Queen's Edge Farm

Friday, October 31, 2008

Well, it's fall and the 31st and all that brings...we don't get many trick or treaters here, plus we won't be home, but I did want to post on other things that I forgot to mention last night.

Rodney is unsure if someone has been trying to steal the fence in the south pasture. 500 feet of fencing was unhooked from the t-posts, bottom two brackets only...leaving the top one attached. It seems like too big a coincidence for that to happen, plus there were truck tire marks in the field next to the fence. We will be posting "No Trespassing" signs along the fences to remind people that they can and might very well be shot if caught trespassing. With the cabin, animals and our belongings out there, we are trying to be diligent in security issues.

Rodney also worked on, with the girl's help, placing rocks along one section of the pond to make a small waterfall. I'll have to get a picture this weekend, and post for ya'll to see..it's pretty cute, at least to me. We've been adding water to the pond, since we haven't had significant rain fall in a while, and the pond was shrinking. We have our fish/food source in that pond, and spend quite a bit of money stocking it, so we don't really want to lose any...haven't seen any fish floats at all this summer. Not that it doesn't mean all the cranes we run off, haven't managed to eat most of them...

Dove season ends tomorrow, and deer season opens. Hopefully, Rodney will be able to get a deer or two this season, so we can put it into the freezer. I'd love a hog too, but the closest we've been to a hog was yesterday, when we passed a dead one on the side of the road.

Please keep the following people/issues in prayer:

Candi
Marie
Brittany
Aubrey
Perla
Election
Baby James

Have a great weekend everyone!

***The kids had a great time at the church festival, we had a very popular Sweet Walk.
My niece came to spend the weekend with us. The girls wanted to head out to the land to stay in the cabin, but it was almost 10 p.m. when we arrived at the house, and I didn't look forward to making my way to the cabin in the dark, so we will stay tomorrow evening.

You don't realize how your kids pay attention to what you say and do, until you go into the room and they are playing with their Barbies, and they tell you they have made solar panels for the Barbie dream house out of card board and a black Sharpie LOL, or if your daughter asks for her own .22 for Christmas, or wants to go deer hunting with her dad this weekend. The solar panels are what made me lose it and start laughing.

****Hannah lost her first tooth Friday, and her second is loose. She is very excited. ;-)

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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.