Sunday on the Homestead

-


 


It is early morning (4:30am as I write this) and my hubby just left for work.  One year it would be nice if he had ‘normal’ weekends off.  But it seems in the airline business it is a 24/7 operation and days off can be spread anywhere through the week.  I remember years where his days off were Tuesday and Wednesday.  So I am content with Friday and Saturday! 


 


Our weekend was nice and more relaxed than past weekends.  We spent most of it inside due to wet weather which was sooo nice.  It is cooler now and really feels like fall!  I cleaned up my area where I store my soap making supplies and organized that a little better.  I got some soap made and Tobin cut it and it is curing now.  He and I wrapped some that was finished curing.  Tobin caught up other things too..  and we were able to rest.  Made us both feel like it was a restful weekend.


 


The goal for me this morning is to get the family to the early service at church.  When we get home I will, hopefully get a few things done.. or take a nap.. haa..haa.. we will see what appeals  more! 


 


I do have more soap to get made so I may prepare my molds and measure out oils and get ready for another big soap making afternoon.  I also have been making candles.  I have made paraffin candles before but after reading about the problems associated with burning paraffin I wanted to learn to make soy candles.  So that is what I am doing.  So far I have learned a lot, they are not hard to make and I am getting it figured out.  So if I don’t make soap I may make some more candles! 


 


Other than that I have dinner preps to do and work on a menu too for this upcoming week.  I have meals in mind and food in the house so it is just a matter of writing them down so I don’t have to do the thinking each day.. that part is done. 


 


Last night I made potato pancakes.  It has been a long time since I had made them.  The whole family really enjoyed them.  I served them with applesauce on top. They went along with baked chicken, muffins and peas.


 


Potato Pancakes


 


This is not a real exact recipe (which is nice because then you can adjust it to fit your family size).


 


Potatoes – as many as you want, wash but don’t peel


Eggs


Flour, whole wheat pastry flour is what I used


Salt and pepper


Oil for frying, I used coconut oil but olive oil would be a good choice too


 


Grate potatoes.  I used my food processor to do this and it went very quick.  I grated about 10 medium sized yellow potatoes (but any potatoes you have will work).  Put the grated potatoes in a bowl and add eggs.  I added 3 nice sized chicken eggs to my 10 medium potatoes). Mix this well and sprinkle in flour until the liquid is fairly thick.  If it is too thin, add more flour.  This is not a real exact science, just play around with it and you will get the hang of it. Salt and pepper it all. 


 


Now heat up the oil in a fry pan.  Using a small (1/4 cup size) measuring cup, scoop out potatoes and put them in the hot oil.  Use the back of the measuring cup to flatten them down.  Let them cook until brown and turn to cook on the other side.  It takes a few minutes to cook; you want to make sure the potatoes are soft and cooked.


 


Serve a generous dollop of either sour cream or applesauce on top..  very yummy!!


 


*********************************************************


 


That sums up my Sunday on the Homestead! 


 

Comments

  1. DonnaJoySeptember 17, 2006 at 1:20 AM

    Mornin' Crystal ~

    Sounds like you, Tobin and the family had a great weekend - love those restful times, sure re-charges the batteries!!

    I love candles - I used to buy the Yankees all the time and now I buy Circle E candles out of Texas - our church bookstore sells them and I work in the bookstore on Wednesdays - so I get a discount. I would love to try your candles one day - I have tried soy before, from different places - they seem to not have enough scent to me - don't know if that has anything to do with the soy.

    Take you a nap this afternoone - love you~~

    Donna

    ReplyDelete
  2. dana0313September 17, 2006 at 1:41 AM

    Those sound wonderful!!

    My mom used to make us potato cakes but she made a different recipe, she used leftover mashed potatoes!! I make these now for our family!! We love them, can't wait to try yours!!

    Have a blessed day!!

    Dana

    ReplyDelete
  3. bluroseSeptember 17, 2006 at 3:05 AM

    I haven't had these in years. I am always happy to find a recipe I do not have to convert for our fresh ground wheat. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. CathySeptember 18, 2006 at 6:15 AM

    Hi Crystal,

    Nothing like a Sunday afternoon nap....love them!!!

    Just wishing you a great Monday. I hope you all are well and wish you a wonderful week. Have Carolyn and Jonathan in my prayers...keep us posted.

    Love ya my friend,

    Cathy

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

All messages are moderated. After approval your message will be posted. Thank you for your comments!! Crystal :)

Popular posts from this blog

Canning Chicken Noodle-less Soup

-
Image
Today was one of those busy days that it seemed I was moving from the time my feet hit the floor until this evening.. But, I got so much done and that is a great feeling! :) One of my accomplishments today was canning 14 jars of chicken noodle-less soup. I call it “noodle-less” because you can’t can noodles. They end up falling apart. So I canned the chicken, veggies and broth. When I go to use the soup I will bring it to a boil and then add a handful of noodles (any type of pasta will work) and cook it until the noodles are done. Because I plan to add the pasta after the fact I wanted to make sure there was enough chicken broth to do this. So I only filled my jars about half to two thirds with chicken and veggies and then filled with chicken broth. Here is how I did this…. I started off with 2 chickens that were a total weight of about 10lbs. I put them in my 14 quart stock pot… I then added 2 gallons of water.. And 3 tablespoons salt.. I brought this ...
Read more

Canning Cabbage

-
Image
I had 4 large heads of cabbage that weighted about 25 pounds. We had some really hot days and I figured I better get the last of them picked soon. My daughter Sierra and I ended up processing 3 of them yesterday and I have one left for a meal on my menu this week. I made pickled cabbage and then canned up the last of the cabbage. Here is the recipe for the pickled cabbage (according to how I made it)… 8 pounds cabbage 1 large onion 1 ½ red peppers 1 lb carrots ¾ cup salt 9 cups water 12 cups white vinegar 10 cups sugar 1t mustard seed 1t celery seed Slice cabbage thinly. Slice onion and peppers. Grate carrots. Mix all veggies together in a very large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix in well. Let sit for 2 hours to soften veggies. Rinse veggies well.  In a large stock pot (mine was 14 quarts) combine water, vinegar, sugar, spices. Bring to a boil. Add cabbage/veggies. Bring to a boil. Fill hot pint jars with veggies using a slotted spoon. Fill jar with brine...
Read more

Canning Beef Stew

-
Image
In my last blog post I shared that I had bought 10 pounds of beef roast. I cut it all up and used 4 pounds in 2 crockpot freezer meals ( http://homesteadinghomemaker.blogspot.com/2012/02/two-more-crockpot-meals-for-freezer.html ) . I used the other 6 pounds of meat along with potatoes, carrots, onions and celery to can beef stew. Here were the general proportions I used in canning 7 quarts of beef stew.. 6# beef 2# potatoes 2# carrots 1# onions 1# celery After I cut up the meat and got the freezer meals done I moved to the beef stew. I peeled and cut up the potatoes and carrots. I chopped up the onions and sliced the celery. I pulled out 3 quarts of veggie stock from my freezer to use for liquid in the stew. You can use beef or chicken stock or you can use water. I did not add anything to thicken the liquid as usually thickeners don’t hold up in canning. You can thicken the broth after it is opened if you would like. I added 1 teaspoon salt to each of my ...
Read more