Some Like Them Hot, Some Like Them Cold

Today as I was preparing peppers to dehydrate to be used in the months to come, my thoughts were on some happy memories from other autumns.  In the years after my mother died, my dad's visits here usually were near the end of the summer and through the fall.  He spent the summer months with my brother in Utah and the winter months with my sister in California.  Autumns in South Dakota are typically nice and Dad enjoyed being here to see the winter wheat being planted and the corn, sunflowers, and other crops being harvested.  He also was a good helper for the harvesting of my garden, and there were many times when he was my partner as I took care of the peppers in the fall.  

Peppers ready for the dehydrator.

 Stacks of peppers on trays drying.

From the dehydrator to the freezer in plastic bags

separated by variety - bells, sweet bananas, jalapenos, salsa,

and red peppers.  I like to keep them in the freezer,

because cold storage retains better color and pungency.

I enjoy the good aroma that drying peppers gives the house.  I also like to freeze some peppers, slicing them in strips and freezing on a tray before transferring to plastic bags, or putting chopped peppers from the food processor into ice cube trays to freeze before transferring to plastic bags to be handy to add to soups or other recipes.

All that is left fresh from the garden now are a few tomatoes not yet ripe that are stored in the garage to use as they ripen.  This brings to mind another happy memory of visits when my sister has been here and we have gone together to the garden and picked tomatoes.  We always planned to pick some that were still a little green so we could have fried green tomatoes for a meal.  Louise, come on over!   

 

Pickles In the Sun

During the early years of our marriage, I made a variety of pickles. I made my mother's "Virginia Chunk" sweet pickles that took six days to process with the changing of the brine each day before canning. I liked these, but Sam preferred dill pickles. I got his mother's "Garlic Dill Pickles" recipe and made those for years along with the Virginia Chunks, Bread-and-Butter Pickles, Cinnamon Cucumber Ring Pickles, and even Crispy Watermelon Rind Pickles.

However, my husband who is not fond of vinegar in recipes, told me he really liked the no-vinegar dill pickles his mother used to make. By this time his mother had passed on, so I asked his two sisters about this recipe. Interestingly, they did not remember having these no-vinegar pickles; and we agreed that to make pickles you needed vinegar, and I was already using his mother's dill pickle recipe and had been for years.

Well, thanks to the coming of the Internet, I did a search one day and, lo and behold, I found a recipe for no-vinegar dill pickles that you place in the sun for 4 to 6 days to process. I tried it, and Sam enjoys these pickles; so I have been making them ever since. We will be eating from a new batch today.

Ready to make "No Vinegar Dill Pickles."

3.5 - 4 lbs. small pickling cucumbers (not waxed)
15 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
6 bay leaves
8 cups of water
5 tablespoons canning salt
2 - 3 fresh, small green peppers (we like Jalapeno or Anaheim)
1 large bunch fresh dill (or 1 Tb. dill seed and 1 Tb. dill weed)
8 whole black peppercorns

Place the cucumbers in a clear glass gallon jar. Use whole or spears depending on preference and size of cucumbers. If using spears, trim away and discard portions with larger seeds. Place the cucumbers in layers, between which you place the bay leaves and other spices (not dill or salt). Mix salt and water until turns clear; pour into the jar and then stuff the bunch of dill on top so that it rests in the water. Place peppers on top.

Let the jar stand in a sunny place where it won't be knocked over.

Heat is not as important as direct sunlight.
You may open the jar after 4 to 6 days;
when done, place in the refrigerator.
(Whole cucumbers may take longer in the sun.)

Our daughter, Marla, shared a favorite refrigerator dill pickle recipe her family enjoys; and I have a batch of these ready to eat, too. They keep in the refrigerator for two months or longer.

Refrigerated Dill Pickles

Brine, heat to boiling:
9 c. water
3 c. dark cidar vinegar
1/2 c. canning salt
1 tsp. powdered alum

Place in bottom of 5-quart ice cream bucket:
2 big heads of fresh dill (or 1 Tb. dill seed and 1 Tb. dill weed)
1/2 medium onion, sliced not too thin
Clove garlic, optional

5-inch long cucumbers, slice lengthwise into spears.
Place spears on end in ice cream bucket while tipping on side.
Pour hot brine over cucumbers. Cool and put in refrigerator.
Ready in 4 days.

Sweet Corn, Sunflowers, and Weather

With our children all married having their own gardens, I don't do the amount of canning and freezing that I used to do. Consequently, in recent years I have not used all the garden space and have downsized to planting tomatoes, a variety of peppers, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and onions, along with strawberry plants and rhubarb.

Sam planted the rest of the garden to sweet corn, although we also have more sweet corn planted by the field corn. Sweet corn is not Roundup ready, and some of that planted in the field got sprayed by mistake again this year. We also have to set a trap for the coons, because they really do havoc on the ready-to-eat corn.

Corn and tomato plants in the garden on July 21st
with half of a large rainbow in the background.


Looking down our driveway on the other side of the
quanset is the other half of the rainbow. A second
rainbow is also seen, only not as bright.

Then in July, we had a terrible wind storm that really knocked the corn plants over, but they still were able to continue to grow and produce good ears.

The corn stalks two days after the wind storm.
(Photo taken July 25th.)

In spite of the wind and competing with the racoons, the corn produced well. While Marla was here, we got 48 quarts of creamed-style corn ready to put in the freezer. She had come Thursday, August 18th, to bring Trevor so he could ride back to Utah with Beth and children who had been here visiting for ten days. Tauna, Rachel, and Weston came over and were good helpers. We appreciated having Grandpa Sam and Weston shuck the corn.

Ready to make creamed-style corn to put in the freezer.

The angel food pan is used to support the end of the
cob of corn while using the electric knife to cut off the top of
the kernels, leaving the outer part of the kernel attached
to the cob. Then with the back of a table knife, the
cob is scraped to get the inner part of the kernels,
which makes the corn creamy.

The newspapers are put down on the counter and on the floor,
because the scraped corn is starchy and leaves a sticky mess;
but it is worth it.


Cooking the corn with the added ingredients.

The Recipe:
9 to 10 cups of fresh corn, cut from the cob
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 cups water

Combine corn, sugar, salt and water; place in large pan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently.
Cook for 3 minutes after it is bubbly and turns "milky."
Remove from heat; cool in shallow pan.
Spoon into freezer containers or bags and freeze.

We don't like creamed-style corn you buy at the store, but this recipe makes delicious creamed-style corn and is a family favorite.

After removing from the stove, pour into shallow
pans to cool the corn somewhat before packaging.


Rachel is measuring the cooked corn into freezer bags.


The packaged bags with the hot mixture are
laid out to cool some more before putting in the freezer.

If you come for a visit to our home, we will be happy to serve you the "Best-ever Frozen Corn"!

They finished the wheat harvest this last Wednesday. The field corn is not ready to harvest yet, nor are the sunflowers, millet, and soybeans. We don't have as many sunflowers to harvest as we had planted due to a bad hail storm that hit 1,200 acres.

These sunflowers are in a field east of the house.
(Photo taken August 17th.)


Jared in the field of sunflowers that was hailed out August 10th.
There are only a few sunflower heads left on several stalks.
(Photo taken August 17th.)


Joshua playing with the bare sunflower stalks.


This is a happier picture which we took on our way
back to the house after seeing the hailed out field.
(These sunflowers would be higher than Jared's head
if he were not standing on a little rise at the edge of
the road, as they are over six feet tall.)


Nature can be both ugly and beautiful.

August - Bennett County Fair, Family Visits, Garden Harvest, and a Funeral

August in Bennett County finds 4-Hers busy getting ready for the fair, moms busy taking care of the family garden harvest, and farm/ranch dads focused on the next crop to harvest. Our grandchildren entered their 4-H market steers in the fair, and Rachel and Weston made numerous arts and crafts to exhibit.

Rachel (10 yrs. old) showing her 4-H market steer.
This was her second year to have a market steer,
and she is almost big enough to see over his back.
It weighed 1,245 pounds.
Her steer got a blue ribbon and sold at the auction
for $1.55/pound. (August 13)


Sam (13) got a purple ribbon on his 4-H market steer.
It weighed 1,340 and sold at auction for $1.65/lb.

Seth (16) getting his steer ready to go into the show ring.
His calf had good features and received a blue ribbon.
It sold for $1.35/lb. and weighed 1,420.


Weston (8) exhibited a "treasure chest" chocolate
cake at the fair and got a blue ribbon on it.
At the auction, Grandpa Sam was the high bidder
and bought it for $120.


This little pig went to market - or more accurately,
to the auction at the fair.
Ireland Bros. bought the one on the left.


One of Rachel's exhibits was this quilt she made.
It got a purple-ribbon placing at the fair.


Roy (Sam's brother) driving his vintage car in the
parade as Barbie waves. Rachel and her cousin
Kennedy and Uncle Steve are in the back.


Sam and Brent spent the day looking at farm equipment
at Dakota Fest in Mitchell. I tagged along and am always
impressed with the size of the machinery and the price tags.
The guys had certain things they wanted to check and
compare, which included this cart for an air seeder.


They were also interested in this tractor.
We had supper with Curtis and Marla's family
and then returned home.
(Sam and Brent - August 18)


Curtis & Marla's family came for a visit at the end of
July instead of at fair time, since that was the only
time they could come before school started.
Here the Smith kids and Brent & Tauna's
are watching "Back to the Future."

This year we planted the sweet corn in our garden instead of along with the field corn as we had been doing in recent years, and it produced very well in spite of sharing it with the racoons. We really enjoy having packages of cream style corn in the freezer, although it is a rather messy job preparing it.

Everything set up and ready to begin cutting a shallow slice
on the top of the kernels with an electric knife.
Newspapers help make for a quicker cleanup when
finished, since the cut corn is like glue.


Cooling the corn before packaging for the freezer.
The recipe is one we have enjoyed for many years.
Whole kernel corn is okay from the store, but
cream style corn you buy is a poor substitute.

One more batch ready for the freezer.

Making salsa is another ongoing process this time of the year with many red packages filling the freezer.

Sam was asked to officiate at the funeral of
Denzil Richards in Rapid City. President Layton, president
of the mission, was the other speaker. The two
sister missionaries sang a special musical number.


Denzil was buried at the Black Hills National Cemetery
at Fort Meade.
(August 31)

My big project lately has been helping to get ready for publication a book for our community's centennial next year. It includes information, histories, and photos of businesses and families in Martin through the years. I will be glad when the final draft is ready for our review, but it should be very nice.

What Happens to the Wheat

They finished cutting the winter wheat yesterday and began harvesting the spring wheat.

The truckers bring the wheat from the field and
transfer it from the truck into the grain bins using an auger.
It will be stored until trucked to market.


We keep a supply of cleaned wheat in the house and
use this electric grinder when whole wheat flour is needed.
Today as I made bread from the wheat raised on
our farm, I thought about how much easier it is
to make bread now compared to earlier
generations or even when my children were small.


With my Bosch mixer, with little effort I can mix
the dough for five loaves of whole wheat bread.
I used to mix the dough for eight loaves in a large bowl
and then kneed it by hand.


Dough ready to form into loaves.


Ready to bake.


Fresh out of the oven and the kitchen smells great!


The final step - getting a slice of freshly baked bread.
The other four loaves will go in the freezer.


Although I am sure my grandmas baked delicious bread without having the appliances available today, it is nice to have them; and we are fortunate to have our own wheat.