Queen's Edge Farm: Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes

Monday, June 25, 2007

Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes

I have more tomatoes than I know what to do with and....I don't like raw tomatoes to just eat. I have tried to use some everyday. Saturday I made Lasagna and added fresh tomatoes to the sauce. It was really good.

I also sliced tomatoes to serve with dinner, as the guys like tomatoes sprinkled with salt. Today, I chopped up a tomato with two jalapenos from the garden, added a sprinkle of dried onion and cilantro and served with the spicy beef burritos we had for dinner. Rodney said that it was good, though the peppers were on the verge of being TOO hot. The plan is to make salsa this week too, and can it for the rest of the year. Looking for a good recipe.

I found this recipe for Tomato Basil Sauce which I am thinking of making for dinner tomorrow and serving over angel hair pasta.

Peeled and roughly chopped about 2 quarts of tomatoes into a large enamel stockpot; added 1/2 cup red wine vinegar, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 chopped onion, 3 cloves minced garlic, 1 Bay leaf, 1 small sprig of Thyme, 1 small sprig of Marjoram, 1/3 cup or so of chopped Basil, and some chopped parsley. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer away.

Today was a good day, a little busy, but good. Attempting to get back into my normal "homesteady" routines. Today was laundry today. I didn't get it all done, primarily because I didn't even make my laundry soap until after lunch, and it was raining off and on and I couldn't hang the clothes out, and I didn't want to use the dryer all day and run up my utility bill.

I did some surface cleaning today, after this weekend of everyone being home. Talked to a friend today on the phone. I haven't talked to her in a while as she is busy with her garden, I was busy with mine, in addition to being on vacation recently for two weeks.

I went to the thrift store next door to look for plates as I really need a few more. I found a large stack of cake plates (for dessert), cute, countrified coffee mugs, an orange juice carafe, a flour crock and an ice chest (for another survival kit for the truck)....everything was 10 cents each! I think it was all a good deal. I spent the afternoon washing dishes, and re organizing cabinets. I still have more to wash, as I needed to start dinner.

Took advantage of the break in rain to tear out the main garden. Most everything is dead, so I removed the corn stalks, bean plants, and pumpkin vines. Everything is lying in a huge pile beside the garden. I need to have it mowed down, so I can till, or just get in there with the hand fork and start working over the area to plant cucumbers and beans.

Tuesday is baking day, so in addition to baking, on tomorrow's agenda is to finish up the dishes, laundry, weed alley garden, go by city hall to discuss emergency preparedness meeting, bake cookies and pumpkin bread.

It's after midnight and I need to get to bed. Have a good night everyone!

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Grandma's Yummy Cinnamon Rolls

2 pkgs active dry yeast or 5 tsps if using bulk yeast
1/2 cup warm water (not too hot)
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening, butter, margarine
2 tsps salt
2 cups milk, scalded
1 1/2 cups cold water
10 to 12 cups flour (white or whole wheat)

Yield: 4 loaves

Soften yeast in warm water, springkle in a tsp of the sugar
In LARGE mixing bowl blend sugar, shortening, salt and milk until shortening is melted. Add cold water, cool to luke-warm. Stir in yeast. Gradually add flour to form a stiff dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth and satiny, 5 to 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover with foil or damp towel. Let rise in warm place (85 to 90 deg) until light and doubled in volume about two hours. Punch dough down by plunging fist in center. Knead dough for about 5 minutes.

Roll out one fourth of dough to a 16 X 12 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 TBSP of melted butter. Combine 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup sugar and 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (or more to taste). Sprinkle mixture over dough. Starting with 16 inch side, roll jellyroll fashion. Either cut into 16 1 inch slices or leave as a whole loaf. Place on a greased pan, cover and let rise in warm place until light, about 30 to 45 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix one box 10X sugar with 2 tbsps water. If too stiff, add more water until icing consistency, add a drop of vanilla too. Spread on baked bread while bread is still warm.

2010 Homestead Stats

Laundry Soap

Homemade Laundry Soap:
1/3 bar Fels Naptha or other type of soap, as listed above
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small washpan or bowl that holds about 2 gallons.

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the washpan. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Transfer soap (using a funnel if necessary) into empty plastic laundry holders, milk containers (I use my empty glass milk bottles and old Fab containers) Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

Wild Mustang Grape Jelly

5 cups grape juice (about 3 1/2 pounds of ripe grapes)1 (1 3/4 ounce) box of sure-jel pectin7 cups sugarBefore getting started it is best to clean the entire kitchen, making sure the sink is empty. Bleach the sink and all utensils used in making jelly (I do this as I sell my grape jelly as part of my homesteading business.)

Wash the canning jars in warm soapy water, and rinse well. Set off to side.

Place a large pan of water on the stove to heat. Once it starts steaming, place lids and rings in the bottom, and 2-3 jars (depending on if you use actual jelly jars or pints) to sterilize.

Next make the grape juice using clean washed grapes (make sure you use rubber gloves when picking or washing wild grapes)To 3 1/2 pounds of clean grapes (6 cups of grapes) add 1 1/2 cups water.Bring to a boil and simmer covered for 10 minutes.Strain and squeeze out all of the juice with cheese cloth (see paragraph below)
I didn't have cheese cloth, so I poured the grape mixture into a large spaghetti strainer with a large pan underneath. I had to stir it around some as the skins and seeds would sink to the bottom, and clog the colander up. Stirring allowed the liquid to drain out. I then used a large metal spoon and squished it some to get more of the juice out.

In a very big pan, put 5 cups of the juice (it’s okay to add no more than ½ cup water to even out amount)Add the fruit pectin to the juice.Mix well.On high heat, bring to a full rolling boil, and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.Stir in sugar all at once, and bring back to a full rolling boil, again boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Remove jelly from heat, skim off foam
Use a large spoon inserted inside the jar to lift CAREFULLY out of the water. DO NOT TOUCH THE INSIDE OF THE JAR OR THE RIM WITH YOUR HANDS.
Ladle jelly into hot jars, place a lid and ring onto jar (do not tighten yet).
Set jars to the side. After a while you should start hearing “pings” as the jar seals.
When jars are completely cool, tighten rings and store on pantry shelf.**SIDE NOTE: Wild Mustang Grapes are normally ready the end of June, so be prepared. Keep an eye open for vines on the side of the road, or any that friends and family may have growing in their yard. Many people just let them grow and don’t do anything with them, so it shouldn’t be hard to find a good supply. Also, the more you pick off the vine, the more the vine produces new grapes, so you probably won’t EVER run out of grapes to use until the vine dies or you get sick of making jelly. Good luck and feel free to contact me at queensedgefarm@yahoo.com for questions.