Rambling thoughts, mincemeat and the farmer market.

The Ladies are getting so good at baking, Yogie made sponge before school to help out as much as she could.  I finished her breads.  Booboo came home from school and made pie crust and pies until dark.  I like that we can do it more as equals, they know the processes, the recipes and techniques so it is much more a co-working process.  They are great kids.  I got the sweetest note from Yogie thanking me for the work I do and that she felt I needed a rest, so I am resting this morning as they do the Farmers Market. What a blessing they are to our lives.

I made mincemeat yesterday.  I have contemplated making green tomato mincemeat all week but in the end didn't want to use up all of my green tomatoes.  We noticed that the little tree in the woods, next to our house, this year has a great crop of apples and they tasted good after the freeze, so Poppie picked them.  They were about half of what I needed.  He had a whole bunch of yellow squash so I thought if you can use green tomatoes to make mincemeat and you can use zucchini to make pineapple or apple pie why couldn't I use yellow squash to make mincemeat.  I chopped it all up in to little squares, it looked just like yellow delicious apples.  I pitted my cherries from the pie cherry trees.  I chopped goat meat and since I couldn't get any suet down town I use some of my coconut oil in place of the suet, chopped lemons, oranges and added raisins regular and yellow.  Okay so a hodge podge recipe, totally adaptation of some of the ingredients.  Isn't hat how recipes evolve or become?  I cooked it for several hours being care full not to scorch it.  I didn't have the money for walnuts locally so thought for the price I could substitute roasted soybeans for a little crunch.  I think the end result was a success as the grands and the Ladies ate samples out of a bowl.  I processed 14 quarts, one broke in the pressure canner, my first ever in the pressure canner, and one didn't seal.  12 for the cupboard and I am sure I will gift a few of them to mincemeat people.  Are you one?  It's sort of like bread pudding or cilantro you either like it or hate it.

I have been up against a glass house situation, well sort of, of late.  You know about glass houses, if you live in one you shouldn't throw stones right?  Well on the same light why would you use a video camera to harass your neighbors for months on end, standing at the end of their drive videoing them, driving by with your camera phone at arms length taping them, put in security cameras and spend hours following your neighbors every move with the camera from your computer, walk by with you camera held out at arms length taping them and their guests, walk along and narrate as you tape your neighbors (at least four different families of neighbors) then when your neighbor finally scrapes together enough money to buy a video camera and tape you one time you run down to the local law enforcement office crying and whining that your neighbors are video taping you, really?  What?  Oh, my goodness they didn't? how could they have the audacity to video tape you? Why would they violate you that way?  Isn't there something the law enforcement can do to protect you from such an invasion of privacy?  Kind of reminds me of the goose and the gander, doesn't it you? 

Poppie and Bug are fixing Poppies gifted truck today, they decided yesterday to put one of Poppie other motors in it and should be finished this morning.  We are hoping to get to go mushrooming this afternoon or tomorrow after Church.  We have been wanting to go since spring but haven't found the time.  We are going to a place we have never been, Bug knows the place really well and it will be a great adventure to a new wondrous place in the woods. We haven't gotten to go to the woods nearly enough this year, a family outing in the woods with the Lord what could be better?...... tomorrow.