Here at Home Getting Ready for Winter..

Good Evening my dears.. 

Here I am here at home... 

Finally... 

Ready to post.. smile.. 

Before I forget.. the pic above is what I see out my kitchen window most  early mornings.. 

A mama and her two babes... 

I am so sorry to be so slow getting up a blog post...  

Sometimes I don't have much to share and I am scared of boring you all to bits so I wait and hope I come up with something.. 

Today is just a short one... 

I just seem to be doing the same thing everyday!  

Pickles... pickles and more pickles... grin.. 

These ones above are the Hot Mixed Veggies that you see me make every year.. 

I do so love these.. 

Almost as much as dill... 

So glad that I had gathered my basil for pesto.. 

We had a really early frost and it killed what was left.. 

Oh well.. I have enough.. 

Then every year I make Terry's mother's Mustard Pickles.. 

They are the family favourite mustard.. 

It is funny how one only likes the kind they grew up with, eh? 

I did lots of others but will not make you suffer hearing about them all.. 

Our cold room is getting filled, though..  

What a lovely feeling.. 

I do love preserving for the Winter season.. 

I know that really we could buy a cucumber and red onion from the supermarket and just make a brine and have pickles for supper and look in the cosmetics aisle for face cream or buy a bottle of dried oregano for pizza or a jar of pesto for pasta sauce or a bottle of dills from Costco...  

We could do that.. 

 But for me it just is not the same..

Preserving is not just frugal but rewarding..  

I enjoy all things that are connected to the harvest season.. 

Gathering herbs and flowers.. 

Picking veggies from the gardens..

Peeling our own grown garlic just smells so heavenly.. 

And it was not grown in China but in our own garden.. 

Gathering wild rose petals for soaps and lotions, Tansy for my arthritis,  making vinegars with herbs, garlic and peppercorns, collecting rose hips to make a moisturising oil for my face, combining herbs from the garden with oils to make salves for dry skin, itching, sores and bruises, and of course pesto from basil, garlic and cheese, making pickles, jams, jellies, canning green beans, zucchini and tomatoes, freezing bags and bags of spaghetti sauce, making potpourris for gifts and to scent our rooms, dehydrating veggies for soups and stews, hanging herbs everywhere to dry for just so many things... 

Well.. 

I guess you see what I mean... smile.. 

It is work for sure but also just so interesting and that makes it all so satisfying..

Terry grows the garden and I like to do my part by not wasting it.. 

I did these on Friday...  

Big Batch Zucchini Breads to freeze..  

Or so I thought... 

Someone really enjoys fresh breads but I rescued them before they were all devoured.. 

Hope to do another batch this week... 

Here is the recipe as it is a really good one.. 

Bulk Batch Zucchini Bread

3 cups oil
9 eggs, beaten
5 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons vanilla
9 cups unbleached flour (can include some whole wheat pastry flour)
6 cups grated zucchini
2 tsp. baking soda
3 teaspoon baking powder
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chopped nuts, chocolate chips, or a combination

Preheat oven to 325°. Spray four bread loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, combine oil, eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in flour, zucchini, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nuts and chocolate chips. Stir until just mixed. Pour into prepared loaf pans and bake for 1 hour or until tester comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To freeze: Once cool, wrap in plastic wrap and place in a large freezer bag. Remove excess air and freeze. Can also be sliced before freezing.

This recipe is from Good Cheap Eats..  I changed the amounts of baking powder and soda from their original. 

I also made a tray of these granola bars for our grandsons... 

Recipe Here..

Cut them and then wrapped in parchment paper twists.. 

Delivered them this morning at church.. 

So as you can see it has been pretty typical around here for the time of year.. 

So many homes are the same.. 

So lovely to see on Instagram that there are so many younger ones following the old ways.. 

They say they don't mind sticky floors and cluttered counters so long as they get the stuff put away before it spoils.. 

I do understand.. 

This week I hope to be finished with the veggie end of things and move on to some Fall decor and concentrating on the cosmetic stuff like lotions, salves and oils.. 

I have made up my mind to make a different type of soap.. 

Hope it turns out but that probably won't happen till next week if the Lord wills... 

Then there is the house cleaning and a bit of painting to do.. 

My hydrangea are ready for picking.. 

I just gather big bunches of it and stick it in any large jug, vase or basket that I can find and just let them dry ... 

Then hopefully I will get a few wreaths made.. 

and so on.. smile.. 

Dear old Charlie is pretty good company these days.. 

He is just such a good dog.. 

This afternoon after church we drove up to the farm to get a few cabbages, turnips and more herbs... 

I looked in the house for this old recipe book and found it.. 

from 1953... 

It has some excellent preserving recipes .. 

I love to try something new each year and as I grew celery I want to try the celery pickle recipe.. 

My friend from Romania is on vacation in her homeland .. 

As soon as she returns we want to get together to make a few Romanian recipes... 

Love getting together with her and learning... 

She is just so smart... 

Here is a purchase I made for Fall decorating.. 

They are at the Great Canadian Dollar store for only twenty dollars.. 

It is metal and glass and even comes with the batteries for the candles.. 

I want to fill the bottom with some wee pumpkins.. 

Will share it all with you girls as soon as it gets done.. 

Next week... smile.. 

Today is this dear man's birthday!  

I so appreciate him and am so thankful for the life we have built! 

He is a great husband, dad and gramps... 

We all sure do love him... 

Happy birthday, dear..

Anyway... 

Thank you so much for visiting and your lovely notes.. 

I try to answer the ones on Facebook.. 

I find when I answer them here on the blog itself that not many come back to get the answer..

I did want to answer any questions you asked but when I went back to your comments I could not find the questions.. 

sorry..

If you have any questions please leave them here or on FB and I promise to answer them here or there.. 

K?  

God bless you all and have a great week... 

The Lord commands his mercy during the day, 

And at night his song is with me--

a prayer to the God of my life... 

Psalms42-8