Habanera Gold

Habanera Gold

November 6,2010

My wonderful husband brings in a large pan of Habanera peppers. For those of you that do not know it, these peppers are insanely hot. He said "How about you can these?" I thought "Into what?" I drag out the good ol' Ball Canning book and looked up Habanera Pepper. I found a recipe called "Habanera Gold" and thought, "OK, I can try this." The recipe is supposed to be for a sweet and sour hot jam that you serve with cheeses, kind of snooty for an ol' country girl, but hey, I had to have something to do with the peppers.

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 Habanera Gold Recipe

Ingredients:
Yield: 3/33Servings Size 250 ml jars
1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricot
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1/4 cup finely diced red pepper
1/4 cup finely diced habanera peppers, with seeds or 1/4 cup finely diced jalapeno, and scotch bonnet peppers combined
3 cups white sugar
1 (3 ounce) envelope liquid pectin
Directions:Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 45 mins


1 Cut apricots into 1/8 inch slices and measure into large stainless steel saucepan with the vinegar; let stand for four hours.
2 Cut onions and peppers into 1/8 inch slices; cut slices into a 1/4 inch dice.
3 Add to apricots and stir in sugar.
4 Bring mixture to a full rolling boil.
5 Stirring constantly, boil hard for one minute.
6 Remove from heat and immediately stir in liquid pectin, mixing well.
7 Stir for about 3 minutes to mix solids, but put into jars before it gets too firm.
8 Pour into hot sterilized jars, dividing solids equally and fill to within 1/4 inch from top of jar.
9 Apply snap lids and process in boiling water bath for 5 minutes if you choose.
10 Once sealed you can rotate or invert jars while still warm to distribute solids if needed.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Due to the large quantity of peppers we had and the small amount required by this recipe I decided to quadruple the recipe.

I cut the apricots and laid them to bed in the vinegar over night, to tackle this project the next day, time enough for me to muster up the courage to deal with these peppers. Morning comes and goes and finally by afternoon I am brave. I pulled out my yellow and red bell peppers and my red onion and have fun chopping and dicing and using my Vidalia Chopper. Then came time to tackle the Habaneras. Sporting a lovely pair of latex gloves to protect my skin from pepper burn, I begin cutting the peppers in two and removing the seeds.

With the Habaneras all split and deseeded it was time for the final rinse. Lo and behold as soon as they hit the water and the mist came up from the peppers I started to cough and gag and sneeze like crazy. I thought for sure I was going to die from anaphylactic shock right then and there. I go to the door and gasp for breath, call for my daughter to find the Benadryl and pull my shirt up over my nose. After taking a little pink pill and with my shirt still over my nose I return to the scene of the crime, the sink. I had left the water running this whole time so the peppers were rinsed well by the now. After draining them, determined to finish my project, I cut the peppers in the tiny cubes, all the while still coughing and sneezing and having to take breaks to get my breath.

Noticing that the "cup" of peppers I started with "halved" became a half cup "diced", I decided that that was plenty of Habanera peppers for this recipe and I would just make up the difference with the extra bell peppers I had. With the Benadryl finally helping ease the allergic reaction I had, I wondered if I should risk the "cooking" process. I thought, "Gosh, if "spray off" from the silly things did that much to me, what on earth will the heated steam do?" Not brave enough to attempt this solo, I called in my hubby to sit with me through the rest of the canning process in case I really needed to have someone call 911 for me. Thank GOD for Benadryl because I got the stuff cooked and in jars with no more near death experiences.

I have to say I will never again attempt this recipe for fear for my life, even though it turned out to be a very pretty jar of Habanera Gold. My "mild" rendition of this turned out to have the taste of a very sweet jam with a after burner hot pickled pepper affect, from the very tiny bit I tasted. It seems like it would be wonderful as a glaze to a ham, that is if I wasn't afraid it would kill me.

Photos taken by Anna Husband



Our Creek

Our Creek

November 4,2010

We have went walking all kinds of places around our area, we almost forgot we have a creek on our property. The lack of rain has given us a wonderful opportunity to be able to walk down our creek that is pretty much dry now. All that is left is a few pools of stagnant water, however pretty they may be with the fallen leaves gathered in it.The first thing my little monkey does is climb a tree, "Mom, look at me!" Adam shouts in accomplishment.

It is hard to believe as we walk over the dry ground that this creek can turn into a raging whirlpool that threatens to come out of its banks during the rainy season. Right now it seems so calm and peaceful.

Fallen trees litter the way, probably some of the reason the creek breaches its banks on occasion.
Austin calls, "Hey mom, are these spores on the back of these leaves?"
"Yep, sure are, good job spotting them," I say after a quick investigation of a small fern growing out of the side of the bank.

"Hey mom, take a picture." Anna requests. Up a tree she and her brother go, both squabbling over the lime light.

A stump has been smoothed by the water rushing by it on so many occasions. A tree fallen overhead of the creek, a reminder of Hurricane Rita. Orangey, the cat leads the way. There are only a few puddles in the creek bed now, probably left over from the recent rain we received earlier this week. Just enough mud to leave behind a nice set of foot prints from our neighbors the Raccoons.

Adam is all boy. He does this trick of hanging upside down from one of the fallen trees across the creek. Not to be out done, Anna copies, monkey see, monkey do. Austin thinks his brother and sister are crazy.

The high grass shows how long the ground has been dry. This area should be covered with water. Ahead lies a fallen tree that was here since we moved here, it is mostly rotten now.

We get to the trestle, long forgotten by the railroad. The train has not come through our town since the early 1990s. I remember as a child walking down to the train track and laying pennies on the rails hoping to get a squished penny from it, a treasure to a small country girl. With a closer inspection of the old trestle we see that the remains of it was put to good use, honey bees are using it for their honey fort. We leave them alone so they will continue to pollinate our garden each spring.

The little monkeys find the swinging vine, and take turns swinging across the little gully as brother looks on with amusement.

 Dad finds a bucket washed down from the rains, so he takes advantage of it while he waits by our fence for us to catch up.  Donkey also waited impatiently for us to cross the fence. He wants his family in the fence if he has to be in there. We cross into the pasture, being careful of the ornery donkey and head home.

It was a very nice walk without ever leaving our land.

Book, Books, and More Books

Books, Books, and More Books

November 5, 2010

So, I have this addiction. I LOVE books!



My bookshelf



Not only do I love them, I have a fetish that makes me have to have complete sets. If there is a series I must get the whole series, or it drives me nuts. So every time I go to the book store I look for a new book or a book to finish a series. The problem I have is that I like Amish books and I can never remember which ones I have and which ones I need. If you have ever seen the Amish book section they all look very similar, all adorned with kapps and horse drawn buggies.

Here is just a few of my many books.

Wanda Brunstetter is a favorite of mine.

So is Beverly Lewis

See how one can get confused easily? Well today I came across the really cool little app for my iPhone called iBookshelf.

Here is the app page for it : http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibookshelf/id314982342?mt=8.

Anyway it makes a complete listing of the books you have, even books you may want and all you have to do is scan them it with the camera scanner that is on you iPhone. The app only costs $1.99. Now, how cool is that?! So now I can go to the store with iPhone in hand and never have to put a book I want back because I wasn't sure I did not already have it. Yes, I am a dork to blog about it but I am really excited about this app, not to mention I get plum tickled anytime I can find a reason to use the bar code scanner on my iPhone! So, happy scanning and hope this helps out other book lovers like me.

Calhoun Point Trek

Calhoun Point Trek

October 31, 2010

Another day of walking in the great outdoors was on our agenda. We headed out to what Stewart calls Calhoun Point but we had named "Dave's Place" after my brother-in-law David who chose this as "his camping spot." With our packs in tow, we head out on the expanding sandy beach that was created by the lack of rain. We saw a sand piper walking along the shore, we got within a pretty good range of it but we turned away so we would not disturb it from getting its lunch. Austin came across a black caterpillar. I announce "Oh cool a Woolly Bear!", hoping the kids thought I was talking about a real bear but I didn't fool them any. Anna found a set of raccoon tracks "Mom, the back foot looks like a kids foot print!"

Where we was walking, was far enough out that if the water level had been where it should be, the water would have been over our heads. This made for an interesting view of what has been a camping spot before. Stewart walked up to a stump and said " Hey, I think this may have been where we put out our trot lines before."  I looked around viewing the place we would have been swimming and commented, "Well, at least when we come back we don't have to worry about the kids swimming out here, there are no drop offs." We kept walking around the point and we come upon a rocky area.

Adam brings me a rock "Mom, this looks like it has Chinese writing on it!" I comment, "Well more like cuneiform but yes it does look like writing, but I think it is just wear marks." Austin brings a funny rock to me that looks like a skull. Anna is busy trying to get out on the rocky muddy mound without getting wet. "I can do it mom...really I can..."

Then Adam gets up on top of the hill. "Hi, mom!!" Then Anna comes up and takes the hill by storm. "Hee, hee" she says with a grin, the little stinker. 

Out on the next point was a very large expanse of beach. Stewart and I sit on an old log that was a piece of driftwood. It was a very scenic view from where I sat resting. Withs the kids out investigating the beach we enjoyed the peacefulness of GOD's great world. We sat with full contentment watching the kids run races, play in the sand, and look at bugs. Adam comes up and sets with us to watch for a while, of course he uses his monocular so he can see them better. "Mom, Anna is very far away!" he says, looking up I notice his monocular is turned around backwards, on purpose of course.

"Mom, this is Fred. Fred is my friend. I want to keep Fred. I will take care of him and... and..."

Hmmm..."Anna, Fred needs to stay here, this is his home."

"But Moooommm, I like him!"

"Yep, lets get a picture so you can remember him." "OK, now go toss Fred in the lake far out so he can live."

By the way, in case you didn't know, "Fred" is a fresh water mussel she had found.

We had our rest and it was time to head back. Stewart suggests we go back through the wooded trial instead of covering ground we had already covered. Austin found some briar trees that had no leaves, something that must be googled during school. Adam found a piece of a log that looked like a hatchet, so he totes it around whacking on various bushes and trees with his "axe." We walk and Adam swears we are not going the right way.

"What if we are lost. What if we never find our car. What if...What if..."

"Adam, trust me sweety, I know where we are going."

I love spending a wonderful day with my family, I would not trade it for anything in the world. We laugh, learn, and love GOD's beautiful gift to mankind, the outdoors.

Harvesting the Corn

Harvesting the Corn

November 1, 2010

We have tried for several years to grow corn. Most of the time we would get a few spindly stalks with no ears or we would grow great stalks with scrawny ears. This years after our purple hull harvest Stewart had decided to plant some corn just to have something to grow in the pea patch. We assumed it would do poorly as it had in the past but much to our surprise it did really well.

Shucking corn by the pig pen seemed like the perfect place to do the job. They would shuck the husks and toss them to our pot belly piggies and then cut off any bad spots and give them to the pigs or the donkey. Our little piggies thought they was in Heaven.

Adam comes up to me with corn silk on his head and says, "Mom, now I know how they make wigs!" I just love that child's imagination.

We harvested over 290 ears of corn off of this small corn patch. We blanched and bagged right around 50 gallon bags of corn on the cob. Thank you LORD for such a bountiful harvest.

Tri-Birthday Party

Happy Birthday Austin, and Anna, and Adam

OK so this may be the "lazy and cheap" way to do a birthday party but it works for us! My kids birthdays are two weeks apart, starting in the middle of October ending in the middle of November. My solution is have a party on the middle birthday and throw it for all three, only a small party and only family.

 It saves so much time and money by only having to buy food and cake and decorations for one party. Also  it is nice to only have one gathering with the family since Thanksgiving is in November too. Aside from the tri-party, on or around the actual date of the birth of each child we cooked them a big breakfast of their choice, take them out to the movies or someplace special, and out to eat and shopping to spend their birthday money, and I cook them a dessert that they choose. It is still easier for me to do it this way rather than a traditional "party per kid" way.

They all seem very happy with this idea and they all had a great birthday this year. I have some awesome kids. They were all patient and took turns blowing out their candles and opening presents. The way we do the candle blowing is I start out the cake with the fifteen candles needed this year for my oldest Austin, then I remove five and relight, and then remove two more and relight so each kids gets Happy Birthday sang to them and all get to blow out candles. Stewart cooked some burgers on the grill and we had cake, then the cousins all played and the adults set around and chatted till it was time to leave. A successful party for 2010!

Blackforest Walkabout

Blackforest Walkabout

October 23,2010

We was bored so we decided to go on another walk, just a short one because it was getting late. We drove down to the end of the road in the Black-forest community where the road dead ends into Lake Sam Rayburn. The lack of rain has left the lake really low so we had plenty of beach area. The sun was setting and was quite beautiful.



Anytime we go on a walk into the great world of nature we always carry our adventure science bags. They have containers and tweezers and magnifying glasses, paper and pencils and bug identification books. All the things a young scientist will need to take samples and investigate the world around them. I labeled these their S.C.O.U.T. bags...Science Class Outdoor Unique Tour..yes a bit of a stretch to get the name I wanted but hey it worked.




Anna and Austin with their S.C.O.U.T. bags in tow

Adam forgot his bag but that didn't slow him down any. He just had his loving family help keep up with his treasures he found along the way. Being a bit more free worked well for Adam, he was excited and full throttle the whole time.

 



We walked along the beach looking at shells, foot prints, feathers, plants, and crawdad holes. Every time I would stop to take a picture I would announce "Oh cool, check it out" and then to my surprise I would get the back of a little head in my view finder of my camera!

Above pic left to right: an emergent plant, raccoon track, mini sand dunes, Adam's curiosity, a feather, crawdad hole, a large dog or cat print, and a deer or hog print.

We came upon a very large dead fish which did not smell the greatest but it had large scales that became part of our treasures for study.

 


Adam "Eewww gross!!"

 

Once we got out to the point of the beach the wind started to pick up and blew the sand across the beach. A mini dust storm was the one thing we will remember the most. The way the sand slithered along the ground was almost spiritual. It reminded me of the plague in Egypt of the death of the first born that you see on shows. The way that it slinked and weaved in and around each bush and grass clump. It was a great lesson for the kids because last week we learned about the great dust storms the U.S. had back in the 1930s.




Anna got a bit far ahead and had to come back facing the storm.

 

The sun had set and it was time to leave. Though it was a short adventure, it was a good one!




The setting sun over the tree line. Simply Beautiful.

 



Boykin Lake Mini-Hike

Boykin Lake Mini-Hike

October, 17, 2010

A beautiful fall day we opted to go for a mini hike around Boykin Springs area. We love going walking in nature, I always try to print out a outdoor scavenger hunt list. Here is a link to one of many you can google online or make up your own if you have time of things in your area.  
http://www.campingtripfun.com/scavenger-hunt.html 
This time I printed one list and we all looked for the items but you can also print separate lists and do it as a race but I think that the kids get to caught up in "winning" instead of enjoying.

So I was the official list keeper and camera man (err... woman). We took pictures of flowers, and insects,

lizards, and minnows,

mosses and leaves.

We spent time discussing the items we have studied in our botany class and promising to Google the things we didn't recognize  when we get home. We walked investigating the wonderful world GOD created for us. If you can walk in nature and not see GODs handy work in every little detail then I feel for you, it is a solid reminder that the world was created by a Master Craftsman and there is no way possible we "evolved".

To watch my children completely engaged in nature and the excitement you never catch on their faces when in front of a TV screen, I am assured we are making beautiful memories.




Collage of our day

The top two pics to the left are of the dry creek bed we came across.

The two pics to the top right is some kind of wild wheat I presume.

Large pic to the left middle is Boutin Lake which we walked around.

A pic of me with the kids and a pic with my hubby with them.

A pic of changing leaves, purple flower, fence post lizard, yellow flowers, & a spiny orb weaver.

  We had a picnic lunch at the nearby picnic shelter.

An idea was brought up that we needed to build a shelter like this on our property. I quickly reminded them that we had an arbor that is much the same as this.

Adam is enjoying his turkey sandwich but would still like to have a BIG arbor like this. He tells how there would be room for a living room and bedrooms. Once again I have to say no.

Austin quickly reminds me that teenagers do not like pictures taken when they have food in their mouth.

Anna is enjoying her apple very much, she doesn't mind one bit that I take her picture.

We had a wonderful day on our hike and picnic. I can't wait to go again, next time we will go to a different place, just to keep it interesting.



Bugs, Birds, & Swiss Family Robinson

 Bugs, Birds, and Swiss Family Robinson

"We are all meant to be naturalists, each in his own degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." ~Charlotte Mason

Not wanting to venture out into the East Texas summer heat for too long I sat on the porch listening to the children chatter about this or that. I look up at the roof and notice this nice little fellow sitting quietly by, listening along with me. He wore a suit of camouflage and at once, I could tell he was a gentleman, nicely folding his hands together as he waited for his dinner

I say "Oh look children! Do you see him?" The kids come bounding up the steps to have a look.
"Mom, do you think he is the one we let go?" Anna questions.

"Could be?" is my reply. I ask them if they see that he is wearing his "camo" outfit today. They giggle with glee as we discuss how he changes colors to blend into the surroundings.

"If he lands on something blue, will he turn blue?" Adam asked with hope.
"No dear, they blend into colors of nature, greens, browns and such. There isn't many blue things he would need to hide on," I answer completely amused at the minds of my children.

"One was in the car the other day," Adam mentions.

"Really? Did he turn burgundy?" I jokingly ask.

Smiling sheepishly, Adam replies, "No!"

Next, we notice an old flower pot we had hanging that Dad had taken down yesterday. Inside the basket was an abandoned bird nest with three eggs in it.
"Do you think they are still babies in the eggs?" Austin worries.

"No, these have been here for a while. The one I tried to pick up crumbled in my fingers as soon as I touched it. Most likely the cats got the parents." regretfully I answer.

"What kind of bird was it momma?" Adam says peering into the basket.

"Looks like a wren, you know the small brown birds we see all the time."

 Adam notices something scaly looking, "Is that a snake skin in there?"

"No, it is the plastic from the basket...see... I thought it was a snake skin at first too. It sure looks like it doesn't it!"

************************************************************************

"Mom, you have to come see what we built with daddy yesterday!" Adam says anxiously. I told him but I don't have my shoes on. He shouts "I will get them!" as scrambles off to go fetch my flip flops. We walk around the house to the wooded area by the garden. "See, this one is Daddy's" Adam says pointing.

"Oh, how neat! This looks like the houses Swiss Family Robinson lived in doesn't it?"

"Uh huh, and this one is mine, but it not so good." Adam says with disappointment.

"Well! I think it is plenty good. With your house, no one will fall through the floor. On Daddy's, I would fall right through!" I encourage.

"That one over there is Anna's"

"Oh, good she and you did the sturdy floor kind!" I talked with Adam about them and reassured him on how well he did.

I believe reading about Swiss Family Robinson is in order!

Now how could some dry text books and an over crowded classroom ever give them this kind of education? It doesn't just teach them facts, but it teaches them to respect nature and love it, to enjoy it and cherish it. We have been picked on about being treehuggers. At first it bothered Austin, but soon we all take it and wear the title as a badge of honor. As my oldest has said, "At least I care about something other than myself!" Ahhh, such words of wisdom from my teen.

The simple pleasures in life mixed with the wonder and excitement of my children confirms in my heart homeschooling was the best decision I had ever made. My children look at the world through innocent eyes and see wonder and amazement, hope and purity. God I thank you for letting me see through their eyes at times because it gives me a peek at how it was supposed to be.

The LORD Looketh on the Heart

Sunday School today was kinda rough for me. My  teacher brought up how he had trained his dog to obey. Well this past Tuesday we laid my best friend, Foxy, to rest.

Rest in Peace my faithful friend, I will miss you.

The good Lord had answered my prayer that He take her rather than let her suffer from the heart worms that had made her so sick, but it was heartbreaking for me to lose my friend.

The lesson was that at first he had to put a choke collar on his dog and teach it to heel. Then eventually he could let it off the chain and just say the word heel and the dog would mind. Through obedience came freedom.

All I could think about was how Foxy didn't apply to that idea. She was a rescue dog and had been abused as a puppy. When we first had gotten her, she would shriek if she thought someone was going to touch her. I would coax her and talk sweet to her until she learned to trust me. Only by having love for her and understanding what she had been through did I get anywhere with her.

It was love and patience and understanding that changed her into my best friend. She didn't do things for me out of fear of being punished but because she loved me so much she wanted to please me. She would freak out if a chain was put on her, I assume that went back to her abuse, but it wasn't something we could do to her. Granted she was no show dog, hunting dog, or herd dog. She didn't win any ribbons or trophies for me to show off to my friends equating her worth. She just simply loved me.

She always wanted to be by my side, because she loved me. If I sat down outside anywhere she was by my side. If I hadn't noticed she was beside me she would daintily place her little foot on me as if to say "Mom, I am here, please love me."

 If I was in the house sitting somewhere, often times she was beneath me under the house... which ever room I was in, she was under. I suppose she could hear my voice to know where I was. When I left in the car and came home, she met me at the gate, yipping with glee that I was home, to let me know she missed me. She nipped playfully at my fingertips to say "hello".  You see she wasn't trained to obey, she was shown how to love and through that love for me, she was my friend, not a servant. Granted she obeyed the rules not to go out in the road or to do things that was not approved of like chasing the cats but all I had to do was scold her in a firm tone. She hated to disappoint me, she would drop her head and tuck her tail and come to me as if to say "I am sorry mom, forgive me."

 You see there was a difference in the way my dog was obedient and how my teachers dog was obedient. I am not saying what he said was wrong, I am only saying there is different ways to teach and different learning styles depending on the background and history of the one being taught.

I thank GOD that (1Samuel 16:7) ...  the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. I also thank GOD that HE knows exactly what we need to be where we need to be in HIM!