Today I finished clearing the last bed, yeah! Of course this doesn't mean there are no more weeds on my allotment, but it does mean I am on the winning side.
I sowed green and runner beans, a lot more than last year, hoping to meet my canning goals.

The weather has been hot this week and I don't really like hot weather, but the forecasts say it will cool down after tomorrow. We'll get some rain too and that's badly needed, because I have to water the garden almost everyday.

I have some pictures for you to enjoy, of my allotment and some of my home garden.
This is the last bed I had to clear, but over half of my garden looked like this.

My onions, chard and lettuce:

My pumpkins, corn, cucumbers (far right) and my little greenhouse with pepper plants:

My kohlrabis and cauliflower in the front:

As you can see there is still some grass on the paths and on the edges of the beds, but I'll take care of that in the coming days.

A few pictures of my girls, first Clarabella and Betsy taking a dust bath:

and then in contrast, Henrietta the mud queen :

My elder tree in the back garden:

and the blackberry bush in bloom:

Foxglove, one of my favorite flowers:

Herbs drying in the kitchen:

Well I hope you enjoyed the little tour, see you soon.

blessings, Ellen

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I have been working very hard in my vegetable garden lately. Because I was late getting started (again ), the weeds and especially the grass had a head start on me. But I'm finally getting there, just two more days of hard work, cutting everything with a spade just below the surface , and I will have my garden back. This week I planted tomatoes, lettuce and peppers, sown chard, aragula, radishes, red beets and carrots. Still to sow green and runner beans and to plant brussels sprouts and white cabbage.
The weather has been very warm and still is, luckily we had some good rain last night, so everything can grow like crazy.

The children are almost done with school, just two more days and a fun day the week after. They worked very hard over the last couple of weeks and I'm very proud of them for that. Wesley will be going on a camping trip with his friends for the first time, to a small island of the coast. Not too far so mom can get used to the idea. :) It's not that I can't be without him (or Cassandra for that matter), because they go on holiday with their father every year. But just the idea of Wesley being on his own, that's why we didn't want him to go abroad, next year he can, he will be eightteen by then.

I didn't finish my last two courses, but I can do them again next year or the year after. Due to all the stress around my trip to Wales, another cold, and our trips to Paris and Belgium, , I didn't do very much studying and got behind. I decided it would be better to concentrate on my garden and my health and just take the classes again. I feel it was the right decision, I am feeling very good, all the hard work in the garden is making me stronger physically.

Well onto Cheryl's question about how to use kohlrabi. I peel the kohlrabi and dice them, about half inch big. Then I just boil them until just tender and eat them with potatoes and some kind of meat. I think they taste like delicate cauliflower. We really like them.
I haven't canned them before, but intend to peel and dice them and then raw pack them, like I did with my green beans last year. I'll let you know how they turn out, but I think they will be fine.
Cheryl has a really nice blog, maybe you can take a look sometime.

Have a nice Sunday!

blessings, Ellen

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It has been too long since I posted, but I have been busy with all kinds of things. That and another cold, which always makes me feel miserable.

My garden is coming along nicely, but I am not done yet. I have planted corn, lots of kohlrabis, a few cauliflowers (which I got from a fellow gardener), gherkins, cucumbers, pumpkins and I've sown some chard, radishes and arugula. I have still to plant my tomatoes, some more kohlrabis (I see a lot of canned kohlrabi in my future ), peppers, lettuce, brussel sprouts and white cabbage and still to sow more arugula, chard, radishes, green beans, runner beans, carrots and red beets.
Our weather had been strange, higher temperatures than normal, wetter, but also very dry in between and all of a sudden a few cold days, mixed in with one really bad thunderstorm. Hopefully the weather will be a bit more normal from now on.

Canning season has started as well. So far I have made rhubarb jam, strawberry jam and elderflower cordial. I also put 2 pounds of strawberries in the freezer.
Last weekend I made a planning for this canning season, looking at last year, which was my first serious canning season. I plan to can
strawberry jam                               8 small jars
rhurbarb jam                                  5 small jars
raspberry jam                                 5 small jars
peaches in light syrup                    12 large jars
rhubarb-strawberry pie filling        4 small jars
peach pie filling                              3 small jars
tomato sauce                                 28 large jars
salsa                                             14 large jars
green beans                                  14 large jars
runner beans                                 14 large jars
kohlrabi                                          7 large jars (maybe more)
roasted peppers                            14 large jars
bread and butter pickles               15 large jars
runner bean relish                          3 large jars
applesauce                                    14 large jars
gherkin pickles                                ? (depends on how well my plants produce)
probably something with blackberries as well, our bush is flowering like crazy, as is our eldertree.
(my small jars are somewhere between a half pint and a pint, my large jars are between a pint and a quart):

The girls are doing very well, three are laying almost every day and the fourth one is starting as well. We've had two days with four eggs and 49 eggs so far.   Frank made an alteration to the coop on Sunday, after we were woken by Emma calling danger at 5 o'clock that morning (I couldn't find what she was scared of, but it can't have been much, we don't have any predators here). We haven't had any complaints, but I'm sure there were more people startled like we were. So Frank made a little sliding door on the night coop, which I let down when it's dark and open when I'm up. It works wonderfully, no more early morning scares.

Well that's it for now, I'll be back a lot sooner next time, I promise.  Tomorrow marks my first blog anniversary, a year ago I started this blog and it still amazes me how many of you read it. Thanks!

blessings, Ellen

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Today my son Wesley turned 17, although sometimes you would think he's a lot younger!   I'm very proud of my manneke (little man as I often call him ), who knows so much of what is going on in the world, but at the same time can make us laugh with his silly things.

Here we are with Cassandra in Paris:

Have a wonderful day!

love, mama

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We've had our first eggs! While we were away for a few days to Paris, our friend and neighbour Rosy, who was taking care of our cats and chickens, found the first two eggs and today Emma produced another one.  I'm pretty sure the others are hers too. Here is a picture of the smallest and probably the first egg:

The girls having fun with a bowl of spaghetti, which Cassandra made specially for them, she also took the picture:

Frank, the kids and I went to Paris by train on Wednesday, where we stayed for 3 nights. We walked and saw a lot and conquered a lot of stairs. We went to the Notre Dame and the Sacré-Coeur, climbed part of the Eiffeltower by day (Frank and the kids went to the second floor, I stayed at the first) and went back at night to see it with all the lights, which was very beautiful. We did some shopping, visited the Louvre, where we saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus of Milo, stood under the Arc de Triomphe and the Grande Arche. We had a great time and enjoyed each other's company very much. Frank and Cassandra took lots of pictures, here is one of the Eiffeltower at night:

Yesterday was Mother's Day and since we came back Saturday evening and I told Frank and the kids that Mother's Day is flowerday, they didn't have a present for me yet. But I got pampered anyway, they made breakfast, lunch and dinner, Frank took care of the laundry and Cassandra made me a gorgeous cake, a lovely day!  You can see the cake in the picture, it says happy Mother's Day:

This week I have to spend a lot of time in my allotment, I want to sow and plant almost everything before Ascension, but still have to do some tilling. All my seedlings are doing well here in the back garden and the blackberry and elderberry bushes are almost flowering.

blessings, Ellen

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In contrast to what I said earlier I did not go to Wales. I cancelled at the last minute (two days before departure), because it gave me too much stress to leave my family and home. Part of me wanted to go , but a bigger part just wanted to stay home and take care of my family and little homestead. When I explained to everybody how stressed I was, physically and emotionally, they all understood and were very sweet about it.
So I stayed home and enjoyed my children's company after their trip to England, enjoyed time with Frank and just being at home.

At this moment it's raining, so it looks a little less like spring, but the rain is needed after summer temperatures this past week. On the allotment, I have planted my strawberry plants, finally, and onions. Cassandra came with me for an afternoon and helped with all kinds of things, so sweet of her. At home I have repotted all my kohlrabi and tomato plants, so it looks like a nursery in our garden. I have to keep everything high, since my lovely girls are becoming savages with almost everything green.

Speaking of the girls, they are doing very well, only Clarabella seems to have some trouble breathing through her nose (well the holes which could be her nose ). For over a week now not one of them is on medication, finally, so now we're waiting for that first egg.

Last weekend we had our first rhubarb of the season, we always look forward to eating rhubarb crunch again. The rhubarb was not from my own plants, they aren't big enough yet and besides, they're still young plants, so I won't be able to get much from them this year.

The recipe for rhubarb crunch comes from a little cookbook, called "Cooking and Memories, Favorite Recipes from 20 Mennonite and Amish Cooks" by Phyllis Pellman Good (People's Place Booklet No. 5).  I bought this book years and years ago, well before I had my children, but I still make some of the recipes in it. I don't think it is still for sale.

Rhubarb Crunch
Crumbs:
1 cup flour, sifted (ww flours works just as good)
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed (I usually just use cane juice crystals)
1 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup oatmeal flakes
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 cups rhubarb, diced
Glaze:
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup water

Mix the crumbs until crumbly. Press half of them into a greased 9" x 9" baking pan. Cover with diced rhubarb.
Combine the glaze ingredients and cook until it thickens and clears. Pour it over the rhubarb. Top with the remaining crumbs; then bake at 350F for one hour.
Serve warm plain or with milk or ice cream.
Makes 8 servings.

I usually double this recipe and we eat it hot with cold custard (we call it vla) at dinner time, but the leftovers are for breakfast the next morning.

 We also had Dutch pancakes for dinner last week. I made plain ones, apple pancakes and bacon pancakes. We eat them with sugar, molasses or jam. Here is a picture:

Cassandra likes to bake, just like her mother , and she made these beautiful cupcakes a few days ago. She is very creative and I'm very proud of her.

Last week I finished knitting a poncho for myself (it took a while ), but I decided I like crochet more. So I crocheted some pot holders just for fun and started a poncho for Cassandra. I find it more relaxing than either quilting or knitting.

I wanted to thank you all for the sweet comments, I love to read them.

blessings, Ellen

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Some pictures for you to enjoy:

planting and weeding in the front garden

the finished front garden with raspberry, blueberry, gooseberry bushes and a pear tree

the plum tree

laundry in the back garden

my girls basking in the sun

seedlings with our rain water barrel

Emma and Henrietta on the garden bench

apple blossom

I hope you enjoyed the little tour.

blessings, Ellen

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I hope you all have a wonderful Easter with your families, celebrating Jesus' resurrection.

I have been working hard in our front garden, but it isn't done yet, so I'll have to get back to you on that on Monday.  Our weather is wonderful and unusually warm for this time of year, but we are enjoying it. Everything is turning green and growing nicely.

Yesterday I sowed several things in my mini greenhouse (really mini, it's on the garden table ) and some other things in pots. They are 2 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of kohlrabi, pickle cucumbers, peppers, several herbs, sunflowers (red and yellow) and corn.
I'm so looking forward to eating out of my own garden again.

blessings, Ellen

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It was an eventful week with sick chickens and an Old English exam. Last Monday afternoon I was quite sure one of my chickens was sick, so I put her in the shed and the next morning I called our vet. I could come almost immediately with my sick chicken, whose name is Henrietta.  After looking over some poop I had brought with me, the vet told me she had coccidiosis, which is very contagious and can be lethal. The vet also told me Henrietta was way too skinny and she wasn't sure she would make it. So I got two different medicines for my girls, which I had to give directly in the beak to all four of them, for three days.
Luckily they were sweet girls and didn't make too much trouble when I had them wrapped in a towel to give them the medicine. I kept Henrietta in the shed for another night and on Wednesday I put her back with the others. I was happy to see her drinking immediately and eating after a while.
I think they will be alright now, but I'm keeping a close eye on them.

I also had to teach them to get in their sleeping quarters for the first three days, but on the fourth day they managed by themselves. Not that they do it elegantly or even relaxed, the stairs Frank made for them are still a hurdle they have to take.

Today I let the door to their coop open, so they could discover the garden. For the first fifteen minutes they ignored it, but once three of them had looked over the doorstep together they went for it. They stayed out all afternoon, inspected all the plants and bushes in the garden for bugs, and enjoyed the sun, but also returned to the coop for a drink and a snack twice. Everything they did, they did together, so that's why I call them the four chickateers. Just before dinner I gave them a treat (yogurt with sunflowerseeds) and put them back in the coop. It was fun to watch them having fun.  

Now I have to get them used to being in the garden with our cats and dog there also, and the other way around of course.

Oh, almost forgot, besides Henrietta, we have Clarabella, Emma and Betsy.  I'll post some pictures below. If you see some colour on their heads, that's food colouring. I did that to tell them apart.

By the way, I think my Old English exam went well, have to wait for the results though.

blessings, Ellen

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our secret project:

Frank and I built a chicken coop last weekend and yesterday I brought home 4 lovely Sussex chickens. They are about 22 weeks old and not used to a coop with a separate sleeping part, so I had to put them in there yesterday evening and tonight.  I even had to push them out this morning, I hope they catch on soon. I just love watching them doing their business. When they are completely used to the coop, they can roam the rest of our small garden when I'm home and the weather is cooperating.

We had a plan for the coop from a magazine, but we made it bigger and a little different. We are very happy with it and our neighbours are all very excited as well.

Here is a close-up of the girls:

blessings, Ellen

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I thought a picture was due, so here are my cookies, muffins (without the blueberries , I just simply forgot them, Wesley says they're still good) and breads. Some cookies and muffins are already missing, because the kids and I had our afternoon tea.

blessings, Ellen

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For me it has, I'm happy to say. Sunday a week ago I went to my allotment after the first real winter in years. I have to admit that I neglected my allotment since early fall, so it was a bit of a mess, but less than I expected. Not so for my hubby who came along to help with the rototiller, he thought it was a big mess . So I started clearing all the dry stuff, which immediately made it look better.  I had hired a rototiller, but it wasn't cut out for my soil, which is mostly clay. But Frank and I did manage to do a part.
Yesterday I went back and prepared the first bed and sowed some spinach! I will have 11 beds this year, I'm going to move my compost bin to the part where the water pump is, so I can divide the rest into 11 beds.
They will be: rhubarb, strawberries, 2 cabbage (kale and brussels sprouts, white cabbage and kohlrabi), tomatoes, pumpkin (together with some corn), cucumber (with red peppers in the small green house), runner beans, green beans (with spinach before them), saladleaves and  root vegetables (onion, carrot, red beet).
I will have less pumpkins and hopefully more beans and tomatoes. I am going to make a cover for the tomatoes, only over the top, which will shield them from too much rain and give them a bit more warmth.

Yesterday I also did some clearing and cutting in our front garden. I always leave it alone during the winter, so all kind of insects can hide there. I still have to remove some stones and move some plants, so I will have room for a pear tree, a plum tree, raspberry bushes and blueberries bushes. Frank did the hard part last weekend, he took down a horse chestnut tree, which I grew from a horse chestnut myself. It was getting rather big and I wanted to plant a fruit tree near to it.
No news on the secret project yet, Frank will do that this Friday and Saturday.  I'll keep you posted.

This morning was a busy one, first I ground 2 kg (4.4 pounds) of wheat. Well the grain mill on my Bosch did that, it takes a little over an hour to do that. While that was going on I mixed up a batch of cookie dough with dried cranberries and chocolate chips (it's in the fridge now). Then I made bread in my Bosch, two big whole wheat loaves and one big white one (the kids rather like white, so they get both), which are rising at the moment. This afternoon I will bake the cookies, make some blueberry (I still have those in the freezer) muffins and bake the bread. I'm also straining some buttermilk to make 'hangop' (literally 'hang up'), which is a nice dessert with some (canned) fruit. I think I will give it with my own canned peaches. The hangop will also give me some whey, which I can use for soaking beans or rice, or maybe I will try to make some lacto-fermented red beets later this week. My sauerkraut turned out great, Frank and I are enjoying that regularly.

blessings, Ellen

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I haven't been around lately, because translating Old English, learning Modern Welsh and going back over Old Irish (again and again ) is keeping me very busy. Just another 4 weeks and things will quiet down a bit (I hope!), because I have a lot to do. Gardening season is almost upon us!

It felt a bit like spring today, so I spend a little bit of time in the back garden, the last pruning of our blackberry bush, apple tree and I started cutting back a bush, which will have to make room for our secret project. I hope Frank will start on it this weekend and when he does I'll post some pictures and let you guess what it will be.

In the mean time here is our March menu, which I just made. I will do my big shopping trip tomorrow, so apart from fresh produce and dairy I will have plenty of food in the house, always a great feeling.

Sunday        
tacos with salsa, cheese, sour cream, salad and refried beans
Monday       
fried rice with chicken breast and pickles
Tuesday      
mashed potatoes, kale, smoked sausage
Wednesday  
baked potatoes filled with baked beans and topped with cheese with broccoli
Thursday     
noodle soup
Friday         
fish fingers, hash browns, vegetable
Saturday     
noodle soup

Sunday         
mashed potatoes with hm sauerkraut and smoked sausage
Monday        
stir fried steak and vegetables with rice
Tuesday      
spaghettie Bolognese
Wednesday
black bean burritos with coleslaw and cornbread (Crystal's recipe)
Thursday     
potatoes with vegetables and meat
Friday           
fish gravy with mashed potatoes and vegetable
Saturday       
vegetable soup with hm bread

Sunday   
chicken wings with rice, vegetables with peanut sauce      
Monday        
french fries with hot dogs
Tuesday      
mashed potatoes with runner beans and bacon
Wednesday
potatoes, brown beans, piccallily, bacon bits, applesauce, fried onions
Thursday     
tortellini with tomato sauce
Friday            
salmon patties (Crystal's recipe) with potato salad and vegetables
Saturday      
pumpkinsoup with hm bread

Sunday         
baked potatoes with steak and vegetables
Monday        
pizza
Tuesday      
Frank's macaroni with pickles
Wednesday
Dutch pancakes
Thursday     
potatoes with meat and vegetables
Friday           
pangasiusfillet with rice and vegetables
Saturday      
chicken corn soup

Sunday
Nachos for a crowd (Crystal's recipe)
Monday
leftovers from weekend
Tuesday
mashed potatoes/carrots/onions (stamppot) with stew

blessings, Ellen

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At Freedom Gardens they launched a new challenge: The Freedom Harvest Challenge, 1 million pounds harvest drive. All the freedom gardeners who are joining are going to tally up their harvests and together with The Little Homestead in the City we are hoping to reach 1 million pounds. Read this post by Anais to learn more: Freedom Harvest Challenge

I myself harvested 286 pounds last year, ok I had a lot of pumpkins , but food is food. I won't set a particular goal for myself, because I'll have less pumpkins this year, but hopefully more green and runner beans and tomatoes. I'm also planting berry bushes in our front garden together with a plum and a pear tree and another apple tree in the back garden. They won't give much this year, but I'm hopeful for the coming years.

I'm planning to finalize my garden plan this weekend and order my seeds. Today feels like spring, but I know it's not there yet. Patience, patience....

blessings, Ellen

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This week I made my menu for February and did the biggest part of my shopping for the month. It always feels good to have my cupboards full, although they are never really empty.
I only plan for dinner, because breakfast is the same for Frank and Wesley everyday: yoghurt and a bit of vanilla custard with fruit and granola. Cassandra and I usually eat oatmeal in the winter, but scrambled eggs, pancakes or bread come along also, always with some kind of fruit and a glass of buttermilk. Our lunches are usually sandwiches, because all of us when not home take a lunch. I sometimes eat leftovers when I'm at home.

Sunday        
potatoes with vegetables and meat
Monday       
chili with cornbread
Tuesday      
fried rice with chicken breasts and vegetables
Wednesday  
macaroni and cheese with pickles
Thursday     
mashed potatoes/carrots/onions (stamppot) with stew
Friday         
French fish with roasted potatoes and vegetables
Saturday     
tacosoup with cornbread

Sunday         
mashed potatoes with hm sauerkraut and smoked sausage
Monday        
tacosoup with tortilla chips
Tuesday      
tortellini with tomato sauce and coleslaw
Wednesday
mashed potatoes and kale (stamppot) with smoked sausage
Thursday     
potatoes with vegetables and meat
Friday           
pangasius fillets with rice and stir-fry vegetables
Saturday       
vegetable soup with hm bread

Sunday         
black bean burritos with coleslaw and cornbread (Crystal's recipe)
Monday        
french fries with hot dogs
Tuesday      
mashed potatoes with raw endive (stamppot), bacon bits and applesauce
Wednesday
rice with chicken wings and vegetables with peanut sauce
Thursday     
lasagna with pickles
Friday           
fish gravy with mashed potatoes and vegetables
Saturday      
pumpkinsoup with hm bread

Sunday         
cheese fondue with hm french bread and mushrooms
Monday        
pizza
Tuesday      
potatoes with vegetables and meat
Wednesday
Italian pinto beans with hm french bread and coleslaw (Crystal's recipe)
Thursday     
fried noodles with vegetables and meat alternative
Friday           
fish pies with potato salad and vegetables
Saturday      
onionsoup with hm french bread

I usually stick to my menu, but sometimes I switch meals around when I feel like it (the prerogative of the cook ).

blessings, Ellen

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At the request of Crispe I'm posting the recipe I have used for two years now. But to be honest I really don't know how it turns out, because the first batch is maturing in bottles right now and we haven't opened one yet. When we bottled the wine (which was a complete mess by the way  we did it in the old kitchen, where we had tiles on the floor, but I think we will do it outside this year, with the wooden floor we have now), it smelled really nice, so I have high hopes.

This recipe comes from The River Cottage cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but probably is similar to a lot of other recipes, and I changed one thing, the kind of yeast.

Blackberry/elderberry wine
2 kg (4.4 pounds) blackberries or elderberries, or a combination of the two
1 kg (2.2 pounds) sugar (I used cane juice crystals)
juice and zest of 1 orange
juice and zest of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons dried baker's yeast (I use a packet of ordinary wine yeast, because the first time I tried this recipe with the baker's yeast I wasn't sure it did ok, so I threw it out. With the wine yeast it ferments really well and smells nice too)

Tidy up the fruit, but do not wash it, then put it in a sterilised bucket or large pan. Boil 2 liters (a little over 2 quarts) and pour it over the fruit and mash it up roughly to help release the juice. Cover and leave at warm room temperature for a couple of days (I actually had mine out for 4 days), stirring twice daily with a sterilised wooden spoon. Strain liquid through a clean cotton cloth.
Put 2,5 liters (almost 3 quarts) of water in a pan, add the sugar and heat gently until dissolved. Bring to boiling point and immediately take of heat. Add orange and lemon juice and zest to the syrup and leave to cool. Then add this flavoured syrup to the fruit juice.
Mix the yeast with a little warm water and leave in a warm place until it starts fermenting (when using wine yeast, just mix with a little warm water, no need to wait for fermentation). Add to the fruit mixture.
Take the zests out and pour the wine into a fermentation jar with an airlock. Leave at room temperature (about 64-74F) until it stops fermenting, this will take 2-6 months. When there are no more bubbles in the airlock it has stopped fermenting.
Then syphon the wine carefully into another fermentation jar, leaving the sediment behind. Leave to mature for at least 6 months and then syphon into bottles and seal.
This wine usually keeps well, and benefits from being aged for several years (the reason why we haven't tried one until now, but I think we will try one in the next few months ).

The only real problem with this is, where do you put all those bottles, which are maturing?

Have fun trying!

blessings, Ellen

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Last week I had to rearrange my freezers in order to make room for my natural meat. I still had elderberries (lots), blackberries and some raspberries in there. The elderberries and blackberries were from my own garden and I saved them to make elderberry wine and some berry lemonade concentrate. So that's what I did the last couple of days, the wine is burping away at the moment, fermentation is going strong.  According to the kids the lemonade concentrate isn't sweet enough, so some extra sugar is needed there. After all the berry juice dripped out, I still had a lot of berry pulp in there, so I put that through a sieve (hard work ) and now I also have some berry sauce in the feezer, very tasty with semolina pudding! But I have to say, I'm not going to do this again, it's a lot of work for a small batch.

I also used my pressure canner again, I made a really big batch of split pea soup for dinner on Saturday and I canned the rest, 7 jars (a jar = 1,5 pints). Yesterday I also canned 6 jars of brown beans, which I like to have on hand. I will do the same with red kidney beans and navy beans tomorrow.
It is very easy, first soak the beans for at least 12 hours, refresh the water and cook them for 30 minutes. In the mean time prepare your jars and the canner. Fill the jars with beans and cooking liquid, liquid should be about a half inch above the beans (beans will expand further during canning), leaving an inch above the liquid. You can add salt, but I never do. Can the jars 75 minutes for pints, 90 minutes for quarts, I can my medium jars for 85 minutes.

blessings, Ellen

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I took the Christmas decorations down on Saturday, although I wouldn't have mind if they had stayed a little longer.   We had to take the Christmas tree down a week before, since we had a lease tree  and had to return it then. We are still eating Christmas cookies (there are also still a lot in the freezer) and Cassandra finally took her gingerbread house apart after the rest of us had nicked some candy and even part of a roof.
Last monday we all had to start with work, school or study again after two weeks of blissful vacation. It was hard, especially because it was very cold, but we survived the first week.

Frank and I had our first taste of the sauerkraut I made and it already tasted quite good, but I think it can do with a bit more time. So we'll try again in a few weeks. I think it feels great to be able to do something so basic.
I've ordered some wild beef, it comes from a particular breed (Scottish highlanders) and they live in nature reserves.They are left to their own devices and only when there are too many (which doesn't take long in our small country) they are either taken somewhere else or taken to the slaughterhouse. The meat couldn't be anymore natural than that. So hopefully by the end of this week our freezer will be full.

Tomorrow I have to take my final exam for Middlewelsh and since I passed the midterm test in December, I'm quite confident I will pass this one as well. After my exam I have only two short classes for Old Irish in the next two and a half weeks. Nothing stressful, which is nice, because I still have some a lot of sewing to do.
Next block I will take a course on Old English and I'll be learning Modern Welsh, besides my once a week Old Irish class.

blessings, Ellen

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a happy, healthy and blessed 2009!

Our apple and banana fritters:

blessings, Ellen

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Today I tried two new things , I baked a bread in my dutch oven inside our wood burner and I made sauerkraut. It was the first time I used my DO, I had prepared it properly, first by baking it on the bbq this summer, so all the parafine could melt en get wiped off. Secondly, to season it I baked it in a low oven for 2 hours after greasing it. I made my usual ww bread dough and let it rise in the DO. Then I made sure I had some red hot coals in the wood burner and in went the DO. I figured that it would be very hot inside the burner, so I thought it didn't need many coals on top of the DO. We (Frank likes these things as much as I do ) let it bake for 20 minutes and then took it out. Too bad it was burned at the bottom , but overall it wasn't too bad. Next time I have to make sure there are less coals under the DO and more on top, practice makes perfect they say.

Later this afternoon I started shredding cabbage by hand (about 17 pounds). After each head I would put the shredded cabbage in my special sauerkraut crock together with some sea salt and whey and start pounding it with a wooden basher. It took me about 2,5 hours to process all the cabbage and fill up my crock (my arms are a bit tired now ), below you can see the result. Now I'll let it sit in my kitchen for 3 days and then I'll move it upstairs to the attic, where it's cool. I'm not sure how long I will let it ferment, because different recipes give different time frames, ranging from 1 till 6 weeks. We'll see.

Here I am pounding the cabbage (Frank insisted on taking the picture):

The finished product (those are the stones you see, which keep the kraut under water):

The crock in my kitchen:

All in all it has been a productive and nice day, starting with making a batch of granola early in the morning, so Frank and I could have that for our breakfast, throught bread baking in the DO, meeting my bil's girlfriend for the first time (Maarten, she's a keeper ), and finally making sauerkraut.

Tomorrow will be menu making and shopping day, but I would also like to make a curtain for our hallway. And the day after, New Year's Eve (we actually call it Old Year's Day ), brings baking, to be more precise frying our traditional apple and banana fritters. A messy and smelly business, but I wouldn't want to miss it, though I always need a good long shower afterwards.

blessings, Ellen

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