I be jammin'

After boo-hooing about the high cost of strawberries this year, dear hubby Coop took a spin around the Amish neighborhood here yesterday and brought home a couple of quarts. :) Seriously he did, this bunch you see below came later. My husband is such a deal maker...he paid $2 a quart for the first ones, all the while trying to deal the nice lady down. She finally told him to come back about 7 PM and she would deal with him on what she had left. He got all these you see below for $1.65 each and everybody was happy!

With all these berries as well as the 15 pounds of bananas, I'll be jammin' for a couple of days...strawberry jam, banana jam, strawberry & banana jam.... Not to mention freezing and/or drying some of the fruit. I'll be up to my elbows today and it's all good!

It’s just Monday, but already the week is and will continue on as a busy one. As Conrad and Coop make last minute preparations for the auction this coming Saturday, Janet and I have been busy making sure we are ready to set up kitchen. Our neighbor Mike came by yesterday with one of his hay wagons for use during the auction. The workers will be here early Friday to sort and arrange items, so that will most definitely come in handy.

We have been getting a lot of drivers passing by since the signs are up and the ads have come out in the local news and farm papers. Despite today’s heat and predicted heat for the next few days, Saturday’s forecast is calling for mid seventies and sunny skies. I am glad for that! With any luck at all the auction should prove a success. Afterwards it will just be a matter of cleaning up and getting rid of the excess people leave behind. Even though I’ll be relieved when the week is done, I must admit I am looking forward to Saturday. Auctions are always fun, very social events.

No ducklings yet! I had predicted about summer solstice, but so far nothing. However, we have been battling raccoons regularly and we assume that is what got into our ducks pen last night. Poor Thelma was probably terrified and by the looks of things, meaning duck feathers, she put up a fight. We’ve yet to tell if any eggs are missing, as we don’t want to disturb her any further as she nests.

I have baby tomatoes! All the tomato plants are blossoming, but the Rutgers Heirloom are producing tomatoes now. We haven’t lost a plant at all. I am so proud of our garden. When we planted, we thought some of them might not make it as they were small plants and somewhat fragile. But to our surprise they all made it and are big, strong, healthy plants. We will have a bumper crop no doubt! The pepper plants are in bloom and again, never lost one! The only things that failed were the row of eggplant and the row of strawflowers. Nothing came up in either row so I must assume the seeds weren’t much good to begin with.

I have cut the last bunch of swiss chard to clean and freeze tonight or in the morning, depending on how ambitious I feel yet tonight. We still have loads of romaine lettuce at our disposal and so I have included another recipe that is a nice change of pace from a traditional tossed salad. The men went crazy for it when I served it the other day, so it’s a keeper.

We have been seeing deer daily, a few bucks but more often doe with their young spotted babes nearby. I just love seeing the babies! We got a wonderful surprise yesterday (and again today) when we saw one of the wild turkey cross the road and lead her seven babies into the field. That was a new sight for me!

So, to end this, here is that recipe I mentioned. Enjoy!

Romaine Strawberry Salad

2 bunches romaine lettuce (or enough to fill a large bowl
1 large sweet onion, sliced and separated into rings
½ lb. strawberries (or more if you prefer) washed and quartered or halved

Dressing:

¾ cup mayonnaise
½ cup sugar
¼ cup milk
2 T. vinegar (cider or white)
1 T. celery seed (poppy seed would be fine, also)

Mix ingredients for dressing well, then pour over salad. Toss and serve.

Strawberry Shortcake- easy but genuine

It’s a dreary, rainy day here in Northeast Ohio, but that’s a good thing. Ever since the last storm that dumped about four inches of rain, flooding a lot of local areas, we haven’t had a drop. We’ve been watering the flowers and garden plants daily as the temps have been high. Yesterday we hit 90◦. Today it’s rainy and cool, so I’ve got the oven on doing some baking (and blogging and photographing, too!), in between laundry, budgeting and other miscellaneous and necessary tasks.

Since June is strawberry time in Ohio and just around the corner, thought I’d share my best recipe for shortcake. This is the real deal shortcake, unlike those yellow sponges that are passed off as shortcake in the supermarket.

The original recipe comes from an old cookbook first published in 1924. I have improvised it just a bit to suit me and replaced the added “fat” with shortening, butter or vegetable oil, whichever you prefer. I’ve also added sugar to it because I sometimes do not sweeten my berries unless they really need it or I sweeten them lightly. The original recipe calls for making the dough into individual biscuits, but I spread it into a cake pan and cut into serving squares. Always going for easy when possible! This recipe works for a small or round cake pan. You can easily double it for a larger pan. I used a double recipe and a 9x13" pan in photo.

Shortcake

1 ½ c. flour

2 t. baking powder

¼ t. salt

4 T. fat (shortening, butter or vegetable oil)

½ c. milk

½ c. sugar (optional)

Mix dry ingredients and work in fat. Add milk. (a little extra doesn’t hurt)

This makes more of a dough than batter, so it will become stiff. When mixed well, place in lightly greased pan and spread as evenly as possible. You may need to use your hands. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 450◦. You’ll want it to be golden brown around edges. Enjoy!