Welcoming...

Chickens Willow to our coop!

My new Noro Hat

Just in time for fall colors, I made this Noro Iro hat to match my favorite fall scarf. Not that this Indian summer is giving me the weather to wear it but at least I am ready! I love it! After blocking it I had to dry it quickly so it was ready for the fair - so I thought it would be fun to show you the kitchen through out the day! :)

Introducing...

Señorita Orejas!

Silver laced Wyandottes

I bought two today!

Newest Noro Hat

I made this for my dear friend Thais. She won this hat during the silent auction portion of our hockey's golf tournament fundraiser. I love how well these colors match her beautiful eyes! Enjoy it sweet lady! See ya at the rink soon!

Sandwich from Sunday

This is my first mobile blog post.
This was Sundays breakfast sandwich after SP, my puzzle piece, returned home after two weeks in Michigan.

A busy canning weekend

5 cans of green beans, 4 pints of chutney, and two more cans of sauce! It was a very productive weekend canning and I am the proud new owner of a pressure canner!








The chutney is extra special dear to my heart - Mom's recipe but made with fresh tomatoes for the first time! It is a little lighter in color because many of the tomatoes were beautiful yellow ones.

Step one of Making Tomato sauce

Step 1. Clean your sauce tomatoes and remove greens and stems. Gently core tops.

Step 2. Place prepared tomatoes in a stock pot such as a dutch oven or this Le Creuset and bring to a boil.

Step 3. Turn down heat and simmer until tomatoes fall apart. You can also use a potato masher to assist. You will have a wonderful start as pictured below.

The next step it to run it through the food mill twice. The first time on the largest sieve to strain the skins. The second time use the smallest sieve to catch the seeds!

Then you reserve the tomato pulp and use it to make sauce, according to the recipe you choose.

Our cute little coop

Here's the front and side views of our new coop. I just can't wait to fill it with hens. Aurucanas and Ameriaucanas here we come!

I wonder what we should name them.

Saturday Sandwich

You guessed it right. We bought a hen house. It was a huge weekend on the homestead! Next step - chickens!

Hurricane Irene Tomato Sauce

In preparation for the unknown, I harvested all ready and ripening tomatoes before Hurricane Irene arrived. These two pints happily joined the blueberry jam on the top shelf of the freezer in the basement.

I am happy I made these wee 2 pints  because we didn't have power for four days. I am also happy I didn't do any more drastic harvesting before Irene's arrival because our garden weathered the storm just fine! One week after Irene, my green tomatoes have ripened and I foresee much more sauce in jars this weekend!