My Favorite Cornbread

   One of my favorite childhood memories is eating fresh baked cornbread from the table of our neighbor, a sweet older lady that was like a grandmother to us. She seemed to always have it sitting there for us to run inside after playing, and grab a piece to take back outside and play. Her cornbread was probably the best I have ever had. They would grind their own cornmeal every year from an old stone wheel corn grinder that was more than 100 years old.
    After years of trying to cook cornbread like my sweet neighbor, I finally came up with a recipe that was close to hers. I do hope to grind my own corn mill in the near future, so hopefully it will taste even closer to hers with the fresh cornmeal.

Buttered Bread Homestead's Country Cornbread

1/4 cup of cooking oil

2 cups of white or yellow cornmeal

2 Tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 cup of buttermilk

1 cup of milk

1 farm fresh egg

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour oil into a cast iron 8" skillet and put into oven as it is preheating. 

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients and mix well. Set aside.

Combine buttermilk, milk, and slightly beaten egg. Whisk to combine.

Pour wet ingredients into bowl containing dry ingredients and whisk to combine. 

Remove skillet from oven and carefully swirl oil inside pan to coat sides of pan.

Pour batter into hot oil, stir slightly.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Remove and serve hot with butter and raw honey. 

Wood Chip Gardening

   
      I have been very busy lately hauling wood chips to the Garden. If you have not checked out  www.backtoedenfilm.com you must. This free film on gardening with wood chips just blew me away! This method of gardening mimics the nature floor of the forest. If you have ever looked at the forest floor you will notice how rich the soil is, and how well trees and bushes grow with out any work.
    I have been using wood chips on my flowers for years, but never thought about using them in the veggie gardens. I always had great results with my flowers using the wood chips, so I am so excited about my 2013 veggie gardens. The wood chips are a very low maintenance way of gardening, keeping the garden moist underneath the chips, so watering will be very minimal. While weeds can easily take over your garden, this method keeps weeds down. The wood chips act as a tea compost, giving your plants natural fertilization. This method requires no tilling, and the only garden tool you will need is a garden rake. How wonderful is that? One more bonus is, it also keeps pest down, because the pest literally drown when they bite on the plants, because of the high water volume.
   Wood chips are pretty easy to get for FREE (my favorite price), usually by tree trimming companies that are in need of dumping them, while trimming trees for electrical companies. Another place you might find them is through your near by cities department of maintenance, which would only require you go pick it up at their location.
   

But Somehow one never had time to stop and savor the taste of life as the stream of it flowed by. It would be good to find some quiet inlet where the waters were still enough for reflection, where one might sense the joy of the moment, rather than plan breathlessly for a dozen mingled treats in the future.

                              Kathleen Norris~

Homemade Pancakes

Nothing like some Hot Pancakes on a cold fall morning, or any morning for that matter! My little children just beg for these at breakfast. So after trying several recipes this is our favorite, here on the farm. Hope you all enjoy, and remind them to kiss the cook!

Down on the Farm Pancakes

2 Cups Buttermilk

1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) of Real Butter, Melted and Cooled

2 Large Fresh Farm Brown Eggs

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 Teaspoon of Baking Soda

3 Tablespoons of Granulated Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Kosher Salt

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Add together Buttermilk, with melted butter and egg: set aside. Whisk together flour, baking soda, sugar and salt, and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Very gently mix together. Mixture should be thick and lumpy; Do Not Over Mix. Add vanilla.

Heat a griddle to 350 degrees. Scoop mixture using a 1/4 measuring cup. Pour onto heated griddle, when middle begins to bubble and edges look dry, turn over to brown the other side.  Serve while piping hot with REAL maple syrup. Other great topping... Bananas and walnuts, Homemade strawberry syrup, Homemade blueberry syrup, fried skillet apples... the list goes on and on.

Fall Time In My Neck Of The Woods

The generous autumn days are come, The merriest of the year, With dewy morns and rosy eves, And harvest moonlight clear; The hoar-frost shineth thin and white O'er mountain and o'er plain; It gems the faded grass And the stubble of the grain.   What time the day-dawn flecks the east, A gauzy, filmy veil Floats o'er the crystal river, In the hollow of the vale. The bearded oats, the juicy wheat, Have all been gather'd in, The latest crispy husk of corn Is garner'd in the bin.   The apples of the orchard, Red with the sun's caress, Enrich the farmer's cellars Or feed the cider-press. Now is the season's carnival, The fête-time of the year, When the blithe October breezes Blow bracingly and clear.   When husking frolics in the barn, Or the flooding broad moonlight, Prolong with jocund dance and song The watches of the night. For all the toil of seed-time And the harvest now are o'er, Save where the flail resoundeth On the busy threshing-floor.   Now when the genial breezes Sweep through the fading wood, Tossing the scarlet maples, And the oak leaves many-hued; Ere dawns the day o'er hill and lawn, The sportsman takes his way To upland moor, or woodland haunts, Or open breezy bay.   The outlying deer are now afoot, To browse the dew-wet grass, Or pause to taste the crystal brook, And lakelet clear as glass; The brown quail in the cedar copse Leads forth her hungry brood. The partridge whirs through open glade, Or through the hemlock wood.   Now o'er the salt and sedgy marsh, Where bends the rustling reed, The piper and the plover On the briny shallows feed. The black-duck and the widgeon Are swimming in the bay, The geese and brant in black platoons Defile their long array.   It is the sportsman's festival, The year's most glorious time, When the dahlia and the aster Are in their golden prime, When the rainbow-painted forests Are resplendently aflame, When every healthful breath we draw Adds vigor to the frame.   The sweetest of our Northern bards Hath sung in mournful lay Of the dreary time of autumn-- Of the "sad" October day. But methinks the changeful glories, The sport, the harvest cheer, Make the autumnal season The brightest of the year.     More poems by Isaac McLellan

Give us this day our daily bread.

Matthew 6:11

Homemade Applesauce

Homemade Applesauce

Paula Reds make great applesauce

One of my favorite times of the year is fall apple picking time. Every year we visit a local orchard that's been in our area as long as I can remember, the apples are great. This year I ask the lady at the orchard which apples makes the best applesauce, and she said the Paula Reds. This apple is a beautiful apple that has a bit of tartness, and it's also a soft apple. So I just made homemade applesauce for the first time, and it's so good! I don't think I can ever eat grocery  applesauce again. 

Processing the apples into sauce.

Canning Bath.

Beautiful Canned Applesauce

The recipe I use is super easy, and my new Victorio Food Strainer takes out all the hard work and time. With the Victorio Food Strainer there is no need to peel or seed the apples, just destem and cut in quarters. Very Easy, just like I like it. 

Love this Food Strainer

Applesauce Recipe

2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds apples per quart

Water 

Sugar (optional)

Wash apples and drain. Remove stems and quarter apples. (When using the Victorio Food Strainer, there is no need to peel core, or remove seeds. If using a food processor core and peel apples) Cook apples until soft in a large saucepot with just enough water to prevent sticking. When cool, place apples in the food strainer and process into sauce. Return apple pulp to saucepot. Add 1/4 cup sugar per pound of apples or to taste. Note: When using Paula Reds sugar is not needed. Bring applesauce to boil (212F.) stirring to prevent sticking. Maintain temperature at a boil (212F.) while filling jars. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2 - inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two piece caps. Process pints and quarts 20 minutes in a boiling-water canner.

   Recipe Variation: Spiced applesauce can be made by adding ground spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg or allspice, to the sauce during the last 5 minutes of cooking. For chunky sauce, coarsely crush half of the cooked apples, process remaining apples through food strainer. Combine crushed and sauced apple mixture; continue as for applesauce.