Queen's Edge Farm: Thursday Happenings

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Thursday Happenings

Yesterday, I spent most of the day in bed as my sinus infection was worse. Hannah sat beside me and we worked in her math workbook. She is doing really well with addition and subtraction. Lauren read most of the day. She was able to finish the Little Princess book and is getting ready to start Anne of Green Gables next. At least that is my plan.

This morning I was up early, after getting zero sleep last night, due to coughing all night. We headed over to a play date with Bonita and her children. Her little girl is only a year older than Hannah, and they LOVE playing Barbies. Today when we arrived we were greeted by the month old goat triplets. They came "baaaiing" around the house led by the Doberman. It was a cute sight. The triplets soon ran off, and kept peeking at us around the corner of the house.

We had lunch of chicken noodle soup. Bonita's little boy wasn't feeling well, and slept on her lap all day. He is such a cutie. I love his blonde, curly hair and ruddy face.

The girls went out to the sheep/goat pasture and chased the baby animals, and basically just ran all over after the dogs, kittens, geese and such. They are always mad to have to leave her house.

I am really glad that I met Bonita, as she will be really close once we move to the land. That's pretty cool, not to mention we like a lot of the same things, and she's a Christian which is wonderful too. I like the fact that she can teach me how to butcher my own animals, which I hope to be able to do once the baby is born, if not sooner. I just need Rodney to get a deer, and to get some meat chickens to butcher in the Spring. Bonita has some Cornish broilers that are a really good choice, and that I have been thinking of getting for a while, but they really need to be butchered once they reach a certain age/weight or they end up having problems due to their heavy size. And since I don't currently know how to do it myself, Bonita said she'd teach me. Plus, once my meat rabbit production starts in full swing she'll show me how to do that too. She actually processes her own deer/hog, etc., instead of sending to the butcher, which will prove to be a big money saver, IF I can learn how.

Rodney is supposed to go hunting between December 8th-12th on a guided hunt. Hopefully, he will be able to get two does, which will definitely help fill the freezer. Now if he can just get a hog also, we can make sausage.

Bonita and I sat talking for several hours on her back porch while the kids ran around, it was really nice to rest from my normal hectic days. She also lent me a box of really great Thanksgiving and Texas History picture/story books that the girls and I can read next week.

Well, I'm off to read, hope everyone is having a great week!

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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.