Part 4 of 4 – Tragedies, Kith & Kin, Simply Being

I do not watch tv or listen to the radio but no one is untouched by the horror and tragedy that befalls us all when life is abused in any way. Many prayers & jujus of healing, growth, renewal and love for everyone on every side of the vast illness of hatred and violence that has infected us all.

Please consider forgiveness. Hatred and despair can only breed more of the same.

 (((((((((((((((( Everyone ))))))))))))))))))))

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~Wild Moon Kith & Kin Gatherings~

 These are the trade/barter potluck gatherings we’ve had for years now.

At market several people stopped by my booth and asked about the trade gatherings. I promised to get in touch but have very limited internet connection these days. Most of you that stopped are Sunday church goers so it’s important that we make it work around that. Saturdays are out for me. Otherwise, what day would be best for you? They will take place once a month in the afternoon. Either at our Caney Mountain spot or at Wild Moon Hill (about 10 miles north of Caney Mnt.).

All Are Welcome! This is how folk become Kith (friends & neighbors) & Kin (family)  : )

Respond here, email me privately or text if you have my number. I’ve posted both on the Ozark Homesteading group. Let me know what days are best for you and any other questions, suggestions etc..

When a day is set I will let everyone know and give out all the details … directions etc.

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Also, I’m looking for baby food jars with good lids. I need quickly and badly. I’ll pay .10 cents a jar or trade goods. I can pick up in Ava or Gainesville.

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And finally …. Jewel … A lot of people have asked about the name, many thought it was someone else posting to my blog. I am Jewel, it’s what my younger sister has always called me. I think a part of me had come to equate the name with the abused, weird child that I was. But, having my younger sister here, calling me Jewel again … I found that, just like the abused, weird child, the name grown into power and promise.

Part 3 of 4 - Health Recovery

Treating sinus infection, upper respiratory infection, inner ear infection, conjunctivitis and exhaustion.

*I’m not sure now of the cause. I originally thought it was from the cleaning job, breathing in dust and rodent spore. But at market several people were out sick and several others had been ill with very similar symptoms. Some said that doctors were calling it a mutated flu.

I’m much better, but if I could have, I would have gone to a doctor or ER and I don’t say that lightly.

I treated myself on the whole with a strong 10 day course of Echinacea in the form of home-filled capsules and strong infusions twice daily. It’s difficult to estimate with everything homemade but I would guess at around 8,000 mg a day for the first 3 days then 4,000 a day for the next 7 days. Our capsules are 0 size and we grind the herbs to a fine powder and pack tight. I also used around 2,000 mg of garlic and  4,000 mg vitamin C for the first week going down to 2,000 mg daily since.

Feverfew, aspirin and white willow as needed for fever, headaches, aches and pain and to aid sleep.

In the first week I used an asthma inhaler 3 or 4 times. I have scar tissue from severe bronchitis as a child and moderate asthma, tho I rarely have attacks. I also used acetaminophen and a severe sinus nasal spray a couple of times the first week.

Congestion and sinus infection treated with the addition of Neti pot with strong sea salt each day with a mild Echinacea infusion added to the neti water every other day. Hyssop and Mullein tea drank for congestion as needed, which was several times a day at first.

Inner ear infection treated with peroxide, drained and dried well, followed by my ear oil which contains olive oil, garlic and mullein as needed.

I still have a bit of conjunctivitis (pink eye), which I’m continuing to treat with chamomile compresses and sterile eye drops. I wish I had some Eyebright but do not. Conjunctivitis, in a healthy person, will usually run its course and abate on it’s own in under two weeks.

Sore and swollen throat – strong horehound tea and honey as needed.

Nausea, (likely caused by head pressure, dizziness and sinus drain), treated with real peppermint candies (strong peppermint infusion and sugar) and infusion, dry toast, berry/grape leaf tea with lemon juice and honey.

Exhaustion and moderate despair treated with St Johns (around 500 mg), Motherwort (around 1,000 to 2,000 mg) and coffee daily as needed. I needed it for 3 days.

Sleep is very healing, I tried to get plenty of it while taking care not to oversleep, which can cause a further feeling of exhaustion and lend to depression etc.. We are big sleepers and tend to need 10 hours a night on a regular basis. But a regular sleep cycle is also important, retiring and rising around the same times helps regulate the body in many ways.

I also took 3 full days off work, except for basic chores. The 3 days were spread out and on those days I just lounged and read or wrote or played a game. Too much lounging can also lend to negative health but some lounging can be very healing and rejuvenating.

The 3 days were spread out over the weeks of illness. A day off, then work for few days, then a day off. I may would do that differently now though. During the weeks of illness I had times of great improvement followed by relapse. Each relapse was less severe than the previous. I did not write down the days etc, as I should have, so I’m not sure what happened when. I was so ill I moved through many of the days like a zombie.

After almost 3 weeks I still have a little illness. Still have slightly swollen glands, a little congestion, conjunctivitis, pressure in my ears, neck and head, ringing in my ears, headaches, dizziness etc…

I believe the infection started in my sinuses and moved to my eye, inner ears, throat and lungs. I would fully recommend seeking conventional health care in a similar situation, if at all possible.

The first week, before I knew I was ill, I sporadically took Echinacea and C etc. (I take garlic daily always) thinking I was just overly tired. I now believe that if I had put myself on the proper regime right away I would never have gotten so ill and it would not have traveled through my upper system as it did.  

The only immune boosters I chose to use were the C, sleep, sunshine and eating well. I do not believe that Echinacea is an immune booster at all, it is an immune supporter and balancer, an antibiotic, antiviral etc…

Part 2 of 4 - Starting Over, Again

We have been blessed with more rain. Everything is so green, so full of wick and wonder. Every vase in the cottage is filled with flowers, daffodils, forsythia, red bud, iris …

I’ve just recently learned about the upkeep of wild raspberry patches. Thankfully it’s not too late to cut back the old growth so that the younger and new canes can draw the wick and produce more. I noticed a marked drop off of raspberries last spring compared to the spring before but counted it to the 2 summers drought.

The chickens are laying again and have been for a couple of months. We have 22 eggs in a barrowed incubator that should start to hatch this weekend. Buffs and Buff/RIR mix, which may be Red Stars but I’m not sure.

Two litters of buns, 8 total, all boys but two. 4 himalayans, 1 black, 1 white, 2 brown. And a pregnant doe due in 3 weeks.

I don’t know how much, if any, of the orchard trees and bushes lived. We worked so hard to keep them all watered through the drought of last summer but we lost some anyway. Of the ones that lived through the summer, several were broken off by unknown forces over the winter. The Service Berries look to have been killed by cut worm. I had treated them with a natural clay mix but I didn’t keep it up through the winter, which was so mild the worms must have kept at it. Right now it looks like one each of pecan, pawpaw, hazelnut and hawthorn lived. That’s out of 3 each planted. Bushwise, there’s a spice bush, a witch hazel and maybe a red or black currant. We’ll be thankful for whatever there is and keep trying.

We’ve finished preparing the vegetable garden plot and it should be plowed soon. A neighbor is going to come up and plow it, then disc it. It will be a huge boon to lessen the work this year. I had to dig up almost all my herbs from the herb gardens though because he needs that space to get his tractor to the vegetable garden plot. I couldn’t find the Black Cohosh to dig it so I hope it will survive the tractor.

I had spread azomite over the plot last year and will do so again just before plowing. The place sat empty for 2 years and then 2 more years with us not using it. We make prayers that it’s good fertile, healthy soil.

I’ve got some starts going, slow to get them as usual but they’re in their little cups awaiting sprouts of joy. One of the greatest seeds started was my special variegated mugwort. It’s called Oriental Limelight and is as lovely as it’s name. I had given away and traded a bunch of seeds and thought I had accidentally given away all my special mugwort seeds the first summer we were here. I tried to get some back but to no avail. Then, this winter I came across a few bags of saved seeds from the burrow and there, with the cinnamon and lemons basils, was a tiny bit of mugwort seeds. I used every seed to try and start, so hopefully I’ll have some coming up to transfer to the herb gardens after the big plot is plowed.

So far I’ve started …

Gypsy toms x 6 - Heirloom - Sprouted

Speckled Roman toms x 6 - H - S

Long Cayenne x 6 - H

Purple Beauty Bell pepper x 6 - H

Variegated Mugwort

Lemon Basil - S

Common Basil

Genovese Basil - S

Cinnamon Basil - S

Purple Basil - S

Lavender

Stinging Nettles

White Horehound

Broad Leaf Sage - S

Common Thyme - S

English Thyme

Rue

Mammoth Dill - S

Stevia

Chaste Tree (Vitex)

Catnip

Feverfew

Sheep’s Sorrel

Borage

Wormwood

Fenugreek - S

Anise Hyssop

Lion’s Tail (Wild Daga)

Valerian

Hopefully, still out in the herb gardens is Bloodroot, Goldenseal, Black Cohosh, Echinacea p, Fennel, Common Mugwort, Wormwood, Mints (Lime, Apple, Earl Grey, Orange, Chocolate), Common Sage, Rue, Celery and more I can’t think of. Dug and brought inside until the veg garden is plowed … Motherwort, Hens & Chicks, Peppermint and Spearmint. I also have a little peach tree and two Ginko starts doing well inside until they can go out.

I have a large bag of seeds for the vegetable garden. I’ll need to start a lot of them inside and need to make room to do so or get the greenhouse up  : )

I’ve planned succession planting for the flour and the sweet corn and hope to plant popcorn and gourds behind the barn.

We’ve been going through our scrap building supplies to see what we can come up with for the greenhouse ends. So close to starting to put it up : )

Since the loss of our beloved Thistle, I’m looking for a new dairy doe. Saanen or Saanen mix. We’ll need at least 2 now as most goats aren’t like Thistle and need and want goat companions. I’m also looking for a wool eweling, preferably just weaned so I can raise her.

Still no solar shower since it blew down last fall. We were offered a lot of scrap building material but haven’t been able to pick it up because of not having the blazer legal and broken rear brake. Things happen as they should.

So we’re also trying to figure out a new shower system with what we have here. If we had a much taller ladder could add a solar water heater to the roof, attach a drain system to the cistern, and clean the chimney. A longer ladder is at the top of The List.

I made a very good deal last fall to get a heifer this year. A meat breed mix but would be plenty of milk for us. Cheeses, yogurt and …butter!!!  But, I have decided that I’ll most likely put it off until things smooth out more here and we get further on. I think I’ll be able to make the same deal next year or the next. We’ll see. We know a few people who keep or get bulls each year and the offspring can be turned into meat or traded for meat, which would help immensely. We’ll see.

Part 1 of 4 - Giving up on the old vs Giving up

I’m not a giving in or giving up kind of person. It goes against every fiber of my being. Even at the risk of life and limb I keep fighting. Sometimes to the point of no good sense.

I’m half Irish and a Missouri Mule. An Irish mule. Yay 

Even so, I do occasionally contemplate escape. Murphy’s law, Viola’s curse, bad luck, whatever the hell is going on, it does get me down at times. There are times that I do consider leaving it all behind and starting over from scratch.

When I went to get the tags for the blazer this year I found that Christian co. was claiming I owed back taxes. I am positive I paid them and would have had to pay them to get the blazer tagged in Ozark co in 2011 (which I did). But I couldn't find the receipts (which I always keep safely in a small safe) and had to pay them over again.

Then I went for inspection and they wouldn't pass it because the front brakes were getting bad. Saved up and got them repaired. Two days later, the day before I was to get it re-inspected, I went to get hay and one of the back breaks broke badly and is now leaking brake fluid.

I found someone who would likely pass the blazer through inspection without being to picky. The first time I went to him he was at a funeral and off for the week, the second time he had been fired    (((((((poor guy)))))))

I need a legal blazer to make money for repairs and I need money to get a legal blazer so that I can make money for the repairs. It’s like chasing the sun to watch it rise.

Ostara morning (the first day of spring) I went out to do morning chores and found our sweet Thistle dead. It appeared she had gone into labor early (she wasn’t due for another 2 to 3 weeks) and died in childbirth. She was fine the night before with no signs of labor or distress or anything. By the next morning she was dead and both kids with her. She was our milk supply and a way of trading and making a little money each year all gone. But she was also my friend and a part of our family. Dead and cold in the bright sun of the spring dawn.

We have had more death in the 2 years here than we had in 9 years at the Burrow, or any other span of time in any other place. Merlin, Leader, Ivy, Firebolt, Ravi, Jet, Pixie, Griffin, Cocoa, Alice, Ajax and now Thistle. That’s not counting poultry, of which we’ve had spates of losing. Or rabbits of which we lost a group to my mistake on worming. In 9 years at the Burrow we had one such death.

My sister and brother-in-law moved out a month or so ago, although we didn’t find out until a few days after they started moving.

Lydia, our Runner duck, was murdered by a damn possum, who was promptly captured and relocated.

I won’t even bother listing the plumbing problems, the lack of solar shower, etc etc etc

And, to add evil frosting on a vicious cake….

I had taken a cleaning job (which I loath) to make extra money. The deal was a spring cleaning, 3 hours a day for 3 days at 15.00 an hour. I detest cleaning houses but it was good money and only a few miles from the cottage, so I took it. It went from 3 days to 6 days, from a house to a garage to a barn. The original 9 hours turned into 19 hours total. $285., hard earned but worth it to me.

However, with the completion of each job there was another and another and I would only get paid when they were all completed. I explained that I needed to be paid for what we had agreed on now. I reminded her that this was a temporary arrangement and that we had already gone way past the original deal. I explained that I needed to be paid for fuel etc etc etc etc etc.  It’s been around 3 weeks and still not a penny.  

To finish that week, Thursday and Friday I wove hammocks and baked for the farmers market. I baked all day for two days, which included the clean up, wrapping, labeling etc. etc.. By Friday night I had 3 hammocks done, 32 sage and honey bread twists, 6 one pound sage and honey mounds, 1 two pound sage and honey braid, 20 pumpkin muffins and 16 small spiced pumpkin loaves.

By the time I went to bed Friday night I felt terrible. My head hurt, glands swollen, throat was sore, my chest hurt and hard to breathe. I was congested and stuffy. I figured it was just exhaustion with a bit of allergies/sinus because of spring and went on to bed for a few hours rest.

At 5:30am, up for the farmers market, I was very ill. Coughing, couldn’t breathe, splitting head, very upset stomach, sore throat, itchy painful and swollen eye …..

Adding candy coated crap to the already vile cake, turns out I had an upper respiratory infection which included sinus infection, laryngitis, inner ear and conjunctivitis. I’ve been to a doctor or hospital twice in the last almost 20 years, I am Not a conventional medicine person. I would have happily gone to the ER this time but ….

Things are as they are. I missed market two weeks in a row. The bread went into the freezer and I worked on getting well.

Then a few days ago our refrigerator stopped working completely. Thankfully we lost very little food and have a tiny fridge and a small deep freezer to get us by until I can find another proper fridge.

Life is change, even through death, destruction and despair. It is an odd thing. Like a living, breathing creature itself. A part of us, but also a part from us.

So, the sun rises each day, dawn breaks, things change, we make our choices and the web spreads further on to connect and entwine everything and everyone. Each night the moon, in all her glory, gives us time to rest and renew. She watches the results of each day’s evolution and washes over us, seen and unseen, so that we can start again with the rise of the new day. The circle turns and life goes ever on.

How can I not be a part of such an intricate dance? My feet know the steps, my body yearns for the sway, my ears strain to catch each delicate note of the accompanying music.

There is no question.

She changes everything she touches, and everything she touches changes.

Wake up. Start again.

So mote it be

1.28.13 11:40 am

Homemade Hummus & Tahini

It’s around 80 deg. out today and very windy. All the windows and doors are open and the air smells mysterious. The sound of the wind is haunting.

Sometime between midnight and sun up there were two very loud sounds. They sort of sounded like thunder, especially the first one which lasted quite some time and rumbled. The second one was a few minutes later ( I think) and sounded a lot like cats on the tin roof. But since the attic insulation was put in we can’t hear the cats on the roof anymore.

Then around 11:00am we heard a loud crashing in the kitchen. I ran in to find that the pot rack over the stove had fallen. Pans, griddle, tools, etc all over the floor. The skillets and griddle being cast iron made it worse by chipping the enamel on stove and my coffee pot.

Probably just thunder that rattled the house and loosened the rack so that it fell hours later but maybe it was an earthquake, who knows.

I’m waiting for, and hoping that, my co-op order comes through and that I’m able to find out when pick up is and able to get there to pick it up. Not being able to drive is maddening. I can’t check email, phone messages, manage online sales etc. Just another lesson in doing without and making do with what I can do. It’s also about being forced to rely on other people, which I can’t stand but am grateful for the help.

If my order does come through and I can pick it up I’ll be getting 7 pounds of garbanzo beans and a pound of sesame seeds. I’ve not had garbanzo beans since we moved here two years ago and I greatly miss having hummus whenever we want. I can probably buy them at Jean’s but the co-op price is

This is the basic recipe I started with. I believe it came from a very old issue of Mother Earth, but I’m not sure.

Hummus

1 pound cooked and de-skinned garbanzo beans (chickpeas)

¼ c lemon juice (or juice two lemons)

3 cloves fresh garlic minced

3 T tahini (recipe below)

2 T good olive oil

salt  (I use sea salt)

water (as needed)

The recipe calls for a food processor but I’ve never had one so I do it by hand.

Garbanzos – You can leave the skins on but the hummus tastes much better without them. To remove them, cook until tender, drain and soak in cold water until cooled enough to handle. When you can handle them, take several and rub them together in your hands to loosen the skins. Remove the skins and add to the vegetable bag in the freezer for vegetable broth etc.

To mash the beans and make them creamy I first use a potato masher and then a berry masher. I now have a manual food processor but didn’t have it the last time I made hummus so I’m not sure how it will work but I’ll post about it when I do  J

Garlic – I like very creamy hummus so I first mince the garlic very fine than mash it with a berry masher and continue until it’s like paste. Garlic powder works just fine as well.

Tahini – It’s simply roasted sesame seeds ground with olive oil into a paste. You can make a wonderful garbanzo bean dip without it. Just make the recipe as is and omit the tahini. However, if you want hummus you need tahini and it’s very easy to make.

Once the garbanzos and garlic are ready (whatever method you use) … add the lemon juice, garlic, tahini and olive oil. Continue to cream everything together. If it’s too dry start adding the water about a tablespoon at a time, you only need it if the hummus is dry and take care not to add too much. Add sea salt to taste and stir in.

You can use more lemon juice instead of water for consistency if you like the flavor. You can also add more garlic and/or tahini, or whatever you want, to taste. I make several variations, all delicious!

Sometimes I add one or more of the following …
Sun dried tomatoes chopped very fine or ground into a paste with a mortar and pestle.

Roasted garlic instead of fresh. It gives a more rustic flavor which I love.

Onion, dried or fresh and minced or ground fine.

Cayenne, by itself it makes a spicy hummus but with the onion and sun druied tomatoes it adds a Tuscany flavor.

Pepper, ground or freshly cracked is very nice.

I don’t know how long it stays in the fridge because we always eat it quickly but it stays at least 3 or 4 days and probably a week.

Tahini

1 cup hulled roasted sesame seeds

1/8 c good olive oil

Again, the original directions call for a food processor so if you have one you can use it. My directions are for the hard core off-grid old ways folk  J

Sesame seeds – I always buy pre-shelled seeds. Sometimes pre-roasted but usually I roast myself. To roast, just spread them out on a cookie sheet or in an CI skillet. Roast in a low/med oven or wood stove over coals. Stir occasionally and remove when toasted to your liking.

I grind them while they’re still hot, using a mortar and pestle. I’ll try the old manual processor on this too the next time I make it. Once the seeds are ground fairly well I start drizzling in the olive oil and continue grinding and drizzling until I get the a thick, smooth paste.

1 cup goes a long way. Besides using it for hummus it’s also delicious with chicken and a tablespoon in the pan before frying rice etc.

Store in a glass jar with tight lid, in the fridge.

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We eat hummus (and other homemade bean dips) with homemade tortilla chips, homemade pita chips, homemade flatbread, commercial corn chips and/or fresh vegetable sticks.

Life on Wild Moon Hill 12.31.12

We’ve been lucky this year in that the weather has been warm. One of the things I very much slacked on was getting firewood cut and ready. I actually made two very good deals trading piglets for firewood but got screwed on both. We should have ended up with at least a full cord of wood (4x4x8) but we got about half a rick (2x4x2). I explained that the wood had to be 20 inches or less, half the wood is 22 to 26 inches. I gave up trying and just gave them the pigs.

We got a Saanen buck about a month ago and he’s the meanest goat I’ve ever known in person. He’s nice to the other animals but tries to butt us regularly. He almost broke both my hands the first day we had him and He butted Nik hard the other day while Nik was watering him and gored his leg. I considered shooting him, which goes against my normal self. I’ve got him for sale very cheap in hopes he’ll go where he can be used for a herd or wethered and turned into meat. If I kill him he’ll only go to dogfood.

We’ve had a lot of loss lately and hardest two were the loss of my beloved Ajax and Nik’s cat Griffin. The loss of Ajax put another hole in my soul alongside the one left by Leader.

On the 20^th we had some very high and hard winds and lost our solar shower and horse shelter to them. Some other minor damage to the rabbitville and the goat house. And the day after a small tree fell and knocked down part of one of the pallet fences. All the smaller things have been repaired but we still have the shower and horse shelter to rebuild. The horse shelter wasn’t finished anyway and was just tarps and pallet walls.

There has also been an incredible amount of human drama here the last few months. Quite beyond anything on any even remotely ok with me. It has calmed down now and I have hopes that things can begin anew.

The almost 200 dollar pipe work that the plumber did our first year here, which he cracked while installing, has now cracked in a new place and is leaking badly. Nik replaced the first broken piece and fixed a part that was installed incorrectly. But I think the plumber tightened it to much or it is inferior material or something because it just continues to crack. We have a heat lamp and the pipe hasn’t frozen but we discovered it leaking in a new place the other day and it’s leaking badly. A very bad time for such a thing.

For the bad, we are very lucky and it could be so much worse.

Life has continued on and we are blessed as always. Instead of wood heat I used today for part of the weeks baking and made 5 dozen cookies. Snicker Doodles and Lemon Sugar cookies. Some are for our weeks sweets but some are also for Pepper and Elf and gifts to a neighbor (The Old Farmer Guy) and for the guy we buy hay from. I’ll bake peanut butter cookies tomorrow and then No-Bakes later or the next day and fill plates of them.

Someone has offered us to come and tear down and haul off two small building that were blown over in the same winds. They were chicken houses but the person has no chickens so we can take the materials. That will help a lot.

I’ve started making hammock chairs along with the hammocks and the chair jig fits inside the house which helps tremendously. The hammock jig is in the workshop and it’s bloody cold out there. I worked on hammocks yesterday and today and felt like I had frostbite. I need to find some sort of reasonable heater to keep out there but it also needs some work to patch some holes. Much better than working outside tho  :)

Anya is well and doing good. She mourned Ajax but never got down, which I was very worried about. Now she often helps me with chores and lends her warm breath to cold hands. I believe she may be lame and was long before she came here. We’ll see, I hope she can still work because I can’t afford otherwise. Everyone here must be able to work. She’s done a little pulling but still has a long way to go. She’s larger and taller than Ajax and will be a bit harder to maneuver in the garden etc. If she’s to lame she’ll not be able to work at all.

We’ve gotten way down in animals and will are starting over with poultry. Most of our hens were getting on so I gave them away. We still have old Hen tho, who is probably around 10 years old now. I don’t count her when I count hens or poultry tho  :)   Hen-wise we’re down to 13 and not one egg in months. We have 8 Buff Orpingtons who are about 1.5 years and have never gone broody. And 5 RIRs about 8 months and hoping they’ll start laying soon. Buffs are usually such broody good mothers and great layers, I expected to have more than enough chicks by now.

I’ve had quite a bit of interest from stores to sell my salves and balms but the packaging is as acceptable so they’re on hold until I can buy some sort of suitable, affordable containers.

I’ve also had quite a few requests for soap. I’ve not made any to sell since last year. I broke down and bought us some ivory this year  *-*  It seems like there’s so much to do that some things just get lost. I want to open a store, physical and online, that offers only handmade goods for natural folk, homesteaders, off grid folk, pioneer people etc etc.  Maybe when I win the big lottery (I never play) then I can finance … Ozark Mountain Goods … or some such

There’s always the catch of gas money but there’s some hope of getting on at the store in Ava that I’ve thought about since the move. We’ll see. Otherwise I’m working on goods for the summer markets, Bakers and hopefully some of the Pioneer, Mountainman and Rendezvous. I traded around 46.00 of my goods to Rachel at the Ava market for a period top last summer. I’m hoping she has it finished or will soon.

I have plenty of skirts to wear but no proper tops and am much to hard top fit to be able to buy one premade. I may also try to get a pattern and see if I can make one myself. I have no idea on the button holes but the machine does come with something to make them with and people were making them before machines so surely I can figure it out.

Our big meal this week were stuffed grape leaves. They were delicious but I realized how much more I wish I would have put up. I’ve been storing them in layers of salt which hinders how many I can store but I’ve found that they can easily be canned, which I plan to try next summer. I looove stuffed grape leaves  :)

Stuffed Grape Leaves

I had about 16 grape leaves left, stored dry in layers of salt. Take them out, rinse well and put them in a heatproof bowl. Bring water to boil, remove and pour over the leaves. Let them sit in the hot water while you prepare the filling or at least a few minutes. This blanches and softens them so you can roll them up without tearing.

I chopped leftover Christmas ham pretty small, a smallish onion chopped small, rosemary leaves chopped fine, parmesan cheese, sea salt and pepper. Add all of it to a bowl plus a handful dry wild rice (maybe 1/3 cup) and 2 medium eggs (add one egg at a time). I'll try to remember to measure better the next time. Mix it well and make sure it kind of holds it's shape.

Fill each leaf leaving enough room to be able to fold the leaf up, kind of like a burrito but with both ends folded in.

In a deep pot I brown a small onion chopped and about 1/4 cup olive oil. Remove from heat when browned.

Cover the oil with empty grape leaves. I use torn ones first then add what's needed to cover. Carefully add each stuffed grape leaf to the pot. They can be crammed in a bit and layered but leave room for the liquid to get in between and around them a bit.

Make enough lemon water to cover all the stuffed leaves. The ratio is 1 to 2 T lemon juice to 1 cup water. I used about 4 cups of water and 6 T lemon juice.

Place something heavy and heatproof on top of the leaves to hold them down or they'll boil open. I use a metal bowl with the pot lid on top. the bowl gets very hot so take care with whatever you use. Bring the pot to boil then reduce heat and simmer for around 30 minutes. The liquid will reduce some as it cooks.

Serve hot with a little of the liquid drizzled over. I topped these with yogurt.

I ended up with 11 stuffed leaves. I fill them as full as I can and still be able to fold them in properly. They make a great meal piled on a plate with chunks of fresh homemade bread.

I have a new bread recipe to try at market this spring. Tuscan Herb Bread with sun dried tomatoes. It's what we had with our grape leaves, made with my own sun dried tomatoes I made late last summer. It’s a most excellent bread  :)

(((((((((( The Children )))))))))

My mind can't seem to come to terms with this most recent event. Love, strength and healing. Love strength and healing. It almost seems like offering wisps of nothing.

((((((((((((((( Everyone ))))))))))))))