Bonbon Day

Yesterday Natalie and I went to my Aunt Iris's house for our annual Bonbon Day.  We have been kicking off the holidays with a candy making day for the past several years.  Neither one of us remembers how many exactly, but I think it started before Natalie was born, so at least seven years.  

Bonbon Day got started when I asked Iris to show me how to make her coconut bonbons.  They are my favorite most yummy thing on earth.  Really, how can you go wrong with sugared coconut balls dipped in chocolate? 

Each year we make a slightly different assortment of candies, but the main attraction is always bonbons.  This year we did homemade marshmallows, two flavors of divinity, chocolate fudge with white chips and walnuts, and of course bonbons.  It was a busy day to say the least.

Naturally, I didn't check the batteries in my camera before we left and they were dead when I decided to snap a few shots.  This was a bummer for me because I wanted to get a few snaps of  Iris teaching Natalie how to dip bonbons.  

Natalie has been coming with since she was old enough to reach the counter (with the help of a stool).  This year was something else entirely.  She is so much help.  She just dug right in and mixed up the bonbons all by herself.  All I did for her was put the ingredients in the big bowl and she worked it all together with her hands until it was ready, then she rolled it into dozens of little balls.  When the bonbons were all done and dipped, she helped me with the marshmallows.  It is truly amazing to me the difference that extra pair of little hands made.

Divinity was something new for me to see this year.  I remember that Iris always made it at Christmas when I was little, but have never actually seen it done.  It is not nearly as complicated as I thought, but I think I'll watch for another year or two before I try it on my own.

Bonbons (top left), mint divinity, chocolate fudge,
raspberry divinity and marshmallows

Since I didn't have a working camera with me yesterday, I had to settle for a picture of a sample plate of our creations.   Next year I will get some pictures of the actual candy making process.  

Getting Big

We recently celebrated Natalie's SIXTH birthday.  People often say that it seems like only yesterday that their children were babies.  I don't feel that way with Natalie.  It feels like she has been with us forever.  Honestly, it's hard to remember life before she came along.  

Newborn Natalie

We had her parent/teacher conference last night and were very proud of her progress.  Her teacher says that she is very detailed and tells great stories at sharing time.  Miss Carlson said that Natalie is well on her way to mastering everything she needs to know by the end of the year.

Natalie at 6 years old

She is very happy to be six years old.  Being six, she is old enough to go to school on the bus.  She is learning to spell and read.  She is making new friends, but still prefers to hang out with her original gang of kids.

Natalie & friends having snacks at her party

Natalie & her bunny cake

An innocent enough looking line of kids waiting for turns at the pinata

Innocent no more.  They are all scrambling for parts
of the newly dismembered paper mache burro and his contents.

We had a very simple party and she was thrilled.  She had her friends, a bunny cake and a pinata full of lollipops.  What more could a girl ask for?

Indian Relish

Every year, my office holds an online auction with proceeds going to our local United Way.  We all donate things to go up for bids.  One of the ladies in the billing department makes a fabulous salsa type relish called Indian Relish.  I had not tried it before, but thought it looked yummy.  Naturally, I did not win that item in the auction.  But, she was kind enough to sell me a jar.  Then she gave me the recipe.  

Before I bought the ingredients to make it, I decided I had better give it a whirl.  Our birthday potluck at work seemed like the perfect place to test it out.  It was a winner!  It reminds me of the Pepper & Onion relish from Harry & David we had at my mom's a few years ago.  I have made two double batches now.  This recipe is not a secret, so I thought I'd share it with you.

Indian Relish (or Pepper & Onion Relish if you prefer)

4 red bell peppers, or a combination of red, yellow and orange

2 large sweet onions

2 cups white sugar

2 cups white wine vinegar

4 Tablespoons red pepper flakes (more or less depending on how hot you want it)

2 Tablespoons powdered pectin (if needed)

Finely chop the onions and peppers.  Put all the ingredients, except the pectin, in a big pot and boil.  Once it comes up to a boil, reduce the heat and then just let it simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  If the liquid looks like its thickening up, just let it cook for 5 more minutes then put in jars.  If it is not getting thicker, then add the pectin and let it cook the last 5 minutes.  

Pour into hot jars.  Process in water bath for 15 minutes.

Makes 5 half pint jars, plus a generous sample for taste testing.

To serve, whip an 8 oz. pkg cream cheese and mix the relish in, or simply pour over the block of cream cheese and serve with crackers or corn chips.  

Isn't that pretty?

Be prepared for people to think you are a culinary genius.  When they ask how you ever made this wonderful dip, act mysterious.  Say its really complicated.  They'll be impressed.  Nobody needs to know that you dumped a jar of tasty relish into a tub of cream cheese.  Oh, and serve it in a pretty bowl.  That'll throw them off ;)

The Farm News Report

It is hard to believe that it has been SEVEN weeks since I sat down and wrote on my poor neglected blog.  As I think about what to write, I smile to myself thinking that our daily goings on sound like the Farm & News Report at Noon that I used to watch with my Grandma.

Two days after my last post, we were surprised with a litter of baby bunnies.  The biggest part of the surprise was that we thought we had two female rabbits.  Clearly we were mistaken.  I have never had rabbits as pets until this past summer when we got them for the kids.  I panicked.  I Googled everything I could think of to get information about how to tell who was who and what to do with these bunnies.  I was trying to find homes for six of the seven babies, knowing we couldn't keep all these rabbits.  Sadly, finding them homes became a non-issue when they all died four days later.  We still don't know what happened.  We do know that the mother rabbit is young, there were in fact TWELVE babies (!!)  And that she probably became stressed when we removed the male from the hutch. (Did you know female rabbits can breed again the same day they give birth?!)

Baby bunnies, one day old.

In another case of mistaken gender  (Man, I'm bad at this stuff), our little Pippy the peeper grew up to be a rooster.  Over a few weeks, she got really tall.  She was far leggier than the other females of the same breed, though no other features of a rooster were evident.  Then she started growing sickle feathers and saddle hackles, you know, rooster feathers.  So much for adding another laying hen to the flock.  So now my Pippy is just Pip.  

l-r: Pip with T-Roy (the daddy rooster) and two hens

We also have been getting some projects off of our never-ending to do list.  We finally finished in the inside of our chicken coop.  It is now all insulated and the walls are covered with OSB.  Matt also fixed up the roof with some tar paper and shingles we had left over from when we did the roof on the house.  It is now all ship shape and ready for winter.

Freshly re-vamped chicken quarters

Last week, a deer got into our vegetable garden and from the looks of it, had a heck of a time getting out.  When I went out to feed the rabbits on Friday morning, the whole south end of the fence was laying on the ground and the center post was broken.  Matt and I talked about what to do with it and decided that we are going to move the garden to a new location next year, so he took the fence down on Saturday.  That side of the yard certainly does look different.

Chickens pecking in the old garden

Yesterday, Joey and I let the chickens out to feast on the remains of the garden.  We have had frost most nights and several light snowfalls, so nothing is growing anymore, but  the cool weather plants are in the ground to use as treats for the critters.  Joey and I were out digging around to see what was still there and we found a few nice radishes for the rabbits and a handful of carrots for us.  The chickens seemed most delighted with the remnants of the lettuces and rutabagas.  Oh and they all took the opportunity to get in one last nice dust bath before winter.

Joey with his "nice fat carrot"

We have also had a two birthdays, grouse hunting, trick or treating, deer season, a school conference, and a bit more canning in this time.  More on those in my next few posts.  If I wrote it all in one sitting, it would take an hour to read. :)