Johnny Marzetti Recipe and History

I have been making Johnny Marzetti for years and years.  Recently my son asked if I have all my recipes in our family cookbook. 

On further inspection of my cookbook, (a Scrapbook Cookbook I made), I realized that I have not added recipes I use often and know from memory.  For instance my deviled eggs recipe is missing, simply because I just whip them up.   So for the last couple of weeks I have been trying to add recipes that I know the kids love, but I have neglected to write down. 
One of those happens to be the Johnny Marzetti.  I decided to find out a little history on the creation of such an easy, delicious and well known recipe and was surprised to find out it was created right here in Ohio. 

Malabar Farm Maple Sugar Festival

It is nearly the end of the season in my region for Maple Syrup making.  But farther north the season is still going strong. 

About an hour and a half drive north from my location is the historical home and farm of Pulitzer prize winner author Louis Bromfield.  His home and the surrounding nearly 1000 acres is now a state park called Malabar Farm State Park, located in Lucas, Ohio.

I love to tour historical sites and if possible, like to tie it in with seasonal activities or a hobby I’m currently involved with, so the Malabar Farm State Park Maple Sugar Festival was perfect for me! 

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.

Seed Storage Container

Easy Way To Organize Seed Storage

This is an simple way to organize and store seeds, and makes it easy to inventory the seeds you have on hand.  
I like to separate my seeds by groups or type, that way come spring I know which seeds I need to purchase and which ones I have plenty of. 

What you’ll need:

• 1 Plastic Storage Container (shoe box size)
• Card Stock or Index Cards
• Scissors
• Glue Stick
• Seed Packets

Cookbook Scrapbook

When working full time, I needed to make folders for presentation purposes, to show clients what I could do for them.

One day the thought came to me that I could easily use the same concept for a recipe binder.
I have many recipes, some typed, some recipes hand written on index cards or scraps of paper and even recipes torn out of magazines. Retyping all of them as word documents on 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper and putting them in a binder will make it much easier to read and find!


The concept is quite basic, easy and fun to do.

What you'll need:

• A three ring binder
• Clear sheet protectors
• Clear sheet protectors with tabs
• Scrapbooking paper, magazine pages or color paper
• Scissors and a glue stick
• Recipes

Orange Marmalade

UPDATE:
Since writing this post I entered my Orange Marmalade in the Ohio State Fair and won a 1st Place Blue Ribbon
and a Best of Show! I am tickled...... orange!

1st place and Best of Show Orange Marmalade

Using Leftover Holiday Oranges
I have a few oranges getting close to being "too" ripe, left over from Christmas I think.  Oranges are a tropical fruit and at one time were considered an exotic luxury for anyone not living near Florida, California, or in a Mediterranean climate. 

Garden Plant Stakes

Easy DIY Garden Plant Stakes

It has been in the single digits here in Ohio, even down to -0- degrees one morning this week.
And the wind chill makes it even worst.

This time of year and this kind of weather makes me long for warm summer days and my garden.

Each year I try to mark my vegetable seed rows with a plant marker so I know where the row is and what's in it.

Here is an inexpensive plant stake that's easy to make.

Easy Hay Feeder

Building a Pallet Hay Feeder

We started our goat herd in November of 2012.
Our baby goats, 3 kids, are now about 3 to 3 1/2  months old and finally weaned.

I started shopping around for a good quality hay feeder.  Goats are notorious for wasting hay.  My goat mentor and giver of the goats, Shelby, told me early on that if I wanted to save money on feed and hay, I needed to buy or build feeders.
Goats pull large amounts of hay onto the floor at a time, then once on the floor it is just too dirty and unclean for them to even think about eating!
Spoiled rotten goats, says I.

The Old Farmers Exchange

I wrote this in 2007 I think,  and sent it out in an email to family members who might remember the old feed store in the town where we grew up. I was asked about this just a couple days ago and asked if I would post it on this blog.
So here it is:

The Old Grove City Farmers Exchange

While in a committee meeting this morning I got news that the silos for the Grove City Farmers Exchange were going to be torn down. I decided to stop and get a couple photos. There were quite a few other people there, a small crowd even.  There were older people who remember how Grove City used to be, farmers, shop owners, neighbors, even people sitting in lawn chairs, all had come to watch and a few others like me taking photos.

Gift Tags

Homemade Gift Tags

Ever wish you had something you could do with the greeting cards left over from the Holidays?
Here’s a great way to reuse or recycle them.
Make your own homemade one of a kind gift tags!

Use these templates or make your own shape and style:

Easy To Make Doughnuts

Homemade Doughnuts

Cutting out doughnuts with my old cutter

I have been researching flour and trying to find a better quality and healthier brand to use.
I came across an article in the Mother Earth News magazine my husband recently picked up for me. It’s about bread making and using a more natural flour.  One of the flour brands recommended was King Authur.

There is nothing better than homemade-fresh-from-the-oven bread topped with real butter.  When growing up my mother made us loaves of bread, and I have yet to taste better.

Home Grown and Buying Local

What's in our food?

There are so many reports out now about the dangers of GMO's,  High Fructose Corn Syrup,  Preservatives,  Chemicals and many other things in our food. 
Evidence is growing that many foods with additives are addictive like cocaine according to a growing body of Scientific Research.

I think it is a good idea for everyone to make their own choice about what they are consuming, but the choice should at least be an informed decision. 

After a lot of reading and research, my husband and I have been slowly changing our eating habits over the last few years.  We grow more of our own food in our vegetable and herb gardens and hope to continue to expand.

Cranberry Nut Granola

Homemade Granola

Last year at Christmas I received a jar of homemade granola. It was a basic granola, great for putting on cereal and yogurt and eating right out of the jar as a snack. It didn’t last long!

That gift got me thinking all year about making my own granola, and now that Christmas is right around the corner, it’s a perfect time to try it.

What is granola?  Granola is a breakfast or snack food consisting of oats, nuts and honey. Raisins, dried fruits and dates are sometimes added. Some even have puffed rice. The granola is baked until crisp.

Besides serving as a breakfast and snack food, granola is often eaten while hiking, camping or backpacking because it is lightweight, high in calories and easy to store.

Keeping Goats

Little Miss Claudia Milkmouth

WE HAVE BABY GOATS!

It’s a long story as to how I received goats as a gift for Thanksgiving, but I’ll try to condense the story.

Long, long ago in a land far away (Wisconsin) my husband, fresh out of college, started selling insurance. His territory was northern Wisconsin. He went door to door to farmers, and one farm he called on was the Burish Dairy Farm. As time passed, my husband quit selling insurance, but he remained close friends with the dairy farmers. More time passed, he took a job offer and moved to Ohio and him and I met.

We decided to get married in Wisconsin on a Christmas trip to see the Burish’s, even getting married in a beautiful little picturesque snow covered church in Cadott, down the road from the Burish dairy farm.

Chicken or the Egg

Eggs, Eggs and More Eggs:
As some of you know one of my dreams was raising chickens. That dream I have fulfilled with beautiful fat happy chickens I raised from babies.

The excitement to find the first egg, well unless you have raised chickens you have no idea the anticipation that goes into each visit to the coop, wondering if today is the day I will find our first egg. Being the goof that I am, I cried over that first egg.

There is a kinship formed with the chickens when you raise them, and all of a sudden I was sadden by the thought of eating those perfect eggs my chickens had created. So I decided I would be the one to eat those first few eggs myself. It was something I felt I needed to do since I was the one to nurture the chicks into adulthood. Doing so completed a very beautiful cycle, as I see it.