Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2
Week 37: September 17, 2022

They are four to six weeks behind, but we finally have tomatoes for canning. We have watched and waited, praying that we would have a harvest to preserve. It is small, but we are thankful. There are more yet to ripen, if the weather cooperates.

As we harvest tomatoes, I evaluate both plants and fruit for seedsaving. We grow mostly open pollinated heirloom vegetables instead of hybrids, which makes it possible to save our own seeds for replanting next year. Or imperative, if viewed through the lens of genetic posterity; some of the veggies, fruit, flowers, and herbs we grow and eat are no longer commerciallly available as seeds.

The Japanese Plum tomatoes featured here are becoming quite rare and have disappeared from seed catalogs. I would be saddened to see this sweet, meaty canning tomato disappear!

Evaluating Japanese Plum tomatoes for seed saving. The colander holds the true-to-type fruit with characteristics I am selecting for: size, shape, color, no green shoulders or cracking.

Note: From time to time I recommend products and business that I use and/or patronize. Some are affiliate links, some are not. All are ones that I use and have confidence in. Qualifying purchases may earn me a small commission at no cost to you, so thank you for using my links!

Seeds to be fermented, washed, air-dried, and saved for replanting.

Washed, peeled, blanched, and cubed tomatoes simmer briefly before being packed in jars with lemon juice, salt, and one of 3 herb seasoning blends. Juices from the pot are added to bring the contents up to proper headspace measurement, rims are cleaned, and lids applied – with bands fingertip tight. At last, the jars are placed in the steam canner.

Click the highlighted link to learn which tomato varieties are best for canning, plus tips for canning what you’ve got, even regular salad and beefsteak tomatoes.

Small apple harvest

We also had a small apple harvest this week. Beautiful, crisp, delicious, unsprayed apples. Unusual hard late freezes killed fruit production on most of our dozen or more apple trees and all of our plums, peaches, apricots, pears, and cherries. Only the very late flowering trees escaped the frost. Two more apple trees will supplement the buckets pictured, hopefully providing enough for us and some to trade with a friend.

Note the damage to the trunk of the apple tree. This apple tree is a fighter. At some point it suffered an insect infestation that was taken care of by woodpeckers and it survived.

Homemade botanical vinegars

After 4 weeks of fermenting and daily stirring, vinegars are strained through a cloth-lined colander into a clean bowl.

This jar will be aged until it reaches a pH of 2.5-3 and the flavor matures. (Though I will likely utilize this one as an ingredient in my homemade cleaning products, such as All Purpose Cleaning Spray or as an all natural fabric softener.)

Update on Lavender

About 4 weeks into convalescence, Lavender is able to put a little weight on the broken leg, briefly. She enjoys her private quarters with her own dish of food and water and no competition. And on hot days a chunk of watermelon!

Soup season begins

Knoephla, German egg dumpling noodles, dried and frozen last autumn during an egg glut, were made into the first pot of soup of the season.

Sam required biscuits, so I baked salted herb scones. He did not object. I used my regular Cream Biscuits / Cream Scones recipe, adding a generous 1/4 cup freshly chopped herbs and salted the tops before they went in the oven!

The elegant, textural beauty of Queen Anne’s lace umbels, dried.

Samuel’s projects

The winter’s wood is in and woodshed is full. The final bit came from the three beetle killed pines in our pasture and Sam worked on cutting and moving the wood as time allowed. It is done and we are relieved and thankful.

Though the weather is still pleasant, autumn is making herself known with shortening days and a few drifting leaves. There is a tang in the air which speaks of change. Truthfully, I live for summer. I am not a big fan of autumn, and have to work hard to accept it. I’m working on it.

New video

Pizza Night | Homemade Pizza with Frozen Bread Dough

You will be surprised how easy it is to make a large, delicious, homemade pizza with dough you have prepared ahead and frozen! You will have your pizza in and out of the oven and on the table quickly – and everyone is going to love you for it!

Miriam and I took a spontaneous walk to nearby waterfalls in the company of this little canine angel, Charla.

Basil cuttings rooting in water to provide fresh basil leaves for winter meals.

Soapmaking, here I come!

Thanks for visiting Chocolate Box Cottage!

See you next week,
Michele and Samuel

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 14: April 9, 2022

We are expecting snow tonight, but summer reigns in the greenhouse and green shoots are appearing, as if by magic, in pots and trays of soil-filled cells . This week saw new life in the form of Red Gem and Kilimanjaro White marigolds, Whirligig zinnias, Candy Pink morning glories, Watermelon Heaven California poppies, Mayo Bule gourds, bitter melon, Echinacea purpurea, Nigella, and Cameo Joy four o’clocks. (Thank you, Donna Sullivan Smith, Miss Magnolias Moxie, for the echinacea seeds!)

Mismatched is beautiful, when you’re a dedicated thrifter! When we moved to Chocolate Box Cottage four years ago, a friend gave me a gorgeous hanging basket geranium, a coveted Martha Washington, with two colors of red/pink blooms. The next year I took cuttings and created two “new” plants using secondhand hanging baskets. All spring/summer/fall our front porch will be ablaze with blooms and my only cost was potting soil.

Comfort Food

Comfort food means something unique to each of us. Certain tastes and smells will always symbolize security, contentment, and well-being. If you have been diagnosed with a health condition, you may find yourself needing to redefine comfort food. Instead of an indulgent food that extracts a physical toll on your well-being, consider what food, or better yet what meal, makes you feel *well* instead of merely *good.*

I’ll share pictures of three of our favorite comfort meals, and would like to hear what your top three comfort meals are. Please share in the comments!

I grew up eating Kase Knoephla, Cheese Button Soup, a German-from-Russia ethnic specialty. Handmade noodle dough is rolled thin and filled, ravioli-style, with cottage cheese and herbs. Mmm! Homemade chicken broth is a must for this. I make and freeze large batches of kase knoephla, enabling me to pull off a quick comfort food meal on a whim.

One of our very favorite comfort meals is whole poached chicken. I roast a tray of root veggies in the oven, cook a pot of brown rice, and add greens. Serve it all in a bowl and slurp it up. Enough food to eat for days!

Pizza made with thin sourdough spelt crust, topped with homemade basil pesto from the freezer, and uncured ham. Another favorite comfort meal.

Check my Recipe Box for more delicious ideas!

Spring Project: Refill the Wood Shed

One load of firewood down, several to go, depending on how much more wood we use before summer.

Locating a pitch stump is like finding treasure. Split into slivers, it can coax a fire along more quickly. Sam often refers to it as “trade wood,” because when he was a boy it was valued as a commodity for trading with friends and neighbors.

Life on the Pond

We have two breeds of ducks, and funnily enough, they take turns using the pond. These are the Indian Runners; one drake and two hens.

Ever since we’ve been married, Sam has occasionally brought me a small bunch of wildflowers when his work as a graderman takes him to mountains and meadows in the spring.

He puts the stems in his travel coffee cup with water and keeps them in his lunch cooler to keep them fresh. I trim the ends of the stems even and stick them right into a small vase, in this case a thrifted cut glass pitcher, without arranging. They’re beautiful as is.

This is something I am learning, albeit s l o w l y, to enjoy the beauty in things “as is.”

I hope you are enjoying things “as is,” too. And don’t forget, I’d like to hear about your top 3 favorite comfort meals.

Thanks for visiting!

Blessings,

Michele

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary, Volume 2

Week 6: February 12, 2022

Glimmers of spring are showing: sunsets painted in vivid scarlet, pink, and gold, pansy faces, a nesting duck, and pasture greening.

Sam and I celebrated our 17th anniversary with our first theatre movie in who knows how long – and then discovered it was was an “oldie” from 2010 rereleased in theaters! That gave us a good laugh! Good movie, though! The action is a bit intense for small children, but overall is family-friendly.

Dinner at a nice local restaurant, Cicily’s Pastaria, felt extra special in light of the last 2 years. Nice atmosphere, attentive service; we both enjoyed our meal.

Follow along with our week at Chocolate Box Cottage in pictures and be sure to let me know how your week went. It’s okay if it wasn’t terrific. In fact, I would be honored if you would tell me one good thing and one hard thing about your week. You’ll find my hard thing in the final photo.

Sylvester lost a hen this week. Sylvester is a silver muscovy duck, and a handsome one at that. He does not hold still well for pictures, though. The wood supply is holding out, thanks to Sam’s careful management. And a daytime moon in a blue, blue sky.

Late winter blooms: Daphne odora, the most amazing scented shrub anywhere. Wild Garden Kale, as pretty as a flower in blue and purple, reseeds wherever it pleases. Three Peace rosebushes, a combination anniversary and memorial gift.

Blessed to be loved.

Wood stove for cozy evenings, mornings, and slow cooking.

Pizza takes shape in pictures, from dough to shaping to baking to eating.

It began with a tub of dough made with freshly milled whole wheat flour and a sweet, stiff Italian starter similar to sourdough (but without the sour) called lievito madre that fermented slowly in the fridge all week ahead of Pizza Night.

Flavorful toppings: homemade béchamel sauce, (leftover) turkey, diced bacon, and red onions. And cheese. Of course.

When it came time to eat, I pulled out a jar of Lemon Boy tomatoes, fermented the old-fashioned way in 5% brine with garlic and fresh basil, for a very special and tasty garnish.

This week’s Cottage Diary entry is dedicated to my dear, sweet kitty Velvet who died in my lap on Thursday morning, February 10, 2022. For 15 years Velvet sat in my lap every morning while I had my tea and quiet prayer time. She brought me comfort when my fibromyalgia was at its worst and seemed to understand me in ways no other furry creature ever has. I’m thankful for the years with this sweet girl.

Weekly Tea Date with Mom ~

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I have a standing weekly tea date with my mom. Since we live in the mountains far from town, I save up my errands for one day a week and that day is Thursday.

I’m not sure who looks forward to our weekly tea date more: Mom or me. Or possibly my stepdad, Rolly. We catch up on family news over a cup of tea chosen from Mom’s wooden tea chest. It is a special time and Rolly after a while retreats to his office to take care of business, giving Mom and me undivided time together.

This week I brought a surprise….

My Mom is of German-from-Russia ethnic heritage and learned to speak German at home; English in school. She has amazing true family stories of pioneer days on a prairie farm in North Dakota. I did not know they were amazing until I was grown, but that’s a story for anther day.

Back to the surprise…

I found a set of rare and very special books written about pioneer days in the place my mom grew up!

Women Behind the Plow by Sue B. (Kaseman) Balcom

https://dakotabooknet.com/?id=2&product_id=218

Ewiger Saatz by Sue B. (Kaseman) Balcom

https://dakotabooknet.com/?id=2&product_id=196

We had great fun poring over the oversized pages, reading pioneer stories of grit and determination that included farming with horses, butchering and sausage-making days, large families and large gardens, plagues of locusts, traditional Germans-from-Russia wedding customs, and vintage pioneer recipes from the early and mi-1900’s.

We perused the books’ many photos for familiar faces. Mom spotted a relative, several neighbors, and fellow church members, along with a picture of her favorite teacher’s sister. Miss Ella Ehman presided over a one-room school and lived at the farm with Mom’s family.

Mom was a bright little girl who started school in the second grade at age 5. Only recently did I do the math: Mom graduated from high school at age 16! No wonder she looked so young in her Homecoming photo!

In the Garden ~

The fifth and last week of July was another hot one. This is the hottest July in my memory, but thankfully we received a little rain this week in the form of a morning shower. I can’t tell you how much rain, because the prolific Virginia creeper vines have obliterated the rain gauge’s location. Oops!

It was enough to wash the dust from the trees, plants, and flowers! The air smells sweet and intoxicatingly fresh now. Just breathing is a pleasure.

The garden is happily producing and we are happily eating.

I am preserving bits and pieces here and there by dehydrating. The temperature in the house is too warm for starting vegetable ferments; temps over 80F (27c) favor the wrong bacteria. And I don’t have enough of any one thing to can yet. But small deposits in the pantry add up over a season!

Cucumbers, summer squash, kale, strawberries, and culinary and medicinal herbs are keeping me busy.

I wonder what this little fellow’s name is! Have you ever seen so small a frog or toad? I at first thought it was a grasshopper!

Three more fun garden shots for you!

Decluttering the Kitchen ~

In the meantime, I am decluttering the kitchen in preparation for canning season. There are few things more frustrating than trying to cook or preserve in a kitchen that feels crowded. I need to know where my tools and utensils are, I need elbow room for chopping vegetables, and I need counter space free for jars to cool. I need mental space just as much. Can you relate?

Like you, I don’t have a whole day or three or ten to sort, purge, and organize my kitchen; instead, I am tackling it in 15-minute increments, one drawer or cupboard a day. I’m making headway and it feels SO GOOD.

If breaking free of clutter in doable 15-minute bites sounds intriguing to you, I invite you to check out a great resource that has helped me, Clutter Free Academy, available both as a book and an online course: https://clutterfreeacademy.mykajabi.com/store/CHbEajLY

I had plans to sew curtains from scratch, but the price of materials was well over $300. After waiting fruitlessly for a sale on material, I decided to buy some ready-made and modify for my purposes. Cost: $39.99 + two hours time. It is important to consider the cost of our time when we work on or in our homes. Time is one of our most valuable commodities.

Wood Shed Progress ~

Sequestering all the time he can spare from regular tasks and chores, Sam is making serious headway on the “new” wood shed. You will recall that Sam dismantled the nearly 100-year-old wood shed that was falling down, reserving the materials for building a new one. You can see what the original wood shed looked like here: https://staging.chocolateboxcottage.tv/cottage-diary/musings-from-a-homestead-kitchen/

I am happy to report that Sam is making good on his goal of building entirely with reclaimed materials. Even the nails are being reused!

It is a thrill to watch the wood shed take shape under Sam’s skilled and hardworking hands. He has a vision and is working hard to bring it to reality. If it looks like the wood shed has always been here when it is finished, Sam will consider it a success.

About Our Water… ~

We count ourselves extremely blessed to draw water from a natural spring for drinking water and a local ditch for outdoor faucets that water the yard, garden, and fruit trees. The spring water is incredibly tasty and pure and the ditch water is reliable. They both have their occasional challenges, as you can see from the pictures above.

And so this moth and I bid you farewell for another week! (If you happen to be able to identify it, I would be more than pleased.)

Week 29 July 24, 2021

This fourth week of July included a beehive check for us newbie beekeepers, a regular supply of duck eggs, and a Very Important Birthday.

A Very Important Birthday ~

Let’s start with the Very Important Birthday: my stepdad, Rolly Griffith turned 90! I appreciate Rolly more than words can describe. He is a rock for our family and he is so good to my Mom. Rolly says he is so grateful to have had two great loves in his life: his first wife of 54 years, Shirley, who passed away in 2005, and my Mom, his second wife of 15 years.

He is a good listener, such a rare quality, and a good counselor.

We celebrated Rolly at a gigantic birthday party at a local park this weekend. I got to meet relatives I had never met before!

Beehive Check at Chocolate Box Cottage ~

Our beehive is situated in the middle of our small home orchard, surrounded by fruit trees: apricot, peach, Italian plum, cherry, and apples.

The chickens currently have run of the orchard. Time will tell whether this is a good choice or not. We may change the fencing at some point.

We had ups and downs with keeping bees since we began in 2017. We lost one colony when we moved the hive from our previous home in Central Point to Chocolate Box Cottage, so we had to start over.

Today we wanted to see how the bees are doing and check on the status of honey production.

Do you grow your own herbs and spices?

Here is part of my annual supply of dried oregano. My goal is to pack 2 quart jars full of dried leaves every year. We use it all.

The small apothecary style jar belongs in my spice drawer. Yes, I have a spice drawer, not a spice rack. Keeping spices in a drawer protects them from sunlight and keeps them cool, prolonging their freshness.

Sam and I joke that one of the reasons we haven’t caught the plague is that we eat so much oregano! Oregano has antimicrobial, antiviral, and expectorant qualities, among others. It really is a powerhouse herb!

Find spice jars like mine here: https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/s/vibe-spice-jars

Duck Eggs in Gem-like Hues ~

We are now blessed with duck eggs, thanks to three shimmery black Indian Runner hens and two drakes. I find it fascinating that each duck hen lays a different colored egg, though they are all the same breed.

We have not eaten fried duck eggs yet, but I have used them in baking cookies and muffins.

Blackberry Season is Almost Here ~

I have picked berries every summer since I was a little girl of 4 or 5 years old. So far there are just a handful of ripe berries at a time.

Cooking & Preserving From the Garden ~

The harvests provide inspiration for meals. Some of it doesn’t make it to the kitchen. Kale, blackberries, basil (green and purple) yellow crookneck squash, green and yellow zucchini, peppers, tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, calendula (edible petals), and Barese melon cucumbers.

Walking into the garden and deciding what to eat based on what is ripe is my favorite style of cooking!

As our kids were growing up, we brought them into the garden. They each had a raised bed or pot of their own to tend, depending on age.

At mealtimes, we talked about the food on our plates. Whether it came from our garden, was foraged, or bought at a farm or the store.

Recipe for Spiralized Zucchini Butter Spaghetti: https://staging.chocolateboxcottage.tv/recipe-box/spiralized-zucchini-butter-spaghetti/

Wood Shed Update ~

The back wall of the wood shed is made from reclaimed aluminum sheets. Used pallets line the floor beneath the neatly stacked firewood. Oak posts came from our pasture. See the mound of bark surrounding the posts? We are deciding how best to utilize it.

From the Oven ~

This is the bread of my ancestors. Bread ecipes and instructions for creating an Everlasting Yeast bread starter will be included in my book, along with variations.

Farewell ~

Thank you for visiting Chocolate Box Cottage ~ see you next week!

Chocolate Box Cottage Diary Vol. 1
Week 27: July 9, 2021

It has been a quiet week. Sam took the week off and we have been working on projects. We are planning a week-long staycation later this summer with planned activities and rest; you could call this Project Week. The main tasks we had in mind were: a mid-summer pantry check, wood splitting, and the garlic harvest.

Sam is continuing to make progress on the “new” woodshed made from materials salvaged from the old one. It reminds me of a Rubik’s cube the way all the bits and pieces need to fit together in the building process. We want to avoid buying any new wood because it would not match. And it’s expensive. And it’s a fun challenge for Sam. He split next winter’s wood supply, by hand, and it is neatly stacked on pallets for air circulation so that it will cure properly and burn well in the Blaze King wood stove.

Sam completed a slew of small fix-it projects:

• straightening gates that used to hang a bit “off” 
• cleaning out the henhouse and repairing the henhouse door
• weed eating, and more.

Meanwhile, I have continued working from home part-time. I found time to re-read several books (old favorites), complete some small decluttering tasks, and do some English paper-piecing (EPP; hand quilting). If you are interested in learning how, see the book Quilting on the Go by Jessica Alexandrakis.

I took a visual inventory of the pantry closet where I keep my home-canned foods and am making decisions about what to preserve this year and what to use up soon. 

• Plenty of jams and fruit butters; we are used to saving them, we need to give ourselves permission to go ahead and eat them! 
• Zero pickles left
• A smattering of tomato products. I like to have a 2- year supply of canned tomatoes and tomato products like pizza sauce, crushed tomatoes flavored with herbs, and salsa on hand. 
• I don’t can broth and beans anymore, instead I freeze these.

We both have enjoyed slower-paced mornings and unhurried meals. 

Watering is a daily task. No baking this week. We are eating our way through the last batch (6 loaves) of whole wheat sandwich bread I froze before the heat wave.

We dug the garlic crop earlier than usual. Due to the intense heat of the past couple of weeks the leaves died back sooner. 

We also took a monthly walkabout our property, noting the upcoming fruit crops (apples, grapes, peaches, plums, pears, figs, blackberries), what is in bloom, wild herbs to be harvested and processed for medicine, and what needs attention around our homestead. 

I love my TUL mechanical pencils. Sam bought me a pack of 2 for Christmas. One lives in my day planner and the other floats around where needed. You can find them here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/TUL-Mechanical-Pencils-0-7-mm-Pink-Purple-Pack-Of-2/703604114?athcpid=703604114&athpgid=athenaItemPage&athcgid=null&athznid=PWVUB&athieid=v0&athstid=CS020&athguid=9fe17cf4-007-17ab1db5f3c6cd&athancid=null&athena=true

If you would like to share, I would love to hear about your week in the comments!