monday's mountain musings

Ahhhhhh, New week, new year, same stuff! Back to school today realizing that two weeks really flies by and that it did nothing for my state of mind. It is all good though, only 4 more weeks and I am done with this round of yukkiness and can move on to the next. How is that for new beginnings? In all honesty, I am ready to be back to school and it was very difficult to not open the "books" for the entire 14 day period. I even considered doing all my reading and note taking for one of the courses just to add some structure to my vacation time, but didn't.

Speaking of new beginnings... the goats look to be due quite soon. Chloe is now waddling around the pasture and Abbi is almost friendly. The only time she is ever almost friendly is near kidding time. No, I do not write down a breed date or possible breed dates, they either eventually produce a kid (or three) or don't and I can pretty much tell when they will be due without the use of a calendar to tell me. I am also home all the time to keep a close eye on what goes on and only have two goats to birth so I know I will not be overrun with kids when they do drop them . Another thing I do not do is make resolutions at the beginning of each new year. Just like rules, resolutions are made to be broken, so why make them to begin with. I do make goals for each year that I would like to accomplish, however, even those I do not keep track of to see how I am doing as I know they are all attainable if I simply apply myself. Some of my goals for this year are to keep up my A average in school, learn more on herbs and their uses and keep going down the path to self sufficiency. I would also like to build the goats an earth bag shed, set up a small aquaponic system, and take baby steps with some solar powered equipment purchases. I still have my "goal" from several years ago now of becoming freezer free although I am beginning to think that it would be easier to go without a refrigerator rather than the freezer.

The cabbage outside are still trudging along and I think still growing albeit slowly. We may have a nice spring harvest of them at this rate, which is all good with me. Most of the other outside stuff is pretty sorry looking right now but almost all of it looks like it may make it through the winter months and grow back. I am still picking some mesclun salad mix from outside as well as turnips, green onions ,carrots, and collards. In the GH things are still growing as well and providing us a meal or two of greens or salad a week. It is not much but it is nice to have them when we want them. It will be cole crop seeding time here in the next couple of weeks and I have some experimental potatoes chitting for a very early planting. It does not seem like it is already time to be thinking about gardens again.

I will be putting together my seed swapping list here in the next week or so and posting it for those interested. There are a few other projects in the works that I would love to tell ya'll about but have decided to wait and see how they progress before I write anything about them.

ol fashioned carrot cake

I like recipes that I always have the ingredients on hand to make. I cannot stand finding recipes that sound good only to find that you need all sorts of fancy ingredients in order to make them. Rarely do I buy fancy ingredients for baking because there are plenty of wonderful recipes around that do not require them and when you are frugal minded, basic ingredients are much cheaper to purchase therefore you can make many more baked treats. I found a good carrot cake recipe a while back and tweaked it into something that had a bit less fat and was a bit more healthy. This is a very moist carrot cake that is quite tasty and is budget friendly.

ol fashioned carrot cake
4 eggs
2 cups sugar ( a 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup br sugar mix is nice too)
1/3 cup veg oil
2/3 cup apple sauce
2 cups all-purpose flour (I use 1/2 WW and half white flour)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon (2 tsp cinn with 1 tsp nutmeg is also nice)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups grated carrots

Mix all ingredients until well blended, fold in a cup of nuts if desired. Pour in to 9x13 cake pan and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool and frost if desired. (picture in post is not mine)

new years n food

“Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give (live)

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

William Arthur Ward

What do you eat for new years and why?

We are having us a hillbilly version of haluski with bits of pork and apple in it , black eye peas and corn bread. We eat it because manthing says it is what we are supposed to eat. Where I am from, we typically had roast beef on New Year's because it was a special occasion and the only time we could afford it. For many though what is eaten is steeped in tradition. Some of the ones that I have heard are as follows.
Cooked greens, including cabbage, collards, kale, and chard, are consumed at New Year's in different countries because their green leaves look like folded money, and are thus symbolic of economic fortune.

There are several stories revolving around the civil war and eating traditions in the South. There are some who believe in eating one pea for every day in the new year. This all traces back to the legend that during the Civil War, the town of Vicksburg, Mississippi, ran out of food while under attack. The residents fortunately discovered black-eyed peas and the legume was thereafter considered lucky.

Many say the origin of eating Black-eyed peas on New Years day started during the Civil War. The Northern soldiers raided the South’s food supplies one New Year’s Eve night and took all the food except for the dried black-eyed peas and the salted pork. On New Years day, all that the southern soldiers had to eat were the peas and pork to keep them alive.

The custom of eating pork on New Year's is based on the idea that pigs symbolize progress. The animal pushes forward, rooting itself in the ground before moving. There is an old saying: “Eat poor the first of the year, eat rich the rest.” In the South it is said to go back to slavery and that the worst cuts of hogs were given to the slaves on new years to eat.