Queen's Edge Farm: School Tax Increase Vote

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

School Tax Increase Vote

Off to vote against the school board raising my taxes yet again. We just voted on this last year, but I guess those in power just can't handle the word "No". In my opinion, if you can't hand the $2.5 million dollars you already have, why would I give you more?

Stop increasing administration's and teacher's pay, cut down on the frills (like FOOTBALL) and actually TEACH, there would be more than enough money. Teacher's deserve the same pay as everyone else, and in my area they are getting it. Do the job you were hired to do for the pay you agreed, and stop giving the school officials a salary of over $100K, and we will have more than enough cash for such a small school district.

I like the idea of closing the schools. Give the responsibility back where it belongs, to the parents, to make sure their children are educated. Home school or private school would be WAY better than what we have now. Okay, I am not going to get off into a tirade about the public school system yet again. I don't have the time, need to go vote.

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Okay, I am back. I had to stop by the grocery store to pick up a couple of items for Thanksgiving. I have almost everything, but needed a graham cracker crust. I was planning on making pumpkin pie, I would have made the crust for that, but Chocolate Cream Pie was requested, and I don't know how to make a graham cracker crust.

So far my menu for Thursday looks like this:

Turkey (no really!!)
Cornbread dressing
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Green Beans
Rolls
Chocolate Pie
Molasses Cookies

Back to the grocery store story...I was in line to pay for my groceries. I was talking to the girls, and wasn't paying attention to the cashier. As I was approaching my turn to be checked out, I noticed she was scanning the items off of the computer, and she handed the lady in front of me some money. I thought she had accidentally included my items with the lady in front of me. The cashier immediately bagged my items and was handing them to me. Confused, I asked if she was going to scan them first. She told me that they had already been paid for by the woman in front of me. I was surprised and thrilled, as I am dreadfully short of money at this point. I hadn't bought much ($23.80 worth). This was such a blessing for me, and I wish I could have thanked the woman, but she left really fast. I live in a small town, and have seen her before, and actually we used to attend the same church a long time ago. I don't recall her name, but know that she works at the school, and her husband is a teacher.

My grocery items consisted of:

a box of Clementine oranges
1 quart of milk
2 tubs of Cool Whip
2 packages of brown and serve rolls (too lazy to make my own)
a jar of spaghetti sauce
graham cracker pie crust

That's it, but still a blessing none the less.

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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.