ANNA TELLS HOW TO MAKE HERB VINEGAR A ND HERB OILS

I am FINALLY getting to tell you how to make Herb Vinegar and Herb Oils.  Some things are the same with Herb Vinegar and Herb Oils.  Of course, there are some differences.

First off, in both Herb vinegar and oils, DO NOT use any metal utensils, bottles, or bottle stoppers.  Use plastic utensils, glass bottles and either plastic or cork stoppers.

For both Herb Vinegar and Herb Oils you will need the following

TOOLS
Plastic or Bamboo skewers ( long and short)
Plastic funnel
Plastic measuring spoons
Glass bottles with plastic or cork stoppers

HERB VINEGAR

Now here is where a lot of books and Amish disagree.  Books say get any type white vinegar - we don't.  We do not use distilled vinegar.  I feel distilled vinegar is for cleaning out the coffee pot and washing the windows.  Get a good quality vinegar such as: white wine vinegar, red wine vinegar, rice wine vinegar or, my favorite, apple cider vinegar.  When purchasing apple cider vinegar make sure it is apple cider vinegar and NOT apple cider flavored distilled vinegar.

Herb Vinegar tastes best if made with fresh herbs and fruits, gently washed and patted dry on a paper towel, although one teaspoon of dried herbs can be substituted for one tablespoon  of fresh herbs for flavor.  You might want to use parsley or  cilantro.

Here are some herb combinations you might like:


Rosemary, Parsley, Sage and Thyme
Thyme, Rosemary and bay leaves
Basil, Oregano and Marjoram
Cilantro and Cumin
Black Pepper, Ginger, White Tarragon and Parsley
Pineapple sage, spearmint, and lemon Thyme
Basil, Garlic and dried red peppers

HOW TO PREPARE

1.  Place all spices in bottle first.\
2.  Place Garlic in bottle next.
3.  Next add herbs, leaving parsley to last as it will hold down any floating spices.
4.  Add chosen vinegar leaving 1/2 inch space from top of bottle.  Put on top or stopper.
5. Let vinegar set for 24 hour, then add vinegar to refill again as herbs and spices will have soaked up some of the vinegar.
6.  Store at room temperature for 2 weeks (not in sun light).
7,  After 2 weeks, strain out herbs with vinegar going into glass bottle
8,  Dilute the final vinegar with more vinegar depending on your taste.
9. Store vinegars

HERBAL OILS

Herbal oils can be made for salads, medicine, massage, baby oil, moisturizer, and more.  I am going to tell you how to make the basic herbal oils.  You can make herbal oils natural, on the stove, or in the oven.  I use the natural way.  My personal belief is that natural made herbal oils has a better quality than rushing in on the stove or in the oven.  Jean, most of the time, uses the natural way I do, but if she needs more of a herb oil, in a hurry, will use the stove or oven.

Like with vinegar in Herbal Vinegar, chose a high grade olive oil to put in with herbs.

HOW TO PREPARE

1.  Place fresh, clean, whole herbs in glass jar loosely.
2.  Cover the herbs with the oil.
3.  Put the lid on top of jar as tight as you can.  Place jar on a sunny window sill.  I usually do this during the summer, but you can do it during the winter if you have a window with a bright sun.
4.  Leave jar on windowsill for 30 days, shaking it gently once every day.
5. After 30 days, place cheesecloth or never used coffee filter in funnel. Have another bottle underneath funnel.  Pour oil through funnel into bottle, seal bottle and store in refrigerator.

Just thought of something I forgot.  Don't forget to label the Herb Vinegar and Herb Oil bottles with what is in the bottle and date your made it.  If you make several vinegar and/or oils, you might forget what you have in what bottle and the date you made it.  I forgot that once, when I started cooking and I have put labels on ever since.  If I put something in a bottle or jar - it gets labeled.

From here, as I said, you can use oil on a salad or go further to make into medicine, salves, and more.

When reading what I wrote, it may sound hard, but it isn't.  Once you have the tools, herbs and do it, it is really easy.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Anna

ELMER ANSWERS MORE QUESTIONS

Last week, Anna,and I , along with the rest of our family,  attended the marriage of Bishop Eli's son.  Bishop Eli thought this one special as this is the first marriage he has performed on a member of his family.  He has performed several marriages, but his other children that are married, got married before he became Bishop.  So this is the first time for him to marry a member of his family.

It was a very nice wedding, dinner and visiting.  At weddings, you sometimes get to see relatives you haven't seen in a long time.  We all enjoyed the wedding very much.

A couple of nights later I got a call on my cell phone from Eli.  Eli never called me on my cell phone, so I knew it had to be an emergency.  He explained that his newly married son said that his roof was leaking pretty bad.  I asked if he had a new roof put on when he renovated the house.  Eli said he thought he had, but his son told him no, he wanted to save money and thought the roof would hold for a couple of years.  Obviously, it wouldn't.

I got John out of bed, told Anna where we were going and went to the house.  Sure enough it was leaking.  Even with flashlights, it is hard to see the leak at night, but John and I went up to take a look.  From somewhere Eli or his son got a tarp that we put over the whole and hooked it over the leak.

The next day, Eli, got a group over to take the old roof off and put a new one on -John and I included.  It took the better part of the day, but it's on.  After the ceiling dries, Eli's son, will have to paint the ceiling in the house.

When it was all over, I told Eli, he talked about John with the insulation - I think his son has John topped.  Eli just laughed.

Hannah and her husband's house is up.  The inside still has to be done.  When we get a chance, people go over and help them get the inside done.  We have someone that wants to buy the third lot.  They are the people that lived next to us in the old house.  The Christian people that took care of the children when our daughter had the baby.  They would be nice neighbors.  Their house has to be sold first.  They are about ten years older than Anna and myself and they want a smaller house.  They don't care about farming, they just want to build a house. So we are trying to decide to keep part of the land for us to farm or wait until someone comes that wants the whole thing.

Someone asked if we use any heat in our barn.  No, we don't .  We have special jackets for the horses and the cows, when they are in the barn, are warm.  Even though it snows real bad and gets real cold, the horses and cows are fine.  As humans it seems so cold, but not the animals.

Another questions is what is my favorite tool?  My favorite farm equipment is the plow.  There is something about sitting out there with the horses pulling the plow, the soil turning over - especially in the spring and fall.  Fall is putting it to sleep for the winter.  Summer is bringing it to life again.

Now tool, I guess my favorite tool is the hammer.  One side you call pull nails out and the other side you can hammer nails in.  I wear one hanging from my belt.  I never know when I will need it.

Do I know someone who works on wind up mantle clocks or wind up watches?  Most of our clocks and our watches are wind up.  When we have trouble with one of them, we take it to Kevin.  He says he isn't too good at that job, but they have all come back working just fine.  So I think he does great work.  But, we don't have anyone that works just on watches or clocks.

Well, I guess I answered most of your questions.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Elmer

FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH, LYONS, NY

First Lutheran Church is on  Broad Street, Lyons, New York.   The church is located on the site of one of the four parks, laid out by surveyors of the Village of Lyons.  Originally owned by the First Presbyterian Church, they sold their building to the Lutherans in 1849.  A fire destroyed that church in 1885..  The present building was erected the same year and is a modified Romanesque structure that replicates the original Parish Church Building for the original immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine.
The present pastor has been there since July 1, 1958.

The last pictures tells you what was going on in the back of the church.  I will have pictures for you starting on Thursday.

BIRDS IN THE SKY AND IN THE WATER

The first three pictures are of when I was outside and wanted to see how the camera would do taking birds in the sky. It did a great job.  The rest of the birds were along the Erie Canal on the boat cruise.  I do have one bird that is on the land.

SWISS - GERMAN AMISH COW FARM WITH HORSES

I have gone by a lot of farms with cows, but none as big as this one.  Really hope that you enjoy this.

ANNA ANSWERS SOME OF YOUR QUESTIONS

Here it is 9:00 PM on Wednesday and I just got around to calling Marilyn for the post you are reading today.  I had planned on putting on a lot of different things that I hope to get on next week.  So I will answer some of your questions today.

Do I made home vinegar?  Yes, I do and I will have a post that tells you how to make it coming up.  That is one of the items I was going to put on today.

Do I made herb jellies?  Yes, I do and that was a post I will be putting on.

Someone asked if I make comfrey save, heal-all save, lotions, infusions and do I drink herbal teas?  Yes to all of them.

Why do so many Amish men in Lancaster use tobacco?  I don't really know.  But I do know that many Amish grew tobacco.  In fact, some still do.  Most of them don't grow it because of government proved of the damage of tobacco.  Also, in our Amish group we see it as bad for your health, waste of money, as is liquor, drugs, and more.  Some of the seniors still smoke because they did before they found how bad it was health wise,  Maybe some think it won't hurt them.  I know our Bishop Eli has spoken against tobacco, liquor and drugs.  He speaks of the evils of these.  Also, as I said, the waste of money.  It would be best to donate the money to charity or to help a neighbor than to smoke it, drink it or shoot it.

As far as being obese Bishop Eli doesn't come right out and say that, but hints of it. He talks about how the Lord has given us our bodies and we must take care of them.  To keep them healthy.  To take care of all our organs.  To eat properly.  I am sure if someone was obese, he would speak to them.  We don't have many obese people.  I guess it is because of farming, milking cows, and more.  Even in the winter we are checking and repairing our equipment for spring.

Now I can't say we never have fried foods or candy or deserts in our home, but we watch out how much we eat.  We try to watch our weight.  I watch my cooking especially during the winter when we don't work as much in the rest of the seasons.  Mostly I make baked chicken, baked fish, etc.  I stay awaay from frying.  Also I try to control sweets.

Someone asked what herbs do I use.  I believe I had that on an a previous posts.  When I get the greenhouse all organized, I will make a complete list.

Next week, if all goes well, I will do a post on how to make herb vinegar and herb oils.

Trust God's Wisdom,
Anna

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE'S PUMPKIN SOUP AND PUMPKIN BUTTER

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE'S PUMPKIN SOUP

3 pounds sliced pumpkin
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 Tablespoons butter
pinch of nutmeg
1 1/2 cups milk
grated parmesan cheese
salt
pepper

Peel pumpkin and cut it into pieces.  In pot, cook slowly in vegetable broth with potatoes, butter, nutmeg, and salt until pumpkin and potatoes are soft.  Puree with blender.  Add milk and bring to boil.  Add parmesan cheese, season with salt and pepper.  Serve.

GRANDMOTHER OLIVE'S PUMPKIN BUTTER

1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 heaping cup powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients together.  Store in jar in the refrigerator.  This will keep for five or six days..

When we use pumpkin butter in our home, I make toast, put butter on it and top with pumpkin butter.