Summery Corn Relish, Vivian Howard's Somewhere South

Summery Corn Relish-

With the warmer weather it was tome for some summery foods! It's been yard work weekend, but I wanted to squeeze in some homemade foods. This is my own recipe I came up with after reading many online, feel free to modify! Many people also can this. Keeps quite a while in the fridge, if it lasts that long! I love the stuff, has a nice crunch.

5 cans corn and the juice, (best using fresh, but not in season) 
1 each, diced/chopped Red bell pepper and Green bell pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 cup white sugar
1 Tsp Celery seed
1 Tsp Mustard seed
1 Tsp Turmeric
1 large diced red onion (you cold use white or yellow)
2 cups Apple Cider vinegar
1 Tsp Red Pepper flakes (or you could use diced Jalapenos)

Put everything into a non-reactive large pot, still well, bring to a boil. Next lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Transfer to jars, let cool and refrigerate. This recipe made 4 Qt. jars. Some recipes have added cucumber, hot peppers, or tomato. Play with it and make it your own! I served tonight with beer battered fish, homemade tartar sauce, and veggies. Put on top hot dogs, bean whatever!

Vivian Howard's Somewhere South-

I always loved PBS's A Chef's Life show with Vivian Howard, leader in the farm to table restaurant movement. She's very honest, funny and charming. I stumbled onto her new show last week and love it!!! Here's the description of her show from her website-

"After five seasons of “A Chef’s Life,” chef and author Vivian Howard serves as both student and guide in “Somewhere South.” Exploring cross-cultural dishes through the professional and personal relationships she has with southerners of many backgrounds, “Somewhere South” lets viewers meet their neighbors while exploring the foods that bind and define the American South — one dish at a time ". 

Her new website has recipes and other things from the show Somewhere South  A link for her full episode of What A Pickle is here PBS.org What A Pickle, great ideas and looks at various foods!!! This episode really got me thinking about new kinds of fermenting I could do, very inspiring ideas. She has a great Facebook page with lots of fun posts, recipes and behind the scenes info.

Bless This Mess Comedy Farming TV Show

Bless This Mess Comedy Farming TV Show-

I'd heard about this show coming up a while back, and watched episode two, hysterical!!! Lots of info here Wikipedia.org From there- Young couple Mike and Rio leave their home in New York to move to a Nebraska farm Mike inherited from his great-aunt, only to find it badly neglected and occupied by a senile old man named Rudy. Then there's the screaming goat and it's chicken friend, and it only gets better from there! From ABC it airs on Tuesdays at 8:30 pm central. You can watch the first 2 episodes online if you missed them at ABC.com  Six more to come (I think) as it's a mid-season replacement. I 'm happy the ratings are looking great! Enjoy!!!

The BBC's Rosemary & Thyme Series, The Secret Language of Flowers

The BBC's Rosemary & Thyme Series-
After Dave and I went through the Father Brown Mysteries series on Netflix I really wanted to try another BBC series. Years ago I had heard about this series on PBS. The two main characters are avid gardeners out solving mysteries. Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme are their names. Rosemary drives a beat up 1980 Range Rover, my kind of gal! She fixes it on the side of the road at one point, that was it for me! Love  it. Laura is an ex-police woman/homemaker and Rosemary is a professor of horticulture. They have quite an adventure when they first meet and then become friends. Our local library had the entire set on DVD so I checked it out. We're both really loving the show, with it's charming characters, amazing gardens they film in. They used some of the most beautiful gardens in the UK and Europe, so what's not to love? The two lead actresses have really great chemistry and it's an easy watch. It aired 2003-2006. Very much inspiring for the upcoming spring gardening season. I've already learned a bit watching the show!!! It has a really lovely musical theme in the intro as well-

Recognize the song???

Check it out!

The Secret Language of Flowers-

During an episode of Rosemary and Thyme this custom was mentioned in a fictional book. In that  episode the main character had planted very specific types of flowers in a very specific pattern to communicate something about his lost love. I had heard of this years ago and forgot about it completely! Fascinating!!! Description here-

Did you know the type of flowers you give can speak volumes? 'The Secret Language of Flowers' is a fascinating insight into the Victorian tradition of using flowers to convey secret messages, in a society where feelings often had to be suppressed. Samantha Gray reveals how flowers came by their meanings in folklore and how flowers became the language of courtship, love, friendship, beauty, and more. Discover the meanings of over 50 flowers: how lily of the valley symbolizes the return of happiness, how bluebells stand for constancy and everlasting love, and how daffodils represent high regard and chivalry. With stunning illustrations by artist Sarah Perkins that capture all of the beauty of flowers, this is an exceptionally lovely and fascinating gift book. 

                                               

Heading Into Fall, Independence Days, Setting Up An Outdoor TV Antenna, A Little Early Halloween For Work

     Herb fairy garden

Heading Into Fall-
This week has been the "get out the fleece jacket" time. Days are getting shorter and cooler. We had the highs in low 70's and hit high 40's at night. We'll be in the 80's this week, but then 50 at night. Not bad! I did some yard work this afternoon and it was only about 75. I love the fall, just waiting for things to keep ripening before a hard freeze. Sometimes that's October, but sometimes early November. Who knows? More of the garden in "high summer"-

a few raspberries on our new plants!

lemon cuke, finally, my fave!

my daughter's squash patch  

girls still growing, eggs next month, I hope!

my camera-shy barred rock :)

Independence Days-
I haven't done one of these for a bit, so here ya go!

1. Plant Something-

No fall gardens here, hot then straight to freezing. I may order some seeds for next year.

2. Harvest Something-

Various tomatoes, lemon cukes, yellow squash, pickling cukes, green beans, Italian kale (excellent!), herbs. 

3. Preserve/Store Something-

French nectarines are still a bit too firm and tangy, will wait another 1-2 weeks to harvest, then a canning and freezing frenzy! They are so good dead ripe :) No apples this year, and about 10 pears on our baby pear tree. I may buy some apples to can for applesauce. I make mine chunky with lots of spices. Great in the winter with pork or for breakfast. Buying summer grilling meat and freezing for winter.

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

Still stocking up the pantry on a regular basis. I bought some small, canned hams, for soups, etc. Still freezing local, artisan, organic breads from the outlet. We may do a pick-your-own apples, if it's not too far away.

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

Kale salads, fermented pickles. Using some of the meats in the freezer to make room for nectarines. Made some sausage with sauteed garden veggies, yummy!

6. Build Community Food Systems-

 Neighbor may have some rhubarb she gives us, the rural farmer's market is just too far away to buy much. The downtown version is too overpriced for me. 

7. Recycle/Re-Use-

Cleaned coop. spread shavings into the garden. Bought an old window for a chicken wire display. Will get it together in the next week. Bought a like-new used bathroom cabinet for $5.00 at the Habitat Store. Dave hung it today for me. Perfect for a little decor, with some beachy stuff leftover from our main bathroom remodel. I knew I'd find a spot for it somewhere...

 8. Skill Up-

 Learned how to install an antenna watching Dave.

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

Dishwasher quit, so Dave pulled it, and did some diagnosing. We loaded it into the wagon and took it to a reliable repair guy we've used before. We think they can repair it. A new one would be several hundred dollars. I have told Dave to just use the extra space for shelves, but I think he's afraid he'd be doing dishes the rest of his life! :)

Setting Up An Outdoor TV Antenna-

We had been using Dish with HBO for a while. At one point we had cable, but then Dish was cheaper so we switched. Since we rarely go to movies it was good deal at the time. We started thinking about switching to Netflix, since there's so much more variety, and it's so much cheaper- $8.99 a month. ***Dish would be wise to come up with some GOOD packages that are cheaper. We had one up from the bottom, and the low price one was mostly junk channels. No History, A&e, TNT, etc.*** So... first we ditched HBO a few months ago, after the Game of Thrones finale :) We got Netflix after that, easy to install with our wireless and a Roku 2. We started looking around for an outdoor antenna and got this Antenna at Best Buy. Since we're in the middle of town we knew we'd get a strong signal. Long story short, Dave and I spent a lot of time (hours) trying to get a clear signal from the roof. We'd get some stations, but not others. FINALLY Dave realized he was trying to use the OLD cable. Off to the store. New cable. Problem solved! Clear as a bell!!! AND we gained 4 PBS channels instead of 1! Note to self- do a clean install with new cable, not 10-20 year old cable. It may LOOK ok, but it's the guts that count. Cancelled Dish, more $$$ in our pockets. And I LOVE Netflix, catching up on the old Haven episodes from the Syfy series, the only decent series left IMO.... 

Better shot of the antenna-

Better shot of the antenna

A Little Early Halloween For Work-

Being an elementary librarian I HAD to but this little guy for $5.00 online. Cute huh? I decided to buy these too for a couple bucks, 2 cute little burlap covered birds, great for fall!

time to dust I see :(

Punxsutawney Phil Sees 6 More Weeks of Winter, How To Save Money Watching TV, Saving Money On Cell Phone Bills

Punxsutawney Phil Sees 6 More Weeks of Winter-

With another little snowstorm on the way here, and lows in the teens this week, sounds accurate....

How To Save Money Watching TV-
I read this excellent blog post here, Adventures in the Goodland and it got me thinking. We haven't been happy with our Dish bill, and many of my favorite shows are either gone, or available in another format. We may get a wii for Netflix, much cheaper than our current bill, with sports/exercises included. I can watch HBO, etc. in another form. My former favorite SYFY channel sucks now, with Eureka, and Warehouse 13 gone (soon). Only Haven left, sniff. Who watches wrestling and cheasy movie with poor spcial effects on SYFY? Anyway, the savings- $800.00 a year. I think we'll switch over in the spring since we'll need to install an antenna, and do more research. And finish up True Detective  Interesting reviews on antennas here by Consumer Reports. You can find your area here, as far as what's available channel-wise and what the signal strength is- FCC DTV Maps

I like the look of this antenna-

Saving Money On Cell Phone Bills- 
I decided that since I'm paying $30.00 a month to use a smart phone, for the data pack connected to ATT, that I'm going back to a texting, NON-smart device. I'm due for a free upgrade next month. I get a good discount thru my employer, but I have 2 computers at work, and 2 at home. I always have ZERO data usage, so what am I really paying for? Back to the basics for me. I am also looking into a "GoPhone" for $50.00 a month with unlimited text/talk and wireless. Just no data connection/use to ATT.  I can save $360.00 a year, or more, no loss of convenience for me. 

Total savings- over $1,000. per year I'd rather take a vacation, or, ah yes- all those home repairs :) 

We Can Pickle That!

We Can Pickle That!

After recently getting the IFC channel, we found the cult show Portlandia, so we started watching. It's shot in Portland (lived there most of my life) and filmed in short segments. It pokes fun at many quirky/trendy things in Portland and in life. I almost fell off my chair watching this segment. 

Man, now that's FUNNY!!!

My Poor Cukes & Garden Update, HBO's "Newsroom" Intro, Money Tips Learned

I had great cukes, both lemon and pickling. I went out this week and all the leaves were gone! I know it wasn't the chickens as I had the same problem last year, outside the chicken area. I don't know if it's squirrels, bugs or what. The blossom are still set, so I'm leaving them and hoping for fruit... this stinks...

Tomatoes are doing great! Nice, big and healthy-

Blackberries are starting to turn black, but still tart, another week or so! Then it'll be baking, freezing and canning time!!! Yum!

Beans, Great Lakes and Italian, by the side of the house.

Still small, but here's hoping!

Various flowers around the back yard-

Bamboo by the pond-

 HBO's "Newsroom" Intro-

We have Dish Network and subscribe to HBO since we don't go out much. I know, I'm bad watching TV, but I'm very selective, so I don't watch that much. I was waiting for the new show Newsroom to start since it had a great cast, timely topics and Aaron Sorkin produced it. This opening scene sets the tone for the show- a fed up newsman (think likable & don't-rock-the-boat) finally gets honest about his view of America. Warning- there's some R rated language, so no young ears please. Watch til the very end :)

Money Planning Tips-

We recently did some retirement/financial planning, so here's a few ideas I thought I'd share-

*We pay our mortgage every 2 weeks, which adds quite a bit to paying it off early.

*We refinanced our 3 year old car and saved 3 pts. We'll pay it off a year earlier.

*We eliminated most of our remaining credit card debt the last few years. We put the balance recently on a low interest signature loan thru a credit union, so we're almost done there!

*DO NOT start a college fund, if you have kids, plan your savings and retirement funds FIRST. We helped 3 kinds thru college and only took out 1 small loan, and co-signed 2 other small loans. Kids should use student grants & loans FIRST. If they are responsible for their own education if makes them much more invested (excuse the pun) in doing well, keeping their grades up and finishing. If you put them thru college and it breaks your bank, where does that leave you? Not in a good place. And teach them (if you haven't already) how to create a good credit history. Our kids took a basic "how to use a checking account" class in high school. WE sat them down and taught them about establishing credit, and to get 1 credit card for emergency use, and keep it paid off. They had a few bumps, but in their mid 20's they all have good credit! Can't buy a home with it...

*Save, save, save. We had 2 hospitalizations, one emergency, and one for hubby's shoulder surgery. The costs were really tough. If we'd had more savings, it would have really taken the mental load off us. I'm grateful we HAD savings, small as it is.

*I buy most of my household goods/clothes, etc. used, and we don't live the same urban life as most BUT we're happier and don't have the $$$ worries of most either :) 

*I feel so bad for the rural areas, including  in my state, in drought and with fires. I also worry about what this will mean for US in terms of coming food prices? We don't eat beef much, but what about grains, beans, etc? I'm stocking up and canning more this summer. We all do what we can, while we can...



Anya sleeping next to me while I read on the computer. She has to be where I am.

We've bonded :)

      

Don't tell anyone- I'm plowing my way thru all 3 seasons of Roswell this summer (free from the local Library) since I missed most of it back in 1999-2001 when it was on. It's my guilty pleasure!