SUE ANN'S PUMPKINS, TOMATO WORMS, SALAD DRESSING AND CHRISTMAS APPLES

  PUMPKINS ,  TOMATO WORMS,  SALAD DRESSING, and CHRISTMAS APPLES

Sounds like a great menu , hmmm?!!! hahaha......
Pumpkins are all the rage for this month, most everyone is doing pies, cakes, breads, rolls, puddings, BUT, do you know anyone making pumpkin / apricot butter?
Now, tomato worms..everyone gets them, everyone hates them, because they eat the leaves down to nibs on the tomato plants, and the plants need those leaves . Tomato worms are the "babies" of the five spotted hawk moth. They are the size of a hummingbird and are beneficial in flower pollinating.  Once the worm eats its fill, it will cocoon, then open into a "woolie caterpillar", in the case of the hawk moth, it will be a yellowish colored one. If you feel inclined to try this, do! It is a fun project, and you can watch Nature at Her best. Take a tomato worm, on the leaf it is on, stem and all, and put in a large jar, with a screen on the top. Feed it every day, fresh leaves , and it will shortly cocoon. You can watch it spin its silk. The woolie guy emerges, and you have to feed him too!!!! since it is almost winter, add different types grass clippings, and weeds to the jar. clean it out each day..the woolie will eventually bury itself in the grass and
 leaves. Keep the jar from freezing....put in the basement, in the dark, and come Spring,
put it on the porch and you can watch your Hawk Moth come out! You can also get the complete cycle, if you find one early in the Summer.....then you can release the moth, in early Fall.
hornworm_hawkmoth_1.jpg

           PUMPKIN, APRICOT BUTTER
1/2 lb. dried apricots
1 1/2 c water
2 c cooked, mashed, pumpkin
1. 3" cinnamon stick
grated rind of 1 lemon
2 1/4 c sugar

Soak apricots in water overnight, drain. reserve the water.
Cut apricots into thin strips, add reserved water, pumpkin, cinnamon stick, lemon rind, in a large pot. cover and simmer, 20 mins. Stir often.
Add apricots& sugar-stir til well blended. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 30 mins., or til thick. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick. Pour into pints, hot water bath- 10 mins. Yields 2 pints. can double recipe.
                         CHRISTMAS APPLES
2 lemons
4 c sugar
2 c water
16 crab apples ( 2 lbs)- NOW....crab apples are not common in markets, and are hard to find a tree, if you don't know anyone, use smaller apples, they will be just fine. Crab apples are the size of a golf ball., a tad bigger...not by much.

Core the apples whole, and carefully peel,
Halve, seed, thinly slice lemons, mix with sugar and water in pot, heat to boiling, cook, stir, skim, til syrupy- about 5 mins. cool to lukewarm.
Put WHOLE  apples in syrup. Heat to boiling, simmer 10 mins.,remove from heat, let stand overnight. The next day, heat to a boil , simmer til apples look clear-about 30 mins.
Put in 16 oz. jars, hot water bath 10 mins, yields 6, 16 oz. jars.
It is nice to do these early in the Fall, as they will be ready and tasty by Thanksgiving, or Christmas.

                                 WALNUT / BALSAMIC VINAIGRETTE

1/2 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c finely chopped shallots or onions
1.4 c lemon juice
3 T honey
1/4 t coarse salt
1/4 t ground black pepper
3 T walnut oil

Blend all well together with a whisk, keeps well up to 3 days.
If you cannot find walnut oil, use a T olive oil, add to it, smashed walnuts- 4 or 5 halves, let sit in the oil overnight, then strain. I have actually left the walnuts in the dressing..adds a bit of texture.
Yields: 1 1/4 c
Enjoy these treats! make what you can, while they are all in season...they will be fun to eat a few months from now...especially in January!!!!
                        An Extra Added on recipe

Have apples and pears left over and are maybe not so fresh anymore? Get out your cast iron skillet. Melt 6 T butter in the skillet, on the stove. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, peel, core, apples and pears, about 5 med of each. Put them in the frying pan with the butter and let them simmer low-mix 6 t sugar, 1/4 t nutmeg, 1/4 t cinnamon, mix well, sprinkle over the fruit in the skillet. Whisk well, 4 eggs, 1/2 t salt, 1 c milk, 1 c flour-whisk til smooth. Pour over fruit in skillet, put in oven. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 mins, turn heat down to 350 degrees, bake 10 mins more. Take out and eat! It is a cross between a pancake and a pudding....great for a quick warm supper, or lunch- add 10x sugar over the top, or use syrup or a jam.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NEW YORK STATE OF MIND

JEAN

Happy Birthday for New York State of Mind.  This year has sure flown by.  It seems we just started, but it has been a year already.  I guess, it was partly my fault in how New York State of Mind got started.  When Richard was going to change Amish Stories, which is now Pure Country Living, I would only go on posts by either Richard or Marilyn - no one else.  Marilyn agreed to have a blog, but didn't know how to make one up or how to use it, so a year ago today Richard told Marilyn to go to a certain place on the computer - and there was New York State of Mind.

I thank everyone for coming and reading my posts, my Grandmother Olive's posts, Martha's posts, Kevin's post , and Elmer's posts.  Also, I thank you for putting up with my families movings, our good times and not so good times.  It does surprise me that you are interested in all of our lives and ways of living.  I thought that my posts would only be on for just a few weeks on Amish Stories.  No one would be interested. and yet I have been on both Amish Stories and New York State of Mind.   I thank you all for reading the posts, asking questions, praying for us and more.  You are all so kind people.

What gets me, is that on a computer, my posts go all around the world.  It is hard for me to understand even though Marilyn, Edward and Michael try to explain how it works.  I don't understand, but am glad it does.

Again, thank you for coming to New York State of Mind.  Lord willing, we will all keep going on with the posts and I hope you still find them interesting.

Be With God,
Jean

MARILYN

As Jean said, this year has flown by.  I thank Richard, so much for starting New York State of Mind.  I thank Jean and all that have put posts on here both Old Order Mennonite, Amish and Englisher's .  You are what keep New York State of Mind going.  Also, I thank all the people from the United States, Canada and all around the world that read and comment on this blog.

Just for some interesting facts on New York State of Mind.  This is post 249 that has been put on since it was founded.  We have 46 members, but lots more people that read, and comment. Please keep coming.  Your readings and comments are the reason I keep going.   So far our total page viewers as I write this are 85,092.  In the month of September, alone, were 10,111.  The posts that had the most views are: Jean's Creamsicle Salad (3/27/13), Amish and Mennonite Items (2/19/13), Gorham Fire Department (5/10/13), Jean's Grandmother's Wood Burning Stove (1/25/13) and Jean's Day (3/18/13.

What surprises me is that some posts I put on that I think a lot of you would be interested in gets low views, while some I think won't get a lot of views get hundreds of posts.  All the posts I put on, I hope will interested most of you.  I try.

We have covered a lot of topics on here in one year.  Jean, her family and the others she has gotten to put posts on are, I believe, the most interesting.  I have put on some posts, not to get you angry or upset, but to let you know what is going on especially in the pet area.  Also, I have tried to keep items on that would interest, at least some of you, in one way or another.

As we start our second year, I hope you will all stay with New York State of Mind.  Of course, Jean, Grandmother Olive, Martha, and Elmer plan on giving us more posts. I thank them so much for all they have done and will do here.  Even Pierre wants to put on some more posts.  I hope I put on things that interest you and keep you coming to New York State of Mind.

Thank you all for coming.  All your posts and comments mean a lot to me.  I hope you will continue coming.

Happy Birthday New York State of Mind,
Marilyn

ELMER IS COMING THURSDAY.  HE TELLS SOMETHING INTERESTING ABOUT HIMSELF.

I HAVE PUT SOME AMISH AND MENNONITE ITEMS IN MY STORE WITH MORE TO COME. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN LOOKING, JUST PUSH WHERE IS SAYS FAMILY LIFE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THIS BLOG.

LAST JIM ERDLE TRACTOR AUCTION POST - PART 5

In addition to the tractors are the special sign they had for this auction, the screen they sold the tractors from, some of the people that came and finally different items they had for sale on the screen.  This is the last of the Jim Erdle Tractor Auction posts.  I hope you enjoyed them.  Thank you all for viewing them.

JIM ERDLE TRACTOR AUCTION - PART 4

Here are some more of the tractors at the auction.  Tomorrow will be the last post of Jim Erdle Tractor Auction.

JEAN'S LEMON SPONGE & LEMON CHIFFON PIES

LEMON SPONGE PIE

1 pie crust (8 inch)
1 or 2 lemons
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp flour
2/3 cup milk
2 tbsp butter melted

Grate 2 tablespoons rind off lemons, squeeze 1/3 cup juice and pulp.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line pie plate with crust.  Beat egg whites until foamy.  Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar slowly beating until meringue forms soft peaks.  Beat egg yolks and remaining sugar until thick and light.  Beat in flour, lemon rind, juice, milk and butter until smooth.

Fold into meringue until no streaks of white remain.  Pour into shell.  Bake 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

LEMON CHIFFON PIE

4 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Whipped cream
1 9 inch pie baked pie shell

Beat egg yolks until thick and lemon colored; add 1/2 cup sugar, lemon juice and salt.  Cook in a double boiler until the consistency of custard.   Soften gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes, then dissolve in hot custard.  Add lemon rind.  Cool until mixture begins to thicken.  Beat remaining sugar into stiffly-beaten egg whites and fold into gelatin mixture.  Blend well.  Fill baked pastry shell.  Chill until firm.  Cover with whipped cream before serving.

CHIFFON PIE VARIATIONS

LIME CHIFFON PIE: Use lime juice for lemon juice and grated lime rind in place of lemon rind.

GRAPEFRUIT CHIFFON PIE: Use grapefruit juice and rind for lemon juice and rind.

ORANGE CHIFFON PIE: Use orange juice for lemon juice, omit lemon rind and add 1 tablespoon grated orange rind and 1 tablespoon lemon juice.

JEAN AND I ARE THINKING CHRISTMAS, ALREADY.  WOULD YOU LIKE US TO HAVE A CHRISTMAS RECIPE A DAY LIKE WE HAD LAST YEAR?  IT STARTED 10 DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS AND ENDED ON CHRISTMAS EVE.

IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A RECIPE, PLEASE ASK.  JEAN IS LOOKING FOR AN IDEA OF WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE ON.

SUE ANN'S APPLES, PEARS AND TOMATOES !!!!

  APPLES, PEARS, and TOMATOES!!!

This is the time of year, the end of September, in Ohio, when the pear trees are done, the apples trees are done, and the tomatoes are "just about" done! And the funny thing is, I have known this my whole life, but it never changes- they ALL want to be DONE at the same time!!!!
This week has had me wishing for an Amish family living next door, so I could borrow about 6 people's hands to help!!! Makes me appreciate,and miss, big families!!! My son is in college all day, my husband is at work all day, and I have ALL DAY to do food!! LOL!! AND, all the other things one does in the house....
This is the time of year that my canning becomes more freezing!!! I do not have the time to watch a pot of water boil...if I need to get yard work done before the rains, windows washed before the cold, any sort of small thing......
The pears were great this year. We stored about 8 lbs. in the fridge, so pears are THE snack for a while!! The rest were made into pear sauce- the same way you make apple sauce, I had 10 qts., and froze them...in 1 qt. containers.
The apples were a surprise tho....Our old stand by tree of 30 yrs is dying, and had only 1 apple on it..poor thing.....but hubby found another smaller tree, on property that was deserted....and brought home 2 pickle buckets full...they were small, like a crab apple, but they seem to be a Delicious, just young. 31 of these apples, makes 5 lbs..so you can imagine how many I had!!!! I picked out the best, for "eaters" and they are in the fridge, about 10 lbs worth....and the rest became apple juice!! They were too small to bother for sauce or butter.....Making juice takes time. I had 4 HUGE pots of cut-up, cooked apples, hanging around all week!!! Takes about a day to get them to drain thru an old white pillow case I use for juice...then we squeeze the bag for a while!! I had hoped to make apple jelly, but did not have enough hands this week! We got 12 qts. of juice. Into the freezer they went!!!
Because liquids expand when frozen, you cannot put full containers in the freezer, I had to split the quarts, to be on the safe side, and that is ok, we had the room. When it DOES get cold, I can pull a quart out and put it on the stove and add cinnamon sticks to it for a hot drink, or even add tea to it. Something nice for the winter, especially around the holidays, I like to have hot apple juice on hand...it is a treat..
The tomatoes are struggling along with these cold nights- we are getting down to 46 at night....so production is much slower....I was able to get a canning for tomato soup....I will be working on that on Monday ( hopefully done, by the time you read this!!) And I will freeze it too, will have maybe 10 qts. Any remaining tomatoes that will come on, will just be eaten fresh, there will not be many more.
In canning, one has to think about the length of time the stove is on ( energy bills!!) and the water used......and by the end of Sept., I have pretty much decided that I have used enough energy!!! So freezing is better...for the little bit that is left to do. Something like 10-12 qts., I would divide the jars between cannings, each canning holds 7 qts., to make it worth my while...but that is also about 2-3 hrs. I have to be in the kitchen, or real near it, to watch the stove.....This is where canning becomes a very "business" like venture- time versus money...!!! and right now..my time is more valuable - to be out getting the yard set, house cleaned, wood ready..etc......
If you have a garden, you may still have carrots, like we do, and they are not quit ready yet, but the cool nights are longer in coming, so hill up dirt around them, a few inches deep- just the carrot part, the green tops are on their own!!! The dirt will protect the carrot- until you know the first real hard frost is coming..then pull them!!!
The same is for cabbages..they LOVE cool weather..but can wilt in the colder nights, so mound up straw, mulch, around all the leaves, don't bury them, but pretty near to it!!!! and they will last too, until the hard frost.....
The rest of our garden is done for the year, and I am waiting about a month......before I straw over the strawberries, and mulch the asparagus, they do better after a first frost......then I will cover the blueberries too..to keep the deer from them this winter....and put a cage around our gooseberry bush, for the same reason. We have plenty of woods for them to forage in, but they seem to like the tender tips of my bushes and trees...like it was deer candy!!!
This is the time of year too, that stores will have cranberries pretty cheap- buy them!!! I will give a recipe for them at the end.
Also, green peppers are finishing...they like the cooler temps too, and I will give you a recipe for them, and onions is another that will be at the tail end of harvest....and even if you don't have a garden, they are fairly cheap in the stores.
                     ONION RING PICKLES
1 1/2 lbs. small to med. mild onions
18 whole cloves
18 black peppercorns
3 t mustard seed
1 1/2 2 celery seed
2 c white, or cider, vinegar
1/2 c water
1 c sugar
2 t salt (regular , non iodized salt)
1 1/2 t turmeric
1/8 t cinnamon
Peel onions and slice 1/4 " thick. Separate the rings, divide them between 3 pint canning jars.
To each jar, add 6 whole cloves, 6 peppercorns, 1 t mustard seed, 1/2 t celery seed.
Combine the vinegar, water, sugar, salt, turmeric, and cinnamon, in cooking pot.Heat to boil, then simmer, 2 mins.
Fill the jars with the hot liquid, 1/4" head space, can add a little more liquid (water) if needed. Store in fridge,-use plastic warp over the jars first, before adding the lid. If you want, water bath them, 10 mins. Be sure to cool them before putting in the fridge.
Let onions mellow for a month before eating.
                                   RED AND/ OR YELLOW PEPPER STRIPS IN VINEGAR
2 1/2 lbs. ( 5 large) red, and or yellow sweet peppers.
2 large cloves garlic, sliced into cloves
2 t canning salt
3 3/4 c white vinegar
1 3/4 c water
Olive oil, optional.
Wash and dry peppers. Cut out stems and cores, remove seeds, cut in lengthwise strips, 1/2" - 1" wide.
Place 2 cloves of garlic in each of 2, one quart jars, wide mouths are the best for this recipe.Arrange the pepper strips in the jars, alternating the colors if you use yellows. Pack the strips firmly,scatter remaining garlic between the 2 jars, over the top. Sprinkle 1 t salt in each jar.
Combine vinegar and water in a pot, heat to simmering, pour into jars, filling to 1" of the rim. If you want to add a topping of olive oil, add it on top of the vinegar solution, add 1/4 " of oil.
You can let this cool, and store in the fridge, or hot water bath, 15 mins. Let peppers mellow for a month, before eating.
                           SWEET AND TART PICKLED CRANBERRIES
2, 12 oz pkgs. ( about 7 c ) cranberries
3 c red wine, or cider vinegar
3 1/2 c sugar
1 1/3 c water
1 T coriander seed
1 t whole cloves
1 T coarsely broken cinnamon stick
Pick over and rinse cranberries, let them drain in colander.
Combine vinegar, sugar, water, in a large pot. Tie coriander seed, cloves, and cinnamon, in a square of cheese cloth, add to mixture.
Bring to a boil, over med. heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer, partially covered, 5 mins.
Add the berries to the syrup, and lower the heat. Cook them very slowly, uncovered, shaking pot often, until the skins have cracked. About 7 mins.
Pour the berries, syrup, and spice bag into a large mixing bowl,cool, then cover, and let sit overnight at room temperature.
Next day, spoon berries into 3 pint jars. Reheat the syrup and spice bag to boiling, toss spice bag in compost!! Remove from heat, fill jars with syrup, 1/4 " head space. Store in fridge, after allowing to cool, or hot water bath, 15 mins. Let cranberries mellow for 2 weeks, before eating.

Any of these 3 recipes will last up to March, in the fridge. They are great recipes for special treats, but can be easily made...in a short period of time. If you hot water bath can them, they will last til next Fall!!!

ELMER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Thought I would answer the questions you asked me this time.  I see that there are few there.

We do not have a  big freezer in our home for our meats although we do have a freezer in our gas refrigerator, it's not as good as an electric freezer and there isn't much room.  In our town we use to have a place that would slaughter the animals, package it and store it for us, but they closed.  So now we use the big freezer that is in David and Jean's barns.  If we want, David and the boys, will slaughter the meat, package and store it for us. Even if we bring in meat already slaughtered and packed - they will store it.  Each of us has our meat in a locked storage section with our name on it. When we need meat, we just go to their house and they will unlock our section so we can get our meat or put it in. We do call before we go and don't go on the Lord's day.   They do charge a monthly fee for this, but it is a reasonable price.  David, and Jean are easier to get meat from than the people that owned their farm before they did.  He would set up hours that we could come and get our meat where David and Jean say if they are home, they will open for us, of course, not on the Lord's day unless it is an emergency.

Yes, we smoke some of our meats and yes, we can some of our meats.  Anna smokes some of the sausage.  Some she does canning and some sausage we store in the freezer at David and Jeans.  Usually a group of ladies and some men get together when she is going to smoke sausage and other meats.  Many hands make for light work and we do all of ours and theirs at the same time.  I am not the cook in our house, so if you need more information, I will have to see if I can get Anna on here. All I do is cook chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage, etc. on the charcoal grill in our back yard from time to time.  Anna says that's all I need to do.  Me cooking anything in the house would be a disaster.

In explaining why the Amish separated historically starts with our Ordnung.  The Ordnung was written many years ago,when our religion was founded,  and tells the ways we should live.  It tells us spiritually, what we believe, the way we should dress, the way we should act and much more.  What separated the various Amish is the their understanding or views of the Ordnung.  Also what has also separated the different Amish people is the way the church is run.  When we got indoor plumbing, some of the people separated because they felt this was wrong.  Also some people change because they feel one church is to strict or to lax.  I am telling you a short version as I could go on for sheets and sheets telling the differences between groups.

The Amish wear beards because of the passages in the Bible. " Leviticus 19:27 Ye shall not round the corners of your heads, neither shalt thou mar the corners of thy beard."  There are also other quotes in the bible.  Why don't the Mennonite men wear beards anymore?  Back in 1920's at the Mennonite Conference it was decided to be more traditional in the ways they dressed.  At first men were allowed to trim their beards, but over the years, in becoming more traditional, beards were no longer required.

Why do we Amish men wear suspenders?  To hold their pants up.  I couldn't resist that joke. Why the color of our clothes.  Really this goes back to why we don't have electric in our homes. Again it is Romans 12:2 "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect wills of God."   We dress pretty much the same way since our religion was founded.  There have been some minor changes, but mostly we remain the same against the outside world.  Our dress is the same - we don't have to get the latest styles or colors, etc.  Our way to dress is , as I said, in the Ordnung.  We are to be concerned more of being acceptable and do the perfect of God than the style or color we wear.

I hope these help you understand our way.  You folks ask very interesting questions.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer

NEXT WEEK WILL BE OUR ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY !!!!!!!