Basil Pesto, Dried Herbs, Garden Delights

       Ah, Summer. Summer. Summer. For folks in the upper parts of the country this is a good one – temperate, sunny, and bountiful, so bountiful. Whether you have your own garden or use one of the fine local

Marjorie of Stone Cloud Gardens at Meridian Farmers Market

farmer’s markets, I hope you enjoy the color, shapes, smells and glorious beauty of it all (Marjorie, pictured here, has a versatile product line for the farm markets in mid-Michigan, we love her soaps).

       Over the years of our homestead days I learned a few tricks about the garden’s savory flavors. Here are a few ways that taste wonderful now and once dried will last well into winter:

A quick basil pesto:

One bunch of dark green lush leaves from a bouquet, 4 or 5 stems, of sweet basil

One garlic clove, (a teaspoon of dried garlic granules can substitute)

About one and a half tablespoons of ground parmesan cheese

¼ cup of good olive oil

Put all of these ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Store the spread in a small glass jar and refrigerate. The spread will last a few days before turning brown.

You can freeze some pesto in small containers. I even heard of some folks freezing ice cubes of pesto for future use.

Pesto is deliciously flavorful in salads, sandwiches, mixed with other compatible spreads such as cream cheese or mayonnaise. Mmm this stuff is great. You will find a lot of other recipes for other leaf pesto such as mint (without the garlic or cheese, for recipes go to our friend who was not around during our homestead decade – google.com). Some pesto recipes include chopped pine nuts, cashews or walnuts. This is a fine summer treat, so easy to make.

Dried herbs:

All leaves of selected herbs can be dried and stored individually, but you might find mixing some dried leaves for special dishes such as Italian Spices can be ground in a mortar bowl and stored together in a spice jar:

Basil, Oregano, rosemary, and I like to add dried mint leaves.

I also have a jar of celery leaves dried which adds good flavor to winter soups and stew when I don’t have any celery. 

I dry small amounts of herb leaves in a dish on the window sill for a few days before crunching them down. For a bigger project I bind the stems of herbs like Oregano upside down to dry then pull the leaves over paper later. Drying to preserve is easy and lasts a long time in glass containers.

One more: if you love the smell of lavender and you have a nice piece of this heavenly plant in your landscaping or garden, you may want to gather the dried on-the-stem blossoms and store them in small decorative gauze bags (see hobby stores wedding section) to adorn holiday packages or other gift use.

Summer is such a good time to prepare foods without much fuss. I hope you enjoy these. If you are in need of a good laugh and an interesting story, please check out A Homestead Decade – How Crunchy Granola Changed My Life, 2.99, Amazon e-book for kindle or most other electronic devices. If you really enjoy it, please let other folks know about the book. Thanks so much.

Best wishes, 

Helene

How to Get Rid of Ticks!

       Last week my husband was bitten by something that left a red ring on his arm. A pin point in the center of the ring caused some concern that the bite may have the lingering effects of some mysterious outbreak.

       The event reminded me of the season we had a sudden population explosion of ticks. We had long before given up farm animals to work other jobs. It was just us and our dog, Amos. All of us had to do body checks every time we went outdoors collecting ticks and putting them in jars with alcohol swabs.

       We did not want to spray poisons around the homestead for many reasons – we didn’t want to track poison in the house, test our sensitivities, or kill other creatures. For the same reason we did not want to spread chemicals on our bodies and tamper with our first line of defense, our skin.

       We mentioned this conundrum in conversation with our 90 year old elder who smiled wisely at us and suggested we get a couple of chickens. It turns out that ticks and their eggs are like candy to chickens. This information was not mentioned in any of our new world research.

       We purchased four young Rock Island Red hens and prepared a small shelter for them with all the comforts of a chicken home, then just let them do their job. They rustled around in the grass during the day, clucking gossip with each other and dutifully returned to their little straw bedded cabin for the evening. We felt a sense of calmness coming back as we watched these beautiful little birds join our family interactions. They ate vigorously and we kept our promise to care for them.

       We had left the country life behind to join a world where we were too busy, we thought, to manage the care of land and animals. Yet the sweetness of our shared bond with these chickens brought back a feeling of belonging that was also left behind. Within days the ticks disappeared. We enjoyed a comfortable summer that year. Now we live where chickens are forbidden. Too bad. We learned a special lesson then that all of us are in a constant state of conscientious balance as we try to tread lightly on this earth.

       As for the chickens, we gave them to farm friends for the winter knowing that the next year would be safely bite free by the good work of our Tick Swat Team.

Thanks for stopping by. I'll be writing in more often, so please check back soon.

Happy summer,

Helene

CRUNCHY GRANOLA RECIPE AND WRITING BOOKS

       I’m sitting here eating crunchy granola, really, and thinking about my writing life. Over the years, I’ve written news articles, grant proposals, lots of letters. During our early days I wrote articles for education magazines and city newspapers – how to build a nature trail, country advice on how to get rid of warts (!). The writing, though, that makes me feel like a real writer has been fiction.

       Mmm this stuff is good, easy to make and tasty even after all these years of using that recipe (see below). As for books,  I had a lot of fun writing the little memoir of our early days living in the country described in A Homestead Decade, HowCrunchy Granola Changed My Life, (I hope you enjoyed it, Amazon, cheap, $2.99).

       Those sweet homestead years were one small moment in a lush life. I also had the honor to work some very interesting and meaningful jobs – child abuse prevention, kinship care, and coordinating collaboration projects with community human service agencies. Some of the haunting experiences from those jobs have dragged the mind of this writer through a maze of characters and events. As a result I wrote a softcover book, A Kinship Guide to Rescuing Children for Grandparents and Other Relatives As Parents.

       After leaving community services to enter the next great adventure of this life, I found a pressing desire to go back to the satisfaction of writing fiction (not the vampire kind). First up - another book, a short fiction, just published on Amazon’s Kindle: …NOW AM FOUND, a road trip of sorts about a woman and a boy surviving the first weeks after a murder/suicide in the family. The story is not morose. Instead a bond of love and humor thread through the characters until the epiphany that life does go on for survivors even after tragedy.

       If you decide to read … NOW AM FOUND, I greatly appreciate any comments or review you may have on Amazon (particularly if you like it – I have a fragile ego).  You might even enjoy a bowl of your freshly made Crunchy Granola while you are reading. How’s that for a perk? Here’s the recipe from A Homestead Decade, How Crunchy Granola Changed My Life. Enjoy!!

Helene’s Crunchy Granola

       In a big bowl mix 8 cups of quick rolled oats with a few tablespoons of other healthy grains – wheat bran, ground flax seeds, wheat germ. These add a nice protein boost. Never add bulgur, it turns into iron stones during the baking. You may want to add shelled sunflower seeds or other chopped nuts to your liking. I like quick oats because it crisps up nicely and soaks up milk easily. Set the bowl aside.

       Get a suitable baking pan. These days I use my old cast iron fryer. We used to use a blue enameled roaster when we had the children home. Increase proportions of ingredients to fit your pan size.
Get the oven ready at 250 degrees. Crunchy Granola is more toasted than baked.

       Lightly heat the pan over a burner then pour enough oil to cover ¼ inch deep on the surface. I use olive oil (for almost everything), other oils, I hear, make a nice crispy coat on the grains.

       Add about 3 tablespoons of honey, a tablespoon of black molasses, a teaspoon of vanilla. You can add or substitute other sweeteners at this point, such as maple syrup.

       As the oil mixture heats and starts to bubble, stir the wet ingredients, then slowly add the dry ingredients stirring to coat all the grains. Turn off the heat and continue to stir until the grains are coated with the sweetened oil.

       Put the pan in the low heat oven to toast the granola for about 30 minutes. Carefully stir the mixture a couple of times during the toasting process.

Let cool. And enjoy! Store the granola in glass jars.

Thanks for stopping by.

Helene (author of above linked books)

SPRING!

Spring forward or upward or in a little flip powered by a rear twist. Spring like a baby lamb or a new little goat, give it all you’ve got! It’s spring!!

Oh, the joy of it, Nature’s grand and colorful orgy. The parade of colors from purple crocus to yellow daffodils to red tulips to profuse white and pink blossoms kissing our faces as they are released on an early evening breeze.

Get the earth ready for seeds, lots of seeds, it’s garden time! Little pots on the table at the South window bear witness to the miracle with tiny tender greens bursting out of their tough seed shells, growing taller right before our eyes warning the time is almost here to be planted. Check the weather reports, the perfect warm day free of frost (we hope) is almost here. Now! Go for it! Join the party! It’s Spring!

Hope you enjoy this wonderful time.

Glad you stopped by and as always if you haven't already, please check the book on Amazon: A Homestead Decade, How Crunchy Granola Changed My Life.

Love,

Guess what this is !

Helene

 

From Metaphor to Reality of LOST

Have you ever been lost? I know in today’s world speaking of being lost is often the metaphor of choice for trying to navigate our way through a complex culture. I used this metaphor many times but never really appreciated its impact until once when I was seriously, physically, lost.

We thought we would take a walk through a park, Petroglyph Park, in Michigan’s thumb area. The park at that time was a rough wilderness with overgrown paths and unmarked trails. Woods were easier than fields. We found some objects identifying the messages of elders long gone - a stone circle, rough hewn images on rocks. No other visitors to the park came our way. At one point we sat on the ground to rest, when my good man decided he had to use the outhouse about 15 minutes behind us.

I said I would wait for him here at the convergence of the field with the woods. He was gone a very long time. I knew we had somehow broken our memorized path for reconnection. I inched my way in the direction of path he took consciously trying to establish land marks. This was supposed to be just a little walk. We brought nothing with us but our happy selves. No compass (though I’m not sure I ever accomplished learning its use), no water, no tools.  

I began to move farther down the path calling to him. In just a few minutes I increased my pace and my call, feeling for the first time – lost. I checked the sun, mid afternoon. Calling his name loudly now, I wondered just how far the range of my voice would reach. In the moments of silence I could hear car tires humming on asphalt in a distance. I began to question myself about where we were when we started. Calling again, louder still, but there was no response.

A thumping of anxiety began to send adrenaline through me to alert the cells of impending danger. Walking and calling, clapping, trying to make as much noise as I could, I wondered, Why doesn't anyone hear me? What if I am taking the wrong path? I even began to question our relationship (which I knew was stronger than this encroaching fear), still the curious thoughts like little devils taunted me, What if . . .

When we saw each other, we hugged, he anxiously asked why I didn't answer his calls, we chattered about the feeling, the intense confusing feeling of actually being lost. Now when I claim being lost such as in a jungle of techno-speak or financial percentages, I think of that summer afternoon, a weary sun starting to set and I remember  understanding the questioning and frustration of truly being lost.

Friends, I love sharing the experiences of life and hope you may encourage your circle of friends to consider reading A Homestead Decade - How Crunchy Granola Changed My Life, Amazon Kindle, (though it can be read on almost any digital device), cheap - $2.99.

Thanks for stopping by,

affectionately,

Helene

Kindle, I-Pad, the New Books - READ!

        Today I read that in 2006 there were 7,000 published e-books and in 2011 there were 87,000 authors publishing their own e-books. Wow. The technology of book publishing for the e-reader has democratized the anxious need to tell a story. Authors no longer have to wait months on end for a word, encouraging or devastating, from a big publishing house where busy “readers” plow through endless manuscripts in the “slush pile”. When the word is rejecting, the author tries another publishing house and waits again for months in the same game. Theodore Geisel, Dr. Seuss, reportedly endured 27 rejections before his wildly wonderful To Think That It Happened on Mulberry Street was finally accepted. The first criteria of acceptance by the big publishers has been money; how much of the market share will a book provide? But most writers just want to share an instruction or tell a good story.

Those who were brave enough, or financially able to by-pass the publisher and print their own book had to also endure the public stigma of not passing the literary judgment of the big houses indicating the work is not really worthy reading. The century old power of the publishing industry controlled the market for stories until this fantastic digital revolution.

          We are humans, after all, and telling stories is as much a part of us as preparing a meal. As we get older we have a big collection of stories including favorites that we like to tell as often as possible, or so my kids tell me. Not all of us write our story, however, which reaches a wider audience and gives a sense of permanency.

       The e-book format not only allows a much greater number of authors the opportunity to share their work, but readers experience a much easier way to read more stories (or personally reject undesirable work instead of depending on a distant editor). The e-book is cheaper to publish and should be cheaper to read, though some publishers still grip e-book sales with higher prices. The books are environmentally friendly, no trees are sacrificed, much less oil is consumed in delivery, and storage/discard is minimal. The reading itself can be managed to the comfort of tired eyes. Both publishing and purchasing are incredibly fast. Literally speaking, we are living in exciting times.

       I published AHomestead Decade, How Crunchy Granola Changed My Life based on  encouragement from those who listened to our “back-to-the-land” stories. We chose the e-book format because producing was made easy by Kindle Direct Publishing, we could keep the price low ($2.99), and readers could get the book instantly through Amazon. So far we are very satisfied. We do have some folks who want a printed copy and we are working on that, which has also been easier through the new publishing of print on demand.

            If you haven’t had a chance to read the Crunchy Granola book please check out a sample copy for free at Amazon.com. You can read any of the e-books on a great electronic reader like Kindle or on most tablets, cell phones, computers, one friend even read hers on a tiny little MP3 player. My, my. I appreciate all the reviews and personal comments. Thanks for sharing and don’t forget to eat your granola.

Love,

Helene 

Guindon Responds with a New Year Greeting

After I published the blog on getting organized I received a lovely greeting from Richard Guindon himself and he has given me permission to share with you. If only we can construct a great new year. As for my getting back to work - so far so good.

Best to you all,
Helene