Little Susie Homemaker

Author: spfled

  • Hibernation

    Sometimes, I want to be a bear. Hibernating during winter just feels right somehow!

    For some reason, this winter, I have felt a bit more like hibernating than I have in the past. Even though we don’t have harsh winters and much snow at home, the colder, darker days just called to me to take things slower and stay home.

    With the fall wrap up of the garden, and heading into winter and getting to stay inside, I have enjoyed spending quite a bit of time in my sewing room (aka, the little bedroom).

    My local quilt shop has an annual UFO (unfinished objects) contest that I decided to do this year. You write down a list of 12 unfinished or not yet started projects that you want to finish this year, with an optional 5 extras and submit it to the quilt shop. They then choose a random number from the list to be finished each month and you either email in photos or can take the item into the shop to show its finished.

    I wrote out my list of just random stuff I wanted to work on or finish with the first 3 on the list almost finished (needed long-arming) and submitted it to the shop. Here we are with February not even finished and I have 10 of my 12 items finished.

    I guess that is one of the perks of hibernating – being able to focus on projects and stay in my sewing room.

    Here are a few of the items:

    This is a pattern I’ve now made 3 times and each of the quilts were gifted to my brothers & sisters-in-law. This gray one was the last one to go and was #3 of my UFO list as I started the year with it needing to be long-armed. It has now been sent to my brother and his wife so I can now show the photo. (The ones finished last year had one that was more yellow and the other was more green. I have enough of the material from the layer cake I purchased to make one more that would be pink)

    This “Chandelier” pattern is one I have loved since the first time I saw it. It was fun to make it once and see how it went together. I’m looking forward to getting this one on the long arm to finish it.

    The scraps of the Chandelier quilt were used for the Dresden pieces to make a spring table runner (pictured below). I hadn’t ever done something with rounded edges and had to figure out how to turn the edges under to sew it onto the square. Thank you YouTube for tutorial videos! I also tried doing some free-motion quilting on my sewing machine. While it was fun to try, I definitely need a LOT more practice to get better at it.

    One of the items on my UFO list was to finish 3 insulated RV window covers. (We need a total of 9, but I thought I’d just put 3 on my UFO list). We plan to be using our trailer more often and in early spring, the weather can be chilly.

    I finished the initial 3, then realized a 4th window was likely the same size and quickly finished the 4th cover. While these aren’t very pretty, they will help insulate around all the single-pane windows to keep the cold air out. Once they are in the windows, we’ll pull the blinds down and won’t really see much of them anyway.

    Since I’ve started quilting, I’ve seen quilt a few “sew-a-long” or “block of the month” (BOM) projects. A pattern is released on a regular basis, and you make that one square before they release the next pattern. It gives you a lot of patterns to try all while building skills and leading to a finished sampler quilt at the end.

    I decided to try the Riley Blake Designs BOM pattern this year. I was able to get all of the material cut and have everything organized by block for the whole quilt.

    It has been fun to try new patterns and see how something seemingly complex can be really simple to put together. Some of the blocks, I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out until I literally pieces the last bit.

    Here are a few more of the projects from the UFO list that I’ve finished (or at least gotten to where they are ready for the long-arm) so far this winter:

    As winter is wrapping up, I’m starting to look ahead to the garden. We’re only a few weeks away from the early, cold-weather stuff being able to get planted.

    Plans for the garden in the next few weeks are to expand the existing rows. Amend the soil (we’ll go pick up some horse manure to spread over everything), and get new supports put up for a couple of things.

    We will also be growing some flowers this year for my step-daughter’s wedding in August. I hope things will actually grow for us so she has a large variety to use for her special day!

    Winter hibernating has been fun, relaxing and needed. As the days are getting a bit warmer, spring is coming and I look forward to what it brings with it this year!

  • Rendering Tallow

    Beef tallow – I see it everywhere these days. It’s getting the bad rap removed and the benefits are coming back to the forefront. Our ancestors used this for so many purposes, and I decided to give it a try.

    Hubby & I recently bought some sirloin and ground beef at CostCo. As the hubby was cutting the sirloin into steaks, he was cutting off quite a bit of fat and throwing it away. I stopped him and told him to save the rest and put it in a bowl. I would render the tallow.

    I then was going to cook up the 5.5 lbs of ground beef and freeze it and decided to use the fat from that as well. (Of course, I poured off the fat before I did any seasoning of the meat)

    (Aside – I cooked up about 3 lbs as taco meat and portioned out into vacuum sealed bags to freeze. And cooked up the remaining and kept it plain to be able to throw into other things that call for ground beef)

    I put it all into a crockpot and let it go on low all day. It didn’t liquify quite as I expected it to, but there was still a lot in there.

    At the end of the first day, I strained it into a bowl and refrigerated overnight.

    The next day, I took the bowl out of the fridge and turned it over onto a cutting board to be able to scrap off the stuff that would have gone to the bottom of the bowl.

    Well, that didn’t go quite as planned. I wasn’t expecting so much gelatin in the bowl, so the fat layer came off the top and gelatin went all over the counter.

    Once I got that cleaned up, I scrapped off the non-fat bits from the bottom of the fat layer and put it back into the crockpot to go for another rendering.

    When I took it out of the fridge, there were small yellow circles randomly across the top of the fat. (You can see some in the picture above) And I knew there would be beef bits hanging out below where I could see in the bowl.

    I’m expecting it will take 3 renderings to get it to the pure white I’m expecting. (But, given that this is likely not grass-fed, grass-finished really cleanly raised beef, there’s a good chance it won’t come out as pure white as I hope it does. Time will tell.)

    (I’m writing this post as I go, so at this point, I don’t know the ending!)

    Day 3 rendering has been done. The tallow still had a beef smell to it but looked right. I did a bit of digging on Pinterest and it turns out to “purify” it, I needed to melt it down with some salt & water.

    After doing that, I poured through a fine strainer into the bowl again and could see a bit of impurities at the bottom as well as water droplets.

    Once it cooled in the fridge and I pulled out the fat, the water and impurities stayed at the bottom of the bowl, and I was able to melt once more to pour into the mold I wanted for keeping it until I use it.

    Since I purified it, I will be able to use this for cooking or making soap or other beauty products. I’ve been wanting to make soap and will likely use at least some of this tallow for that.

    It’ll be fun to use it. There’s something satisfying about making things from other things and not having as much waste or having to go to the store.

  • Things you don’t want to think about

    We experienced a death in my husband’s family over the holidays. Because of that, I decided to write about the things you don’t want to think about.

    Until you experience a death directly, you don’t realize how much ‘business’ there is in dying. (Bills, wills, estates, last wishes, etc.)

    I’m writing this as it’s fairly top of mind but writing it in hopes that it may help someone else who doesn’t yet have things set up.

    While it’s never a fun conversation to have, it’s important to discuss things with your loved one(s). It’s important that someone knows where to find your important documents, has knowledge of your accounts, has a way to access things in case of your death.

    I’ll try to do this in a way of having you ask yourself questions.

    • Have you discussed end of life medical decisions? Do you have a living will with power of attorney to ensure that there is someone designated who will work with doctors to ensure things go as you wish?
    • Do your loved ones know what you want done after you die? Do you want to be buried or cremated? Is there a specific place that is important to you to either be buried or have your ashes scattered?
    • Have you written a will? Does it make sense to create a trust?
    • Do you have your financial accounts set up correctly with assigned beneficiaries to be payable upon death? (You may have someone listed, but has anything in life changed that you need to make any updates?) (Listed beneficiaries will trump what you have written in a will, so keep those up to date.)
    • Do you want anyone to help handle anything on behalf of those left behind and have you asked them to help?

    These are just a couple of things that have come to mind over the last few weeks.

    You maybe wondering ‘what does this have to do with homemaking or frugal living?”

    The business of dying can get quite expensive and leave quite a gap for your loved ones who will be trying to figure things out while grieving. No matter your age or situation, you can help your family one last time by ensuring that these things are taken care of which can lessen the weight of this.

    If you’re unsure where to start, the internet has so many free resources. I wrote up a will and power of attorney and living will several years ago through www.legalzoom.com.

    When my husband & I knew we’d be getting married, I had a benefit at work for legal services that I had the cost withheld from my paycheck. We opted for me to do that and then after we got married, met with an attorney to set up a trust.

    After we got married, we also reviewed and updated all of our accounts with beneficiaries.

    We have had those tough discussions to let the other know our wishes. We have let my stepdaughter know these things as well.

    Just because we don’t plan on going anywhere for a good long time, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared.

    Take a weight off by taking care of what you can ahead of time. We’ll move back to happier topics going forward.

  • 2025 – the year of the quilt

    Today is the last day of 2025 and what a year of quilting it has been!

    Hubby gifted me the sewing machine in November of 2024 and I have been thoroughly enjoying it ever since!

    I took the first class on how to use and maintain it in December of 2024, then the class to learn how to use the embroidery attachment in January 2025. But, for all of its abilities, basic quilt piecing has been what I’ve used it for the most.

    RV quilt using the Riley Blake ‘The Grand Circle’ national parks panel

    The year started with making “The Grand Circle” quilt for our RV.

    I then made three quilts using the same pattern (Bee Charming) and squares from the same fabric line (Bee Garden) for my sisters-in-law (one hasn’t received hers yet as it is waiting for the long-arm). The one not yet pictured is black & grey. I have enough left over from the Bee Garden layer cake (precut 10″ squares) to make one more quilt in this pattern.

    In the spring, I made quilts for my parents for Mother’s and Father’s Day. I embroidered the occasion and the year on each of them.

    Father’s Day Quilt
    Mother’s Day Quilt

    I purchased some musical fabric in Arkansas in February while visiting my college roommate to celebrate her 50th birthday. I then used some of that fabric and embroidered a bird on a table square for her.

    That table square used some black and white scraps I had in my stash that were left over from a quilt my mom had made for me more than a decade ago.

    After posting a few pictures of quilts, a friend reached out to ask if I could make her a rag baby quilt for her new baby boy who was due later in the year. I met her at Michael’s to pick out fabric and made a really cute blue blanket for her. It was my first rag quilt and it was pretty easy to do!

    There was enough leftover in the scraps from the rag quilt that I made a small take-along blanket that matched.

    In the spring, while on vacation at Capital Reef national park, I picked up a couple of quilt panels that I made into quilts that are still waiting to be long-armed. For some reason, I didn’t have a picture of first one I finished.

    I also made myself a throw quilt using squares I started more than a decade ago. While my points on the star aren’t very good, I love how this quilt turned out and am enjoying covering up with it on a chilly evening.

    I participated in a couple of mini mystery quilts through a group on Facebook. It was fun to do each step and then see how it all came together. The patterns will make great blocks to pull together into a full quilt. But, for now, I have made them into small wall hangings.

    I went through my stash one day and decided to use a pattern that came with some templates and made a small wall hanging and then machine quilted it myself at home. I was pretty impressed with how it turned out once it was quilt. Prior to quilting, it wasn’t laying flat so I thought it wouldn’t turn out, but thankfully, it did!

    In May, I visited my parents and my mom sent home some of her needle point panels with me. I quilted one of them into a throw blanket and love how it turned out. It quilts that one in straight lines on my machine at home.

    I pieced together the other squares into a king-sized bed coverlet for their master bedroom. I took it when I went to visit for Thanksgiving and they loved it.

    In October, I came across a pumpkin with a black cat pattern and decided to make it for my step-daughter and her fiancé as a table runner. They have 2 black cats so I thought this fit them perfectly.

    And finally, I purchased a pattern for a table runner that used mini charm packs (pre-cut 2 1/2″ squares). It can be done however you want, but the pattern pictured on the card had ombre ‘ed the colors. I have MANY mini-charm packs in my stash, so I pulled out one with a fall design. I loved it so much, I pulled out another one for Christmas and made a couple of table runners.

    There are a few more things I made over the past year that I don’t have pictures of. There are many more things to be made in this coming year!

    Quilting is really fun! I love the process of taking something on its own and combining it with other things to turn it all into something beautiful!

  • Away from Home: Jewel Cave National Monument

    Our plan on our Thanksgiving road trip was to stop at several National Parks and National Monuments along the way. Our thought was “we are in the area, why not take advantage of seeing these places?”.

    If you read my previous posts (Part 1 and Part 2), you know we encountered less than ideal weather conditions throughout the entire trip. We didn’t do any hiking along the way as we had hoped.

    One thing we were still able to see was the Jewel Cave National Monument outside of Custer, SD.

    No matter what the weather is doing, Jewel Cave is a great option to explore. The cave is protected from the weather (obviously underground) and a constant temperature.

    The cave monument consists of over 200 miles of known caves in about a 4 square mile area. In the map in the picture above, you can see the extent of the cave system. The colors indicate the depth of that portion of the cave.

    We opted to take the 20 min tour with a ranger that day. The other option was a few hours later and would have been around 90 mins. We’ll come back in the future and do the longer tour.

    The tour took an elevator down to the main cave entrance to a large chamber. They have airlock doors between the elevator lobby and the chamber because the cave “breathes”.

    This chamber is quite large. Stairs are installed throughout the areas that the tours go, and this chamber is the starting point.

    The variety of colors and features in this chamber are beautiful!

    The ranger gave us a history of the cave explaining that the Native Americans in the area knew of the cave for hundreds of years, but the original entrance was about the size of a basketball. Then at the turn of the 20th century, some gold prospectors found it and blew the entrance open with dynamite.

    They explored the caves extensively and never found gold or any other mineral worth mining. After that failure, they tried another venture only to have one fail as well. As a last-ditch effort, they began offering cave tours. They asphalted paths for the tours and eventually were able to make a bit of a living with that.

    Once the park service took over, the asphalt was removed, and other materials were used which are more friendly to the environment of the cave. The tours continue to today.

    She then talked about the formations within the cave pointing out a couple of them that I can’t recall the names of. But one was something they referred to dogtooth crystals. They definitely look like teeth!

    She also pointed out another mineral that shows up looking like tree limbs or snowflakes depending on exactly where. She said people often think they are fossils but are actually this particular mineral. It was beautiful!

    I highly recommend a stop at Jewel Cave. We will be going back when we’re in the area next time. Check it out!

  • Thanksgiving ’25 adventures (Part 2)

    To read from the start of our trip, click Thanksgiving ’25 adventures (Part 1)

    As we started back home after spending Thanksgiving with my family in WI, we had good weather and clear roads.

    Beautiful red barn against the snow – GORGEOUS!!!

    We made it to Jackson, MN that first day driving back, headed into town for dinner, and then went to bed early. There was plenty of snow on the ground from the storm that had blown through a few days earlier.

    When we got up to leave Tuesday morning, the truck said it was 3 degrees!! I always tell my husband when either of us complain about the gray, rainy days in the Pacific Northwest, that I’d take that over blindingly sunny, take your breath away cold back in the Midwest. This was one of those days – beautiful, clear day (from inside) but brutally cold!

    As we headed west that day, we knew we would end up in warmer weather as we were driving out of the polar vortex.

    ‘Dignity’ statue at SD rest area.

    On our way to Rapid City, SD, we stopped for gas in Mitchell, SD and I made Hubby drive past the Corn Palace. I remember stopping here as a kid and knew he needed to see it. (He’d argue otherwise. His life is complete without seeing or stopping at tourist traps).

    The Corn Palace is literally made out of corn. Husks, cobs, stalks, etc. I was there on a family vacation when I was 13, and it had been around long before that.

    From there, we continued west and took a quick drive through the Badlands National Park. I had also been through here on that same family vacation. This time of year is beautiful with the snow. But, because there wasn’t much sun that day, the color striations in the hills didn’t stand out quite as much as I remember.

    In the 20ish miles we drove, we saw more wildlife than all the years combined we’ve been in the North Cascades National Park. We saw pronghorns (like an antelope), bighorn sheep, turkeys and bison!

    We will definitely come back to this park in the future and explore it on foot. It is also a dark skies park, so we’ll enjoy trying to see the night sky while staying there.

    Continuing west, we headed into Rapid City. (Coming out of the Badlands NP, we were in Wall, SD but I couldn’t convince hubby to even drive past Wall Drug)

    We stayed in Rapid City for 2 nights in a cheap Travelodge motel. (This was the trip of cheap motels.) It had been updated but definitely had opportunities. It was a sufficient place to sleep and that was what mattered. (And it was pet-friendly)

    The next morning, we headed up to Mount Rushmore and then drove through Custer State Park. It was a day of adventure! The views of Mt. Rushmore were NOT.

    From Mt. Rushmore, we headed to Custer State Park, but due to winter road conditions, we had to take a detour route (there’s a 7 mile section that is closed in winter). It was a pretty drive.

    We stopped into the Visitor Center and knew that the wildlife loop was open, so we kept driving through. The drive through Custer State Park was quite foggy. We were able to see quite a few animals, but no views of the surrounding landscape.

    Foggy drive thru Custer State Park

    We were glad to get back to the motel that afternoon and relax.

    The next day was much clearer. We drove back up to Mt. Rushmore and were actually able to see it.

    From there we headed to the town of Custer and then out of the area, back to I-90 heading west. We did stop along the way to see the Jewel Cave National Monument. (I’ll do a separate post about this) We stopped for the night in Sheridan, WY.

    I wouldn’t mind going back through Sheridan and exploring it a bit more. When we left the next day, we stopped into Java Moon coffee shop. It was very cute. I love a small-town coffee shop where all the old folks gather for morning coffee and friendly catchups. This seemed to be the place for that.

    We then drove to Missoula, MT for the night. It was a beautiful day driving through Montana and getting to see spots that we had driven through in the dark on our way east. By the time we got to Missoula, it started snowing. As we pulled off the interstate, it got pretty heavy.

    We pulled into the CostCo for gas, and then hubby suggested we go inside and check out what they have that is likely different from our CostCo. We left with a Christmas tree as we figured by the time we got home, our CostCo would be sold out. Turns out, the Missoula CostCo had sold 6 trees in 4 days. People there, spend $5 to go cut their own from the forest rather than buying them. Last year, our CostCo had sold out in less than 4 days.

    By evening, the snow seemed to have stopped, but the next morning as we were leaving, it looked like it was still trying to start snowing again.

    Thankfully, the drive home that final day looked worse than it turned out to be.

    It rained through the mountains, then to a bit of snow at Lookout Pass (Montana/Idaho border), but road conditions were good.

    We took advantage of the lower gas prices in Idaho before crossing back into Washington and stopped at a rest area. We had to park in the trucking area and saw these guys idling at the rest stop.

    We were glad to get home. While we loved getting to spend the holiday with my family, we will never drive cross-country at this time of year again.

    There are gorgeous areas across this whole country that we look forward to revisiting in the future. We will do it with our trailer so we can spend time exploring on foot and not just driving straight through.

    As my husband & his daughter say when things aren’t going quite as well as hoped, “we’re making memories”. We definitely made some memories on this trip! 🙂

  • Thanksgiving ’25 adventures (Part 1)

    Hubby & I headed to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving to spend the holiday with my parents, my younger brother & his family.

    We decided early on that we weren’t flying (flying at Thanksgiving is CRAZY!!!) and we would drive. We have a geriatric dog that my husband doesn’t want to leave, and the dog can’t fly.

    What an adventure it turned out to be!

    Growing up in the Midwest, I knew that this would potentially be a risky deal as weather is very unpredictable this time of year. I packed an emergency bin (that hubby thought I was going overboard with packing) but we were prepared should anything happen.

    Thankfully we didn’t need to use the emergency bin, but I’m very glad we had it along. (Snow pants, hats, scarves, emergency blankets, snowshoes, micro-spikes and extra winter coats.)

    Inspecting the room or put himself in the corner, not sure which LOL

    We left the Sunday before Thanksgiving and headed east on I-90 across Washington, the Idaho panhandle and Montana. In eastern Montana, we headed north on I-94 through North Dakota.

    Heading out of the PNW on I-90
    Bullfrog Overpass near Cle Ellum, WA (oops, emergency demo due to damage from an oversitzed truck)
    Central WA fog bank heading across the Columbia rivier

    On our first morning, we had a beautiful sunrise as we drove through eastern Montana. And a beautiful drive to Dickinson, ND for our 2nd night.

    We were able to stop into the visitor center of Teddy Roosevelt National Park and take a quick look around. We chatted with the ranger and got lots of info and advise from him for a future visit. We’ll come back in a better season to check out that park.

    The next morning things started getting a bit snowy!

    Eastern MT sunrise
    Morning start in Dickinson, ND

    We headed east out of Dickinson, ND knowing that there was a winter storm coming through. It was an interesting day driving to say the least.

    We drove anywhere from 15-50 mph in an 80-mph zone from Dickinson to Fargo. Along the way, we started seeing vehicles in ditches, semi’s or fifth wheels jack-knifed and overall, really bad driving conditions. Several times, the wind would catch the backend of our pick-up truck and cause us to fishtail a bit. I’m very thankful that my hubby did such a great job driving that day.

    Near white-out conditions
    Not-to-scenic view
    15 mph driving
    Wrong-way trucker

    At one point, traffic slowed and as we passed, we saw the above semi heading west-bound in the left lane of eastbound I-94! We didn’t see any tire marks that indicated how he got that way. The center median between east & west bounds wasn’t broken, there were no tire marks in the ditch, and we didn’t see any slide marks that would have gotten it spun around. It’s a mystery!

    We pulled off the road in Fargo to let the dog out and decided we were done for the day. I called the hotel chain and explained the situation, and they graciously refunded our points for the night so we could then use them book a night in Fargo. There was no way it would have been safe to continue on for several more hours. (We learned later that I-94 westbound in western MN had closed due to a 15-vehicle pileup. I’m not sure if that would have closed eastbound, but I’m glad we didn’t try to find out.)

    By the next morning and a good night’s sleep, conditions were significantly better. We left Fargo and headed toward mom & dad’s. It was fairly snowy the whole rest of the way and we drove slower than the speed limit, but it worked out just fine. We arrive safely.

    View from our room in Fargo, ND
    Storm had stopped, roads were better

    We enjoyed a very nice time with my family over the holiday. My SIL was working on Thanksgiving, so we had the traditional dinner on Friday. But we got to hang out all day with family both days, which was fantastic!

    Saturday, winter storms hit southeastern WI with 8-10″ of snow. It was beautiful and nice to be cozy at mom & dad’s for the day. We were glad we had 4-wheel drive.

    Snow in mom & dad’s front yard
    Silly selfie

    We had a wonderful visit with family and were glad we were safe!

    Part 2 to come (we have to get back home!)

  • Fall 2025

    November has started in the PNW in the typical dark and rainy fashion. But that just means, indoor projects and hobbies!

    I have continued to work on getting the free fruit processed. The Liberty apples are applesauce, canned and stored on a shelf in the garage.

    Garage shelf with applesauce as well as freeze dried meats and broth. And cool storage for onions & potatoes

    The cider apples are pending processing. Once I finished that box, I’m done with this batch of fruit. These will get sliced and either freeze-dried or frozen.

    The pears were diced and freeze-dried. And also turned into vanilla pear butter. I have it in the fridge and need to water bath can it so it will store well.

    The hubby & I cleared out the den closet and rearranged and added a couple of new shelves. It’s not finished yet, but so far it has drastically helped the storage ability of that closet! I look forward to filling it with more goodies.

    New shelves in den closet with a lot more room to expand! I have it sorted by fruits, vegetables and ready-to-eat meals. Broths are in the kitchen cupboards and in the garage. And meats are in the garage.

    One great thing about cleaning out that closet was getting all of the freeze-dried food organized. We have quite a bit of fruit and vegetables.

    I was able to see how many pre-made meals we have available. I’ll need to work on getting more ready for next summer’s backpacking adventures!

    If you’ve ever thought about getting a freeze-dryer yourself, Harvest Right is running their Black Friday sale *during the month of November. Check it out! All freezer-dryers are discounted this month!

    old-style Small Harvest Right freeze-dryer.

    One project I’ll be working on after finding some old seat covers from the RV is to repurpose those to make a cover for the freeze-dryer. Since I have it in the garage, we always have to remember to throw a tarp or a towel over it when my husband is doing anything in the garage that will make a lot of dust.

    The jam shelf is also filling up this fall. We don’t eat a ton of jam so I’m finding that if I make small batches every other year, that gives us plenty.

    Apple butter, quince jam, ‘raspbarb’ (raspberry/rhubarb) jam and tayberry jam

    One thing I plan on doing each spring is to turn any leftover frozen berries into jam. Once the berries start coming in, I need room in the freezer for the fresh ones so will clear out the previous seasons.

    And the final piece of news from the last few weeks, I have started listing my embroidered tea towels in an Etsy shop. (https://spfled1016.etsy.com) Go check it out.

    These are customizable and I can make them in a day or less. They make wonderful gifts (holidays, showers, weddings, house warmings, etc.)

    I hope your autumn is going well and you’re looking forward to Thanksgiving! I’m grateful that you’re reading my blog! Thanks!!

    (*this is an affiliate link which means I’ll make a % of any sales that result from you clicking through my link)

  • Fall Harvest

    Fall has arrived and so has the harvest to be put up!

    I posted in a local FB group that if anyone had fruit trees that needed picking, I was available. I got two offers to get fruit FOR FREE!!!

    One lady had apple trees and I came home with 4 boxes! I overestimated my energy level to process all of those apples. (It didn’t help that by the time the weekend was over, I had a pretty nasty cold for a couple of days.) I gave one of the boxes to a family at my church.

    With the apples, I have made a double batch of apple butter, 4 quarts of applesauce (so far) and freeze-dried 2 trays (so far) of apple slices.

    I have another batch of applesauce started and will finish the box of the red (Liberty) apples making those into sauce. When I cook them down, I run them through an old-fashioned sieve and end up with a lovely pink sauce because of the red skin. My husband has been enjoying eating what’s leftover in the sieve.

    My applesauce is literally just cooked down apples. I don’t add anything to it. I prefer unsweetened and these apples are so sweet, I definitely don’t need to add anything to them.

    Another lady had an Asian pear tree that was ripe. Unfortunately, that one ended up being too tall to get much, but I did come home with 3/4 of a box of pears.

    When I got home that afternoon, I made some ginger pear muffins from the Trim Healthy Mama membership site. They’re delicious!

    I plan on making a batch of pear jam and then freeze-drying the rest of them. I like pears as snacks when we’re hiking but then can easily rehydrate them for baking.

    We also harvested the quince from the quince tree. My husband planted the tree as a novelty in the backyard last year and there was 1 quince. This year, we picked 13 for just under 9 lbs. of fruit.

    I’ve had to look up quite a bit on quince to know what to do with them. These are Portugal Quince, and they look like a large pear. They can be eaten raw but are quite hard and very tart. But when they are cooked, they sweeten up and have an almost tropical scent.

    Unfortunately, when I cut the first one open (and each one so far since) they’re brown on the inside. I have a message to the nursery we bought it from to see what they think.

    UPDATE: I heard back from the nursery and they confirmed they were overripe. Next year, we’ll pick them as soon as we can smell them while on the tree.

    But, we did bake the first one and my husband ate it. I don’t think it had been cooked quite long enough as it was still pretty hard. And today, I’m cooking down 3 of them to try quince jam.

    The best way I can describe what quince tastes like is a peach/pineapple cross. It’s good, just unusual. I believe I cooked down enough for 1 jar of jam. We’ll see what happens!

    UPDATE: The finished jam has a delightful flavor that I think is a peach/pineapple mix, my future SIL said he thought it tasted like pear. My husband and stepdaughter both said mango. So, pick your fruit flavor, but it’s a really bright flavor for a fall fruit. I like it!

    The weekend will tell how much of this processing gets finished. Happy Fall!

  • Garden Wrap-up 2025

    I’ve been missing from the blog for a bit, mostly due to not being home, but also some technical issues I didn’t feel like dealing with. Those are resolved now and I’m back!

    We were in Europe (Italy & Spain) for just about all of September and I thought I would miss out on harvesting my garden. But, it waited for me!

    I came home to a cucumber, lots of tomatoes that were ready to harvest and still ripening and two spaghetti squash.

    We put up a trellis for squash and cucumbers to climb and the spaghetti squash went crazy! These two are literally hanging between the trellis and the maple tree across the sidewalk from it.

    Those tendrils loved the maple tree and bamboo that were easy grabbing distance from the top of the trellis. The squash are still working on ripening.

    When we came home from our trip, we also had quite a few berries ready to be picked. The goji berries had been prolific while we were gone and some had rotted on the stem. 🙁 But there were still a LOT to be picked.

    The ever-bearing raspberries were the same. They are still going here toward the end of October with some having rotted on the stem while we were gone.

    This past Saturday, I went and picked apples and came home with 4 boxes. I overestimated my energy for homemaking though (having gotten a cold the next day) and gave a box away to a family at church.

    But with the first box, I made a batch of applesauce, a double batch of apple butter and freeze-dried 2 trays of apple slices.

    Today’s activities will include more apple processing as tomorrow, I’m supposed to go to another house to pick Asian Pears. Tis the season for putting things up for the winter.