Monday, July 14, 2014

It's that time of year again....

It's been a busy week around here.  We've been picking squash/zucchini, giving it away, putting it up and eating it every day.  I don't think our plants have ever lasted this long or produced this much!  I've grated and frozen enough squash to have squash/zucchini bread all through the winter.  Now, I'm dehydrating it!
I do most of it plain to add to soups and stews in the winter. But I also lightly salt some of it because it makes the best "chips" in the world!

The green beans have started.  Last week Elijah and I picked over a bushel. Mom and I sat and snapped beans together for about 5 hours while we chatted and then I began canning.

I've done about half of what I need for the year. This is one afternoon's work.  The beans should be ready to pick again this week.  I think I'll wait till the cold front hits.  If what they predict is true, I'll be picking green beans in 60 degree weather.  Can't say I've ever done that before!

While I'm snapping and stringing the beans, I take the shorter, thinner beans and set them aside for dilly beans.  If you've never had dilly beans, you are missing a real treat!  I added one cayenne pepper from our garden to each jar - we like things spicy around here!
Of course this happened in the middle of things...

They are so cute and we loved seeing them get big enough to go to new homes! They like to hide in my car engine - it is their kitten playground.  Every time I needed to go someplace, I had to plan extra time to get them out.  It becomes quite a pain.  So glad I don't have to do that anymore. Thank you to everyone who adopted a kitten!

We've celebrated a lot of birthdays lately.  I've made a lot of these fresh strawberry pies!
I can't begin to tell you how much better a fresh strawberry pie is compared to a baked strawberry pie. My kids have begun to request them frequently.

For our 4th of July celebration, we did homegrown steaks on the grill, baked potatoes, green salad, green beans and this Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake...let the drooling commence!

Just to entice you further... here is a slice up close...

Brownie crust, candy layer, cheesecake layer, chocolate and chopped peanut butter cups....wow!  It tasted even better than you can imagine.  I froze half of it to share the next time one of my kids are over. First come - first serve kids!

I'm planning on teaching a soap making class this Sunday for some people who are visiting from Chicago. They really want to learn how before they head home..if you are interested in learning how to make soap correctly I'll share more on that tomorrow!

I will be attempting to make a natural sunscreen today for the first time....I'll let you know how that goes...pictures and all....success or disaster!

Headed out to get the farm "batten down" for the huge storm we are supposed to get...

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