Good Eats In The Rain

It’s still raining and I’m not complaining one bit.  I believe we’ve gotten around 3 inches over the last couple of days.  The fall veggies I transplanted are loving it.  Lianna, Oran and I picked some wild grapes the other day and made wild grape syrup:

Cook grapes in just a little water until softened.  Mash while cooking to extract the juice and drain the juice from the pulp in a jelly bag or clean cloth.  Measure the juice and add an equal amount of sugar.  Bring to a rolling boil for a minute or two and skim any foam.  The syrup can be preserved by canning.

Wild grape syrup is the perfect complement to corn cakes and that’s what we enjoyed for breakfast.  I’m trying to serve more cornmeal-based breads since corn is easier for us to produce and process at home.  W’e're nowhere near growing enough corn for our meal yet, but are working to that end.

Corn Cakes

• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter (or lard)
• milk

Mix dry ingredients.  Dissolve the honey in a little hot water and add to the dry ingredients along with the egg and enough milk to make a batter.  Stir in the butter and cook on a hot griddle.  You can substitute dried milk and dried eggs at the rate of 1/2 cup dried milk and 2 tablespoons powdered egg and use water for the liquid.

To me, these make a more filling pancake than the all wheat kind.  They keep well and stay soft even if not covered tightly.  And, the children love them.

Smoke Signals

A quick update.

We had a blessed slow rain today.  Yesterday Lianna actually spoke the words “Please don’t rain” and I had to explain to her, after the sovereignty of God, how we never say that in Oklahoma.  I spent the day working on housework.  I am the only woman I know who can turn a minor seasonal tweaking into a major mechanical endeavor involving almost every tool I own.  Lord willing, I’ll get finished up tomorrow in time to do a little catfishing.  Lianna and I caught a 5-pounder a few days ago.  She hooked it and I landed it.  We both agreed it was scary looking, but now she’s as hooked on catfishing as I am.  Big catfish are a great source of meat and I’m researching old techniques for preservation.  Yesterday evening she caught a crappie all on her own and I fried it up for her supper.

The Prodigal Blogger

Yes, that’s me from time to time.  I won’t try to analyze for you readers why I periodically go on virtual walk-about, but the weather is cooler and I have battery power to spare so I’m back – for a while.

I never know how exactly to start back, and have found that best thing to do is start with today.  Oran and Lianna came for a visit and we spent some time pumping water before we went fishing.  God in His providence has provided a well-stocked lake right across the road and good neighbors that allow us access.  It’s full of bass, crappie, perch and catfish.  It’s catfish I’m after.  I hooked one today that broke the line.  Lianna and Oran had a great time catching bass fry – Oran called them “nimmows” – to feed their mother’s aquarium fish.

The garden is in it’s late summer doldrums.  I’ve just planted fall cabbage and broccoli and am waiting for the winter squash and sweet potatoes to mature.  The peppers are going into full-blast fall production and I’m experimenting with drying them in ristras.  We’ll see if it’s too humid here for that.

David is once again off training for his Afghanistan mission.  I will have him back for about a week the first part of October and that’s about it until he deploys.

If you don’t already follow it, check out Michael Bunker’s Process Driven Life blog.  He’s writing a book on off-grid living that promises to be both inspirational and pragmatic.