Rural Serenity
Serenity [suh-ren-i-tee] noun: the state or quality of being serene, calm, or tranquil; sereneness.
There’s something completely serene to me about grazing cattle. I don’t know if it’s because I grew up in a rural area, or maybe it’s just because I love cows. They just always seem to be so completely content when out to pasture. When we were in Maine last week I was happy to see a lot of small herds of cows out grazing in the fields. What a beautiful view of the ocean these cows have, talk about free-range living!
Around our campground there were several farms raising Belted Galloway cows (or Oreo cows as we like to call them). Next to Scottish Highlands they’re probably some of my favorite kinds of cow. I stopped to take a photo of these little calves and they came up to see me!
I always feel sorry for cows on factory farms that are cooped up and can’t eat real grass and enjoy the sunshine. That’s one of the main reasons I buy my beef and milk from a small local farm that allows their cows to be out and about all the time. It makes me happy knowing that the cows that provide my food are living happy lives!
What’s your favorite serene setting?
Share this:
It Feels Good to be Home
Mr Chiots and I just arrived home yesterday from our New England vacation, so I’m beat! We didn’t have time to do everything we wanted to do (like visiting Blackrock and Bufala di Vermont for some water buffalo yogurt, and so many more). So we’ll have to plan another trip.
We managed to cram a lot of fun times into our 9 day trip, we did everything from hiking around Walden Pond to watching people race in giant pumpkins in the ocean.
We spent our time camping at several beautiful campgrounds, one on the ocean in Maine was fabulous. It was perfect camping weather, days in the 50’s nights in the 40’s. One night got down into the low 30’s. It’s a good thing we had nice warm wool blankets to keep us toasty warm!
We got to visit a few places I’ve been wanting to see for quite a while, like Comstock, Ferre & Co and Eliot Colman’s Four Season Farm, along with The Good Life Center.
We enjoyed stopping at beautiful little farms and chatting with the farmers. We also made the most of the local food from lobster and fried clams to carrots and cider.
It wasn’t all great times though, we got in an accident – OH NO! But we were lucky that no one was hurt and the car was drivable so we could make it home. So we didn’t let it dampen our spirits.
I have lots of great things to tell you about and some great goodies to give away from some of the people I met. We ended up coming home a day early because we have a busy rest of the week (and we have to get the car fixed). But I’d rather have a day less of vacation and a day to get things in order at home before a busy season.
Have you ever come home from vacation early?
Share this:
Getting There
As I wrote about earlier, Mr Chiots and I are headed on vacation to New England for a while. We have a GPS that we use for our business. It makes our lives much easier when we’re heading out for a job knowing that we’ll get there and we don’t have to worry about printing out maps and directions. About 99% of the time it gets us right where we need to go.
When traveling on vacation however, we much prefer to use a road atlas, particularly county road maps if we can find them. We like to take the road less traveled, and the GPS doesn’t like that too much. We’ve also found that when trying to find camp grounds and other out of the way places it’s not as accurate as it is in the city. And sometimes depending on the weather it quits all together.
I also love maps because you can see the bigger picture unlike our GPS. I love having the atlas on my lap and enjoy charting our progress along with way with roads, exits and towns. When you’re driving the back way it’s also nice to be able to watch the roads to make sure you’re headed in the right direction.
Are you a GPS or a map user, or do you use both?
Share this:
Making Yellow Tomato Preserves
This year I started 2 small yellow cherry tomato plants just to make a recipe from Preserving the Taste. I checked it out of the library a few years ago and bought a copy when I found an old version because I loved the recipes so much.
It’s a small cookbook packed with delicious recipes like: caramelized apple marmalade with thyme, rose geranium jelly, pear ginger jam, cranberry ketchup, and more. I made the apple marmalade last year and it quickly became a favorite of all who tried it. My favorite thing about this cookbook, is that she uses herbs and spices in almost every recipe.
This little cookbook really takes canning recipes to the next level and makes them healthier as herbs and spices are packed with vitamins and minerals. I’m always trying to find ways to incorporate herbs into my food and this is a great way.
Yellow Tomato Preserves
(makes 4 half-pint jars)
from Preserving the Taste
4 cups sugar
5 cups very small yellow pear shaped tomatoes
3 fresh jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil leaves
3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
In a 4-6 quart heavy nonreactive pan, stir together the sugar and 3/4 cup of water. Set over medium heat and bring to a boil. Wash down any sugar crystals that accumulate on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water.
Insert candy thermometer and continue boiling until until the syrup has reached 234 degrees F, the soft-ball stage.
Immediately stir in tomatoes. The mixture might seize up, but after a few minutes will again become liquid. Stir in the chilies, basil and lemon juice and turn heat to very low. Continue simmering for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture will have thickened and darkened in color.
Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, wipe rims clean with a damp towel, and seal with new lids and metal rings. Process in hot-water bath canner for 10 minutes. Preserves will continue to thicken as they cool.
I’ve been waiting for enough little yellow tomatoes to ripen so I could make this recipe. I didn’t get enough (must plant a few more next year) so I had to settle with a half batch. Since I only ended up with a few handfuls of tomatoes, I only got two small jars of preserves. It was well worth the effort to fire up the canner though, I’ll be happy to have a jar for the winter.
These preserves have a wonderful sweet tomato taste with a hint of spice from the jalapeño and the basil really adds a wonderful touch. The little tomatoes become almost candied in the sugar syrup and the peels seem to melt into the preserves (so don’t be worried about leaving them in). I enjoyed some on toast and now am trying to figure out where I can tuck in a few more yellow cherry tomato plants next year!
Have you discovered any new canning recipes this year? Do you like herbs and spices in your preserves?
Share this:
Quote of the Day: Confucius
“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.”
~ Confucius
Sometimes all it takes is a different perspective or a little bit of light to make something stand out as beautiful!
I was walking down the hallway one evening and saw the light shining in on a pitcher that I had thrown some carrots, broccoli, and basil in and was amazed at how beautiful it was.
Have you noticed anything beautiful lately that wouldn’t necessarily be classified as beautiful?
