Queen's Edge Farm: And the Award goes to.......

Monday, February 16, 2009

And the Award goes to.......

The Sister of the Year Award goes to my sister Ann. She was a great source of comfort and help to me. She came by the hospital several times, especially sneaking in after visiting hours with food from Applebees, and sacks full of groceries (like celery and peanut butter, fruit juice, granola bars and other healthy snacks). It was lonely being there by myself as Rodney couldn't stay up there all the time since he was watching after the girls. I am a night owl, so was normally wide awake at night watching TV and reading books and magazines that Ann brought me. Thanks Ann!

The Mom of the Year Award goes to my mom, Elizabeth. She came out before James was born, and stayed for almost two weeks helping me to get the house in order, and hoping that the baby would be born while she was here. She missed him by a few days, but will be back down in March to see him and my step father's new grandchild, who was born a few days after James. (Okay, Melissa is a copy cat! ;-) - Just joking.....

I do want to take a moment and thank everyone who helped out during my pregnancy and after I had the baby. I am pleading old age, senility, and just plain tiredness.

Thanks also goes to my friend Bonita for providing meals and taking Hannah for several hours to play with her 6 year old daughter
.
Other Thanks go out to:

Rebecca Hall (friend)
Kelly and Cheryl (Pastor and friends)
Mrs. Workman (Pastor's mom, long time church member and friend)
Kim Mitchell
Donna Henderson
The Women at Frugal Christian Wives (thanks for worrying about me)
The Castros (our neighbors who brought food and a baby gift)

If I have forgotten you, I am sorry. I have a list somewhere and am working on writing thank you notes.

**As an update: I went to the doctor today for a two week check up post partum, and the doctor was amazed at how well my c-section incision had healed (I took the herb Arnica afterwards, and I believe it really helped. While I was in extreme pain the first week, this second week I haven't needed any kind of pain reliever.) I have lost 13 lbs, no you can't know how much I weight now!

James had an appointment to have his second PKU done today. He didn't enjoy being messed with....after the appointment I took the girls to eat at Acadiana cafe. We ate in the corner, and I kept the baby's car seat covered with a blanket. Trying to avoid drafts and germs, but I really wanted something to eat other than grilled cheese and fast food. He slept the entire time, and all the way home.

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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.