Happy New Year 2018

I lost my long list with New Year's resolutions but I remember one important resolution for me:
Be kind to your fellowman and woman.  So many many people have been so kind to me this past year when my husband and I have had trials and tribulation.  People have been nice.  Period. 

The second resolution of mine is to be kind to the environment:  Carry my own bags to the grocery store and forego the plastic as much as possible.  Some stores will recycle the plastics and that's where I will take my saved plastic.

Do I have third one?  Oh, yes!  Eat healthier.  Grow the garden for the healthy and nutritious produce.  Even if the garden is small, it will produce.

My wishes for the New Year is to stay healthy and I wish the same for you.

Happy New Year!

Thank you for visiting.

Go Green

So far, I've had the most wonderful Holiday with family and friends.  Even our cat enjoyed her toys with a sprinkling of catnip.  I've had a sugar high caused by too many cookies from our dear neighbor's baking.  Furthermore, I've been in the kitchen cooking, tasting, and sampling.  Something has got to give!



Oh,my! 

The New Year's Eve is coming up in just a few days and with the  new beginning in sight, it is also time for the resolutions.  Let's be reasonable and make a few that we might be able to keep.

My one and only resolution is to Go Green.  OK, throw in a little color too.  The Back Forty garden was covered with weeds but my husband and I cleaned out the established weeds and it wasn't long thereafter when new weeds started a vigorous growth.

I decided that it would only be feasible to weed out and prepare the rows that were needed.  It turned out surprisingly well.  Now we weed as we go along, leave the weeds between the rows and use it as green manure.  Voila!

Our harvest is a continuation of pf Green Mustard and also the Red Mustard.  They are so easy to grow and these greens are so nutritious.  They are loaded with vitamin K and that is what we need the most.  A serving a day helps our blood from clotting and flow properly.  They are the most welcome vegetables in our garden and our cardiologist agrees.  Eat more leafy greens, he says.

 

On Christmas Day, we ended up harvesting some of our broccoli before it would burst out in blooms.  I have yet to cut this up into nice florets, blanch them, cool them, bag them, and put them in the freezer for later.

All I can say is that God has been good to us for letting us have a most giving and nutritious garden.

Let us be better stewards in the coming year.  Hmm!  Another resolution to keep.

Blessings and Healthy Eating for the New Year.

Go Green!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

The Fourth Sunday of Advent 2017

This Sunday we take the time out to light all four candles in The Advent Season and to reflect on our  faith in God.

We put the final touches to the presents that we are to give and we give thanks for the presents, cards and letters, and support that we receive--not just this Sunday but throughout the year.

"This week we reflect upon Mary's example of faith and obedience to God, traits which permitted her to receive the Angel's message that God's Son would be born as a human, as one of us."  (from Sunday Connection" www.loyolapress.com).

We here at the Back Forty do wish you all a Blessed Christmas.

Preserving the Parsley

My small herb garden by the summer kitchen has done surprisingly well.  Sometimes I think that you have to find a spot that the herbs like and they reward you.  This time, I have been richly rewarded by strong and healthy flat leaf parsley that has to be harvested and preserved.

I recommend that you wash/rinse your herbs and dry them well in a tea towel.

Fresh Parsley in Margarine or Butter:  To use the fresh parsley in our every day use of margarine, I remove the parsley sprigs from the stems and finely chop them.  Depending on how much margarine I plan to use, I chop the parsley accordingly.  Of course, it depends on how much I like the taste of parsley too.

One Way of Freezing Parsley:  This is my preferred way.  First, I remove the sprigs from the stems and cut them up, not too fine.  Then I put them on a parchment covered tray, spaced out so that they are not too crowded.  Now I put them in freezer for several hours.  I might even forget to take them out, but that's all right.


When the leaves are frozen, I stash them into a plastic bag, label the bag, and put it into the freezer for later.

Another Way of freezing Parsley:  Prepare the parsley as above.  Then pack the parsley tightly at the bottom of a plastic bag.  Roll up the  the bag with the parsley from the bottom and up, label,and put into the freezer.

Drying the Parsley:  Another simple way to preserve the parsley is to dry it.  Either spread it out on a tray or bundle the sprigs up, tie them together, and hang them up in a cool dry place.

When you need the parsley for stews and soup, cut some off from the log,  bag, or bouquet.

It's a great way of preserving your parsley, which may be an biannual, until it's time to plant more in the spring.  Besides, it is economical and fun, too.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

The Third Sunday of Advent 2017

We are getting closer and closer to Christmas Day. The celebration of the birth of Jesus is indeed upon us. 

Hopefully, all our packages are sent and the cards are mailed.  The cookies  are made and food is bought.  The Christmas tree is dressed, the house is cleaned, and decorations are on display.  How did we do it all?

This Sunday will give us an opportunity to still our minds and hearts and to contemplate the celebration of the Nativity.  It is time to spend with family and friends.

Once again it is time to light the Third Candle in the Advent season.  It was a tradition in the home I grew up in and I carry on that tradition in my own home.  It is the same every year, year after year.


This is the Season of Advent and it is a beautiful season to listen to a beautiful rendition of "Lo, How a Rose  E'er Blooming" by the American opera singer Renee Fleming.

 I feel blessed for being able to enjoy a rose in my garden.  Blessings to you too.

This is the season.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Gravad Lax

For many American Jews, immigrants from Germany, lox is their topping for the Sunday bagel with lots of cram cheese.  I am, however, going to share with you how Swedes make gravad lax.

In the olden times, even before my time, the salmon and any other fish was buried in the ground for preservation.  Today's Swede bury the lax in the fridge.  This is my way of making gravad lax.

I bought about a pound (1/2 kilo or so) of Salmon, with one skin side, at the local grocery store.  It had been frozen before and that is important because it will kill germs.

I mixed 1 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of salt.  I mixed in a little Kosher salt with the regular salt.

I had also picked lots of dill from my herb garden and finely cut it up and made a bed for the salmon.  The dill came from my herb garden.




At this point, I completely covered the salmon with the sugar/salt mix.  The skin side too. After that I covered the salmon with dill.

Then I carefully transferred the salmon with all its mixes into a plastic bag, sealed it, put it in a fitting container, and put it into the fridge where it will stay  buried for 2 - 3 days.

Turn the bag at least once a day.  It is also important to put something heavy to hold the Salmon down or it my swim away.

To recapture what is needed for gravlax:  Salmon, sugar, salt, and dill.  It is so simple, isn't it?

In Sweden, it apparently is a delicatessen on the Christmas table.  Make an open faced sandwich or spread a bagel with cream cheese and the gravad lax.

My husband can take or leave it.  How much lax can you eat, he asked?  My son tells me that he does not eat bait.  Let's see how you feel about gravad lax.

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Second Sunday of Advent 2017

It is the Second Sunday of Advent and we light the second candle in anticipation and preparation for Christmas Day when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

The mornings are dark nowadays, the nights are long,and in some places it is cold and the snow is still falling.

It was particular meaningful to light the two candles at dawn while waiting for the sun to come up and warm us.

This is a hectic time--everybody is busy. Hopefully we will take the time out to still our minds and hearts--to remember why we celebrate this season.

Remember the reason for giving gifts

Today the Nobel prizes are distributed by the King of Sweden.  The ceremony takes place at the City Hall in Stockholm.  It is followed by a lavish dinner.

According to The Guardian the presentations will be awarded "amid criticism that this year's science prizes lacked diversity."

Many science winners said that "no women" were among the winners.  They also said that science was "for men by men."


I read about Advent as celebrated in Sweden and found out that rice porridge is eaten often during this time.  If you like to try it:  follow the direction on the package and use some milk instead of water.  The porridge is served with, milk, sugar, and cinnamon.

The celebration of the season and the food that goes with it is what you and I feel is important.

This is the season.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Winter Greenery

This is the time of the year when we bring in cedar and fir greenery to deck the halls on the Back Forty.  It does look very nice with some red of a poinsettia mixed in with the greenery.  It is also bringing in the outside, a little bit of greenery in this bleak season with cold and rain.  Rain and cold go away, won't you?

I was running low on vegetables in the freezer and my husband and I had to buy "fresh" vegetables from the grocery store.  Most often, we didn't know where the vegetables were grown and how far they had to travel to reach us.  What concerned us the most was what kind of herbicides and pesticides were used.  Finally, the price.

Although I am considered to be handicapped at this time:  I can't walk without my Rollator,  I decided that we had to have a garden.

What to heck!  I wheeled my Rollator into the weeds in one of the two garden plots and started to pull the weeds.  It worked out fine.  I didn't fall off the Rollator! 

As we have in the past, we transplanted green and red mustard seedlings and they took root and grew quickly.  The red mustard turns green when cooked but it adds color to the garden.



I also planted collard cabbage. "Collards?" my husband almost shouted.  "Not in my garden," he said.

Oh, well.  Sometimes, I don't read very well:  I thought that I had picked up cabbage!  So, I have to wait and see if there is going to be any cabbage growing in those plant.

They are putting out nice and healthy leaves that I have picked, blanched, and put into the freezer.  I like collards with pickle juice, of course.  I just have to cook them a long time.  I read somewhere 45 minutes.

This is the season.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Christmas Light Balls

My neighbor has been up the tree all afternoon hanging lighted Christmas balls.  Last night, my husband and I went across the street to admire his decorations and take pictures of the beautiful balls.  The pictures didn't come out very well so I have snagged somebody else's.

The wife came out and we told her how much we admired the only decorations along our street. She told us that her husband had made the balls using chicken wire.  She said that to create a ball you had to use a wire that was twice as long as it was wide.

Furthermore, she said that it was recommended that you wear gloves to handle and cut the chicken wire.  Once the wires were cut, you place the two cut sides together and connect by twisting the wires around each other.

Finally, he attached mini LED lights with using snaps from bread bags.

I was so impressed with what our neighbors had done to brighten up the area, I had to share it with you.

My neighbor said that they had researched how to make Christmas Light Balls on the Internet and I found a good source on "christmaslightsetc.com".

This is the season.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Red Plum Preserves

My husband went to the store to get milk, bread, and eggs.  He came home with two large bags with the mentioned groceries but he had also picked up two bags of large California Red Plums, 1.5 kilos each.  What am I going to do with those plums?



I cut some up, laid them out on a baking sheet, and put them in the freezer.  They will be put in a bag when frozen and used in smoothie, if nothing else.

I also cut some up and packed them into jars, filled the jars with a sugar solution  (1 cup sugar, 4 cups water, or less, if you prefer), sealed the jars, and gave them a 15-minute water bath.

Before I got out of the kitchen, I made jams or preserves.  I cut up and pitted 2 and 1/2 lbs of the good tasting plums.  (This recipe may also be doubled.)

I put the diced plums into my large stockpot with one (1) cup of water and four (4) cups of sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolved, let it come to a boil, cut the heat down, and let it continue to boil/simmer for about 45 minutes or less.

To test for doneness or setting, I put a little of the jam onto a small cool plate and if it sort of settles, not running, the plum concoction is ready to be transferred into jars.

After the jam is put into jars, I seal them with hot wax, and put the tops on them when the wax has cooled.

Some canners feel more comfortable giving the jam a 15-minute water bath.  I don't have a canning pot so I use my stockpot.  I put a cloth on the bottom of the pot to keep the sealed jars from rattling and cover them with water well over an inch above the tops.

The jam turned out to be very good tasting although the yield was but a few jars.  By the way, the preserves also make nice gifts,.

This is the season . . .

Thank you for visiting my blog.

First Sunday of Advent 2017

This is the season  . . .  This is the season to anticipate and mindfully prepare for the Celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas.

This is the season . . . .  This is the busiest season with gift buying, baking and cooking, harvesting the greens in the garden, making jams and jellies, parties, and obligations to friends and family.  What did I leave out?

This is the season . . . .   It is traditional in the Christian religion for churches as well as for families to light a candle for the first Sunday of Advent and one additional candle for each Sunday  until all four candles are lit in time for Christmas Day.

A long time ago, my mother gave me this copper candle holder for the four candles in the Advent season.  Unfortunately, I don't remember how she got the candle holder or who gave it to her.  But it is a treasure since my mother passed away some years ago.

It is meaningful to continue with traditions.  When I was coming along, the Swedes didn't have any other color but white for candles and my candles are always white during the Christmas holiday.  Purple is the traditional color in many churches.

For the First Sunday of Advent, it is for me meaningful to light a white candle in the stillness of the early morning and take a moment to reflect on the upcoming holidays.  I count my blessings and acknowledge that God has been good to me.

Have a Blessed First Sunday of Advent