Harvesting Persimmons

We have several persimmon trees growing on our property, one right near our driveway. I made the mistake of trying one of these fruits unripe--yuck! It's considered astringent, which meant in its unripe state, it completely dries your mouth out. One lady online described it as "making your mouth fuzzy." Persimmons ripe in the fall of the year and you're supposed to wait to pick them up once they fall to the ground. Here's part of my harvest.

To use persimmons, you have to mash them through a metal colander to remove the skins and seeds. It's a fairly time-consuming process. 

Notice the pulp hanging from the underside of the colander. 

That bowl of persimmons yielded 1 1/4 c of persimmon pulp, just enough to make persimmon bread or cookies. I've found a web site with several recipes...will post again when I use the pulp!

Persmissons have a really unique taste...kind of cinnamony, kind of orangey, kind of sweet potatoey. Like all those new words...fitting for this new fruit for me!

Lots of food (and some pilgrims)

Prior to the boys' round with a stomach bug and head colds (yuck...poor things) this weekend, I made some decent meals that were worth sharing about. The first is this Oven Baked Tilapia with lemon-tomato pasta. Delicious!! I have become a panko breadcrumb convert thanks to this recipe. Try it!

We had a meal of a different kind last Thursday for Levi's Grandfriends Luncheon at his preschool. Since neither set of grandparents could make it (Ashley's parents had to go to Durham to help relocate an elderly aunt and my parents already had the trip planned to come down the following week for Thanksgiving), Ashley, Mason and I got to go enjoy this special time. Each class sang 2 songs and then the kids sat down. After the three performances, the teachers all served us ham, mac and cheese, green beans, cornbread muffins and brownies. I could tell they took a lot of time with this program--it went so smoothly! Here's the crowd gathered. 

And our little Levi pilgrim. I wish I could post pictures of his whole class singing but I'll respect other families' privacy. They were so cute, though!!

Back in my kitchen, I pickled those beets I picked a while back. This was my first time with this canning project. Fairly intense on the preparation end (and the hand staining)...but I'm hoping the effort will be worth it (will try the beets in a week or so). 

I'll enter one of these jars in next year's State Fair. It's my goal to enter as many things as possible since I like to do this sort of thing and it's free to enter (and there's lots of money to win). 

And here's something crazy I made this week...Black Eyed Peas cakes. We really like black bean cakes so I thought I'd give another bean a try....but honestly, these were like pancakes with garlic. Maybe it's because I didn't have sour cream and used strawberry yogurt (shh!). Who knows. All I know is Levi ate them with syrup and I didn't tell him otherwise. I think maybe you could actually make these as pancakes, just food process the beans, leave out the garlic and use the fruit yogurt. Give it a try :o)

All this cooking and guess what...I'm making my first Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! My parents, brother and sister-in-law are staying with us and Jennifer Powell and Scotty are coming. Lots of reporting after that!

Making kids happy...

It really is true...spend a bunch of money on a toy and kids play with it for a few minutes and then they're done...give them something you found for free or reuse an old thing and they're entertained for hours. Case in point, my Uncle Pat who is truck driver picked up this MarketBook from Canada that has TONS of pictures of tractors, heavy equipment and trucks. Talk about 2 happy boys. Mason in particular loves to "read" this and "talk" about everything in it.

I think I should send an email to the publishers of this and let them know how happy he is with his free book!

Levi is so happy he's standing on his head...not really...but this is what he was doing when I was taking Mason's picture. 

Two brothers, reviewing their future purchases. 

And another way to make boys happy...find creatures in the yard. Ashley ran over this one with the Bobcat y accident so we got a good look at it. Crazy how big it is (that's Levi's hand). 

Last week at the local elementary school preschool, the boys "made" turkeys. Crafting at this age is hard...either the parents do it and it looks perfect or you let your children help and it looks more like something kids actually made. I opt for the latter. So our turkeys have eyes in strange places, extra scribbles, and blank glue lines because that was our craft experience for the day. 

Saturday evening we went over to the Harman house. I cooked quesadillas for the family. Ryan showed us his fort out the woods. He's got a great imagination. 

And then Ryan and Weston tried to tackle Ashley to get back a Twix he took. 

And a way to make me happy...our garden's first carrots! 

Another friend went to the chapel....

My other good friend from high school, Amanda, tied the knot last weekend. What fun to have two weddings in the fall. The wedding was in Wilkesboro so we stayed at my parents (and they kept the boys). Amanda had a small wedding but was sweet and invited us to the rehearsal dinner at Key City Grille. We got to dress up a little bit.

Amanda and I have been best friends since 7th grade. She's always been herself and never puts on "airs." She has a unique sense of humor and impeccable style. And she takes FOREVER to make a decision--but this trait proved to be perfect for her in landing her soulmate, Edwin. I can't say enough how happy I am that she's found someone who makes her happy. You can tell from this picture that happiness is radiating from her! Please que "Isn't She Lovely?" in your head. 

Back at my parents, Mason had fun pushing around the Hal's Pals wheelchair. My mama used to be an elementary school guidance counselor and had a set of dolls who each had a different physical handicap. They were really neat and wonderful teaching tools. And one year for Christmas, my brother and I got this wheelchair. Some kids get baby strollers...we got this wheelchair and loved it. 

And Levi enjoyed my old rocking chair. 

Mama's brothers and their families came up for breakfast Saturday morning. We had fun playing with the little kids...in our playhouse...

down on the pavement....

Lots of kids and sidewalk chalk!

Papa and Lindsay cracked walnuts. 

And Mason, Estella and Vivienne tooled around in the wagon. 

It was perfect weather to be outside and enjoy time with the family. 

Always love my time with my cousin Heather!

But back to the reason we went home...Amanda and Edwin's wedding...It was in a small church in Wilkesboro. Very old, simple...the perfect location for this event. 

Amanda and her dad entering..

The official Mr. and Mrs. Edwin McMillan!

And they left the reception in this swanky old Cadillac, driven by a former mayor of North Wilkesboro. Congratulations Amanda and Edwin! All the best to you!

On our way back to South Carolina, the boys spotred their sunglasses. 

It was another great trip!

Fall Harvest

It seems appropriate that this blog post dealing with fall harvesting begins with Levi's Halloween candy harvest (more accurately, candy from Debbie's spooky supper, the church fall festival and the school farm day...we don't live in a neighborhood now so we didn't trick or treat this year). Levi spent a good part of one of his quiet times organizing the candy into bowls. Amazingly, he didn't gobble it all up...reminded me of a psyc experiment with children and marshmallows (delay gratification).

We are enjoying our garden's fall offerings, like these beets and broccoli. 

Levi makes sure that Windy gets fed (this is her perch in one of the barns). I love these pet food containers, by the way. Holds a ton and keeps the ants and other bugs away. 

Our sweet potato haul...Ashley dug these a month or so ago. We put them on a swimming pool in the barn to cure and have just left them there. They're tasty!

Another harvest of sorts...adding the sixth grandchild to the McLeod family--welcome Parker Bryce Harman!  Carey and Kleck are the proud parents of their fourth child, who weighed in at a healthy 11 lbs 7 oz. Levi talks about him all the time but hasn't gotten to meet "Baby Parker" yet. Soon enough! We were out of town this past weekend when he came home. 

And the colors of fall...we're lucky to have hardwood trees on our property because the colors are amazing! I remember thinking this last fall when we started to build...how the fall would be beautiful. And it is! Here's the hickory tree at the start of our driveway.