Modern day slavery

Slavery is dead right? Aberham Lincoln abolished slavery in 1863 with the emancipation proclamation right? Well sort of... it is now illegal to own slaves. The emancipation proclamation did give former slaves freedom (let's be honest this form of slavery though greatly diminished is still around, yes here in the states) however the average working class citizen is enslaved.

Now I'm sure I have a number of people reading this saying "how do you figure?" Simple- why are you going to work day in and day out? To pay bills that continue to go up, buy groceries, pay for your toys, clothe you and your family, and pay taxes on your earnings and everything you buy and consume. If you're lucky you have a bit leftover each month to put back for retirement. If not you may be borrowing from future pay to get through, which means more work or worse credit card debt. Then maybe you decide that in order to pay for all your bills and what not you should get higher education so you can get a better job so you take out student loans to get your education and you attain your degree and pray that you land that job in your field making boatloads of $. It doesn't always happen. I went to school for veterinary technology only to discover after graduation I would have to relocate states away to land a job- not a possibility for me at this time. So I stick with entry level positions that pay peanuts and try to make ends meet and still make astronomical student loan repayments. I know I'm not alone. Many people are slaves to the grind. And it's oppressive. It's depressing to feel like you will never get out of debt. And the only way out is to toil away your life and miss out on the precious little while when your children are little (if you have them) right? Maybe. I don't know. Some people say no. I hope they are right. Because I want out before I lose the opportunity to create lasting, meaningful memories with my young children. I don't want to look at my kids when they are young adults and wonder who they are. 

Heritage Rose Syrup

 My great granny was one of my favorite people when I was a child. For reasons I can't explain I associate with her the color of light yellow, crocheting, piano, and roses. Incidentally these things are becoming my favorite things. My memory of her is not as sharp as I wish it was but her stamp upon me was pivotal in the formation of the woman I have become. It was by her gentle tutelage that I learned, and fell in love with, the arts of cooking and crocheting. And it was out of utter admiration of her that I pursued all sorts of musical arts including piano, clarinet, voice, and later guitar, and bass guitar. I remember spending entire summers with her just listening to her stories from when she was a wild and rebellious teen to war time when my great grandfather drove semi trucks laden with bomb materials for the army. I wish now I had taken the time to record her stories then so I would have them to read now. Though she has been gone for 7 years now she has left us another legacy in the form of a wildly fragrant rose bush that has given starts to a few of her descendants.  This year I will be receiving a few canes from the start that my mom got after granny passed away. 

They won't bloom much if at all this year but that's ok I'm patient. This year my mom let me harvest some of the plethora of rose petals her bush is pushing. So I dried some for teas and I steeped some for syrup.  Floral syrups are very easy and fairly forgiving. 

 

Rose syrup 

2 cups packed fresh petals 

2 cups boiling water 

2 cups white sugar 

Place petals in a heat proof container with a lid pour boiling water over, cover, and steep at room temperature for up to 24 hours. Strain and press as much liquid as possible from the petals. Combine liquid and sugar in a saucepan and heat to boiling and simmer for 5 minutes. Place into container and keep refrigerated. Use in coffees and teas, or use to make rose flavored baked goods or icing. 🌹💕🌹

From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless!

We made wine (on a dime)

Yup! We went there! We made homemade wine, and we did it using upcycled equipment! Why you ask? Well because we had no clue if we were going to be able to make a decent product and we are frugal people. It would make me physically ill to drop $250usd on a venture that I have no clue whether or not we would excel at. No... better to try my hand first then, if it goes well, slowly upgrade the equipment. 
So how did I do it? Easy peasy! We started with a 5 gallon plastic bucket-a meticulously clean one that has only ever been used for food (pickles in our case) or nothing at all. I.e. Don't use the bucket that your joint compound came in, of the paint from your barn! Next we took the lid from said bucket and made sure the seal was water-tight. Easy again just toss a gallon of water into it press the lid on and see if it leaks when tipped on its side or flipped upside down. No leaks? Great! Move on to the next step! Leaky? Find a 5 gallon bucket lid gasket (or if you want run a bead of silicon caulk where the rim of the bucket seats into the lid and let it dry completely before testing the seal again. Be careful to use a very thin bead or your lid won't fit back on your bucket!!!
Ok so now your bucket is air-tight, now it's time to drill a hole in the lid! Yup all that and your going to put a hole in it anyway. You'll need to put a half inch hole in the lid to attach a half inch long nipple or hex coupler through the lid in order to attach your airlock either type of pipe will be screwed into the lid and held firmly in place with a corresponding nut Inside and out when using the nipple to ensure a solid seal.
Now comes the tricky part-the airlock. There are 2 ways to do this the way we used was a balloon over the end of the nipple and that works alright and it's cheap. The other way would be to use a length of half inch tubing (new only for this part guys) attached to the connector on the lid of your fermentation bucket the other end is held in a jar of water. Everything used here has to be squeaky clean because the water has the potential to be sucked back into the bucket as the wine breathes. We will be trying this method with our blackberry wine that we just started we'll let you know how it goes.
There you go! You have a simple and cheap fermentation bucket to give wine making a go. Now the only real equipment you need is a stockpot to boil water, a tube to rack your wine with, and some wine bottles with corks (read this woman used mason jar and lids).

Easy isn't it? Did you try out this project? Let me know! What kind of wine are you making?

From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless y'all!

 

We're Writing A Cookbook!!!

I've been thinking about writing a book for a very long while now. We're talking years... ok over a decade here and closer to two. I've started many works of science fiction and someday maybe I'll get there, but lately I've thought about writing down some of my favorite recipes and getting them published. Now with the help of the Mountain Man and some of my family I may just get started on actually doing just that!!!
I will start very soon compiling recipes (about 50 in all is my goal) and historical information on some of the ingredients used to make them! I'm very excited to start this project and I can't wait to share all I've learned! I'm not sure how to fund this project since publishing any book is not free so our next issue to attack will be how to get the capital required to get there. We may look into fund raising websites or crowd funding but rest assured I've already got a growing list of recipes in mind to share with y'all.

With the greatest excitement from the sunset homestead to you, God bless!

An unwitting homesteader

If you would have told my five year old self that I would be a homesteader on the eve of my thirtieth year, I would have thought that you were crazy. Even as I sat eagerly helping my grandmother make pound upon pound of egg noodles from scratch, being covered head to toe with flour, and begging her "just one little bite mawmaw paweeze 'cause I'm a pwincess!"
If you would have told my nine year old self that I would be using the skills of knitting, crochet, sewing and hand quilting to make money I would have laughed at you because I was going to grow up to be a veterinarian. Yet there I was sitting with my great granny (I miss you gran!) bent enthusiastically over my very first crochet project which would begin my love of all things fiver artistry.
If you would have told my 12 year old self that I would can over 400 pounds of fruit and vegetables from my garden every year I would have told you that it was impossible and I was going to marry a millionaire. Then I would have gone right back to helping my mom and grandma process tomatoes, green beans, and pickles.
If you would have told my 15 year old self that I would be trying to teach my children the value of learning 'old fashioned skills of hunting, fishing, hand sewing, canning, gardening, animal husbandry, and hard manual labor I would not have believed you because I was never having children as I tried to teach my 5 year old sister her ABCs
If you would have told my 19 year old self that I was about to step on the path to self sufficiency I would have laughed bitterly because at that point I finally learned what bills were and self sufficient lifestyle were a pipe sream.
If you would have told my 22 year old self that even though at that moment my whole world was falling apart, that by 24 I would meet the man who would take my little boy as his own and reset me back on the path to nature and life, I would have screamed at you. I would have told you to piss off because men lie and cheat and all deserve hell.
Which brings me to my 24th year. When I started eating my doubts. When I was set upon a blind date with the mountain man by my parents. I went to placate their demands and by the end of the night I would be intrigued by the man who would steal my heart, and be a father to my son when his father stepped out, and ultimately would father my little children.it was at this point that I would begin a 6 year journey returning to the land and life I had left at 19 and rebelled against from an early age in thought but not deed.
Here I am almost 30 years old. I knit hats and scarves for my family every year. I see dresses for my daughter and myself. I quilt and do odd seamstressing for fill in cash. I garden and can to lower our grocery bill. The mountain man and I hunt and fish to lower that grocery further. We raise chickens for eggs and meat and it goes down further still. We foster bees for healthy ecosystems in our garden. We harvest rainwater to offset the cost of watering our garden. We brew wine. We bake bread from scratch. We make egg noodles. And all the while I marvel at how early I began my education that led me to this homesteading lifestyle.
I owe a debt of gratitude to so many people. My grandmother for teaching me how to make noodles and pickles. My mom for teaching me how to process food for shelf stability and how to care for a garden and bake. My granny for teaching me how to crochet and cook. My aunt Anita for teaching me how to sew. My father for teaching me how to shoot and hunt and fish and cook and build and repair. My cousin Alisa for getting me to think outside of the box. My husbands grandma for teaching me how to quilt and the ladies of my church for helping me to refine my skills quilting. My husband for gently guiding me back to the life I love.
I owe my lifestyle to my upbringing and my success to those who were patient enough to share those skills with me.

From my heart to you, God bless you!

Quilting by hand: a dying art

 One of the many side gigs I do for occasional cash is hand quilting and quilt repair. I have found that finding a hand quilting peer is rare. Something that would have been a common skill just a century ago is now almost extinct. Hand quilting is time consuming and tedious. Not a skill fit for the fast paced world of today. A skill that not many would see merit in attaining. I however enjoy the task and I feel it a precious skill to have. Should the grid go down for a long time I don't have to stop  my
Projects and they may become more valuable in that situation (not that I wish for the grid to go down, I rather like my internet and electric lights that extend my working hours by as many as I wish).
I find it fascinating that I can take a few scraps of random fabric and create with them a work of art then using simple needle and thread taking that simple artwork and transformating it into something more deeply artistic and masterful. Hand quilting requires a steady hand and a heap of patience but the end result is worth every moment of work and waiting and every pinprick. What is your favorite archaic pastime?

From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless!

Prepping for the sale

The sunset homestead is going to be for sale. When? Not sure, but soon. Scared? Of course! Happy? Elated! We have been homesteading on a very shady 50'x100' patch of earth for the last 6 years. We are more than ready to move on to bigger and better things. We have grown from a young family of 3 to a family of 5 here and many memories have been made here, we've just outgrown our meager plot. We've developed it to its capacity and outgrown its production. We need more space. We need more productive land. And we want to raise animals besides our contraband chickens!!!
So where are we? In a mess that's where! 6 years of random useless clutter that has accumulated and clogged our humble abode. It's in need of a thorough cleaning and I'm up to my eyes in springtime chores already and I really don't want to add more to our already overloaded list. Am I the only one who's ever honestly wished for one of those giant dumpsters and toss like everything?? I need help 😂

The Merits Of A Good Bread Recipe

 Bread. One of the few foods that fits into almost every meal with every sort of dish. There are whole cookbooks dedicated to the millions of recipes and variations of every sort of bread imaginable. And while that's all well  and good I don't have time and patience to learn all sorts of different bread recipes for different uses. Instead I take a good standard dough and manipulate it to suit my needs. I have one standard dough that I can use for everything from loaf bread to dinner rolls , pizza dough to cinnamon rolls and nearly everything in between. 
We love bread. Fresh bread is for us a comfort food a treat that we have as often as possible. We eat it by the slice or roll and rarely does a fresh loaf last long enough to cool completely. We eat hearty soups from big fluffy bread bowls and cheese topped toast is floated in our French onion soup. Yum. Now I'm a busy lady and I'll take any help I can. I LOVE my bread machines dough setting. I toss in the ingredients and let the machine do the hard work for me. Yup I cheat. No shame.

 
Versatile White Bread

1 1/2 c warm water
2tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
4 c ap flour
1tbsp active dry yeast

Put ingredients into the bread machine in order listed and select dough setting. Go catch up on chores 😋 When ready turn out and form into loaves or rolls bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Dough can be braided (bake 25 minutes) or rolled out and parbaked for 15 minutes to be used as a pizza crust then top and broiled for an outstanding pie.

From the sunset homesteaders to you,  God bless.

Homemade egg noodles and rustic chicken soup

 Little bear has gotten his first ear infection, and Tiger has come down with a spring cold at the same time. I hate when my little ones are sick so I use the excuse to make hearty comfort foods like chicken noodle soup. And not that stuff from a can at the store either, real fresh and handmade food with a healthy dose of love added.
Now you could use store bought egg noodles but one of the perks of having backyard chickens is that you almost always have a few eggs in the house. So why not whip up a quick batch of egg cnoodles?  Even better yet make the kiddos help make them - it keeps them entertained and they are also learning something in the process.
I start by measuring out 2 cups of all purpose flour and a teaspoon of salt which I then let Tiger whisk together while I separated 3 egg yolks one whole egg and measured out 1/3 cup of water.   nce gathered I added the eggs to the flour and salt and let Tiger whisk for a moment then we switched to a wooden spoon to mix in the water this resulted in a fairy sticky dough. I heavily floured my table and turned the dough onto the table and sprinkled it heavily with flour. I kneeded the dough, adding flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking to the table, until the dough was supple and just barely not sticky anymore. The next step is to cut the dough in half and run it half a dozen times or so through a hand crank noodle machine (alternately you can roll out using a rolling pin and judicious amounts of flour)   nce the noodle dough is to the desired thickness you can cut it. Today I used a pizza cutter and a thicker pasta for a more rustic feel but this is optional. 
At this point you can boil the noodles fresh or let them dry. I left them sit while I whipped up my rustic chicken soup

Homemade Egg Noodles

2 c. All purpose flour
1tsp. Salt
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/3 (up to 1/2) c water

Sift flour and salt together
Make a well in the middle and add yolks and egg beating slightly
Add water and mix until incorporated
Turn on to heavily floured surface and kneed until supple and no longer sticky
Divide in half and roll to desired thickness between 1/2mm and 1 1/2mm thick
Cut to desired size
Allow to dry if desired

Now everyone has a favorite chicken soup recipe. One that's been passed down through their family for years. My family is no different. But I can't seem to help myself, I always tweak things, add and take away, change the flavor just enough to make it truly mine. Chicken soup is one of those things. I start with my homemade chicken or turkey broth and to that I add cut onion carrots and potatoes as well as a clove of minced garlic a half a teaspoon of table salt and the same measure of garlic salt and Italian seasoning. This I allow to boil covered until the veggies are almost tender then I add my fresh noodles and boil till the noodles are cooked. The result is a hearty feel good soup that would make granny proud. It helps my crew when the sickys have taken hold.
 
Rustic Chicken Noodle Soup

2 quarts high quality chicken or turkey stock (my homemade has meat in it if using store bought add a cooked/cubed chicken beast)
1 small yellow onion diced
2 medium carrots sliced in 1/4-3/8" rounds
2 large potatoes washed and diced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove minced garlic
1 batch egg noodles

Mix all in a pot except noodles
Bring to the boil and simmer 10-15 minutes or until veggies are nearly tender
Add noodles and cook till noodles are aldente
Serve piping hot with salad and bread and butter

From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless!