Queen's Edge Farm

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Yes, another post in the same day. It is just the end of the day and we are winding down. We spent this morning cleaning, then I was working from home a bit, though it was a slow day today.

The girls are having a date night with James. He is Lauren's date, and Hannah is their waitress. They are in the living room having a dinner of crackers by candlelight. They are so cute..they dressed up and everything. He loves it when they play with him. It's almost his bed time so I expect the fussiness to start soon. Lauren just came in and said Jame proposed to her. At dinner he had the crab (vanilla wafers) and she had shrimp (crackers).

We headed up to the gate tonight to slowly pick our way back gathering trash. Lauren patrolled the fence perimeter on the four wheeler and picked up a lot of stray trash. Hannah, James and I picked up trash from the front gate to the house. We'll do the pond and back part of the land another night. Once again, I forgot to put the boxes in the barn, and it is supposed to rain the next few days (Praise God, but I need to get that stuff in the barn.) The girls will be will their dad this weekend, so it will make it hard to get anything done. I'll use the stroller, but he will only entertain himself for so long. Found a dead baby rattlesnake in the driveway, exactly where I park the car when I get out to shut the gate. I must have squished it with the car. Good thing my sandals are broken and I have been wearing my boots.

More later, have to go put the goaties up.

Well, putting the goats up turned into a production. I left it too late and it was dark, though the moon was out (hazy, guess it's going to rain after all). I walked over to the pen with a flashlight, walking slowing and making sure I didn't see any snakes. My eyesight is getting so bad, and I can tell, so I was still scared, worrying I wouldn't see one until it bit me. I get to the pen and Nena is missing. Oh, great it's dark, and I can't leave her out, the coyotes will get her for sure. She's so trusting. I finally found her behind the cabin, curled up asleep.

I called her and she came running, I picked her up and carried her to the pen using the lights of the car to see by.

I forgot to bring the laundry off of the line or my dirty laundry in, it is supposed to rain tonight/tomorrow. So, as much as we need it, I hope it holds off until the a.m. so I can get it inside. It really is hard not having a 220 plug for the dryer, of course I am saving money, but with the rain this past week, it's been hard to get the laundry done. I am almost done, I only have one basket left. It's all washed, dried and folded, still putting it away.

I am so glad the trash was picked up around the land, everything looks really nice. The grass is greening up from the rain. I am torn between leaving everything for the goats to eat, or cutting it down to keep the snakes away. Now, I need to figure out how to put my mail box up. I am expecting a package any time, and I don't want it returned.

Well, off to bed, it's after midnight.

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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.