Bean Soup

Canning Bean Soup

Our busiest canning "season" is during the summer and early autumn months while we are harvesting our garden vegetables.
During the winter months, we love lots of soups and stews.
Usually, when I cook meals or casseroles, I try to make enough for two meals to save time later.  Half we eat now, and half gets frozen or canned for a convenient meal later.  

For soup, I make a large stockpot full and have plenty left over to can.

Having jars of soup in the pantry, ready to just heat up is a huge time saver and works just wonderful for a cold winter day meal.  Just grab one or two jars from the shelf and heat.  Add a side salad or sandwich and you have an easy no-fuss meal! And one without the added sodium, additives or preservatives found in commercially canned soups.

Homemade Vegetable Soup

This soup can be made with garden or farm market fresh vegetables, vegetables you canned during summer months, leftovers or store purchased.

Making a large pot of soup at one time leaves enough leftovers to heat up on a cold snowy day when you are short on time.  
Canning the soup will be even handier to quickly heat and serve for a quick meal after a day playing in the snow or hiking. 

Tip:
Here’s a great tip a friend gave me.  Anytime you have leftover vegetables from a meal, simply store them in a Ziploc freezer bag.  Keep adding different leftover vegetables until you have enough to make a pot of vegetable soup!

And don’t be afraid to add different types of vegetables like squash, cabbage, peas or lima beans.  Each will add their own distinct flavor to the soup.

Pantry Stocking List

Easy and Doable Pantry Stocking List

My sister Julie Buskirk is my guest blogger today. 
She emailed me an idea for blog post a few months back about a list to stock a pantry or making a food “staples” list.  She had also sent her email to a local newsletter and they printed it. 
Here is her guest blog post:

Pantry Stocking:

These days, there doesn't seem to be many cookbooks talking about lists of basic "Staple” food items families should have on hand in the kitchen or pantry.  I have a few older cookbooks I started out my young married life with.  

Those cookbooks taught me what I needed to stock up on first, before teaching me cooking techniques and recipes.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Delicious Homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup.
It is indisputable that the mushroom is a strong contender for the #1 spot as a Super Food! The mushroom provides tons of health benefits and is maybe even better than most vegetables.  Mushrooms are different than vegetables because they provide nutrients in amounts not usually found in vegetables.  For instance,  a single serving of mushrooms provides more than 20% of the daily needs for six essential nutrients: riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, copper and selenium.

We cook with mushrooms a lot and really love Mushroom Soup on cold Ohio afternoons.  Most recipes
I've tried make small single serving batches and most just didn't have that strong earthy mushroom taste I love.

Maple Syrup Making

What I've Learned About The Process So Far

I’m back tapping maple trees this year, having enjoyed last year’s process and syrup making so much that I decided to try it again.

My previous posts, Tapping Maple Trees and Turning Maple Sap into Syrup details my first year tapping our farm's maple trees.

Here are a few things I have learned:

Spiles (tree taps)
There are many types of spiles (tree taps) you can use.  Some are made of a thinner metal, (the ones I purchase from Tractor Supply last year) and some are made of a thicker and stronger material.  Most spiles have hooks for hanging buckets, but some also have a metal lip on top to hold the bucket handle or metal sap bag holders.

Growing Green Onions In Winter

Green Onions 

One of the things I miss most about my summer garden is picking fresh off the vine tomatoes and pulling a few leaves of lettuce to make a fresh salad for lunch or dinner.

Having a little mini garden in the winter appeals to me.

I read somewhere that if I planted the white bulb end part of a green onion (after chopping and adding the green part to whatever it is I'm cooking, of course) it would grow!

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays!

~Froehliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches      Neues Jahr!

~Nollaig Shona Dhuit Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit

~Uwotlvdi Danisdoyohihv, Alihelisdi Itse Sudetiyvda

~Feliz Navidad Féliz Año Nuevo

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: 

the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other". 

~Burton Hillis

"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time." ~Laura Ingalls Wilder