A Saturday at home: Preparing for a long winter

I feel like I've been channeling Laura Ingalls Wilder from Little House on the Prairie this afternoon.

With the last of the harvest comes the task of storing, preserving, or otherwise "putting up" for the winter.

We've got our potatoes stored so they won't freeze, and I pulled nearly a bushel of an assortment of peppers last week before that first killing freeze.  The girls and I prepped some for the freezer and used some to make pepper jelly.

The only thing left in the garden are the greens, but I'm not too worried about them, because they can take pretty cold temperatures.  

Another chore of late fall is cutting away frost-bitten foliage, mowing leaves (we don't do much raking anymore, the mower mulches them and scatters them around the yard where they will decay and become good fertilizer for the lawn).

We don't fertilize either; that's what all those fallen leaves are for.

I threw some half-rotten squash to the chickens and otherwise tidied up around the place a bit. I moved a few clumps of perennials and thought how pretty they will be when summer rolls around again.  

I enjoy the process of cleaning up the yard and garden in late fall. I like the feeling of closure it gives to the growing season, and it makes me feel accomplished and prepared for winter.

We've been discussing pork with our supplier, so we'll have plenty of fresh meat around the beginning of the new year.

My seasons have always revolved around sowing things, growing things, then harvesting and preserving for enjoying those things later.  

This is part of my mountain heritage, when folks had to grow and store and prepare for winter if they wanted to survive it.

Now I'm not entirely dependent on my own efforts for survival; there is a grocery store a few miles away. But I do rely on the old ways for a certain quality of life.  They feel my soul, my family's collective memories, and my culture is maintained.

So, bring it on, polar vortex spinning southward.  I'm not afraid of you.
We are prepared; and we are going to live well and eat well this winter.

It's finally Friday: Time for a little food therapy.

I expect that there will be frost on the greens patch in the morning.  It is definitely chilly out right now.  But the last frost didn't hurt our greens; it just made the grass and leaves and greens all sparkly

and pretty.  

Having been raised on boiled greens with pork fat, I've just lately acquired a taste for mustard greens mixed with lettuces in salads.  I love that little bit of pungent bite in

 fresh mustard.  I also like it on sandwiches.  

Now the sycamore leaf in the picture is just for looks.  I don't know if they are edible, although it wouldn't surprise me if they were.  Many of the plants in rural landscapes are.  

Anyway, because I have such an abundance of mustard greens, I'm thinking of making pesto with some of them tomorrow.  

I don't see how I could go wrong...blend them with some olive oil, some lemon juice, some toasted sunflower seeds...

I'll let you know how the fresh mustard pesto turns out... 

Thankful Thursday: I get to spread good news

The weather was raw this evening, and the house felt cozy.  I could happily have stayed in, but our high school marching band was being honored at a reception for a very successful season.  They finished second  in the state in their class with a nearly flawless performance. 

So I went.  I listened to the band director speak about overcoming the stigma associated with our county and the challenges of breaking through that and earning the respect of judges and other band programs from more urban areas.  

I know that what he's saying is true.  People sometimes don't expect a lot out of small Kentucky towns, but many of our local student groups are excelling wherever they compete.   

As part of my job, I have the privilege of publicizing their successes.  I'm thankful for the platform to be a cheerleader for these teams and organizations.  

The fact that our school is small and we don't have the resources of more affluent areas just makes our successes sweeter. 

Wonder-ful Wednesday: Moments to savor

I read a blog earlier today about the importance of cultivating a sense of wonder.  

I think I've been able to do that pretty well over most of the past half-century (my life!), just by nature of the things I like to do.  

But there are so many joy-killers, and our thoughts can become bitter or sour if we let them.  

The blog recommended spending time outdoors in nature, playing with animals or children, listening to music that really moves you, or preparing a good meal with friends or family--all these things are antidotes to becoming jaded and cynical.  

Sounds like excellent advice to me.  These activities definitely restore my soul, particularly if I preserve them with my camera. That way I can savor the moment twice.  

Here are a few wonder-filled moments.  

The first one is a wide-eyed look from our sweet little granddaughter.

The second is an early dusting of snow on autumn leaves.  We don't usually get that here in Kentucky, but we did last weekend.  

This rock.  I always wonder,..it reminds me of something...Darth Vader, maybe?  

We'll call this Manic Monday.

Mondays are typically very hectic at the newspaper office. This week, I'm catching a break--no city council meetings.
However, I plan to keep my posts short on Mondays, just for the sake of not becoming overly ambitious and self-defeating.

This is the little guy I wrote of yesterday who had such a rough beginning.  He always makes me smile and is sure to make any Monday brighter.

Soulful Sunday: Celebrating another year of change

I wasn't ready for it, but it came.  Last night, the first killing frost of the season zapped the life from my impatiens which were still in full bloom. It put the hurt on some roses that were looking really good too.
A gigantic sycamore tree at the corner of our yard has since dropped most of it's leaves. There's a small ocean of crunchy brown leaves below the bare white arms of the sycamore.

They are beautiful today, but the leaves will soon crumble and disintegrate into the ground until there's little evidence that they were even there.
The seasons of our life are.like that. When we are in the midst of summer, it's hard to imagine how quickly autumn can arrive and change everything.
Focusing on the loss that change brings can cause grief, even if the change is a good thing.  Our youngest daughter graduated from college, got her first job and moved out of the house this year.  
Our nest is empty, and honestly, I've felt less than enthusiastic about the idea at times.
The house is too quiet.  I miss the comings and goings of our daughters and their friends.
As Thanksgiving nears, I have to remind myself that not all change involves loss.
For one, my husband and I have a new granddaughter.  She's two months old now and is pretty as a picture with her mostly bald little head.
Our first grandchild, a grandson, didn't have to be hospitalized all year.
Three autumns ago, he was fighting desperatly for his life. Born with a birth defect called Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, doctors didn't give him a very good chance of surviving.
During that time,  I participated in National Blog Posting Month for the first time.
I met the challenge and posted every day, many times writing in the waiting room or in the car on the way home from the hospital.
It was an incredibly stressful time, but the mental exercise of posting a daily blog provided a diversion for some of my anxiety.
It was difficult then to imagine what my grandson's quality of life would be if he were to survive.
He was 26 days old when his parents got to hold him for the first time.  After 36 days, I finally had my turn.
These days, our grandson has a few lingering issues, but he's hard to distinguish from a "typical" three year old.
He doesn't remember living in the hospital the first eight months of his life.  I wonder what he thinks when he sees pictures of himself taken during those days, his body distorted and swollen.  
Today our grandson is walking, talking, and is a very entertaining little person.
Those are some changes I celebrate.  

Sweetnin' Saturday

The end of daylight savings time and the subsequent long dark evenings seem like a good time to revisit my blog.
It's been one busy eventful summer, but I'll get back to that a little later.
Right now, lets talk dessert.
Where I come from, Saturdays were designated as the day when country women did their baking. Many of them adhered to a weekly schedule to organize their chores.  
I don't remember which chore was designated for every day of the week, but I do remember Monday for laundry and Saturday for baking.
Sunday was a day of rest, but it was also the day company came.  Maybe that's why dessert was prepared on Saturday.  Or maybe it was to be one step ahead of the game when preparing Sunday dinner.
Because National Blog Posting Month began today, and because this dessert is sort of fall-ish, I'm going to share the recipe for this decadent concoction.
It's the sort of recipe country cooks take to church potlucks and funeral dinners, and everyone swoons over and wants the recipe.
It  came across my Pinterest feed, I think, but I found it on "a blog by Chef in Training."
Here's the recipe for Pralines and Cream Dream dessert.  Click on the link if you'd like to see for yourself how yummy it looks.

INGREDIENTS:

Crust

• 1 (11.3 oz.) box of crushed Sandies pecan cookies

• ¼ cup melted butter

Cream Cheese filling

• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

• 8 oz. cool whip, thawed

• ¼ cup powdered sugar

Pudding

• 2 small boxes INSTANT butterscotch pudding, dry not prepared and NOT cook n' serve

• 3½ cup milk

Topping

• 12 oz. cool whip

Sugared pecans

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• ½ cup sugar

Remaining Ingredients

• ¼ cup Caramel ice cream topping

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. In a 9x13 baking dish combine cookies and melted butter to form crust layer. Press down evenly over bottom of pan and bake for 12 min. Set aside to cool.

1. In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and cool whip until smooth and well combined. Set aside in fridge until ready to assemble.

1. In small mixing bowl mix pudding packets and milk and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

1. In a medium size skillet over medium heat, combine pecans and sugar. Stir until sugar is melted. Pour them out onto to a piece of parchment paper to cool.

To assemble

1. Spread cream cheese mixture over cooled crust.

1. Next gently spoon pudding over the cream cheese mixture.

1. Then top with the cool whip.

1. Sprinkle the cooled sugared pecans over the top.

1. Drizzle caramel sauce over the nuts and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.