Fall Market Days

We’re buying a little less at the Farm Market these days. The freezers are filling up, and we’re getting low on containers, too. That’s usually a sign that I don’t need to prep quite so many peas or so much corn. In that case, we buy mainly what we’ll cook and eat in the next week.

Saturday's Take

Saturday’s Take

I had to set up the still life on the table with the canning books and jar lids because the kitchen counter was full. See below.

Salsa Time!

Salsa Time!

I convinced “Chuck” to help prep the tomatoes. The kitchen smelled of onions, tomatoes, and vinegar. Yum! The only drawback of last night’s salsa marathon is this: there are no chips in the house. We’ll take care of that later today with a quick grocery run.

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Pepper Sauce

Or is it Peppa’ Sauce? It’s a Southern dish, a spicy hot vinegar that goes on everything and anything, if I’m to believe the comments. I found it when a friend had too many peppers. This was one suggested solution. I had just the right bottle, so I tried it myself.

Pepper Sauce!

Pepper Sauce!

It’s more formula than recipe. Measure enough vinegar to fill the bottle. Heat the vinegar to a simmer. While it’s heating, prep the peppers by slicing into the skins to enable the vinegar to best soak in and absorb the pepper flavor. Add whole peppercorns and a few cloves of garlic, minced. Pack the peppers into the bottle, and then pour in the warm vinegar. Voila!

If we don't like it, at least it look pretty.

If we don’t like it, at least it look pretty.

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The Broad Side

Readers, I feel like I’ve made it big. My article about depression is live on The Broad Side.

This piece is groundbreaking for me. I published under my own name, not my Daisy moniker. I took a few posts from my major depression of 2011 and pulled them together to form a coherent whole. I had posts from the beginning, the middle, and the end (my recovery), so I found a representative piece from each time period.

This took courage, my friends. If I’m really going to make headway in breaking the stigma attached to mental illness, I needed to use my own name in discussing my depression.

Please take a deep breath and click over the The Broad Side. When you’re finished with my piece, feel free to stay a while and peruse other articles. If you enjoy reading me, you’ll find a lot to like on The Broad Side.

Here it is. Read it slowly and thoughtfully, please. Remember, it took courage.

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Parsnips?

The greens are certainly huge. I thought that meant I could harvest a few parsnips.

The greens look good.

The greens look good.

But seriously, folks, even the rabbit wanted nothing to do with these funky looking root vegetables.

Today's garden lesson:

Today’s garden lesson:

Straw bales might not be the best growing medium for parsnips.

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Market Day, Labor Day Weekend style!

My cloth bags had a workout!

My cloth bags had a workout!

It was a busy trip to the market today. Nice breeze, good music, nice people, and good food for sale. The wheeled bag was quite heavy by the time I finished, and I had two bags over my shoulder as well! From left to right: butternut squash, peas, lettuce, carrots, yellow beans, brussel sprouts, poblano peppers, apples, corn, more apples, and more corn. I have a busy weekend ahead!

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Hornets, beans, and Clifford the Big Red Dog

It’s been a random day – or several days full of randomness.

Chuck started cutting the lawn Monday evening, and he came too close to a hornets’ nest. They stung him and chased him around the house. He had trouble knocking enough off that he could come in the house! Several stings on the left hand, a few on the right, and he was in pain and more than a little freaked out.

The exterminator came Wednesday. He found the nest, sprayed it, and informed Amigo that the bees would be “angry today, but dead by tomorrow morning.” Result: Chuck didn’t attempt to mow again until Thursday.

Thursday he stepped outside to start the mower and the rain started.

The lawn looks like a wheat field. Or alfalfa, maybe. I’m thinking we should expand the garden and just quite mowing altogether.

Something about the first week of school makes me crave smoothies. Maybe it’s the transition from summer break to being a schoolie again. It could be the heat and mugginess. There’s also the possibility that I just like the smoothies from City Center Plaza, and City Center Plaza is only a few blocks from my workplace. On the way to the smoothie place, I saw this.

Someone spilled the beans.

Someone spilled the beans.

I helped set up our book fair for the upcoming first day of “school” on Tuesday. We asked the driver of the truck if he ever sees kids waving at him. Why? He has Clifford the Big Red Dog and a few other classic characters painted on his truck, bigger than life. We teachers decided that Scholastic should paint Clifford on our vehicles and pay us to drive them around town.

So then Amigo and I went to a local pub that has a great Friday fish menu. I tucked a napkin into my shirt to prevent clam chowder spills and I had a frightening realization.

I was wearing a Milwaukee Brewers shirt in a Chicago Cubs bar.

I left the napkin covering the logo on my chest until we left.

So, readers, all in all, life is good. School starts Tuesday, and I’m looking forward to meeting my students and their families. Good times are ahead! Meanwhile, I’ll relax and have a weekend.

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Cutting Corners & Cards

Amigo complains that I’m a “Green Freak” when I look for alternatives to gift wrap and tags. He doesn’t know that I have another use for old cards – decorative tops for canned goods.

It all starts with two lids, one regular and one large. Those are the patterns, templates, tracers, whatever you’d like to call them. If I have a choice, I’ll cut out a large one because I know I can make it smaller if I need to. Add a box of cards (holiday, birthday, etc.), a scissors, and I’m ready to work.

Getting to work!

Getting to work!

I cut apart the cards to make gift tags or round tags for my canned goods gift giving.

Finished Circles

Finished Circles – in two sizes

More finished circles

More finished circles

Some cards are too special to cut into pieces.

This one is a keeper.

This one is a keeper.

The rest are now in a manila envelope on my bookshelf Any time I’m giving away a few jars of goodies, I can reach for some nice, classy pictures to decorate the tops.

Okay, readers, let’s build on this. What other uses do you have for cards? Do you scrapbook? Make new cards from old? Leave a comment sharing your ideas.

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Teachers Pay Teachers

My educator friends – do any of you use Teachers Pay Teachers to buy and to sell material?

I’m a relative newcomer to this corner of the Internet where teachers can post lesson plans and more in the hopes that someone will pay a few bucks for the privilege of using those materials themselves.

Here's the cover image.

Here’s the cover image.

I’ve posted a few things. I’ve only sold a couple, so the money thus far is just a drop in the bucket. If I’m optimistic (and I try to be optimistic), I might remind myself that if there are enough drops, the bucket might fill.

My “store” name is Ideas from the OK Chorale. If you’re an elementary teacher and you’re looking for a few good plans, please take a look!

Meanwhile, I’ll push myself to post a few more goodies to appeal to other creative teachers who might benefit from my experience and ideas. In my spare time, that is. Yea, yea, I hear you snickering at your monitor.

So, readers, what are your experiences with online buying or selling? Etsy? Teachers Pay Teachers? EBay? Leave a comment and let me know.

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Markets Galore!

Did I really neglect posting this last week?

Last Weekend's Market

Last Weekend’s Market

I made applesauce with a hint of cherry, cherry jam that didn’t jell, and froze more and more beans.

Then Wednesday came.

My Last Midweek Market

My Last Midweek Market

You can see potatoes, peaches, spinach, bunny food, and the un-jelled cherry jam peeking around the back.

I prepped what I could, but I didn’t buy anything that required major time investments because I knew Amigo and I would be gone Thursday and Friday.

So Saturday came again — see the results?

Today! Food, glorious food!

Today! Food, glorious food!

Everything has a purpose.

Apples: applesauce.

Peas: supper and freeze the rest.

Beans: freeze.

Zucchini: anything I want it to be.

Corn: a baker’s dozen (the vendor likes me) -half dozen for Sunday supper, the rest to freeze.

Meanwhile, I’m steaming cauliflower and carrots for supper tonight. They’ll be mashed with a little butter, salt, and pepper. Mmmmm.

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Signs and Trails

I took a walk while Amigo went fishing with a friend. It was a nice trail, part of the rail to trail system in Ashland, Wisconsin. According to this sign, horses can’t use the trail and neither can riders on ATVs. But what is the one in the middle?

It's a rail trail.

It’s a rail trail.

Dune buggy? Tractor? I don’t recognize the symbol or the vehicle. Readers, can you help?

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