This is our toad.  We have had many toads as  I am sure many of you have toads, but this toad really likes us and insists on being near us all the time.  He can be found on our patio day or  night.  We had company coming to dinner the other day, so we kept putting him back in various places in the garden so that he wouldn't be underfoot and scare the company (some people aren't as fond of toads as I am).  We must have moved him 10 times... (a good deal away from the patio) but 5 minutes later he was back on the patio.  I didn't know toads knew their directions; this one does.

When he sleeps, he burrows in the soft garden soil, or a flowerpot on the patio.  At night he is a great bug exterminator... one of the things I like about him.

Last year our neighbor Brett  hired our son Eddie and our neighbor and friend Jonathan to haul the horse manure out of his corral.  We provided a place for Brett to haul it to; next to our garden.  It has been composting all year and is there as we need it.

This spring, the "expert" from Colorado Springs recommend two things to build our soil; on top of the wonderful manure that we had been composting all year. They are the following:

 Composted Cotton Burr  and

This Dry Molasses.  They are both very good additions to our soil; be sure to click the links on them,  if you are needing to improve your soil.

We also bought this 4 lb bag of worm castings, and have added it along with the other items everywhere we have planted.

Worm castings.

Can you see the grasshopper on the left side of the picture?  You might have to really look... its like one of those pictures "can you find Waldo"... haha.  He has just finished off the newly sprouted leaves of my zucchini squash.  He and his cousins are in the process of taking out our garden.  I have planted seed twice ... always hopeful that this time.... but everything that comes up they eat.  So far they have not started in on the strawberries and tomatoes and haven't been too hard on the onions.  We are trying to figure out what to do.  A hoop house is something we would like to do; but it isn't do-able right now.

I have left oat grass to grow for the most  part; hoping to aid in protecting the plants  from the grasshoppers and heat.  That has helped somewhat.   You can see how dry every thing is. All the dirt you see around the beds used to be grass; you can see where the garden beds have blank spots...  the grasshopper moving from the outside in.

But to quote Irma Bombeck...

"The grass is always greener over the septic tank".  Yes, she is right.

My mint is hanging on (gotta have my ice tea with mint) and several flowers and herbs in this little bed are hopeful.

I had potato seed  galore... but didn't want to put them in the big beds this year as I stated earlier... so I put them in a planter we saved from a tree;  by the house.  I just packed them in there with dirt, straw, manure, compost and so on.   This was last weeks growth;

...and this weeks growth.   Perhaps they will do good this way.

I  planted flower, herb and basil seeds from last years plants.  I  love to have lots of fresh basil.

I let some carrots go to seed last year.. and now they are popping up all over the place; I like that.  I am not sure what has taken them so long to sprout... we had a late winter, into a scorching summer;  not much spring to speak of perhaps that is what it is.  So far the grasshoppers don't seem to like them. Hurray...  

My garlic is doing really well;  I planted it last fall; So far the grasshoppers haven't touched it either. The onions are coming along nicely. 

Geraniums all in a row.

 Our patio is a little rustic,

... but cozy.

And this tub contains a special gift that was given to Steve for Father's Day and Birthday from his girls.

It contains livestock.  Steve has been bragging about the fact that he now owns 2000 head and his kids all own more than that.

Ha Ha...Little Red Wigglers;  they are on the "little"  side yet, but they  will produce a crop of wonderful compost and worm castings.... yes we are back in the farming business.

John 4:14

".....but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Have a great weekend and may all your gardens be green.