Time for Another Installment of...

When Life gives you Zucchini! 


Last week I showed you this "HORRID" picture of my YELLOW ZUCCHINI. 
Some of you may not know... but yellow zucchini is a good indicator that you're not eating it fast enough!! and it is no longer at it's freshest!  Most of the time, unless it's soft or has bad spots, it is still GOOD on the inside. 


Now, we did have some that turned this way right on the vine and had blemishes. We tossed those to the chickens. But these in this photo turned yellow, because they sat on the counter a couple of days to long.  

Rather than waste them. I remembered my Summer Reading last year. (I read the whole series of Little House on the Prairie Books) ...in one of those books, sorry, I don't remember which; all I  remember was Ms. Ingalls making a "mock apple pie". She made it with GREEN PUMPKIN.  It fooled the dad- he even wondered where they had gotten the apples? That got me wondering about this zucchini. I searched for some recipes until I came upon a couple that sounded good; read them through and came up with my own recipe. I can never seem to follow a recipe-- either I am missing ingredients or something else sounds better.  

 I made a cobbler crumble this morning! It was so delicious. 

 Here is my recipe. 

Rather than call it "mock apple pie" ...I'll just call it what it is. Although, The Honey thought it was good and said "it looks like apples.What is it? " 

Baked Zucchini Crumble

5 cups Zucchini- Peeled,seeded, and chopped

1/2 C. Lemon Juice

3/4 C. Sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 C. all purpose flour

1 C. Whole wheat flour

1 C. rolled Oats

1 C. white sugar

1/2 C. brown sugar (packed) 

3 sticks of butter (about 1 1/2 cups)  ***I used 2 sticks of butter and it was a little dry; we served it with a dollop of vanilla ice cream on top.  PERFECT! 

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Put chopped Zucchini and lemon juice in a saucepan over a low heat cook until tender about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. 

Add next 3 ingredients (sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg) to pot simmer 1 min. longer

While this is cooking. Mix in a large bowl Flour, Oats, and both sugars, cut the butter and mix with your clean hands until resembles a crumble mixture. 

Add about 1 handful of crumb mix to the saucepan with zucchini mixture and stir. Line a 13 X 9 inch pan with half of the remaining mix; spoon in zucchini mix cover with remaining crumbles. Bake for about 45 minutes in a 375° oven or when it bubbles. Remove  let cool or serve warm with ice cream. 

But... I still have zucchini left so I've decided to can some pie filling for later in the year. I'll be back and show you how I adapted this recipe for canning pie filling. 

Linking this recipe up with Donna's FJI- SNS #141 (under crafts, sewing, cooking) 

The Grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23

Around the LIVELY HOME PLACE--

 Mosaic Monday's theme this week is HAPPY SUMMER. This June is a indeed a Happy Summer. 

Last year this time The Honey was just coming home from the hospital after a massive heart attack and 3x bypass. 

Several of you asked how he is doing. 

I am happy to report is almost back to his old self! Thank you all so much for your prayers and encouragement over the last 12 months!  It has meant so much to me. 

This week marks the last Monday in June. I thought I'd piece together a few photos of things that have been going on in and around our yard this month. 

(click on photo to enlarge) 

New calves have been born in the back pasture.  Thanks to the bull dozer last fall...we're able to see them as they make their way down the trail. The Honey has befriended a squirrel named "Rocky"... he eats pecans and peanuts right from The Honey's hand!  The corn has grown... and we ate a little of it. A little of it ...is about all we got this year. Next year we'll plant every last kernal! 

The Cucumbers and zucchini are still growing strong. The tomatoes and okra and cantaloupe are as well. (not pictured). The Elephant Garlic made the most beautiful bouquets this year... and they have been harvested and are drying on the fence.  

As usual... the Littles have been playing in the yard... riding the "Bronco" swing... and the little red wagon. 

It's been a fun "HAPPY" SUMMER! 

The Grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23

 

On the Nest--

We have a broody hen...and a chicken conspiracy. Something is up in the coop! 

About 7 days ago-- we noticed Ethel wasn't coming out of the Hen House. 

We've not ever had a broody hen. So of course we had to take a crash course...via Google and Backyard Chickens to see what was in order. Most suggestions were to 'cool' her off, one suggestion said pour cold water on her head  (that didn't sound very nice to me.This isn't the wild west and she isn't a hot under the collar cowboy that needs his head dunked in the water-trough! ) then another's advice was to put her in a cage with a wire bottom and string her up in a tree with food and water (to let her bottom cool down)... I'm guess this all has to do with Hen Hormones. 

So then, I began reading what to do for her IF WE HAVE A ROOSTER. Which we do. 

The advice was to"let her sit."  So we've been letting her sit. 

She is 'holed-up' in there and sitting on ???? HOW MANY EGGS , we don't know ??!?!?!?!?! 

That is the conspiracy part. It seems our other hens have gone in there and laid in the box WITH her...and laid more eggs. I saw them this morning. Two hens in the same box. We had seen Jayne sitting on the eggs once when Ethel came out... (more to the conspiracy theory) 

This morning, I reached in to take an egg...not a good idea. She snapped at me and got me on the finger. Didn't hurt, but I didn't expect it. 

Right now, we're following the signs... 

and doing the only thing we know to do...just let nature take it's course. 

Any suggestions?  I'm open for anything and at my wits end. 

linking up with Elaine Here:

 

The Grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23 

 

When Life gives you Zucchini--

and a LOT of it. What do you do?


 Besides giving it away what have we done with our zucchini squash?
I've had my zucchini lots of ways.
Grilled zucchini.
Zucchini Salad.
Zucchini Veggie platter with dip on the side.
...AND I've frozen the zucchini.
I feel like Forrest Forrest Gump and the Bubba Gump shrimp company... I've got tons of ways to have zucchini. Well today, I made bread and salad.        
  

Don't let my zucchini fool you. We're eating it as fast as we can and some has turned
yellow; but rather than just throw it out...When I cut it open and if it is still good on the inside I use it. I decided today to try it in a Zucchini Bread recipe. This picture isn't the nicest picture...well, you know... I'm no photographer. But I'll explain the paper. My mini loaf pan is peeling. HAVE YOU HAD THIS PROBLEM?  The TEFLON is coming off!  I LOVE THIS PAN. (well, ok I don't LOVE IT... but I love to use it)  So it is upsetting to see the teflon coming off. I lined it with waxed paper. It's not pretty, I know. But, it's effective! ;) 

The recipe for the Zucchini Bread is one I got a long time ago-- from my favorite cook book. THE BEST OF POSTAL RECIPES --from the National Association of Letter Carriers Auxiliary   I come from a long line of Letter Carriers in my family. My Grandmother gave this book to me right after I married 29 years ago, actually, my first Christmas as a young married. 

Good, good, recipes in this book. 

Here is the recipe 

ZUCCHINI BREAD: 

3 eggs

1 c. oil 

2c. sugar 

2 c. peeled, grated zucchini

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. chopped nuts

1/4 tsp. salt 

3 c. flour 

1 tsp. soda 

3 tsp. cinnamon

**Beat eggs until light and foamy; add next 4 ingredients (oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla). Mix lightly, but well. Mix next ingredients in separate bowl. Add flour mix to first mix. Add nuts. Bake at 325° for 1 hour. Makes 2 loaves. 

Special Thanks to Arlene Logan, Illinois, #230 

*** Note: I doubled this whole recipe, using half all purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. For the nuts I used chopped Pistachio Nuts (I only put nuts in half the mix) 

For me it yielded : 8 mini loaves, 1 dozen mini muffins, 3- half loaves. 

 The Salad Recipe follows this picture...

Zucchini Slaw: 
2 1/2 - 3 cups of grated zucchini
1/2 to 1 cup (guessing on this one) of raw carrots grated
1 small red onion diced and chopped
1/2 cup of raisins
I would have added sunflower seeds, but since the zucchini has seeds in it; I didn't add them. 

*** This recipe is my own concoction. I think it turned out pretty good. It is different! But quite tasty. 


If you try any of these recipes let me know how they turned out for you! 
Good Eatin' !!! 

The  grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23 

Summer Time Outdoor Projects

 I recently told you about the downed tree and messed up roof we had during an early May(5-2012) storm  ---

Here is the before picture of our roof. This happens to also be a *before the grasshopper plague that ate our shrubs* picture! 

 Our house had a charcoal colored shingle.. and the over hang on the porch addition was graphite looking fiberglass. Since this picture was taken  we've since added our 'futon rail'... you can read about that repurposing project    here and I painted the trim around the front door and 

had my 'screen door' project you can read about that here.

One thing that has been an eye sore to us were the posts or columns. 

We had two 'turned' columns that were both supportive and decorative. They're old and cracking--and they've needed to be replaced for a while. 

Then once the addition to the porch was added out on the end (in the fall of 2010); we had one 4 x 4 post (actually, I think it was a landscape timber and it was supposed to be temporary, you know how that goes) -so far it's lasted.  But I wanted them all to be uniform. 

Ta-dah! 

So, this past weekend The Honey and I wrapped the posts! He also added new trim pieces over the gabled porch. You can get just a glimpse of the new roof. We just got them both replaced ---the roof and the porch cover. It is hard to tell in this picture; but it is definitely lighter in color. I thought I had taken a better picture of the new roof (the roofers were here last week on Monday and Tuesday and installed it in 2 days!) 

This is as far as we've gotten ... The posts are wrapped and look new! The roof is on and there's no leaks!  We're talking about painting the whole thing; it sure needs it. 
We'll see. It's just us doing the work; so it's baby steps for sure. 

Just to be sure you know. It's not about the money you spend or the time it takes you; because believe me-- we work slow. It's about being good stewards of what you've been given. Taking care of the things you have. One small project at a time. ;)

Do you have any summer projects that need doing? 
Do you have any tips for re-purposing things around the yard? Or remaking them so that they last? Feel free to share some of your stories and even send me the link... I'd love to read them! 

The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with you spirit. Philippians 4:23

Shelves, Windows, Canopy? Help!

Our bedroom is roughly only 9 X 12; so  it's pretty small and cozy. Not complaining about that. In fact, since we're empty nesters -- we could have our choice of larger bedrooms that once belonged to the kids. 

But we like the cozy, quiet ambiance this room has. It's in the back of the house away from the road noise. Makes for good naps!  :)  

This is the position of my bed in my bedroom before my recent rearranging-- on Memorial Day. 

This is over the winter-- My bed has been in this position (for the exception of a short time it was turned caddy-cornered in this corner) about 16 years! 

This is a view coming in the door-- disregard the mess;  I just want you to see there is a shelf to the left in this room right when you walk into the room. It used to be windows...the other side of that wall of shelves in what  is now my computer room. 

This is where my bed sits now. 

I love my bed in this position. I have much more space all around my bed. The layout has roomy results with about 2 ft clearance all around my bed. Small by some people's standards but for defending the small home-- I say it works! 

So what is my problem? 

The shelves. The knick knacks, the clutter. In all reality-- just cleaning the shelves off would be a big improvement! So don't recommend that in the comments; because it wouldn't be original. I DID think of it first! ;) 

So I'm looking at some options-- but nothing that requires, hammer, nails or paint. I'll be removing the striped paper in the back of the shelves. But nothing much more than that; I mean no major over-haul. 

 I'm looking for a decorative solution that will give me a different look but isn't permanent. 

I've thought about a canopy. I like this or something like this. Casual and soft. 

source
Not this... too fancy and fussy for my taste. 

source


Love, love, love this!  Have you read *home and harmony* ? Rie talks about her bedroom being the smallest in the house and making it live large with special touches... You can read it here

source


I've also thought of some other options... Remember we have a cottage-farm house feel in our home...sometimes it's even got a cabin feel; especially in the winter months. 
So I was looking at books... what do you think of books? Crammed to the HILT with books... 


I love the deep richness of these books...but man! that's a lot of books. I did say crammed to the HILT ...maybe a bit much. 

source


then I saw this picture... Kind of bland. If not a little scary. Too edgy! 

source


Maybe something a little more down to earth. I like Amy's at MasonDecor solution here. Books with the whites of the pages showing. Knick Knacks more in keeping with a true collection! Not all hodge-podged. She has a nice touch. 



source


So what are your thoughts?  Books and a more suitable collection of knick knacks... or a Canopy? Just cover it up? 


Revi from Revisionary Life  has been emailing back and forth with me about windows. She had *stray windows* 

that she covered using sheet rock. 
You can read about it here and here.  She is decorating her home in a really nice Industrial Elegant style

She suggested via email before I posted this... 

Another thought is to make a really tall headboard out of doors or
something, to cover it up without doing anything.

Thanks Revi! 

That is another option for me. I'd love to hear what you think~ 

The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23 

 

Homesteading Back to Basic- at Amazon

You can download this at Amazon for Kindle...I got mine for my Kindle for PC... it was $.99 ...it runs through today, I believe!  Hurry and get a copy! (prices are subject to change) 

The  Grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23

 

Pretty as a Pansy~

           Recently I was chatting with someone via email and we were discussing the beauty in blooms-- especially blooms on vegetable plants. 

I was saying how sad it must be to live in a neighborhood where the H.O.A. governs what can and can't be planted in the public areas of your yard. 

 

 This Okra is as pretty as any Pansy I've ever seen. 

...And I think this squash blooms just as brilliantly as a Hibiscus. 

I know I've read some blogs where ladies have said, they'd like to plant vegetables to put on their table to minimize the cost of the food budget. I say if you have a yard, with space and soil;  why not plant food to eat? Instead the city ordinances and Home Owner's Associations want to dictate to you the plants, grasses and trees that you are allowed to have in your yard. Plants that take so much costly water and upkeep; including gasoline for mowers and trimmers. 


I say it's ridiculous. Even if the plants weren't pretty-- and all they did was make produce, 'Who Cares?'. You make the payments and pay the taxes on the property-- why not plant vegetables? 
I guess you could plant something that is really disagreeable with the neighbors...like the Corpse plant voted the World's Ugliest Plant! (not to mention smelly,too)  
I've seen some ugly plants in my day- while not the Corpse Plant, this is the Stinky Squid it is the runner up! 

(not my photo)

I think I had something similar like this growing in my field near the back fence...I can't find the photo now, but it was ugly! 

That's all of my rant. I really just wanted to show you pictures of my  pretty Okra. I thought I'd wrap it up in something informative as well! 

Thanks for reading! 

Linking Here: Deborah Jean's Dandelion House

The Grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your Spirit. Philippians 4:23