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Harvest of Green Tomatoes Ripen

Here is my final harvest of green tomatoes that were picked October 19, 2014. I picked all my green tomatoes and kept them after my garden was pulled before the frost hit. I had a whole bag of green tomatoes that I wrapped in newspaper and stored in a large brown paper bag in my basement. I have used this process in the past and you can read the original storing green tomatoes post which works excellent for storing and ripening all those green tomatoes you have at the end of your gardening season.

Ripened Green Tomatoes

You just keep checking the tomatoes and pull them out as they ripen from the storage brown bag. This is the last of my tomatoes and as you can see, just one is still yellow. Continue Reading →

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Wild Mushrooms in the Yard

Here are a few photos of the wild mushrooms in and about my yard this Fall. These white unusual mushrooms are called Shaggy Ink Cap mushrooms. They are just so unique and I even found a tasty-sounding soup recipe for using them to make some homemade soup. Here is the link to a simple soup recipe for using the wild mushrooms. Do take note of the alcohol warning if eating these mushrooms.

Here are some other mushrooms I found growing in and around my cabin in the woods. The next photo below, I believe is a Coprinopsis atramentaria, commonly known as the common ink cap or inky cap.
Continue Reading →

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Reusable Glass Jars and Bottles

Recycling and reusing glass jars and bottles has always been a useful and frugal idea. Over at My Recycled Bags.com, they recently shared a wonderful recycled craft idea for making a water bottle holder out of recycled plastic bags. But rather than using store bought plastic bottles, they shared how you can use Mason jars and other recycled glass bottles to hold water and carry them in the water bottle holder. Here is the link to the reusable water bottle and holder article which also includes a free pattern for this recycled water carrier.

You can reuse any glass jar or bottle to provide yourself a safe and frugal water container. You don’t have to worry about the plastic breaking down and drinking plastic if you use glass jars. Plus I can just refill the jar or bottle from my delicious home well water supply. Continue Reading →

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Green Tomatoes Stored 5 Months

Last fall I had lots of green tomatoes and set out to save them again as I did last year. I just wanted to share the results after 5 months in storage. These are the last of my green tomatoes from last October.

Here is the blog post I wrote about storing tomatoes in newspaper for fall and winter use. This method not only stores the tomatoes but also allows them to ripen over time. Just check the tomatoes periodically and use them as needed.

As you can see the tomatoes are red and still very usable. I cut a few up this morning and cooked them Continue Reading →

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Crockpot Western Baked Beans

Slow cooked western baked beans in a crockpot are delicious. I have been working on improving my dried bean cooking skills. I want to be able to cook tasty beans from my stored bean supplies.

I love western style baked beans and set out to make my own. I read several different recipes and took a few ideas from several different sources to create my western baked beans. I made these beans from scratch and started out with 2 cups of dried white navy beans.

One important tip that was given to me was to not add the salt until after the beans have cooked 2 hours. This aids in the softening process of the beans and helps them not be hard.

Here are my final beans. They have a wonderful BBQ baked bean flavor and go great with hot dogs and burgers.

Western Baked Beans Crockpot Recipe:

2 cups white navy beans (soaked overnight) in crockpot
Drain and rinse.

Then add: Continue Reading →

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Hard Boiling the Perfect Egg

My husband loves hard boiled eggs. I’m always boiling eggs for his lunch and sometimes they come out good and other times they don’t. Sometimes they won’t peel for anything. The shell sticks to the egg white and it turns into a big mess. You know what I mean if you’ve ever struggled with peeling a hard boiled egg that doesn’t want to peel.
It’s miserable and you end up throwing most of the egg out.

After experimenting with several different cooking methods, here is my recipe for hard boiling the perfect very fresh egg.

  • Starting with cold water in a sauce pan, add a dash of salt.
  • Add eggs to water in sauce pan. The water should be covering the eggs.
  • Bring to boil and then turn off. Leave the pan on the burner and cover it.
  • Leave on burner for 20 minutes. Remove and uncover the pan. But don’t pour out the water.
  • Leave eggs to cool in original water in the pan.
  • Once cooled, refrigerate the eggs.

    • Conclusion: Perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs that usually peel easily.

    ETA: My eggs are very fresh and this method is designed for very fresh farm eggs.

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