Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Harvest Time

Few families have time for it, but I always try to make jam/jelly and do some canning or freezing in the fall. This is the first year that I plan to turn the crab apples from my apple tree into jelly. I made the juice a couple days ago and have it sitting in the fridge. Yesterday I bought the wax and pectin so that I'd be ready to go today.

Jelly for me has always been hit or miss. I'm hoping it turns out okay, but it took me forever to find the best book I own on canning. Everyone has their favorite book and mine is clearly a book my husband acquired before we married.



This book has unique recipes and normal ones. The pickled green beans are exceptional, and there are a number of jam recipes that I've tested as well. While the book seems to lack a crab apple jelly recipe, they do have an apple jelly recipe that I'm using as a base. I can't wait to see what happens.

The Final Chapter In An Older Topic

Years ago, I'd posted about the new pets my daughter had acquired. A number of people said "Ewww, Rats." I'd owned a rat before and knew what a great pet they make. Rats are clean, you can litter train them to a section of their cage, intelligent, and never aggressive (at least ours never have been.)

Templeton and Stormy were sisters hand reared by a local pet shop and we bought them when they were a couple months old. They turned two this spring and sadly Templeton passed on in May. Both had developed a common problem with rats, cysts and tumors, but area vets here don't take on animals that small. Templeton died peacefully one morning. She'd seemed pretty lethargic and came up to be handled. Went for a walk, returned, and she had died with Stormy curled up next to her.

I'd figured that Stormy, who clearly had a larger tumor and a cyst, would go shortly after. Two years is a good life span for a rat. Months passed and she did great. Her cyst ruptured and I spent the next week keeping it cleaned, bandaged (for whatever reason, Stormy never objected). It healed beautifully and she was in great shape until August when the tumor started growing. She died yesterday in my hands, and it wasn't an easy death. Any pet I've owned that has died in my hands (both of my Siamese cats--one from old age and the other had to be put down because he'd developed a life threatening ailment and was suffering) has died quickly and relatively painlessly. Stormy was different than any others. She suffered to the final breath. Having witnessed this, it really shook me up. I've always believed that humans should have the choice to terminate their life if they are facing a life ending disease. Having seen Stormy suffer in pain only reaffirms my belief that everyone should have the right to not have to suffer.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Guilty Pleasure Books

I've been a book addict for years, but there are some books that I own that people, particularly my husband, ask why on earth I need so many--I'm taking cookbooks.

I love cookbooks and have hundreds of them tucked away, yet I really only regularly rely on about two dozen of them for ideas. Why collect so many? I am among the few who will sit down and read a cookbook from cover to cover to learn new tips, come up with new recipe ideas, and always view the pictures. I think pictures are the key to a successful cookbook.

My friend was asking if she could come look through my collection and take away a few of my least used books because her cookbook shelf is empty. I am always willing to share. My thing is that there are certain books I will not part with, and sadly two of them are done by a company with whom I don't agree--Marlboro cigarettes.

Marlboro rewards smokers with freebies from time to time. A decade or so ago, they came out with a series of cookbooks that are the best cookbooks I own. Like it or not for cowboy style cooking Marlboro's cookbooks are what you need.





The recipes in these cookbooks are not all healthy options, though some are, but it does offer excellent recipes for comfort food at its best. It doesn't matter who you are, comfort food is sometimes needed! One of the greatest recipes in this book is the recipe for a sourdough starter. I keep a batch of this starter on hand regularly now and have made incredible rolls, breads, and even pancakes from it. My son swears the country fried steak recipe is the only recipe to use. I find their chili recipes to be fabulous.

With the recipes are loads of pictures, handy tips, and even a glimpse at times on the cattle trail - a life that cowboys have lived and still live today. These cookbooks are definitely my keepers and the ones I will not hand over to anyone!