The Event ~Still in the Kitchen

The kitchen is the hub of the house in most homes.  I think that holds true for my kitchen as well.  I love being in the kitchen, but I don't like to cook.  However, I like to do kitchen projects, like baking bread or cookies, seasonal canning, and, yes, a holiday meal.  I'm not good at planning or cooking everyday meals, but I can enjoy planning and fulfilling an event meal. 

It seems this time of the year, it's hard to get out of the kitchen. It starts with the rhubarb early in the season, followed strawberries when I can get some.   Last week it was corn. 

Then it was pickle relish.  A friend gave me an abundance of cucumbers from her over abundant crop.  With my carrots, onions, peppers, and green tomatoes, it was time to make sweet pickle relish.  I try to do this every two or three years and make enough to last that long. 

Now I have zuchinni waiting to be made into bread, cabbage waiting to be made into cabbage burgers, and blackberries to pick.    I did chop and blanch two heads of cabbage for the freezer, which will be added to vegetable soup this fall.  I have to get to the farm truck and buy a box of peaches for preserving for the winter and making into jelly.  

Yes, working in the kitchen is a rewarding event; and  it's hard to get out of the kitchen at this time of the year.   But I am always glad to turn my (our) kitchen over to Tim when it comes to cooking a meal. 

Here's my simple recipe for pickle relish that I have been making for forty years.  It's the same one my mother used to make when I was growing up.

PICKLE RELISH:   Fill a kitchen sink with cucumbers, green tomatoes, carrots, onions,  a few green peppers, and a few  red peppers.  Grind through a meat grinder, alternating veggies as you grind.  Add 1 cup canning salt to about two gallons of relish mix.  Mix well.  Drain by squeezing through a colander and squeezing out  excess juice with hands.   Put drained relish in big kettle.  Add six cups sugar and six cups vinegar to 12- 16 cups of relish. Adjust vinegar/sugar amounts per amount of relish.   Mix well.  Heat to boiling.  Put hot mixture into hot jars.  Turn upside down and cover with towel to help heat to seal lids.  Excellent on hamburgers, hot dogs, and ground meat sandwich mix. 

The Event ~ Preserving the Gold

It doesn't get any more golden than this!  And there is nothing better in August than juicy, sweet, golden corn on the cob.  No one in our family stops with just one.  When corn on the cob hits the dinner table, there is usually enough for 2 - 3 ears per person or more. 

(Now I understand that our newest family member, Annie, grew up enjoying a 1/2 or 1/3 section piece of one cob, and that was a serving!  Ye gads, Cash had to retrain that eating habit in a hurry!)

Next best thing to eating corn on the cob is preserving those golden kernals for winter meals.  It's a family affair when family is around.  From pickin' to shuckin' to cuttin' to baggin'. 

This is the first year in many that we actually raised our own sweet corn, only because Tim plowed up an alfalfa field and planted it to corn, and he planted a small triangular corner to sweet corn.  Usually we buy it from a local farmer or street vendor.  

So it's been a long time since Tim has had to irrigate a corn field.  But that's where it all begins. 

Not only did I freeze those golden kernals.  I also made some corn relish!

Preserving the gold and preserving the memories ~ an event worth preserving!

The Event ~ The Family Picnic

It's always fun to have a family picnic.  It's kind of a Stricker family tradition.  The Stricker family used to always have Memorial Day picnics with many extended family present when Grandpa Alex Stricker was still living.  The attendance has waned through the years, but the picnic still happens, even if it's only a handful of family members and a two hour lunch picnic, followed by a short softball game.  This year we had a nice attendance on Saturday, August 13, with about 50 family members present, some that hadn't been around for many, many years.     The infamous softball game still takes place in the park after the bellies are full!

My mom actually drove from Billings, Montana so she could see the kids and grandkids while they were here for the weekend and the family picnic.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother and a wonderful mother-in-law.  They both look so fun and happy in this picture, a real tribute as they are both in their 80's, both still driving, both still fun and young at heart.  Bless them both!

During the weekend, those at my house found time to put up a little corn, make some ice cream, have a Friday nite hamburger fry, and play a little ball or a board game.   

 

Yep, family time is always an eventful time!  We can never get too much of it. 

The Event ~ One Kid at a Time!

So it's been awhile since I've posted.  I keep racking my brain for something to journal about, but am at a loss.  But we did get the opportunity to have a couple of the grandkids come stay for a week ~ one kid at a time.  To thoroughly enjoy our time with them, and because Tim and I are both "at work", we can only take one grand child at a time.  Not that we don't enjoy all of them at any given one time, but the "one-on-one" time is so special for both Tim and I to enjoy.  Mostly the kids go with Tim during the days, simply because he is around the farm and on the go and they can go with him wherever.

Jakob spent a week with us, catching a ride out west with some family friends.  He was a big help to Grandpa, irrigating, helping to bring in the big hay bales by driving the jeep in and out of the fields.  Grandpa tried to teach him how to drive tractor and rake, but never got to the point of letting him go on his own.  A little more practice needed!  We enjoyed dairy queen blizzards a couple times, and a trip to the fair for fair food. We hope our grandkids keep enjoying coming to the farm, helping out a little and learning more life skills that farm life has to offer.  He would still be here if he didn't need to go home to start his fall football practice.   Jakob will turn 13 next month ~ Sept 14.  A teenager!  

So a quick early morning trip to meet Janel in Brady was scheduled to get Jakob back home and bring Mathilda back with me.  She will be here a week until the whole famiily comes out for a Stricker family picnic.  Mattie has enjoyed the two kittens, keeping them by her side continuously and letting them sleep in her bed each night.  They are so cute and cuddly  - the kittens, but Mattie is cute and cuddly too!

We have noticed Mathilda eats like a horse!  That surprises both Tim and I, they way she puts away the food!   She loves to parade around in Alexis' old prom dress; and then dress the cowgirl part to go with Grandpa, in her boots, western shirt, hat and jeans!  The hillbilly teeth have always put a fun smile on all!

Over the weekend we did find time to bake zuchinni bread together.   She enjoys being a big help in the kitchen. 

Mathilda will be eight in two weeks, Aug 22. 

We must enjoy the grandkids as much as we can because they grow up so fast, and am sure as they get older spending time with Grandpa and Grandma will not be high on their "want" list as their desires and schedules mature and change.   But the memories will always be imprinted on their minds and hearts.  Nothing will erase the memories. 

One thing that hasn't changed a whole lot with kids on the farm, is that it still seems to be all work and no play.  It seems like we have always worked, worked, worked on the farm when our kids were little and often they worked right along beside us.  Play was far and little in between.  We just keep working with the grandkids by our side and play is far and little in between.  Our own kids all have fine, strong work ethics I'm sure due to learning about hard work as a child.  So I trust that the concept is not all bad!   We promise we won't take advantage of our grandchildren and abuse the "child labor laws"!!   We love our grandchildren and spending time with them "one kid at a time" is an event to be enjoyed and cherished!