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I am Sandra - faithful steward. listener. shepherd. dream believer. hard worker. collects brass bells, boots. Jesus follower. contented. star gazer. homemaker. farmer. prayer warrior. country woman. reader. traveler. writer. homebody. living life large.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Day is Begun and Done

Sunrise at Thistle Cove Farm, at this time of year, generally means fog. This morning was no exception and the fog was thick, heavy and wet but, usually, burns off by mid to late morning. It makes for an interesting walk in the pastures but, most of the time, I wait until the fog has burned off to walk. You just never know when some buck ejiit is going to decide to hunt from the road. Sure, it's illegal but we've sit and watched them do it, especially in deer season. Sometimes, someone will fire their gun from their vehicle if they see a groundhog and, if they manage to kill the groundhog, will come and tell you they "did you a favor". No, buck ejiit, the favor you'd do me is to leave here and never come back.
After the fog burns off, the dogs and I go to the upper pasture. It's good exercise for everyone and Sam Spade and Sadie Lady manage to get in their fair share of fun as well. Abbie is, as usual, running and sniffing and doing dog things. She has little time for play when there's Work to be done! This view is looking back toward the house and toward the head of the Cove. On the map, it's called Ward's Cove but locals shorten it to the Cove.Sam is always good for Big Puppy Eyes. Surely he has Spaniel in him, don't you think? Those are Spaniel bedroom eyes if I've ever seen them!It's canning season and the canner has been busy with green beans and peaches. From a bushel of stringless green beans, I canned 28 quart jars.
My mother taught me to can the summer I was 13. I found some wild fox grapes, large white grapes, and brought them home. She said you can either eat them now or I'll teach you to make jelly. Jelly won out and that useful skill she taught me has stood me well all these years since.
I enjoy canning produce because I enjoy having a full pantry of nutritious, CLEAN food. When you purchase a can of green beans at the grocery store, the USDA allows so many "foreign parts" per million in a vat of green beans. What that really means is, the USDA allows so many roach bits or rat feces or the like in XX million parts of canned goods. Yes, and this are the same people who inspect our kitchens and proclaim them "unsafe" if we have dogs or cats in the kitchen!

I mean...is it ME or does there seem to be a Severe Disconnect here? As in brain cells are firing but gathering no purchase??Three of my twenty-eight jars of green beans ready to be placed in the pantry and eaten once the snowballs start falling. I do a lot of my canning on the gas grill as it keeps the house much cooler as well as lower humidity inside.

For Dave and I, nothing says "summer" quite like fried green tomatoes. He thinks I make the best fried green tomatoes he's ever tasted and, I do agree, they are quite tasty; we'll have them several times a week, if not twice a day until we tire of them or, what generally happens, we run out of them.
I use equal parts white, wheat, rice, buckwheat flour and toasted wheat germ. If I have other flours, I'll use that as well. As to seasoning, I let folks do that at the table as it's easier and they can add exactly what they like. Seasonings on the table include sea salt and cracked peppercorns.

First the sliced tomatoes are slipped into milk to prep them for the flour mixture coating.

The tomatoes are dipped into the flour mixture and coated well on both sides.

The hot oil is virgin olive oil, heated to a high temperature in an iron skillet. I believe this is the skillet Aunt Bonnie gave me and it's one she was given as a wedding gift back in the 1930's. I use iron cook wear as I'm not entirely satisfied that coated cook wear is safe. Besides, the extra little iron in my diet is a good thing.Fried green tomatoes, liberally anointed with cracked peppercorns and sea salt is YUMMYLICIOUS! When we have fried green tomatoes for a meal...that's what we have and nothing else. Anything else seems a bit over the top and, let's face it, nothing...Absolutely Nothing...can top fried green tomatoes!

Another beautiful sunset over Thistle Cove Farm; and the Day is Done by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

"The day is done, and the darkness
Falls from the wings of Night,
As a feather is wafted downward
From an eagle in his flight.

I see the lights of the village
Gleam through the rain and the mist
And a feeling of sadness comes o'er me
That my soul cannot resist;

A feeling of sadness and longing
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles the rain.

Come, read to me some poem,
Some simple and heartfelt lay,
That shall soothe this restless feeling,
And banish the thoughts of day.

Not from the grand old masters,
Not from the bards sublime,
Whose distant footsteps echo
Through the corridors of Time.

For, like strains of martial music,
Their mighty thoughts suggest
Life's endless toil and endeavor;
And to-night I long for rest.

Read from some humbler poet,
Whose songs gushed from his heart,
As showers from the clouds of summer,
Or tears from the eyelids start.

Who, through long days of labor,
And nights devoid of ease,
Still heard in his soul the music,
Of wonderful melodies.

Such songs have power to quiet,
The restless pulse of care,
And come like the benediction
That follows after prayer.

Then read from the treasured volume
The poem of thy choice,
And lend to the rhythm of the poet
The beauty of thy voice.

And the night shall be filled with music,
And the cares, that infest the day,
Shall fold their tents like the Arabs,
And as silently, steal away."

Blessings ~ fried green tomatoes ~ canned green beans ~ puppies ~ more love than one heart is able to hold ~ a night's rest well earned by a day's work ~ walks in the pasture ~ poetry ~

12 comments:

  1. I do love fried green tomatoes!

    Last New Years we had someone fire a gun on our property from their truck. They killed a beauty of a buck who had been here, on the mountain, for years. J got the license tag # and called the game warden. They actually drug the buck into OUR barn, to be able to come back for it! They were arrested when they did, and have now lost their hunting license for life.
    But it does not bring back that beautiful animal.It broke my heart.

    Misha

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  2. I agree, nothing like fried green maters!!!! My family thinks I'm nuts, but my Mom is from VA and we ate fried green maters, okra, eggplant,hominy,and grits on a regular basis *wink*

    Your cove is simply breath taking, what a blessing to walk and have such views. Our homestead is in a valley of sorts, rough hills and canyons to our west and the Pryor Mountains to our East, so we're blessed with breath taking views as well.

    I worry about people shooting our animals, while trying to poach a deer. I turned in a man who was floating the river hunting ducks and geese, not that it was illegal, but he trespassed on our land to get in the river and it's posted all over, "No Trespassing". Many of the locals gave me a bunch or grief, saying I didn't want them hunting our pet ducks and geese. That was part of it but the main reason was the safety of our animals as well as ourselves.*sigh*

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  3. OH! My mouth is watering! Those fried green tomatoes look wonderful!! I just love coming to your blog and sampling a little of your life in the cove...thanks for much for letting us look in! Your green beans look so wonderful, and it's so satisfying to have your very own food from your own land "put up"...it's a precious feeling!
    XOXO
    Joni

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  4. Hi Misha - what is it with some people? They get a gun in their hands and go berserk! Unfortunately, taking away someone's license just means they will get crafty in hunting and do it on the sly, much more dangerous, imo, than keeping them where I can see them!

    Hi Kelle - I'm with you. No Trespassing means NO Trespassing! I am careful when I turn people in though; too many "accidents" happen when people know who turned them in. Sad, wicked, illegal but true. I tell people you can do with your money what you want and I'll do with my money what I want...that's the ticket. YOUR money, YOUR choice. MY money, MY choice.

    Hi Joni - forgive me for misleading you. The beans are from neighbors up the road; my garden has decided to sleep in this year. I'm ...just now... getting tiny, little tomatoes on my vines. By the time they are ripe, I'll be sipping hot chocolate and watching snow fly! -smile-

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  5. I definitely agree about the fried green tomatoes...

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  6. I love fried green tomatoes, maybe we will have some in our garden to fry up...the gardens around here are just beginning to give us ripe vegetables. Ours have a way to go...

    Our bean vines are beginning to fill in and hopefully I will have some to can, as in previous years. I also can my veggies on my porch, on my big propane camping stove.

    Love the poem, I can picture being snug inside as darkness falls, and someone reading to another...

    Sounds and looks like a blessed and productive time on beautiful Thistle Cove.

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  7. Lovely post, lovely blog, lovely life. Refreshing. I'll look some more if you don't mind.

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  8. I wish you'd fix me some of these fried green tomatoes for real! I just had some fried pickles and green beans today...they were so delicious.

    I never learned to can and wished I knew how.

    The picture of the 2 dogs made me laugh. They have such character.

    Have a blessed wk-end.
    D

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  9. Hi affectioknit, yep, LOVE those fried green 'maters!

    Hi KathyB, it's a cozy poem and especially good when read on a frosty winter's night.

    Hi Lynn, thanks for visiting and please, come back soon.

    Hi Deanna, check with your extension service; they usually have someone who can help with the canning procedure. Sometimes, in some counties, there are community canners. Love my critters; call me EllieMae -smile-.

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  10. I so enjoyed this visit to your life.

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  11. i would love to try the fried green tomaotes, ms. sandra. i'm thinking that may be a good way to make the boy eat tomatoes...God bless!

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  12. Hi Midlife Jobhunter, thank you for visiting and I'm glad you enjoyed your time here. I enjoy writing entries and kind comments like yours, encourage me.

    Hi Cherie, what about a cream of tomato soup, made with half 'n half? Although, it's difficult to beat fried green tomatoes! They can even be canned and then eaten when the snowballs come. Dave said, "but they don't taste as good." I said, "they taste better than those pallid things one buys in January!"

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