Queen's Edge Farm: The Greatest Birthday Gift Ever

Saturday, April 25, 2009

The Greatest Birthday Gift Ever

I know it's two days past my birthday, but I like to celebrate it for about a week ;-) even the City of San Antonio celebrates my birthday week by having an Annual Fiesta that is attended by thousands. Just for me! LOL!

This morning the girls and their dad drove into town to see the new Hannah Montana Movie. Normally, I like to see a movie first before they see it, but I haven't been able to go as the baby isn't able to sit through a movie yet. Here's hoping it is acceptable, though I am sure they have seen worse just by the girls in the neighborhood walking home from school. The movie is rated G so I am hoping it is a true rating. The girls were of course excited as they don't often get to go to a movie theater, let alone with just their dad. They will of course talk him into buying them lunch and a lot of snacks from the snack bar. He is a pushover for them so of course he'll come home broke.

This left me alone in a quiet house with just the baby. I put him in his crib, by himself, around 10 a.m. and he laid there quietly talking to himself (or it might have been the ceiling fan, he is in love with the fan) for an hour! I was able to sweep the foyer, put laundry away, pick up some trash, and wash one dish drainer full of dishes before he started screaming. I then fed him, and we went to lunch at Sonic. Just us two! It feels strange.

He fell asleep on the way home, but woke up shortly afterwards, so I fed him again, and he fell asleep around 1 p.m. I managed to put a load of diapers in the washer, and finish the dishes (except one pan, it's soaking). This may not sound like a lot, and if you saw my house you'd think I hadn't done anything, but for me it's a lot. The baby is such a crier. I've taken to finally putting him down and letting cry or putting him in his swing. At three months he can sit for awhile while I wash dishes at least.

So, this was a great gift to be almost by myself for the day. I'd really love an entire day that I could just clean (sounds sick doesn't it) and mop my floors. I really love to have my house spotless, and to bake, though my DH would disagree. He thinks I like having the house messy. I really don't, I am just SO tired lately. PB (Pre-baby) I had finally established a house cleaning routine along with the home schooling routine and it was working great, but it all blew up when I became pregnant. The last part of the pregnancy was painful, and the aftermath of caring for a new baby has taken it's toll on this 40 year old. Man, babies are for the young let me tell you.

I really admire women like Michelle Duggar who can have a lot of children and Kate Gosselin too, and can keep their house clean. It's a dream of mine. But as someone once told me "the dirty dishes will still be there once your kids are grown and gone, so enjoy the kids and forget the mess". I am just not so sure my DH buys into this philosophy ;-)

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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.