food storage – Gracious Rain

November 14, 2013November 5, 2021

Orderly Wheat Station

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I suppose you’re thinking, “What the heck does that mean?” I’ll tell you. Ever since I was a young pup, I’ve wanted to have an organized spot where I could keep the wheat and corn and rice that we have stored, in a safe, clean, orderly place. Somewhere that I could get to easily and run it through the grinder any time I needed too, without any fuss. Finally, finally…I figured out how to do it.

When Daney boy got married and moved to Idaho, he left behind this cute little computer desk. Hmmmm….I thought, let me just scoot that into a convenient corner of the garage. So I did.

Then, a dear friend brought over a busload of quart sized jugs which gave me a positively brilliant idea.

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What if I took some of the big heavy buckets of wheat, that are really hard to lug around and lift and stack and–well, you get the idea–and poured some of the wheat into smaller containers that were much easier to manage?

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So first, I cut the bottom off of one of the jugs and made a handy, dandy wheat scoop out of it.

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Clever, yes?

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Then I started filling the wheat jugs…

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and stacking them on the shelf, that now holds the grinder and canisters that I need to make up a bit of flour at a moments’ notice. And get this–one of those quart jugs holds the exact amount of wheat to fill the grinder for one batch of flour. Ahhh…perfection.

Weird topic for a blog post, I guess–but it’s been a long time coming–and to finally have more order in the storage room…

makes me very happy indeed.

September 22, 2011October 12, 2021

In This Kitchen

today–if you just happened by, you would have been greeted by the lovely scent of peaches.

As you may know, we’ve had one heck of a time getting any of these pretty things in jars or bags or–well, anywhere, for that matter, besides our tummies.

But after buying our third box–a big one this time–we finally had the self discipline (or the box was big enough- ha!) to squirrel some away for the winter. With applesauce and pears and tomato sauce ahead of me, I just didn’t have the “umph” to bottle the peaches–kitchen is still too warm.

So Miss Chompy and I blanched and peeled and sliced and counted pitts…ahem…

and packed away 9 lovely bags into the freezer. There’s just something soothing to a woman’s heart about piling up food for the family for another day. Don’t you agree?

Oooh, I see Autumn smoothies and peach shakes and fruit crepes and peachy applesauce in my crystal ball.

Guess heading back to the Farmer’s Market for more peaches is also in my future.

Are you canning something this year?

September 1, 2010January 1, 2022

Fresh Peach Popsicles Recipe

Can’t think of much that beats a fresh, juicy peach. We have, however, come up with a close second with this lovely little Peach Smoothie on a stick. Cold, crisp, and slow to drip–as if it would ever have the chance!

Ingredients:

8 fresh peaches–peeled, pitted and cut up

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup Peach Jello powder

1/2 cup milk

Directions:

Dissolve Jello powder in hot water–completely. Place all ingredients in the blender and whirl until smooth.

Pour into popsicle molds.

Freeze for at least 4 hours–overnight works great.

Feed to the popsicle wolves.

Or share with someone you love.

Either way–we know you’ll love them!

*Because you asked…

Click HERE for Shooting Star Popsicle Mold info!

Click HERE for Rocket Pop Popsicle Mold info!

Click HERE for Norepro Ice Pop Maker info!

Fresh Peach Popsicles Recipe

: Launi

Ingredients

8 fresh peaches--peeled, pitted and cut up
1 cup hot water
½ cup Peach Jello powder
½ cup milk

Instructions

Dissolve Jello powder in hot water--completely. Place all ingredients in the blender and whirl until smooth. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze 4 hours or overninght.

October 3, 2009September 12, 2020

Neighborhood Spooks

Let’s just say…

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that you made a fabulous treat…

and you actually had enough to share…

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…with the sweet neighbor who fed your cat while you were in Yellowstone last month. Here, my friends–is a lovely way to do it and spread the joy all over the neighborhood.

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We showed this last year, but it bears repeating. It’s always fun to get spooked around Halloween time—especially when it’s with something sweet! The idea of this easy neighborhood game is to leave a treat on the porch of a friend–along with sign–like this– for their door. Try to be sneaky about it–don’t get caught. It used to be fun to keep your identity a secret, but these days you just can’t feed your family anything unless you know where it came from. So be sure to sign the ghost picture–tape it lightly to their door and run. Then, they take a treat to another friend or neighbor–if they’d like to and so on. This can keep the fun going until Halloween night.

Note: I always send along 5 or 6 copies of the Ghost door sign– to save them the trouble of having to copy more for their neighbors. Be sure to click on the word “spooked” to print the ghost sign.

Happy Haunting!

September 4, 2009August 8, 2020

Simple. Fancy. Frames.

Simple? Fancy?

Simple? Fancy? Sounds like somebody needs to pick a lane here.

But wait.

You start with some pretty simple stuff…like basic, blank, boring wooden frames.

Choose some scrapbook paper that you really like.

Frames

Find scissors and dig out the Mod Podge.

You can trace around the frame if that floats your boat…

or you can just cut out enough to fit the frame, generally. Either way.

Paint on the Mod Podge. Have you noticed that it’s actually so much more fun to say, “Modge Podge?” I try very hard to say it just like that whenever the Bald Kid is around. It makes his eye twitch. That’s the goal.

Even out the gluey stuff. Press the paper onto the sticky surface–right side up…of course. Smooth it out so that there are no bubbles under the paper. We used the end of the paintbrush and a baking scrapper… but you could use a bone folder if you’re really prepared. Now this is important—be sure to let the glue dry.

Poke a hole in the middle and cut out the excess paper.

Cut just a bit closer to the frame than silly Lyndi…keep cutting you nut!

Now, take a file or emery board and sand the edges. It will cut the excess paper off in the process. If your paper and glue isn’t dry you run the risk of tearing the paper with the file. So again–be sure it’s all dry before you sand it.