Thanksgiving or Christmas?

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This is not our place and I'm not sure where the picture was taken, but isn't it splendid?  I'm using it as my screen saver at the moment.....and wanted to share it with you.  

I've been in this weird mood lately, feeling a bit out of sorts I suppose.  Thanksgiving is still a few days away, but everywhere you look, Christmas is in full swing.  

Dutch Oven Pork Loin

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This is an extremely easy meal, and SO delicious you won't believe it!

I simply put the pork loin in the bottom of the dutch oven, dice up 4 or 5 potatoes, 3 or 4 carrots, a sweet onion and celery if I happen to have some, oh and a few sliced cloves of garlic.

Sprinkle on some rosemary,thyme, salt and I add a bay leaf.

Cover everything with a mixture of one can of cream of celery soup, 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup sour cream.  

Pre-heat your oven to 350 and then cook it for about an hour.  

Ovens and size of pork loin vary, so check to see if its done by forking the potatoes.

This recipe can be changed with just about any meat such as ham, chicken, roast etc.  Adjust your herbs for the type of meat you are using.  I'm telling you......you will fall in love with this way of making a meal.  Talk about no fuss and made from scratch!  

You can find me linked up at:  Homestead Revival, Growing Home, Far Above Rubies, Skip to my Lou, Penniless Parenting, Titus 2sdays, Raising Homemakers, Frugally Sustainable, Women Living Well, Raising Mighty Arrows, Deep Roots at Home, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Farm Friend Friday, Life as Mom, Farmgirl Friday

Autumn in the Ozarks 2011

This is my most favorite time of year!  The harvest is done, the stockpile of wood is complete, the hills are turning shades of gold, burnt orange and red and the weather is beautiful!  

Our Chicken Breeds

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This is Big Nate, he's a Barred Rock rooster and just about my favorite.  I love roosters, they come in so many variaties and they get so big.  Its fun to watch them find something on the ground and hear the funny sounds they make telling their hens to come get it.  We have a few Barred Rock hens too and their temperament is great.  They are my new found favorite breed this year.

Loss on the Homestead

I just took this picture a few days ago of our little flock of white Black Tailed Japanese Bantams.  They are the cutest little things!  Little did I know when I took this picture, that a few days later we would be down to only one little hen.

Canning Potatoes

This year has included a huge canning and preserving learning curve for me, but invaluable experience makes it so much easier each time I need to can something and also when I want to tackle a new recipe or type of food to preserve.

We have a full basement in which to keep produce over the winter and I have tried for several winters to keep different things and this year I decided to can the produce instead of being disappointed again.  I have found that it is too humid in our basement to keep things, but I have learned several different tips that I may try in the future.  One tip is to make up a weak bleach/water solution and dip all winter squash including pumpkins in it to kill off any outer bacteria that will begin to cause them to decay.  Another tip is to build a small box that is filled with sand and bury the produce in the sand.  Any barrel would work for this too.  Even with these great ideas, I decided to play it safe this year and simply can everything.  

Besides.....how hard is it to can potatoes?  Seriously?  Not that hard, but of course my first try didn't turn out that good, but the potatoes aren't wasted and they will be delicious used for mashed potatoes.  Sadly though, they won't work for hearty stew potatoes like I wanted them to.

After peeling and cubing the potatoes, I consulted my Ball canning book.  The recipe stated that the cubed potatoes should be boiled for 10 minutes before packing into jars and then process in a pressure canner for 40 minutes (for quarts).  I knew something wasn't quite right when the potatoes were already soft after boiling them, but I proceeded on, following the directions.  A dear friend of mine later confirmed that I shouldn't have boiled the potatoes first, which of course makes the entire process that much simpler......thank you Kathy!  

Anyway... I put the soft, hot potatoes in the jars and covered them with boiling chicken broth and processed them as directed.  I really like the idea of covering the potatoes with chicken broth instead of just water so they will be delicious in soups and stews and the whole jar can be poured into the pot without draining the potatoes.  Most recipes call for adding salt to each jar when canning potatoes, but I didn't add the salt because the chicken broth has plenty of salt in it.  

The potatoes need a simple 40 minutes in the pressure canner and they're done!  I'm so excited about having potatoes already ready to use all winter long!  I absolutely LOVE canning!  

Oh, I almost forgot....as you can see in the first picture, I hadn't removed all of the air bubbles yet.....be sure to try to get all of them out.  I've read that the air bubbles are really ok to have in there, that air bubbles get treated too, but they just look undone to me with large air bubbles in them.  Creature of habit I guess....

I've got another 50 pounds of Yukon Golds to do so off I go!  Have fun canning your potatoes!!

Canning Applesauce

This was my first time ever making and canning applesauce and I have to say that NEVER (hopefully) again, will I purchase applesauce from a store.  Making your own applesauce is an extremely easy thing to do and the reward is incredible!