I remember as a kid my grandparents had this long white, deep chest freezer that was in their basement with a single naked light bulb hanging above it. I imagined it would have been a good place to hide anything you never wanted someone to find. Inside the freezer were bags, and bags of tin foiled covered food that was older than I was. Layers and layers of freezer burned meats that had been on sale and vegetables from seasons ago. My grandparents grew up during the depression, so saving every last scrap of food was imperative to their survival even though they now were going grocery shopping every week. There was a an old metal coffee can next to the stove top for them to scrape their bacon fat into. And when it was full, it was placed carefully into that chest freezer in case the end of the world was tomorrow.
In their 'root cellar' were countless Bell jars full of preserves. I'm talking countless. Many shelves high and stacked to the back wall like a grocery aisle. I can vividly remember my grandparents working together like a machine to seal up jars and jars of pickles, beans, tomatoes, corn, everything from their huge garden every summer at their Winnipesaukee lake house. I don't know when they were planning on eating all that food, but it was there "just in case." It must of been done out of habit. I remember thinking that I was never going to waste my time preserving food, or freezing it. It seemed to silly when I could just go to the store and get a fresh rotisserie chicken, and a bag of pre-made salad.
I grew up on a dairy farm but was very uninterested in the business and concepts as a teenager. My mom spent hours in her gardens. She has the greenest thumb. She knows how to sew anything, cook everything and has a mean creative edge. I was never interested in what she was doing but certainly retained most of the information through what must of been osmosis.
I've come drastically far since I used to think those silly thoughts and now am more interested in all the things I didn't like as a younger woman. I don't know if it's part of my dna, or if all that work my family did in their gardens and craft rooms was imprinted onto me.
Because, I am in love with the idea of freezing food for later, canning for gifts, sewing, glue gunning, and stretching myself creatively.

I created this blog for my future and because of my past.

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Break out the shot glasses!

Autumn is my favorite.  The oranges, the reds, the spots of purple.  It's all so beautiful.  I stopped at my favorite farm stand today hosted by Zach's Farm in York.  They have the second tastiest corn (second only to my family's farm) and the most reasonable priced pumpkins.  At 50cents a pound they were 49cents cheaper than the guy on the other side of town.  I got two oranges and two whites, as well as three little white ones, a yellow and green one, and a white and orange one.  They had a really nice selection!  Since my pink and red mums came back from last year, I figured the front garden needed some love so it could shine.  So, I pulled out all the dead sunflowers and beheaded them so I can have seeds to next year.  Dead headed all the daisies, and pulled out all the cunning grass.  The pumpkins now live in the garden amount the fall dirt.  They are beautiful! It's also nice way to decorate on a budget.  I got all the following items for $30 today.  I plan on cooking the pumpkins for pie and breads!














Zach's also had some glads!  And boy was I.....happy.  For a dollar none the less!  Had to grab them.


I also had to get a bunch of sweet red chilis!  For five bucks!  I cut off all the leafy stems with scissors.  Can you believe it, $5.00!  I've already used three for a beef stew I've made that's cooking in the crock pot.  Then I'm going to pick a few more, dice them up and freeze them in with some chicken.  And dry the rest.  I can use the dry chili's for red sauce, toss in with stir-fry, or bottle them for holiday  gifts.  They are being hung from my kitchen ceiling in front of the chimney and make a beautiful, natural decoration.


I also found a bunch of tall sunflowers.  As I picked out my bunch I noticed this beautiful redish, purple bushy flower out in their garden and asked about where I could buy it.  She told me that it's pick your own for 50cents a stem!  She armed me with clippers and out to the field I went.  I was giggling a bit because I felt like a kid in  candy store.  Only, this was much healthier.  Of course I had to pick the zinnias that were in the next row, also 50cents a stem.  When I got home I made three bouquets from the $2.00 it cost me to walk to the field and pick and choose what I wanted.



Time to break out your old shot glasses!  I've found that using those little keepsakes are perfect for tiny bouquets!  The one above is from the bottom part of the stem that I torn off so the big guns could fit into the vase.  And it's sitting in a tall tequila shot glass I got when I went to Vegas four years ago.  This amazing flower is actually a grain.  And it's called Amaranthus.  Google it.  It has a variety of uses, none of which I'll be using it for.

Here is a photo of the bouquet my neighbor made from a Corazon shot glass.  Hm, we like tequila...

So cute, right?

I had to buy this magazine at the grocery store yesterday.  Not only was it awesome on the inside, but the cover was very inspiring.  Those beauties are pumpkins covered in paper.  I want to make some of these with the Halloween paper I bought designed by Martha Stewart.  It's big paper that you can find in the scrap booking section of any craft store and it's just the coolest.  Pictures of my creations to follow soon...



Happy autumnal decorating!
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