Another look at a farm girl's life, one who loves living in the country and everything is has to offer, good or bad, how else do we grow...
Name: Sue Neitzel
I live a simple life in the Ozarks, where my hubby and I tend to 5 acres of country pleasure, from raising animals to gardens, and finding comfort in knowing we are giving back to the land, after all, it's only on loan to us....
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The birds were singing this morning, spotted a couple of blue birds flying about, and watched a calf run and kick up his heels. All reasons to make the day a good one and all signs of spring. I've got sourdough bread rising, will be a treat with a nice pork roast and garlic mashed pototoes tonight. I work part time so I average a day or two at home, tending to the house, playing outside as I'm able or just sewing or puttering around getting those little things knocked off the list. Having a day at home is a true country pleasure and I feel bad for those who have to work long hours to keep a house but spend no time there. I take pride in my home and land and enjoy every minute spent here, always trying to improve it. We live week to week, but are far richer than those who make more money but don't spend it on or in their home sweet home.
It finally arrived, a little beat up again but most of it is still in the bag, unlike the first attempt to send me a 35 year old sourdough starter from a farmgirl friend in Texas. I consider this a gift that will need to be passed along. It seems she got it from her cousin in 1990 who got it from a family member back in 1970 so it could be even older than 35 years? It's a pototoe water starter, new to me, but I will quilcky learn how to use it, it can't be much different from a simple water and yeast starter that I am use too. So, tomorrow will be bread baking day for me, I can't wait to smell the sourdough throughout the house, if you haven't had the joy of sourdough baking, you are missing out on a time honored way of baking for the pioneer woman. They actually carried their starters where ever they went and protected them like gold. The starter allowed them to provide bread and baked goods at each meal, since the fresh yeast back then would spoil easily whereas sourdough could be replenished after each use to keep the starter pot alive. I'll post recipes tomorrow after I find the right ones for this pototoe starter, a little experimenting will be taking place for sure. So, next time you buy a loaf of sourdough bread at the store, think about how it got there and if your curious, try making a starter of your own for fresh and true bread. Just email me if you'd like a recipe for a simple and fast sourdough starter. You won't go back to store bought!
Nothing beats a simple Sunday in the country, and one of my favorite ways to spend any kind of Sunday is hunting in the flea markets near by. The mall of flea markets is a nice 20 mile drive up to the junction where hubby and I searched booth after booth for purple glass for my little sisters birthday coming up soon. I did find one piece but will keep it a secret in case she's reading this, I'll give you a hint sis, it's purple! LOL I will tell you how hard it is to find around here, I guess when they have it it goes fast! Now, if you were collecting pink, green, blue or gold glass, those can be found pretty easily, but purple is hard. Maybe it's more common in the desert? I rewarded hubby with lunch, he's such a good sport, always helping me in my little hunts. When you come out for a visit sis, we'll have to hit all the flea markets in a 50 mile radius, now that is what I call a country pleasure, any day of the week! It wasn't a total loss for hubby either, he did find a couple of old fishing lores, that and lunch and he was happy! We took alot of back roads on the way home, another simple way to spead a Sunday, checked out a local lake that is behind us, saw eager fishermen were trying out their luck, but no bites, too eager. All in all, a perfect Sunday, sure hope you all had a nice one too!
I don't know who you are, but thanks to all of you who have popped in and checked out my blog, I've surpassed 1000 and counting! At first I wasn't sure what I'd find to write about but after reading other farmgirls blogs and how they write about their everyday life on their farm or city place, and shared it with us all, gave me hope I could do the same. I warned you in the beginning it would'nt be too exciting, just my life in the country, learning new tasks and sharing recipes and friendship. Blogs are by far a good part of the internet, bringing friends together and keeping family connected. So, THANK YOU all for this little milestone of mine, no big deal really, but it does prove to me that bloggers are the nicest bunch of folks around!!
The house is clean, I don't have to start the meatloaf for another 2 hours so I sit in front of the sewing machine pondering a pattern for a quilt made from the charm sqaures I received from farmgirls all over the US and New Zealand. It's been some time since I had time for sewing. I'm a self taught quilter, more like crazy quilter, no rhyme or reason to my madness, I just let the colors flow and it worked again for me. I'm just sewing 8 blocks together in the order I've received them. When signing up for this exchange we could choose a color theme, of course I had to have blues. There's something calming and true about blue, so a friendship quilt of blue will always put a smile on my face. And in all the years of quilting, I've never made myself one, I've made my Mom one, Mother in law and all five kids one. So this blue mess will be mine, practice for the ones I need to make for my grandbabies birthdays this year.
Everyone likes peanut butter, don't they? Heard on the radio today that this is national peanut butter day, why not, they have a day for anything anymore, but at least peanut butter is a good thing. I try to eat a little everyday since finding out that it's good for you now, like they didn't know that before. But it is full of good proteins and who can resist the creamy stuff on crackers or just a plain old fashioned PB&J sandwich. I'm sure we all can trace peanut butter back to our childhoods, so celebrate the day and treat yourself to 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, that's the healthy daily limit.
I've got blue birds making a nest in the grape vines, do they know something we don't? A friend showed me her daffodils, up 3 inches already? And our weather will be warm all week, in the 50's, reason for concern? Or just a very off year for weather, I guess we will have to wait and see, keep your fingers crossed?
I maybe hopeful, but I have seen real signs of spring in this last week. Birds are singing, and looking for worms all around the yard. Worm holes by the barn the other morning. Trees are budding out, my garlic that I planted last fall is up about 3 inches. And a yard sale in town yesterday, all signs of spring, but way too early? It is raining today, has been since early morning, a light rain, the kind that doesn't bother the birds from eating, they are everywhere. We need it, it's been so dry. But it does make for a lazy Sunday, I guess were all entitled to them now and again. My sourdough mishap a couple days ago, will be replaced, should get a new starter on Tuesday. Bless her farm girl heart, just goes to prove that the spirit of a farmgirl is hard to beat!
I'm going to venture out this gardening season and try some new to me projects, one is growing popcorn. I've often wondered about it, how hard it was and time involved, but I think the end product will make a nice addition to my holiday gift baskets. So, in the garden plans for this year will be a several rows of popcorn. Should be fun, esp. for my grand daughter who I know will want to help, in some way or two! My orchid I wrote about has gifted me a seed, not sure if I can produce another plant from the seed, but I am going to give it my green thumb try! I was also gifted with some 35 year old sourd
ough starter from one of the farmgirls in Texas, I was sick to find it had exploded in the box, and lost it all! I hate waste so to lose such a old family starter and the postage she paid, just makes me sick! I was really looking forward to making some sourdough bread this weekend. Sure I can always make my own starter, but this one was 35 years old, in her family for that long. I can't imagine someone keeping a starter live for all those years. If your new to sourdough cookery, you have to keep the starter feed and alive, or you just have a yeast/water mess not good for anything let alone bread. And I guess you have to be a baker to understand how vauleable this starter was. I wonder what the postman thought about the smelly yeast box he put in my mailbox? Oh well....
Can you smell the banana bread baking? A friend gave me a bag of over ripe bananas yesterday, perfect for a quick bread, add some mini chocolate chips and anyone will eat it. The house smells wonderful! I finally found some osnaburg material so I am all ready for my cabin fever dollie class. A online buddy will be teaching a group of us farmgirls on how to make a primative doll. I can't wait! They are so cute and such keepsakes too. I plan to make three to start, one for each grandchild, yes even a boy doll for my grandson. They will be dated with a special note to each child tucked inside before I sew it up. More details as the class gets underway in a couple of weeks.
We are up to 70 already, under a burn ban, the wind is gusting and we are still dry. I pray no one throws a lighted cigerette out the window. The old timers are predicting a late winter arriving in Feb. or March. Since Dec. and Jan. have been so mild and dry it wouldn't surprise me if we do get a surprise cold spell late in the season. The shrubs and trees are forcing themselves to bud out, not a good thing. Mother nature is just as confused as we are!
Yesteday was winter again and I'm glad I was able to stay home and putter around, getting some of those little things done, finally. One task was to make some potatoe soup, I was going to make it over the weekend but we got invited out twice and had leftovers to eat up, but since it was cold, it was a good day for soup. Nothing warms you up like a big pot of good homemade soup, even better with fresh baked bread. Thought I'd share my potatoe soup recipe since it's gotten rave reviews, hubby loves it! And for dessert, cut a slice of friendship and check out my little sister's blog at www.purpleglasslover.blogspot.com since friendship is icing on the cake of life! And don't be shy, leave her a comment and say hi!
Sue's potatoe soup
6-8 nice potatos, cut up
1 med. onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 can carrots
1 can Campbells pepperjack soup
1 clove garlic, chopped
spices: black pepper, parsley, whatever you like really
Milk, enough to thicken soup
Cook potatos, drain, mash with carrots. In a little olive oil, brown onions, celery and garlic, add to potato and carrots, along with all other ingredients, I use enough milk to get to the right thickness that we like. Return to heat on low until nice and hot. You can also use other canned soups, like cream of chicken, cheddar cheese, etc. Super simple and so good! Enjoy...
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