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!

 

Redbud Syrup

In planting zones 4-9 you can find redbud trees. In the very early spring the redbud springs forth first with a vibrant splash of beautiful pink flowers in the under story edges of the wood line. They are the first herald of springs impending arrival. They start uplifting spirits from the long dreary winter droll.
This spring I discovered that these gems are edible! In our quest to forage more and buy less these little flowers offer a splash of exciting color to our plates. And as the earliest spring edible it's great fun to start foraging again with this one.  The redbud blossoms themselves taste exactly like snow pea  pods very crisp and sweet with ever the faintest hint of what I can only describe as a 'green' flavor. I decided that since I made violet syrup I would attempt the same with the redbud blossoms except I would make more of a pancake syrup instead of a beverage flavoring. I started the same as for violet syrup by starting with clean blossoms only and pouring an equal amount of boiling water over the blossoms and allowing them to steep overnight. Then straining the blossoms and removing as much liquid as possible from them I measured the remaining liquid and added to it a only slightly larger measure of white sugar (1 cup liquid would get 1 slightly mounded cup sugar) this I brought to the boil and boiled over medium heat for about 20 minutes and the resulting syrup was a beautiful gem-like magenta and the flavor was that sweet pea flavor only lighter, less green, and sweeter. And because I am so terribly impatient I had it still warm over buttered toast and delightfully cold Greek yogurt. Yummy.

Redbud syrup

1 c packed blossoms
1 cup boiling water
1 mounded cup sugar
A splash of lemon juice (optional)

In a quart jar place clean blossoms and carefully pour the boiling water over them.
Let steep overnight up to 24 hours
Strain and press all moisture out of the blossoms
Place in a saucepan and add the sugar
Bring to a boil and boil for about 20 minutes over medium heat
If the color seems to turn greenish rather than pink add lemon juice. This will correct the ph and return the pink color.
Pour into sterilized jars to prevent premature spoilage
Syrup will keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks

From the Sunset Homesteaders to you, God bless!

It's Morel Season!! 🍄

The mountain man found morels yesterday!!! One of my favorite wild mushrooms. It's great sautéed in butter with some sliced onions spooned over a nice perfectly cooked steak with a hearty baked potato beside and a freshly picked garden salad also. YUM!!! That's what's for dinner tonight just by the way.
It great in a mushroom frittata or mushroom ragu. Morels do well when dried and reconstituted and if you can find enough you might just be able to have these earthy little gems all year long unless you happen to be like me and must eat mushrooms with every meal. I have no shame.
A word of caution however. False morels can make you very extremely sick.  When looking for morels a hollow stem is safe a solid stem is not. You should be able to see to the top of the cap from the bottom of the stem (as long as the mushroom grew straight that is) if you aren't sure err on the side of caution and don't eat it!

Forage frequently my friends!
From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless!

Our new bee houses! 🐝

         The mountain man made a bee house for non-stinging bees for me! We discovered the idea while at the store one day and rather than buy it he made one with some of our scrap wood and odd bits of thin bamboo. It's aesthetically pleasing and looks rather folk artsy. I'm very excited to see how well it works for us! My research shows that non-stinging bees are a vigorous pollinator and since we have gardens here there and everywhere we need all the pollinators that we can entice to our property 😁
        So far we have seen some teensy weensy little bees flitting around the house 💕   Does anyone know how to entice them further? I'll be working on a bee waterer this weekend also if I can find a suitable dish and some odd marbles and rocks.

Have a blessed  Saturday!

Making lilac jelly (for the first time)

I will be completely honest. Before today I had never tasted lilac jelly and I was not sure what I had in store for me. In my best guess I assumed that lilac jelly would be potently floral and in your face tangy. I was in for a giant surprise when I tasted lilac jelly for the first time today when testing the set of the gel. Lilac jelly smells like a lilac bush but tastes nothing like lilacs at all! It is instead more like a sweet citrus cocktail! Sure there was a faint floral hint but the in your face flavor is citrus.
Lilac jelly is just as time consuming as violet syrup and is just as worth it. I started by plucking about 900million blossoms from their stems. Enough to fill a pint jar fairly packed in (I put the blossoms in a quart jar to steep in) Then I boiled 2 1/2 cups of water and poured it over the blossoms stirring them in so they released their air pockets. I allowed these to steep for 24 hours (only because I had to work 😋) then I strained the flowers and pressed all the moisture out. The liquid measured about 2 1/3 cups to this I added 1/3 cup lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of ball brand classic powdered pectin. I brought this to a full rolling boil for 1 min then added 3 1/3 cups of sugar. I returned this to a full rolling boil for 1 minute. Then I placed in jars to give away. As long as it takes to prep the liquid the jelly itself whips up almost effortlessly. I did not process this for shelf stability as I intend to gift it over the weekend however if one would like to can it up instructions for Kelly's can be found on the pectin container and in the ball blue book.

Lilac jelly
1 pint packed lilac blossoms
2 1/2 c boiling water
1/3 c lemon juice
3 1/3 sugar
3 tbsp ball classic pectin

Pour boiling water over blossoms and steep up to 24 hours
Strain blossoms and press as much liquid as possible from them
Add lemon juice and pectin stir over heat bringing to a full rolling boil
Boil 1 minute
Add sugar
Return to full rolling boil for 1 minute
Pour into clean sterilized jars

Lilac jelly will lady up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator. Enjoy!!!
From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless!

Our hens are aging 😞

 I'm struck with the realization today that our girls are nearly to the end of their egg laying career. For the last several months their production has declined, where once we were getting a steady 7-8 eggs every day and even the occasional 9-10 egg day from our 8 girls we are now down to 1-2 eggs a day with the occasional 3-4 egg day. We knew it would happen yet still it takes us by surprise. Soon our girls will be replaced with young hens, ones who still lay vigorously, and due to the confines of our very limited space (presently we are urban homesteaders) our hens are rapidly approaching the day that they fill our bellies in soup rather than with eggs. 😞
I started this small flock knowing that I should not get attached because that was the eventual outcome for them, their purpose is to feed us, yet attached have I become. Now I find myself wishing that we had already found our forever homestead so we could simply add to our flock rather than replace our aging girls who have served us so well for so long.
If you have never been around a flock of chickens for an extended length of time my premature epitaph may seem ridiculous, but those who raise chickens know. Chickens are a kwerky little creature, each with its own distinct personality. A flock offers a million reasons to laugh daily, they give eggs, compaionship, and they even keep the bug population lower.
I love my chickens. How about you? Is anyone as attached to their girls as I am?

From the sunset homesteaders to you, God bless!

Blackberry rhubarb filling and cobbler

Here at the sunset homestead we have a few perennial crops. Two of these are a hefty sized (and spreading) blackberry bush and 5 vigorously producing rhubarb plants.

Last year our blackberry bush produced some 15 gallons of berries that we were able to harvest and freeze and a couple more that we ate fresh or used in recipes. So much did it produce that we still have several gallons of blackberries in the freezer. So when our rhubarb came up over a month ago I decided that I would be making ready to use blackberry rhubarb pie filling (sans seeds to please the mountain man) with the frozen berries and the abundant crop of rhubarb. Yum!

To start with I took a gallon of blackberries and cooked them down with a little water until they were completely soft and removing the pulp from the seeds would be easier. Once they were ready I strained the seeds out with a standard mesh sieve using a silicon spatula to help the pulp through the mesh. This process takes a little bit but if you don't like the hard little seeds from blackberries it is an important step.

Then to the blackberry pulp I added about 12 cups of rhubarb cut into 1 inch chunks heating till just steaming. To that I added a whopping 8 cups of sugar (this is totally dependent on personal taste you can use as much or as little sugar as you want) and stirred over gentle heat until the sugar was totally dissolved and the mixture was nice and hot. The color was ruby red. The smell was sweet and tart and everything that's good about summer. Already. In April.

Then I packed the mixture into hot sterilized jars and processed it in a boiling water bather for 10 minutes. They came out a rich and deep garnet red. Oh be still my heart, I've jarred happiness.

Blackberry rhubarb filling:

1 gallon blackberries cooked and seeded
12 cups rhubarb cut into 1" chunks
8(+/-) cups white sugar

Mix blackberry pulp with rhubarb and sugar cooking till sugar is dissolved.
Pour hot liquid into hot sterilized pint jars leaving 1" headspace.
Wipe rims with a clean damp cloth
Adjust 2-piece caps and process 10 minutes at a full rolling boil in a boiling water bather.

This recipe yields 9 pints of a dense but still fluid filling. Yes it's another step when you open the jar to add a thickener however I never have good luck processing thicker products. I'm greedy and don't like having to toss products. Ever.

To use this product warm it up in a saucepan till just bubbling then add a slurry of 2 tsp cornstarch and a tablespoon of water. Heat till thickened, about 3 minutes. It is ready to use in your favorite pie, crisp, or cobbler. Did I mention that this is happiness in a jar? And it's there all year long? The taste is literally summer.

Red checker cake

1 jar blackberry rhubarb filling
1Tbsp butter diced
1cup flour
1tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tbsp sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
Pour prepared filling into a prepared 9x9 pan.
Dot with butter.
Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut in butter till consistency of wet sand.
Beat egg and milk together and add to flour mixture till just moistened.
Drop by spoonful on top of the filling in a basic checkerboard pattern.
Sprinkle top with sugar.
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

When this gem comes out of the oven it's golden and garnet and steaming. It will fill your house with the smell of tart sweetness that's sure to make your mouth water. Serve it hot with a generous scoop of a good vanilla ice cream or cold with a good cup of floral tea.

There you go! From the sunset homestead to your table! My favorite rhubarb recipe. God bless.

Three years

Today is three years! Mountain man and I exchanged our vows three years ago today! In three years much has happened, from first moment of our marriage ours has been rife with huge events. From the early delivery of our daughter tiger (2) on Christmas Eve later that same year to the mountain man adopting cricket in January of 2016 and then finding out days later that we were expecting our little bear (7mo)

With each passing day I find more and more reasons to love him. When tiger asks him if she can brush his hair (all 2mm of it) he agrees without hesitation. When little bear just won't calm for me to feed him and I'm clearly on the verge of mental breakdown because I feel worthless, my mountain man steps in with a kind word of encouragement and will take over for a few minutes to calm little bear down until he can eat without fits (he's breastfeeding so daddy can't take over the feeding). And my heart melts when mountain man takes cricket outside and teaches him real survival skills like hunting, fishing, gardening, construction, and caring for our few farm animals.

This morning I awoke at 5am as I do every day. I made coffee for my mountain man and I and I sat with him on the couch to watch the morning news report. We talk for awhile about what we are doing today including the bittersweet goodbyes we will have to say tonight to one of our fellow parishioners. When we gather up tiger and little bear for him to take to our sitters house he bids me to come outside (barefoot of course) and there he shows to me 4 rose bushes that he's procured for me. Rosa rugosa. Nearly wild roses.

It's all the little things that the mountain man does that make me so very glad that he is mine and makes me love him so much more. Happy anniversary mountain man. Here's to many more.

The many uses of violets

Yesterday I posted about how to make violet syrup, but I didn't go into detail on why or to what benefit. Firstly let me start by saying why wild violets are so good! 

Wild violets are loaded with vitamins A and C, even better than oranges by weight, and salicilic acid which acts as a mild keratolytic (this helps you shed dead skin cells when used topically). Violets can soothe a sore throats, help you sleep, stimulate lymphatic glands to strengthen the immune system and reduce inflammation by aiding in the elimination of toxins from the body (read helps you go #2) hello miracle weed!

You can harvest the blossoms and leaves and dry them to make a tea blend for all year long. You can make a jelly with them, candy the blossoms, eat the leaves in a salad, freeze blossoms in ice cubes for wow factor, make violet vinegar, or make violet syrup.

To use violet syrup mix 1-2 tablespoons in your morning tea or coffee or try one of the mixed drinks detailed in this website https://makemeacocktail.com/recipes/violet-syrup_cocktails/?ing=4069. Or shake some with ice and clear liquor and pour over seltzer water.

Violet syrup will give clear liquid a beautiful blue-violet hue and lends a mild floral flavor to any drink. Enjoy your wild flowers! Pick some today

Violet syrup

 This spring our yard is inundated with violets and dandelions. Being the foraging enthusiasts that the mountain man and I are, we've decided to capitalize on our good fortune and make up a batch of violet syrup to flavor drinks with.
We started by filling an old ice cream tub (the gallon sized one) with what felt like a million violet blossoms. Then we pulled the petal off each bloom saving the petals for the syrup and tossing the rest to the compost. Each batch of syrup requires a cup and a half of packed violet petals. This process requires a fair amount of time but it's worth it! Now that you have spent several hours gathering and separating the petals bring a cup and a half of water to a rolling boil and pour over the violet petals. Now make sure that you use a heat proof container for this - preferably one with a lid. Once you have gotten the violets submerged let those puppies steep for 18-24 hours at room temperature. Strain out the petals and press as much liquid from them as you can.  Place the beautiful deep violet liquid into a small pot and add one and a half to two cups of white sugar heat over gentle heat until the sugar fully dissolves. Place in jars and store in the fridge for 4-6 months.

 

Violet syrup
1.5 cups violet petals (packed)
1.5 cups boiling water
1.5-2cups sugar (white suggested)

Pour boiling water over petals and steep for 18-24 hours
Strain petals removing as much liquid as possible
In a pan mix the sugar and violet water over gentle heat until sugar is dissolved
Store in fridge for up to 6 months.

There you go! Gorgeous violet syrup to add to your favorite drink or have on your pancakes! It tastes just like spring! Enjoy!


From the sunset homesteaders to you God bless!

rabbit stew

My son cricket (7) and I love cooking and baking. Today's project is rabbit stew. In the early winter my husband the mountain man takes our beagle Lola out a few times for the rabbit season usually they bring home a pair of wild rabbits for our dinner table. We prepare our rabbits in a myriad of ways. Boned, breaded and fried, grilled, barbecued, stuffed in a pot pie, cubed in a shepherds pie- but our favorite way is to have rabbit stew. A hearty, heavy soup, studded with an abundance of garden vegetables and flavorful dense liquid. Please pardon my drool. 
The perfect rabbit stew starts with a whole skinned rabbit placed in a large pot and covered with water by a generous couple inches of water. It is then boiled rapidly for about an hour and allowed to cool until able to handle. 

While the rabbit is cooling I prepare a heap of green beans, peas, carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes.  I boil all of these in a few cups of the broth made from boiling off the rabbit. Once the meat is cool enough to handle I debone as much of the meat as I can, dropping it into the pot of vegetables as I go.  Once the meat is returned to the pan I season the stew with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. If I'm feeling spicy I'll toss in a pinch of cayenne pepper to spice it up. To thicken the soup I use a couple tablespoons of cornstarch (if you really want a banging flavor use a packet of brown gravy mix,  yeah yeah I know it is cheating but it's delicious so I don't care). 


The sunset homesteaders rabbit stew 

1 skinned rabbit 
1c. Peas
1c. Green beans 
1c. Cubed potatoes 
1c. Corn 
1 medium onion diced
1-2 large carrots peeled and sliced in 1/3 inch disks 
Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, cayenne pepper to taste
2tbsp cornstarch 
Button mushrooms optional 

Boil rabbit off bones reserve liquid 
Place all prepared vegetables in a large pot 
Use 3c reserve liquid to cook vegetables seasoning to taste. 
Return meat to pot with vegetables 
Make a slurry with the cornstarch and some water or reserve liquid and combine with the soup allow to thicken for a couple minutes serve with fresh bread. 

Introducing the Sunset Homesteaders

Hello! I'm glad to meet you! My name is Jasmine. I am a 30 year old wife and mother of three wonderful children. I work full time in a day hab for adults with developmental disabilities Monday through Friday. My husband works 45+ hours Monday through Friday at a local landscaping company. Together after work every day we operate a small urban homestead, hence our name the sunset homesteaders. We work right up to sunset and beyond every day. Planting, watering, picking, feeding the chickens and dog and children, canning or freezing or dehydrating. We manage somehow to fit 80 hours of work into 20 hours every week. We love our little homestead however we want to get more land out of town where we can cultivate more of the food our family needs and grow more of the meat animals, milk animals,  and wool bearing animals we want. This is our journey as it happens. Every triumph and tribulation. Every humorous moment and every heartbreaking hurdle. Welcome to our home.