Potato Biscuits

The recipe I started with gave me trouble when I tried to double it- too much flour. I'm very happy with the way it turned out though, light and flaky biscuits, served warm with gravy at supper time, or just warmed up with jam for a sweet breakfast or tea time snack. Of course I can't find the recipe I started with, but here's where I ended up...

Potato Biscuits

1 Tbsp yeast
1 1/3  Cups water
1 1/3 Cups sugar
4 heaping Tbsp lard
4 eggs
2 Cups mashed potatoes
2 1/2 tsp salt
8-10 Cups flour (until no longer sticking to bowl)

Dissolve yeast in warm water.  Let stand 5 minutes.

Add everything but flour.  Mix.

Add flour gradually, mixing as you go.

Let rise.  The original said until doubled, but after several hours mine hadn't risen that much.

Punch down.  Divide into 3 balls.  Divide each ball into 15 rolls.  Shape by hand.  Arrange in greased baking pans.  Let rise.

Bake @ 350°F 25-30 minutes.

Home made Vicks (Congestion Rub)

Home made Vicks (Congestion Rub)


¼ C Dried Peppermint Leaves (cooling, pain relieving)
¼ Fresh grated ginger root (breaks up congestion)
½ C Dried Lavender (pain relieving, antiseptic healing, topically healing)
½ C Dried Mullein Leaves (Breaks up congestion)
¾ C Olive Oil
¾ c Coconut oil
2 ounces bees wax


Put the oils in a small crock-pot. Get warm then add the herbs cook on warm for three days turn off at night. On the forth day, drain the oils in a mesh colander or cheese cloth. Put oils in a small pan add the beeswax and cook on low until the wax is melted. Let cool as it is cooling whip it with a whip (I use a electric hand whip) but a hand whip will work when cool and in cream form pour into small jars ( I used old baby food jars ) and label.
To use: Rub on chest , feet ( with socks) or under nose.

Canned Minced Marinated Garlic

Minced or Sliced Marinated Garlic

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup white vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice  

3/4 cup garlic - either minced or sliced 

Using a food processor or knife mince or slice your garlic cloves. In a small saucepan add the olive oil, vinegar, and lemon juice. Heat the brine under medium heat to a simmer and prepare 2-4 oz jars in a small water bath pot heating the jars and lids. (Use a pot with a lid and a steamer rack at the bottom for a quick setup!)  

Remove the jars from the water and fill with garlic to 1/2" headspace. Ladle the brine into the jars and fill to 1/2" headspace with the hot liquid. Using your plastic spatula remove air bubbles and refill to headspace if necessary. Wipe rim of jars with damp paper towel so that the lids will get a good seal. . Add hot lid and tighten jar finger tight.

Add jars back to water bath and process at a full boil for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let jars sit on the counter over night before storing. For storage remove the rings. 

Citrus Cleaner

1/2 cup Sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1 liter Water
2 cups Lemon and/or Orange Scraps

Mix and ferment for a month.  Strain into bottle and use.

Lemon Blueberry Bread

Lemon Blueberry Bread

1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1/2 cup chopped walnuts optional
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries 

 In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, 1 cup sugar, juice and eggs. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; stir into egg mixture alternately with milk. Fold in lemon zest, nuts, and blueberries. Pour batter into greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 60 to 70 minutes.

GLAZE
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter melted
1 cup confectioners sugar

Combine all ingredients mix well. Drizzle over bread.

Cough Syrup

Best Cough Syrup Ever
2 T Olive Oil (or Coconut Oil)
4 T raw Apple Cider Vinegar
4 T raw Honey
2 T Water
1/2 tsp. ground Ginger (fresh would be better)
1 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Lemon Juice (or 3 drops of lemon essential oil)

Combine the oil, apple cider vinegar, honey and water together in a small saucepan and heat very gently and slowly until just melted and combined.  Shut off heat.

Add in the ginger, cinnamon and lemon and stir to combine.

Dosage:  Adults 1 T as needed.  Children 1 tsp. as needed.

This syrup can be stored at room temperature for a few days or in the refrigerator for a few weeks.

 Elderberry Syrup:
1 cup berries
1 teaspoon cinnamon
5 whole cloves
1 tablespoon powdered ginger
2 cups water
1/2 tablespoon citric acid
Cover and bring to boil then simmer covered until reduced by half (about 20-30 minutes). Strain. Add 1 cup honey. You can preserve this by hot water bath for 7 minutes. Makes 3 jelly jars.

Summer Sauce

I had a few ripened tomatoes, and a bag of frozen tomatoes tucked away, and it's been cool, so I thought I'd use the oven to warm up the house and make a batch of tomato sauce.  I went back and read through some old posts from one of my favourite blogs, Throwback at Trapper Creek.  And then I got creative.

I chopped all of the tomatoes that had started to turn orange, a couple of green ones, and the bag from the freezer.  I added a bunch of green onions that had been lingering in the fridge too long, carrots and tops, swiss chard, nasturtium flowers and leaves, lettuce, cucumbers, a few peas, and a pumpkin.
 
After roasting a few hours at 250°F, it smelled delicious- like a big pot of cabbage rolls. 

 
I pureed it and brought it to a boil on the stove top, before filling sterilized jars.  I pressure canned it at 15lbs of pressure for 90 minutes.  I figure it's safe, since the pumpkins aren't actually ripe yet, so more like a summer squash than a traditional pumpkin, and not the only ingredient.

I left enough out for supper- a big pan of rice and ground beef cooked in the summer sauce with a bit of tomato soup served as sauce on top.  Delish!

A few days later in the grocery store I found four 3L baskets of roma tomatoes on the cheap rack for $1.99 each.  Well, how's that for timing?

I have to say, I don't know why they were on the cheap rack, except that maybe the produce guy was planning on making a little sauce himself.  I only found one bad spot on one tomato out of the whole lot!

We had our first frost on Friday, so I harvested a bunch more young, small, under ripe pumpkins, along with all the garden veggies and a few dandelion leaves.

Algonquin Pumpkin

Once washed and chopped I had enough to fill two and a half roasting pans of summer sauce.  Canning today!

(As always, my blog is the story of my life, not a how-to on living yours.  Can pumpkin, or anything else, at your own risk!)