All that stupidity aside....
The sun is out, the mud has subsided a little, and the weather is chilly. I see that the snowdrops and daffodils are starting to push their little heads through the soil, the irises have new leaves starting, and the clematis has brand new leaf buds. Josh has cilantro sprouting in a mini greenhouse in the mudroom, our first seed catalog came right after Christmas, and the yard needs a serious clean-up after our last big windstorm. Lots of must-do's and plans for this year, and hopefully the weather won't defy us again.
We've done some canning, and purchased a pressure canner/cooker a while back. Looking forward to filling the pantry with our own home grown fruits and veggies this year. Our favorite canned veggie so far has been a veggie mix with carrots, corn, green beans, and red bell pepper that Josh found in one of our books. The green beans had gotten a little over ripe, so we shelled them before adding them to the mix. Very good and with a little butter and a dash of Johnny's seasoning even better.
We have managed to make canned apple pie filling for the last three Autumns, so that has become a staple and easy to do pantry addition. Instead of making pie with it, which requires two quarts, I have been making crisp in an eight x eight baking pan. Using just one quart makes it go further. Also found a yummy crisp topping recipe that is gluten free and doesn't take as long to get crispy so our filling doesn't turn to mush in the oven.
Here is the recipe -
1 cup uncooked oats
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
Combine and sprinkle over fruit filling. Bake at 350F until crispy and golden. I'm sure it would taste wonderful with any canned pie filling.
I found it here apple crisp with oatmeal topping
Other than a day of snow, and a week of really cold weather, we have been having a mild winter. I am hoping that the cold snap was enough to put a damper on this year's mosquitoes and give the irises and peonies enough chill to bring on a lot of flowers. Time will tell.
Last bit before I sign off (hopefully only briefly) - we acquired a puppy this past summer. An adorable little hound puppy that we named Shadow. I stress little, because that is a long past condition. At a rate of a 10 pound gain per month, at seven months old he is now about 70 lbs. and tall enough that he has to duck a little when he goes under the dinning room table. So much for little, but his size isn't a surprise, just how quickly he got there. He is still adorable (for the most part :) ), and we love him. The cats and our other dog are still undecided.
