Garlic Pickle Spears

Makes 2 (1 quart) Jars

• 3 large pickling cucumbers
• 4 1/2 cups Apple Cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons finely milled sea salt
• 12 cloves  fresh garlic
• 2 tablespoons favorite pickling spice blend
• Two Large Mouth Quart Jars

First, wash and dry your cucumbers. Cut off the ends and slice into spears. Combine vinegar and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Place 1/2 of the garlic and pickling spice blend into  your sterilized still hot jars; pack in cucumbers. Pour boiling vinegar mixture over cucumbers to within 1/4 inch (1 cm) of rim (head space).

At this point, you can let cool on the counter and put in the fridge and wait 48  hours before digging in. You also can process 15 minutes in a canner.  I opted for the fridge.

*NOTE*  Next time I think I'll try it with some added a little sugar, for a sweet spicy flavor.

Spicey-Sweet Pickle Relish

Ingredients

• 1 cup grated Green Bell Pepper Pepper
• 1 cup graded Red Bell Pepper 
• 1/2 cup graded Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1/2 cup graded Orange Bell Pepper
• 3 cups grated pickling cucumber (6 to 8 pickles)
• 1 cup minced or grated sweet onion (about 1 medium)
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar, divided
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 tablespoon mustard seed
• 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
• 1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes (use more if you want more spice then sweet) 

 

1. Combine graded bell peppers, cucumbers, and onion in a large, non-reactive (stainless steel or enamel-coated) pot. Stir in one cup of apple cider vinegar and bring to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have cooked down and the liquid is reduced by about 1/3, about 30 minutes. Drain the vegetables, discard liquid.
2. Add remaining one cup vinegar, sugar and the spices and give  a good stir, desolving the  sugar before  returning the vegetables to the pot. Mix together and bring back to to a simmer and cook for five minutes. Remove pot from heat.
   
3. Fill jars, wipe rims, apply lids and rings. Process as normal;  in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes (starting time when pot returns to a boil). Remove jars from pot and let cool on a towel-lined countertop.
   

 

Wildlife at Fable Haven: Rat Snake

Lovely rat snake climbing our tree. Pretty sure it's not going to find anything to appetizing up there... Birds nest are long empty. It does have our guineas screaming though. It's about three and half to four feet long.

 

Russian Cabbage Salad

Tom had this at a Russian Cafe in one of Seattle's International Food Courts. I loved it! Which means I kept stealing it off his plate. I vowed to him that I would have to learn how to make that for us and this is the recipe I've conjured up so far that is the closest I can get to the goodness we had for way too much money. If I find something to make it even better, a tweak or a slight change, I'll re post it for all.

INGREDIENTS:
1 head cabbage, cored and shredded or 1 bag of ready chopped cole slaw mix
1/8 cup olive oil or canola oil (I use 1/2 of each)
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon's freshly squeezed.
Juice of two limes freshly squeezed.
Chopped fresh cilantro (I use most of a whole bunch. Less could be used.)
Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Place the shredded cabbage in a large bowl, and drizzle olive oil over it. Toss until evenly coated. Season with garlic, lemon juice lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper. Stir to blend in all of the flavors. Store in the fridge for a few hours before serving for a more tastier salad.

Per Serving: 129 calories, 9.1 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 14.8 grams of carbs, and 1.9 grams of protein. Makes 8 Servings.

A Goat Walk and Acorns

Just took the Goatlings for a walk to the back of the property. <3d it! We foraged up hickory nuts and acorns to turn into flour.

It was fun.... The goats, especially Shiva, would take take one out to sample for every two we put in. Silly goats!

Looking out the window and what did I see.....

Hey, what kind of humming-bird is this on my feeder!?!

Also viewed --  a Downy Woodpecker, Amercian Golden Finches, Tufted Titmouse, Chickadee, House Wren, a song sparrow and a CAT!

Guess who is getting chased off!

This Weekend's To Do List.....

T̶r̶a̶s̶h̶ ̶R̶u̶n̶.̶
̶E̶E̶ ̶C̶o̶o̶p̶ ̶C̶l̶e̶a̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶
M̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶A̶u̶g̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶E̶E̶ ̶b̶a̶b̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶g̶ ̶E̶E̶ ̶C̶o̶o̶p̶
L̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶B̶r̶o̶o̶d̶e̶r̶/̶C̶̶̶o̶̶̶o̶̶̶p̶̶̶ ̶̶̶C̶̶̶l̶̶̶e̶̶̶a̶̶̶n̶̶̶e̶̶̶d̶̶̶ ̶̶̶ ̶
M̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶O̶c̶t̶o̶b̶e̶r̶ ̶E̶E̶ ̶B̶a̶b̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶o̶u̶s̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶r̶o̶o̶d̶e̶r̶/̶L̶i̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶C̶o̶o̶p̶.̶ ̶
G̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶c̶k̶e̶n̶ ̶n̶u̶r̶s̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶d̶y̶.̶ ̶
F̶i̶x̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶L̶G̶D̶’̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶d̶e̶r̶s̶.̶ ̶
Clean the Big Coop
F̶i̶x̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶i̶g̶ ̶C̶o̶o̶p̶s̶ ̶D̶o̶o̶r̶s̶.̶
B̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶o̶w̶n̶ ̶l̶o̶a̶d̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶f̶i̶r̶e̶w̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶t̶y̶ ̶(̶w̶e̶a̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶p̶e̶r̶m̶i̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶)
P̶u̶t̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶C̶h̶r̶i̶s̶t̶m̶a̶s̶ ̶T̶r̶e̶e̶
C̶h̶e̶c̶k̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶B̶o̶y̶’̶s̶ ̶T̶V̶
T̶e̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶W̶o̶r̶m̶e̶r̶
Clean House....
Laundry...