This Week In My Kitchen :: Blog Hop

Joining Heather from Beauty that moves today: 

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home

homemade bruschetta

 

chocolate chip cookies

homemade apple juice

pickled cucumbers

Cookies recipe from Ock Du Spoc

Apple Juice

I spend the whole weekend in the kitchen. While listening to Old Crow Medicine Show in the background I was working my way through buckets of apple. I have more then enough apple sauce to last me until next year, I have many backs of frozen apples for pies in the freezer, and I have another tree full of apples that will be left for winter storage, so I decided that I will make some apple juice with the windfall apples that I got from my neighbor. I am house sitting for her too this weekend (she is 92 years old) and kept picking up new apples twice a day.

To be honest making apple juice is a lot of work and you don't end up with much juice but it tastes delicious and before those apples were thrown away, I was happy to use them for something productive. I the end I managed to get 7 bottles of juice from this weekend.

Garden Update August 16th

It has been raining A LOT over the last 2 weeks. My garden looks like a mud pit filled with weeds, it's no fun to be honest. Right now it feels more like fall then August. In between a few dry spells I have cleared part of the garden from the weeds, put compost in and planted new strawberry plants for next year. Beans are going strong and so are the fodder crops for the rabbits. I am harvesting plenty of those, which means right now while the rabbits are eating their most, I don't need to buy any food. 
The cucumber plants are slowly dying, the rain is not doing them any good. I was able to harvest a few cucumbers and pickled some but majority are too big for pickling. I have cut them in small pieces and frozen those, as they will make lovely cucumber salad over the winter month.
The tomatoes are slowly turning red, but again it's not as many as I want so far. I have barely harvested 4 kilos so far.

I am receiving many buckets of apples from my neighbors which is great though. I made lot's of apple sauce already they'll last me through the year and I have frozen about 5 kilos for smoothies and pies too. The next buckets that I get this weekend, I will try my hand on making apple juice and I am really looking forward to this.

How are things turning out in your garden?

bush beans

fodder crops for the rabbits

strawberries

carrots

pole beans

This Week In My Kitchen :: Blog Hop

Joining Heather from Beauty that moves today: 

A weekly collection of photos from the center of my home

Garden Update August 6th

We have been hit by some very heavy rain on Monday evening, receiving about 30 liters of rain per square meter in just a few minutes... and a total of 70 liters per square meter over the full evening. My garden has not been happy with that. Many of my flowers were flat on the ground afterwards and half of the cucumber plants have turned yellow :( 
Tonight I have been out harvesting a bucket full of beans and a bowl full of blackberries, as well as a few cucumbers. I am quite concerned about my apple tree, it's way to little for a the fruit it carries and I hope he will make it to the fall, so I can do some strategic cutting.

How is it going in your garden?

Take a chance

Over the last week the fate of Sarah Harkins has played on my mind a lot. Strange especially because I didn’t know her but having heard (read) her story from Ginny, her fate has touched something deep within my heart. I find myself often just thinking & praying for Ginny and Sarah’s family at this very difficult time in their lives. It’s rare that I am being touched by ‘strangers’ in such a way but some people are meant to touch our lives for a reason and I think that Sarah was such a person, or else her fate would have not impacted me this much.

This past weekend I read through Sarah’s online blog and came across a post that talked about making new friends. Those who know me, know how much I struggle with that part. I am what I call socially awkward. I am not a social butterfly and meeting new people or just walk up to people and introducing myself is not my cup of tea. I enjoy a close circle of friends and crave afternoon or evenings spend at each others house, talking about god and the world without being judged for who I am. Unfortunately those few very good friends are back in the UK while I am in Germany. My best friend is in Durham,UK and while we e-mail and talk often, I miss being in her company. Having moved here two years ago this August, I have one good friend that I have known since childhood and who is still close to me. Everyone else I know is more like acquaintances, you walk into each other, talk a little while and then meet again somewhere else a few month later. Over the last few weeks, I figured that something needs to change but I wasn't entirely sure what to do in order to find more friends. I just knew that god would show me the way when the time is right and he did.

Sarah’s post from a few years ago (and Ginny’s yesterday) showed me that others are struggling with the concept of making new friends as much as I am. It showed me that sometimes it just takes the courage to take a chance and introduce yourself to someone and a beautiful friendship will blossom from it. If there is one thing I learned from Sarah it’s that it's always worth going out on a limb, to move out of your comfort zone and to reach out to other people, you never know they might just be in the same situation. Thanks for showing me this little lesson in life Sarah.

PS:  The Sarah Harkins memory anchors have been created as a way to both remember Sarah, and support her husband Eric and their four beautiful children.