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. :)

Catching Up

So many things have happened in the nearly three four (!) weeks time since I last posted.  Good things for sure.  But lots of things.  *Please note that I did not do all these things in one day.  I wrote this post over a period of several weeks.*

Natalie officially started Kindergarten.  She absolutely loves it that the bus comes to her house every day and picks her up.  It seems to be her favorite part of school.  She is getting the hang of the classroom, and is warming up to her teachers.  She prefers cold lunch to hot lunch because she can eat right away, and not wait in line.  She has recess before lunch, so she's very hungry by lunch time.  This girl is no fool..

It is full on harvest time. Last week, we picked corn, broccoli, green and yellow beans.  This was way more than we could eat fresh, so most of it got blanched and frozen.  Apples have been coming in and there is a good crop this year.  The past three Mondays I have spent part of the day canning applesauce.  This weekend, we switched gears as my friends Maria and Randy gave us a pile of concord (I think) grapes.  They make the sweetest jelly.  And jelly they have made. About 17 pints worth.

Nights are colder now, so I tackled a project that has been on my list all summer and started to mend one of my favorite quilts.  It is a wonderful cotton quilt that my friend Erin gave me for Christmas about ten years ago and it is showing its age.  Two of its corners are completely shredded, thanks to my dear husband's whiskers and his habit of sleeping with blankets up around his face.  So, today I cut and pressed some cotton twill fabric to reconstruct the two damaged corners, then pressed two yards of some pretty yellow and cream colored cotton into new binding for the edges.  Wouldn't you know that two yards was just a little short?! Grr.  Lucky for me, nobody else noticed this cute fabric that was marked down to $1 a yard and I went back the next day and bought the rest of it.  I am happy to report that it is all finished, two weekends later, but that is beside the point.  I will not be winning any prizes for straight stitching, but there's enough thread on that thing now that the middle will fall apart before the edges do.

Yesterday, on our way home from church, Natalie and I stopped at this little shop called The Kindred House that happens to be right on our way.  I went in to buy a few fat quarters of homespun fabric, since my other fabric option in town, WalMart doesn't carry it anymore.  Natalie found this cute little stuffed cat (naturally) that she just had to have (naturally).  It was pretty darn cute, but it was also $22.  This also happens to be a shop that specializes in primitives.  We looked this cat over, and I told her that I wouldn't buy her that one, but she could pick out some cloth and I'd make her one.  You know she held me to that right?  The minute we got home, I had to start on it.  Thank goodness it was an easy shape.  The longest part was putting the face on.  It took me about an hour start to finish and cost me about $1.25 to make.  And my girl has a new favorite toy.

And now, one more quick sewing project, a little pillowcase, and then its back to the apple harvest.  I think I'm going to do some pie filling today.  And a few more quarts of applesauce.

Labor Day Weekend

This past weekend was Labor Day.  Official last weekend of summer vacation for many.  Last chance to travel, camp and bask in summer.  In keeping with our theme of the summer, we stayed home.  We relaxed. Matt worked on his vehicle.

Natalie and I went to the Farmer's Market and Goodwill on Saturday morning and made a good haul.  

A pair of little milk glass flower pots from Goodwill 99 cents each and some of the sunflowers we picked up at the market.

The sweet afghan I picked up for 3.99, easily big enough to cover a twin size bed, and a sliver of the gingham check napkins I got the set of 4 for 99 cents.

A cute little picture that says "tea time" for 49 cents.

The kids got to play with their friends from next door.

Our big girls racing down the road.  Full speed ahead.

The little neighbor girl (she's Joey's age) trying her best to catch up to the big girls.

The kids made up a new game with the baby swing that I'm not entirely sure about.

We went to church on Sunday morning then to my dad's for some burgers and fixings with my brother and his family.  Joey and I made an impromptu pizza with our yummy fresh tomatoes and basil from the market while Matt and Natalie sneaked away for a little fishing trip.

The weather was beautiful.  Definitely more summer than fall.  But its coming.  See the leaves on the ground in the picture above?  There are more today and lots more to come.

Kindergarten Practice

Tuesday was Kindergarten orientation at Natalie's school.  We were so excited.  She had her clothes picked out, backpack packed and lunch ready and in the fridge the night before.    

She was a little bit bummed that she wasn't getting picked up by the bus on the first day, but pretty glad that Mom was there to schlep all her stuff into the school.

We found her classroom at the far end of the hallway and went in to find a room filled with the excited/nervous energy of 23 Kindergarteners and their parents.  

We met her teacher and a few of the other Kindergarten teachers, the Principal, the lunch lady and the secretary.  

We went on a practice bus ride.  This must have been Natalie's favorite part of the day because she decided that she wanted to be the last one off the bus.  She missed her transfer at the Middle School and wound up riding her bus all the way to the end of the route and back to the bus garage.  She thought it was pretty fun, but a little scary.  Apparently, she wasn't the only Kinder with this plan because there were several of them (and students from other grades) waiting for their parents at the bus garage when Matt got there to pick her up.

All in all, it was a good day.  My girl was brave.  There were so many new things and she just jumped right in.  We can't wait for school to start for real next week.

Oh, and she was really tired when she finally got home.