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Apple Pie Filling

18 cups baking apples, peeled & sliced (about 6 lbs.)
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups brown sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground nutmeg
8 cups water

In a large bowl mix the apples together with the lemon juice to keep
them from browning. Set aside. In a large pot combine brown sugar,
cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add water and bring to a boil
over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for two minutes. Add
apples (you may want to drain off some of the lemon juice, but I
think it adds a nice flavor) and return to a boil. Reduce heat,
cover and simmer until apples are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Have
your quart jars and lids hot and ready. Pack each jar with the
filling to ½ inch from the top. Screw down lids. Process in hot
water bath for 20 minutes. Makes about 5 quarts.

Our Apples are allllllllmost ready and I hope to make pie filling and applesauces, along with apple CHIPS in the dehydrator too!

Blackberry Crisp

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon and/or nutmeg

5-6 cups of Blackberries

1/4 cup Cornstarch

Start out with clean freshly picked Blackberries in a bowl, I sprinkle about a 1/4 C of cornstarch over the top and mix in, let it set. Grab another bowl and toss in all your other ingredients, using the tines of a fork, mix until crumbly. Pour your berries in a baking dish, oversized pie plate, etc., and sprinkle on your crumbly topping mixture, put into a pre-heated 350 degree oven, bake for 25 or so minutes and remove, cool and EAT. Mmmm!

www.HomesteadOriginals.com

Mom's Mac 'n' Cheese

Creamy Salmon and Broccoli Manicotti

Creamy Salmon and Broccoli Manicotti
prep 30 minutes
cook 30 minutes
bake 45 minutes

16 uncooked manicotti shells
4 cups water
4 slices lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 pound salmon fillets
Parmesan Sauce (below)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups broccoli flowerets, thawed and drained (large pieces cut up)
1 can (4 to 4 1/2 oz) tiny shrimp, rinsed and drained
chopped green onion, if desired

cook and drain manicotti shells as directed on package; set aside. heat
water, lemon, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper to boiling in 10 inch
skillet; reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 5 minutes. Add salmon.
Heat to boiling; reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered 7 to 10 minutes or
until salmon flakes easily with fork. Carefully remove salmon with
slotted spatula; cool 15 minutes. Remove and discard skin and bones;
break up salmon.

Prepare Parmesan Sauce. Heat oven to 350F. Spray 2 rectangular baking
dishes, 11x7, with cooking spray. Mix ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese,
1/2 tsp pepper and 1/4 tsp salt in medium bowl. Stir in salmon and
broccoli. Spread 1/4 cup sauce over bottom of each baking dish. Fill
manicotti shells with salmon mixture. Place shells on sauce in baking
dishes. stir shrimp into remaining sauce; pour evenly over shells.
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. bake uncovered about 45 minutes or until
hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with onion. 8 servings

Simplify: Use 2 cups flaked cooked or smoked salmon for the fresh salmon
fillet. Use 2 cups purchased Alfredo sauce instead of the Parmesan Sauce.

Do Ahead: Cover and refrigerate the assembled dishes up to 24 hours.
Bake 50 to 55 minutes.

Parmesan Sauce
3 tbsp margarine or butter
3 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Melt margarine in 2 qt saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, tarragon
and pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is
smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk. heat to
boiling, stirring constantly. boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat.
Stir in cheese until melted.

Source:
Betty Crocker Holiday
November 1999

The Biblical Basis for Homeschooling Christian Children ~ Pt. 5 ~ A Battleground for the Minds of Our Children

“Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through which they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.’” (Luke 17:1-3)

John Dewey was a very out-spoken prophet for the anti-God public school system. Not only did he not want God entering through the doors of our schools, but God’s absolutes, God’s morals and principles would put a wrench in his plans for our youth. There is no room for the God or anything to do with His kingdom. “Every teacher should realize the dignity of his calling; that he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of proper social order and the securing of the right social growth…In this way the teacher is always the prophet of the true god and the usherer of the true kingdom of god.”[1] [emphasis mine] And again, just in case you didn’t understand the first time, he added this for good measure: “Faith in the prayer-hearing God is an unproved and out-moded faith. There is no God and there is no soul…There is no room for fixed, natural law or moral absolutes.”[2]

Oh, but there is more. Horace Mann and John Dewey were certainly not the only ones to take this point of view. They are merely standing at the head of the line of our modern school system. More recently, Paul Blanshard, a writer for The Humanist magazine even hinted that even though America’s arithmetic, science and reading skills are sinking – even while billions of our tax dollars are being poured into the bottomless pit of educational “reform” – that only seems to be part of the plan for him. “Our schools may not teach Johnny to read properly, but the fact that Johnny is in school until he is sixteen tends to lead toward the elimination of religious superstition.”[3]

For anyone who doubts, Blanshard was not the first person to think this way. Adolph Hitler once said, “Let me control the textbooks, and I will control Germany.” And that is exactly what he did. And to make sure, he made private school, parochial school and home education illegal. “Recalcitrant parents were warned that their children would be taken away from them and put in orphanages or other homes unless they enrolled[4] [in the government schools].” (Sound familiar?) But Hitler was certainly ahead of his time. In 1983, John Dunphy, yet again another writer for The Humanist magazine, reiterated that what the public schools are secretly fighting unaware parents for are the minds and immortal souls of their children: “The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new – the rotting corpse of Christianity, together with all its adjacent evils and misery, and the new faith of humanism.”[5]

And let us not forget about this generation’s leader of the pack: The National Education Association. Dr. John Goodland wrote a report for the NEA in which he said, “Our goal is behavioral change. The majority of our youth still hold to the values of their parents and if we do not resocialize them to accept change, our society may decay.”[6] [emphasis mine]

Reading, writing and arithmetic have had to make way and be replaced by a new value system. Values clarification seems to be the order of the day whether parents want it be or not. (Remember the outcome of the Ninth Circuit Court’s decision.)

“Values Clarification.” It has the sound of the educational system desiring nothing more than to help our youngsters get a handle on right and wrong, doesn’t it? Mary Pride, in her book “The Way Home,” is not one known to beat around the bush. She cuts right to the chase as she puts it this way: “…as the public schools are demanding the right to indoctrinate children in values that may be directly contrary to the parents’. Sex education courses are designed to brainwash children into accepting homosexuality and fornication as ‘valid forms of sexual expression.’ Values clarification classes systematically destroy the Biblical concepts of an absolute right and an absolute wrong. One-world government programs in Social Studies are meant to destroy patriotism, while the study of ‘women’s role in today’s society’ is a front for indoctrination in feminism. Economics courses teach socialism; English teachers assign pornography as required reading; even my high-school gym class featured instruction in occult Yoga techniques.”

Even though I graduated from high school in 1977, I can personally verify nearly everything she listed. In my own experience, my Psychology teacher required us to lay on mats hooked up to monitors that measured our bio rhythms. All in the name of progressive learning. Mann and Dewey would have been so proud.

[1] John Dewey, My Pedagogic Creed (Washington D. C.: Progressive Education Association, 1897), 17

[2] John Dewey, Characters and Etlents, Popular Essays in Social and Political Philosophy, Vol. II (New York: Holt, 1929), 515

[3] Paul Blanshard, “Three Cheers for Our Secular State,” The Humanist, March/April 1976 (A publication of the American Humanist Assoc., based in Amhurst, New York,), 17

[4] William Shirer, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (New York, Simon and Schester, 1960), 255

[5] John Dunphy, The Humanist, January/February 1983

[6] Dr. John Goodland, Report to the National Education Association: Schooling for the Future (no date given)

To Be Continuted...

Blessings from Ohio, Kim Wolf<><

Pics-Harvest Festival and Plowing

These pics are from a couple of weeks ago. Our town has a Fall Color Festival. I only took a couple of pictures. There are three rivers that converge in our town. This is a shot from the bridge right downtown. It was beautiful.

Our son also took part in the tractor pull. He placed third (out of three

), but he did his best:

My honey plowed up a few acres on our north 20. I think we're putting in oats and alfalfa next spring, and somehow want to get some wheat in.

I guess I sound like I'm boasting. I just love this land and all that the Lord has blessed us with. I want to be a good steward and use it for His glory.

Using the Harvest

What are you getting from your garden? We have harvested cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions,sunflowers, kale, pumpkins, apples and plums this fall. With this harvest there are a number of things I make.

Homemade spaghetti sauce-tomatoes, garlic, onions, basil, thyme, sage, oregano, majarom, cayenne, savory from the garden

Applesauce, apple pie, baked apples, fresh plums, pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pancakes

You know, even with stretching our grocery money, I'm still spending about $100 a week on groceries. There are six of us, and I can't think of how to save any more than I am. Any suggestions?

Day book entry #13

I am thinking... of how to arrange my schedule this week to get everything done that needs to get done in the time frame it needs to get done.

From the learning room... a bit of a slow start to our school day- it is after all, a Monday. We enjoyed a bit of lapbooking with our Botany and will take a nature walk later today to look for moncots/dicots to add to our nature journals. Mr. Conductor asked for a countdown chain for pumpkin carving and so we made one. 21 days is a long chain- hope he makes it. American History continues on- we’ll be making a Teepee sometime this week (I say we- I mean Mr. Steady and the girls!).

I am thankful for… tried and true recipes that you can always fall back on. I was going to try a new dessert recipe for homeschool group but with my full schedule I decided to stick with what I do best- triple fudge brownies.

From the kitchen... breakfast was apple pancakes and sliced bananas. [Mr. Steady made a HUGE batch last week and we’re still enjoying them- note- best was to freeze pancakes is to put them in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze- then take out, remove from tray and place in a freezer bag- that way they are individually frozen and not stuck together!] Lunch is Sunday’s leftovers (stroganoff) and supper will be Spanish rice with bacon and homemade bread. Check out the rest of my weekly menu here.

I am creating... learners. Some great homeschooling going on here this week. Plus I’m also creating youth ministry reports for this week’s church board meeting. And a framed special verse for a couple of friends. And doctored photo postcards to send to a couple of youth group kiddos. Lots going on!

I am going... to town later- errand running. After Mr. Steady comes home- so I can go “alone”.

I am wearing... well worn and frayed blue jeans, Trevecca Naz University Tshirt and zip up fleece, thick socks.

I am reading... On Sparrow Hill by Maureen Lang and another book I can’t remember the title of.

I am hoping... to get everything done that needs doing without stress or worry.

I am hearing... Mr. Conductor sing his ABCs (it still needs a bit of work) and the girls laughing.

Around the house... we’re babysitting my parent’s pampered pooch so we need to keep things picked up so she won’t think they are her chew toys. Plus the ever present loads of laundry and weekly cleaning schedule. Mr. C has taken to cleaning the downstairs bathroom every Monday after his school is done. I will continue to enjoy this while it lasts . . . . .

One of my favorite things... gator rides with the family.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... another high school football game, church board meeting, worship team practice, a trip to a local mill and cider press that is having a Civil War reenactment. And homeschooling. And teaching creative writing at Homeschool Group.