Country Living, Having More...

Monday, October 15, 2012

Apple Picking: A Fall Family Tradition

It's that time of year again! Family & friends, mommies and daddies, little ones, silver ones and everyone in between are experiencing the wonderful tradition of going apple picking:-)

We had the joy of going ourselves to the Windy Hill Apple Orchard in York, SC. And it really was a treat! According to some of the employees at this family run orchard, due to the weather, apples were ready much earlier than they normally would have been. So while we were there we got to enjoy some of their fare and brought home our own bundle of apples:-)

We hYope that you will enjoy this wonderful weather & that you find your way to your favorite place to go apple picking with your loved ones.

Did I mention that there's an Apple Festival happening this weekend?

Happy Pickin' !

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Green Tomato Cake

by Chemeeka 12:04 AM

This is about the time of year that I'm usually going out to pick whatever's not yet ripe of our tomatoes before the frost hits to make up some green tomato cake. But unfortunately, the weather has been so wacky that there aren't really any green heirloom tomatoes out there. So, I've been asked for this recipe time and time again. And here I am to finally post it after a very loooonnng delay (my apologies:-(

Green Tomato Cake

As seen on Allrecipes.com

4 cups chopped green tomatoes

1 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup butter

2 cups white sugar

2 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions

Place chopped tomatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt. Let stand 10 minutes. Place in a colander, rinse with cold water and drain.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat until creamy.
Sift together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, soda and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add raisins and nuts to dry mixture; add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Dough will be very stiff. Mix well.
Add drained tomatoes and mix well. Pour into the prepared 9 x 13 inch pan.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.

Bon Appetit!
~Chemeeka

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Love Farm Cake

Sharing the Love

by Chemeeka 1:38 PM

Formerly the home of Bakie Me Sweet now at LoveFarmCake I blend my knowledge of gardening, cooking & baking, along with the expertise that I share with the moms of Charlotte as Cooking Coach and present to you one home, for moms. You will laugh, cry & hopefully be wowed as I share easy to replicate tips & give you the tools that you need to share the love with the ones that you love. Oh, and there'll be some Mommy Moments too...!

Check it out here.

Monday, September 17, 2012

short cayenne

Pretty Peppers

by Chemeeka 1:35 PM

Aren't these just beautiful? Oh! Who would have told me five years ago that I'd be sitting here taking pictures of peppers...I never would have believed it. Here is batch #2 of our pretty peppers.

I had to get this shot here (above) to let you know of all of the varieties that we are growing because it's hard to tell in the baskets. You see the greens, the yellows, oranges and reds but you can't really point out what's there (with the exception of the little cayennes). So here goes, when you're looking at this picture above, the top two red & green ones are: ancient sweets, then we've got three types of bells coming across the top. You can tell those pretty well. Then down beneath those (the skinny ones) are the long and short cayennes, then on your bottom left, you've got the hungarian (paprika) peppers and on the right are red jalapenos (green and red jalapenos are basically the same, just one's (the reds) are riper than the other (the green ones).

Our tomatoes are pretty much done for the season, we've got a few heirloom and cherokee that are trying to make a comeback before the frost hits. But other than that, we're pretty much all herbs and peppers, ridin' out the rest of the season!

Happy Farming!

The Farmer's Assistant :-)

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

container gardening

Fresh Picked:Cayenne's and Bell Peppers

by Chemeeka 12:09 AM

This is our latest batch of cayenne and bell peppers and there's a lot more to be picked. As you already know, just one plant puts out a LOT of fruit, be it whatever veggie (ie. tomatoes, herbs, peppers) you name it. You don't have to have a lot of any one plant to bring in a hearty harvest.

The right amount of soil, sunlight and water is really all that you need. Even your average container garden with a little touch of tender, love and care can go a long way. Sometimes with a large plant, you may have to use a stake to stablize the plant but beyond that, you're good to go! Bell peppers, anyone?

The Farmer's Assistant

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Can you tell the Difference?

by Chemeeka 11:48 PM

Can you tell the difference between these two eggs?

Let me get a little bit closer...how about now?

Do you notice the extra depth in color of the one on the right from the one on the left? The one on the left is a store-bought egg, and the one of the left is from one of our chickens.

Being raised in New York, I don't think that I would have ever been able to tell you the difference between a store-bought egg & a farm fresh one, but here it is. The taste? Well, I've gotten so used to the taste of the farm-fresh ones that I couldn't even tell you now. Let's just say that it's a lot like how it looks, softer and richer in taste.

Hope that you have a Happy Wednesday Everyone!

-Chemeeka (The Farmer's Assistant)

Monday, August 27, 2012

Cayenne Peppers

by Chemeeka 8:08 AM

We've got them in all colors & at all stages. Some are already ready & ripe, while others are still green. We put them up on the sill by the sink where they can get some sunlight and continue to ripen and then dry out. Then once they're done drying out, well probably cut the stems off, remove the seeds, and powder them down in our coffee grinder:-)

-The Farmer's Assistant

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

peppers

Loads of Peppers

by Chemeeka 3:04 PM

Aren't these beautiful!! And we've got all kinds in there. There's the ancient sweets, banana peppers, cayennes, bell peppers, poblanos, you name it. Peppers anyone? :-) Happy Gardening!

-Chemeeka

Monday, August 13, 2012

Four Peppers..Jalapeno Cornbread

by Chemeeka 12:39 PM

One of Don's co-workers shared these nice peppers with us from his garden. So we took a few of them and made some yummy jalapeno cornbread! First, we removed all of the seeds and membranes.

And then after giving them a good chop I added them to my cornbread mixture.

I poured it all into my cast iron skillet that I had already heated and oiled.

And topped it with a nice mexican blend of cheeses & baked it for thirty minutes.

Buttery, cheesy, peppery, but not too peppery, delicious. Thanks for sharing your peppers with us, David!

Here's the recipe:

1 cup of yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup of self-rising flour
1/4 cup of oil
2 eggs
1 cup of buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon of salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and after 15 minutes place your cast iron pan (if you're using cast iron) into the oven. (If you are not using a cast iron pan, just oil the pan and wait for the cornbread to be poured into the pan before placing it into the oven). Combine all of your dry ingredients in a bowl. Then in a separate bowl, combine your wet ingredients and then add the dry to the wet. If you are using a cast iron pan, using a pot holder, remove it from the oven, pour your cornbread mix in, and then with the pot holder*, return your pan back to the oven.

*I only emphasize this because I have had my share of not realizing that the pan was hot once I was ready to put my cornbread in the oven. So be careful! And enjoy!

The Farmer's Assistant

Thursday, August 9, 2012

(Very Sweet) Grape Tomatoes!

by Chemeeka 12:19 PM

These little "berries" are about as sweet as they come...when you talk about tomatoes, that is. These are our very sweet & very delicious grape tomatoes. Love 'em! In a salad, in with pasta, or just a snack. I'm serious, they're delicious & sweet!

And of course you know that I couldn't forget a couple of pics of the garden to date. The corn is pretty much finished for the season but it sure was good while it lasted.

Here's to a wonderful rest of the summer!

The Farmer's Assistant :-)

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Today in the Garden: Wild Plum Tree

by Chemeeka 7:56 PM

I took a few pictures out in the garden this morning. There is a nice calm outside and a soft dew resting on everything. The corn is not cut down just yet but it will be once it's done.

I also took a few pictures of one of our wild plum trees. All of these little plums are ripe but even ripe they are quite bitter. The plums have a large pit with a little bit of fruit surrounding it.