Home Economics

My last post got rather lengthy and so I left out what we did when we got home from the auction. The day had been very warm and we were so thirsty for a refreshing drink that we decided to make lemonade. Here is our recipe if you'd like to see what the real deal tastes like. Fair Day Lemonade

• 8 lemons
• 2 cups white sugar
• ice

Place lemons in a mixing bowl and cover with boiling water. This removes the wax that lemons are coated with to keep them from drying out. Let sit in water for 2-3 minutes then drain water and wipe out bowl. Place lemons on a towel and roll firmly back and forth to dry them off and to make juicier. Slice lemons thinly and place 1 layer in bottom of bowl followed by a sprinkling of sugar. Slice lemons on a plate so as not to lose any juice. Slice all lemons and use all sugar layer by layer then let it rest for a half hour. Press firmly with a beetle, don't worry if you break the pulp. Place all contents in a glass pitcher, add 3 quarts of cold water, stir well, and serve over ice cubes for your picnic luncheon at the Fair. Because of the peels, this lemonade will get bitter if left overnight and is best consumed fresh.

Also on the menu were homemade crackers. This recipe is exceedingly simple and very hardy. They hold up well in soups and are great for dipping, the recipe is so versatile that I never tire of it.

Cottage Crackers

• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup warm water
• 1/3 cup olive oil

Mix flour and salt together thoroughly and then add water and oil. Knead until all the flour is incorporated and dough has an even consistency. Tear dough into 12 fairly even balls and coat each lightly with oil, then place on a plate and allow to rest covered with a towel for 45 minutes. Heat oven to 450 and roll each ball into a rectangle then cut into strips (these can be rolled out without using flour, the oil coating makes them not stick). Place on floured cookie sheet, poke with fork holes and add garnish. These crackers are really bland plain, our favorite toppings are garlic powder, salt and parmesan cheese. Divine! For a sweeter cracker use sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 10-13 minutes or until edges lightly brown and curl. They will have more snap if allowed to cool before eating. The first time I made these I cut them into circles but the dough doesn't like to be handled too much (it will get tough) so the strips seem to work best. Enjoy!!!

Today the children dug 300-400 leeks and brought them home to be preserved. We love wild leeks, they really add zip to soups and casseroles.

Below are Elisabethe and Abigail, they were in charge of washing the stems before they got diced up.



Rebekah was washing the bulbs and placing them on a tray to be dehydrated. Tabitha, in the background, is chopping up stems.


Levi, Aleks and Micah were trimming roots off, chopping stems and placing on trays.

We will dehydrate these for a day or two and then store them in gallon size glass jars. If it appears to be an insufficient quantity, then we will try to get another batch harvested before the fields get plowed and they all are plowed under. We also made 2 batches of butter today, which never lasts long. I can't hope to put any back with the way the children eat it. ;-) I fed the buttermilk to the baby chicks, usually I use it in biscuits or pancakes or something but not today. We are also freezing at least 1 gallon of milk a day so that when Tansy is dry we won't have to resort to buying milk. I think that's all the news from the home front for now, I hope you have a lovely Wednesday evening!