When Earth's last picture is painted

And the tubes are twisted and dried

When the oldest colors have faded

And the youngest critic has died

We shall rest, and faith, we shall need it

Lie down for an aeon or two

'Till the Master of all good workmen

Shall put us to work anew

And those that were good shall be happy

They'll sit in a golden chair

They'll splash at a ten league canvas

With brushes of comet's hair

They'll find real saints to draw from

Magdalene, Peter, and Paul

They'll work for an age at a sitting

And never be tired at all.

And only the Master shall praise us.

And only the Master shall blame.

And no one will work for the money.

No one will work for the fame.

But each for the joy of the working,

And each, in his separate star,

Will draw the thing as he sees it.

For the God of things as they are!

Rudyard Kipling

As I prepare for the Thanksgiving Holidays and my guests start to arrive I leave you with the words of Rudyard Kipling.

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Loose Ends

With venison in the coolers on ice and soaking in a salt water solution. We start looking to making space in the freezer for our bounty. I found a cookie sheet of tomatoes which were the last of the season picked when the tomato rings were pulled up from the garden. So they went into the crock pot to cook down.

Before it gets too cold the last of the old hens were butchered. We timed that one well because when they were butchered none had eggs in them so they had all quit laying. There was no need to feeding them through the winter so they are going in the freezer as meat for casseroles and such. All that is left now are the younger hens that I raised this spring and the 2 roosters which we will keep until new ones are hatched next year. 

The broth will be frozen up for use in soups and I will use some for Thanksgiving preparations.

I found spinach on sale and ricotta cheese so I made up some stuffed shells to freeze. Some with spinach, ricotta and parmesan cheese.   

 Some just with cheeses

Those frozen tomatoes became sauce for the small batch of shells we had for dinner cooked with Italian sausage and topped with mozzarella cheese with a side of homemade garlic bread.

The remainder of the stuffed shells were individually frozen on baking sheets and then wrapped individually in clear wrap and then put into Ziploc bags and returned to the freezer. I can take out the number that I need depending on the number of diners. With homemade spaghetti sauce canned in jars to go over the top and venison Italian sausage this will be easy meals in the future. 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Thanksgiving Preparations

Well the company has gone home! Number One son returned home . O Wise One put him on a plane Thursday with his cooler of frozen venison freezer ready. So I am now on to the next occasion. Thanksgiving...... Our Thanksgiving table will be full with Fred and her husband, Mr. Fred, Gracie and Baby Hank. There will be O Wise One and Baby O and of course the Canned Quilter. Also this year we will have Fred's childhood friend Valerie and her husband Adam from St. Louis and a new face at our table from Fred's work. One of her coworkers is unable to travel home to be with her family and Fred has extended an invitation to have Thanksgiving dinner with our family.  So we will not be lacking for hungry mouths as the count is now at 9!    

CLEANING

So this weekend will be spent cleaning house and washing sheets and preparing the guest room for Val and Adam who will be staying there.

SHOPPING

I have some last minute shopping to do but the bulk of the dinner will be coming from my pantry and freezer. My turkey is in the freezer and I will be making pumpkin cheesecake dessert with my home canned pumpkin, pecan pie with my Hickery Holler pecans, duck dressing with the ducks they killed last week. Of course there will be mashed potatoes and gravy. Fred is making a sweet potato casserole  and Val is making a green bean casserole. I will have to decide on rolls or bread. So the menu planning is done. I will make up my dressing ahead of time and refrigerate until ready to use. My pumpkin dessert can also be made ahead. I have a wonderful recipe for make ahead mashed potatoes also.  I will have as much of the food prepared ahead as possible. I find that doing so makes for a much more relaxed holiday and less stress on me.

I will have to decide on linens, dishes and serving pieces to make sure they are clean and ready to go. 

How about everyone else's Holiday preparations? I would love to hear about them. What are you having and how do you prepare for these gatherings?

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

A Family Weekend

Friday while O Wise One went to the airport to pick up #1 son I did the last of the pumpkin I am going to do. There are still pumpkins out there but having almost 30 jars of cooked pumpkin and lots of pumpkin puree in the freezer it is time to stop. The remaining pumpkins will become food for the chickens.  

Friday afternoon after school we all went to a party. Graci turned 9.

it was a typical little girls party with pretty rainbow cakes.....

 And balloons and presents....

And lots of squeals and giggles.........

There are very few leaves left now on the trees. Dry and brown and gnarled but still tenaciously hanging there. Every morning there is a little more ice in the animal water bowls. We wait and anticipate knowing that it is coming. Soon there will be lots of ice and snow to deal with. Winter will not be put off much longer.

There are a few gentle reminders that spring was ever here. The occasional rosebud frozen on the bush. Drying out but still evidence that indeed it once bloomed and will bloom again come spring. 

The chickens are still enjoying their afternoon forages though.

And Riley is still standing guard. After all a little 15 pound dog needs to guard all his humans against those pesky critters that sneak up on us. O Wise One caught a marauding coon in the chicken yard which has really got Riley on the watch now.  It's an invasion and Riley will not be caught unaware.

 #1 son and my son-in-law brought me home a couple ducks they killed and I think I will make some of my mothers duck dressing. She used to make it for Thanksgiving every year. It has been a weekend for family. Lots of chicken gumbo and we had a good old Louisiana shrimp boil Sunday night. With corn on the cob and potatoes and onions boiled with the shrimp in a spicy water. Lots of scrabble games and mouse trap.  Grand babies playing and parents visiting. Homemade Salsa and chips and everyone had to try a little hooch. But all good thing must end and little ones get sleepy and Monday morning is a new work week. So they all pack up and go home to bed.

Indeed life is good and we are thankful for all that we have and especially family.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

There's Deer in Them Hills!

It's a cold and rainy early morning here in Hickery Holler. It is the first day of another deer season. Indeed we fight deer all during the year here on the farm. It is a full time job sometimes trying to keep the deer out of the fruit trees and gardens not to mention the damage they can do to the flowers and bushes. They seem to be particularly fond of my peaches. When we are not trying to keep them from eating the fruit trees and gardens we are trying to keep from hitting them with our vehicles. Does anyone have any idea how much damage a deer can do to a vehicle! So for us the solution is to harvest them.

So once a year we hunt. What we kill we eat. It becomes venison roasts and ground venison. Venison sausage and venison jerky. We kill and butcher our own meat because I am so picky about my meat. The last thing I want is alot of hair, bone or membrane in my meat. I know it is clean. Yes I am just that obsessive. We have our own meat saw, grinder, tenderizer and vaccuum sealer. We also dehydrate our own jerky. So for now I must go because I have lots of coffee and biscuits to make for hungry hunters. My oldest son has flown in to stay for a week to help hunt. At the end of the week I hope to have lots of venison for the coming year.

I'll leave you with a few shots of hunts past.....

Happy Hunting

and

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Taking Stock & Stocking Up

This is the state of the floor in my kitchen. It was time to clean out the pantry. After a heavy canning season I still have pumpkins to go in jars, and frozen tomatoes to be processed and chickens to be butchered before it gets too cold. And no more shelf room for jars. So everything came out of the pantry and O Wise One added shelves. The existing shelves were wiped down. The baseboards were treated for spiders and ants. So I am again in business. For now...

It seems that canning is a year round exercise for me. There are still pecans to be cracked and shelled out. O Wise One and I crack them and put them on cookie sheets and sit at the table and shell them as we watch tv at night.

I will also hit some of the sales at this time of year when they put baking supplies on sale. With food prices going up we cut coupons and hit sales as much as possible. Flour is on sale right now and I will buy some extra to put in the freezer.  

It takes a lot of room to store all the large bowls and pots, hot water canners and pressure cookers, dehydrators, grinders, meat saws and racks that we use during the year to can and preserve food.  This shelving system was expensive but we love that we can continuously add to it as we need more shelves. They collect very little dust because they are open and we can hang peppers and other stuff on the front of them to dry.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

America Says Thank You

On this cold and drizzly Fall morning I return to blogging after a long bout with a bad cold. Like most of America I join in thanking our veterans today. I thank them for serving. I thank them for their sacrifices and dedication to this country. I thank those who fought and died and pray for the families left behind. Like most Americans I can name many in my family that have served through the generations. I am the daughter of a veteran. The wife of a veteran and the mother of a veteran. 

"O Wise One" was a military policeman in the United States Army.

My middle son Brian was an airmen in the United States Air Force. One of my most prized possessions is a letter from the Secretary Of The Air Force with a gold pin commemorating being his mother and his service in the "war against terrorism".

My late father was a merchant marine in World War II. He talked very little of his experiences during the war as I was growing up. In the last days of his life as he lay dying in the hospital of Cancer he relived many of those memories. Through a fog of morphine and pain he talked of men burning on the water and death at sea. I as his daughter sat next to his hospital bed and held his hand through the terror and shall never forget the horror as he begged me to put that man floating on the water, burning, out because he was screaming. 60 years later he could still hear those screams. 

I remember my uncle who died in Okinawa Bay during that same war in the Navy. Leaving behind a widow and 2 small children. 

I salute my best friend in Mobile whose son..Kyle..fights in Afghanistan as we speak. I pray for his safety everyday and that God gives his mother peace of mind.    

So from the hills and valleys of Hickery Holler we salute all veterans and send a huge thanks for your service. And to our loved ones who have paid with their lives through the years and the wars of the past. We salute you !!!

Happy Veterans Day 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Sick

They got me!! Last week Baby O, O Wise One, Graci and Baby Hank were all sick with bad colds. Meanwhile I canned pumpkin made Halloween costumes and baked caramel corn and held down the fort. I was so smart and thought I actually would outrun those nasty cold bugs. Well Baby O, Graci and Hank are over theirs, O Wise One is getting there and yes they have shared it with me. The Canned Quilter is down for the moment. I will catch everyone up on my exploits when I feel better so hang in there readers. I shall overcome and return.

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter

Scalloped Turnips

With our first freeze a few days ago the turnip greens are gone. Turnip greens with a little bacon or ham are great along side a thick slab of buttermilk cornbread. So now we are down to the turnip roots themselves. I know alot of people don't like turnips because of the "bite" or that little tang that they all have. It helps if you pick younger turnips before they get hard and strong and woody. The big ones go to the chickens and pigs! I am also going to show you a trick to cooking turnips without that bite. Most people that don't even like turnips like this recipe!

SCALLOPED TURNIPS

Turnips washed, peeled and cubed into 1 inch cubed.(enough cubed turnips for an 8 inch or 2 quart casserole to be filled within 1 inch of the top)

Put turnips in a kettle (pot) of cold water and 1/2 tsp of baking soda.

Cook on medium heat just until they start to boil. At this point they will foam!!!!! They will not be soft.

The baking soda and heat helps to draw out the bitter "bite" of the turnips and mellow the taste.  Remove from heat.

Wash thoroughly and drain well. Put turnips back in pot and cover with cold salted water. Cook until almost tender. Drain.

Put turnips into buttered casserole.

Combine in separate bowl:
1/4 cup sugar
3 heaping Tbsp flour
1 pint Half & Half

Stir well

Pour milk mixture over turnips in casserole. Dot with butter.

Bake in a 325 oven for  about 1 hour.

This make a smooth and creamy scalloped turnip dish. Sometimes I will throw just a handfull of grated cheese in there just because Baby O likes it that way. 

PS: If you are canning turnips cooking them like this in baking soda before putting into jars will greatly mellow the taste of them.. (making sure to rinse well before jarring) 

Blessings from The Holler

The Canned Quilter