Some Sad News

This morning we found one of our Belgian horses, Dick, dead by the hay bale.  He was old, about 27 years old, so he most likely died of natural causes.   We didn't see any sign of a struggle - almost like he just laid down and died.   His brother, Dan, probably won't last much longer, as he was old, too, and the two horses were always together their whole lives.   If one went too far astray, the other one called out for him.  I am sure the cold weather had some influence - it was almost 30 below zero this morning - and we don't have a heated barn.   It is an end of an era here on the farm.   For many years Harold used the horses for various work around here, and they were always part of the farm.  I doubt we will get another team, as Harold and I are getting on in years, too, and it's a lot of work to have horses (and costly for hay, too).   Harold says Dick had a good, easy life here.   But we will miss him...............

Dick, on the right, and brother Dan on the left, photo from a couple years ago

End of Year Musings

Today I took down all the Christmas things and basically "unplugged Christmas" for another year.   This is a task I always hate!  Being such a Christmas person, I always dislike the end of the holiday.   The house seems so barren and empty after everything is put away.    Almost depressing, really.  Eventually things begin to look normal again, but those first couple days after all the Christmas decorations are put away make the house look as cold as the outdoor temps.  We are expecting WAY below zero temps for at least the next 6 days, and it's about 15 below zero as I write this.  Supposed to go to minus 30 tonight.

At the end of the year, we all think about 'how everything was' during the last year - and I am no exception.  All in all, it was a good year!   In spite of a few ups and downs in Harold's health, some sad times with friends and their problems, and the usual "things that break and cost too much to repair", 2013 was a good year.   I have enjoyed writing this blog and hope to continue next year.   I thank you all for your support and readership and comments!   I'm toying with the idea of making the blog look different for 2014 with different colors and backgrounds, etc.   We shall see. 

The world may get crazier and crazier every day, but here on Honey B Farm, we try to live a simple, wholesome and Christian lifestyle.  We have long ago removed ourselves from the world's merry-go-round, and just try to live life the way 'it used to be' (or at least what we perceive it was!).   Other than the computer, I'm not much for modern gadgets - I'll leave those things for others to enjoy.  Husband Harold and I look forward to another successful year of gardening and beekeeping and just enjoying the quiet lifestyle out here in the 'boonies'. 

I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year's Day and a healthy and prosperous 2014.   Seems like only yesterday we were worrying about that Y2K thing, and here it is 14 years later!   How time does fly..........

Christmas Past

On Christmas Eve I always get very sentimental and recall some of my Christmas holidays from the past.   Somehow it seems like those days were less stressful and happier - or is it just the fading of memories and time?  Maybe they WERE happier and simpler times, as today's world seems to be so crazy and way too politically correct.  Here are some photos from the past, going back to my own very first Christmas!  (not that I would remember that!)

My first Christmas with Dad and Mom back in 1948

A few years later, in 1953 with sister Diana and parents.  Look at that tree!!

Christmas 1954, my sister and I got new dolls!

 

 

 

 

My twin boys' first Christmas, not sure which one is Kelly or Jerry as they looked very much alike back then!  How cute in their little outfits!

A few years later in 1977.  I still wear that hat!

Christmas 1982 - with new coat

For some reason I don't have many more photos of other Christmases.  I think those holidays were either filmed with video, or the photos are in a box somewhere else.   And Christmases from the past couple years didn't have any photos of me or my kids.
     Growing up, Christmas was a very special time.  We had all the traditional Polish customs and foods (kielbasa, kieflies, and the great Christmas Eve dinner vigilia with its own traditional dishes) , and the church service at midnight where the choir sang Polish carols, in Polish.   In later years here in Minnesota I spent almost 20 years playing organ at various churches for services on Christmas Eve.  That was always something I enjoyed, and I felt it was something I could do for others to make their Christmas memorable.  I remember driving home one night in 1993 in a total white out blizzard.  It took me over 3 hours to drive 26 miles in near zero visibility. 
     Now that I am older, I miss those Christmases of long ago.   My grown children now make Christmas memories with their families.  And I don't have quite the energy I used to have to make Christmas special.  Just putting up decorations takes longer!  But I always try to include traditional foods, put up old time decorations from the old days, and play those Polish Christmas carols on the organ.   I look at old photos, read some treasured Christmas stories, and draw from my rich heritage to make THIS Christmas as special as I can make it!
     I hope that everyone will have a joyous and Blessed Christmas as we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, who came to earth just for us and our salvation!  Merry Christmas to all!

Making Lefse

Today and tomorrow I will be making that great Norwegian specialty - lefse!  (pronounced leff-seh with the accent on the leff).  For those of you not familiar with this food, it is sort of like a tortilla, but very delicate in texture and usually eaten with butter and sugar, and also a lot softer because it is made with mashed potatoes.  Around the holidays this is eaten in great quantities by all Minnesotans (even if they aren't Norwegian!)  The potatoes are cooked and put through a ricer to remove all lumps.

Then cream and butter and a little salt and sugar are added, making smooth and tasty mashed potatoes for the base of the dough.

The next day, flour is added and the dough is rolled out on a cloth covered surface with a special grooved rolling pin, which is also covered in a stocking to prevent the dough from sticking in the grooves of the rolling pin.

A circle of lefse ready for cooking

 The thinly rolled out lefse is cooked on a dry griddle, and a special thin stick is used for turning the dough, and also for lifting it onto the griddle.

Turning the lefse with a stick

A properly baked lefse ready to come off the griddle

The lefse pieces are put between warm and slightly damp cloths to soften up a little, then they are served just a little bit warm, and spread with butter and sugar, and rolled up.   Some use white sugar, some use brown.   Here is what they should look like when eaten:

A yummy piece of lefse, cut in half

Here's a whole plateful:

A whole recipe's worth of homemade lefse for Christmas eating!

Making lefse does require a lot of practice to get it nice and thin.  Even though I am of Polish heritage, when I first tasted lefse here in Minnesota, I KNEW it was something I needed to learn to make!   Lefse is just plain yummy!  It has taken me several years to get the method down to a science (and I keep improving every year).   I'm not sure if lefse can be purchased in other states, but around Christmas time here in Minnesota, the grocery stores carry plenty of it.   Of course the best stuff is homemade, ya know....................

A Little Bit of 1950's Nostalgia

Every year when I bring out the Christmas decorations, I get out my 'crystal' (well, plastic) tree.  Back in the 50's these little trees were extremely popular and I think just about every household had one of these.   According to the following Woolworth's ad, you could buy a 13" tree for 49 cents (mine is a 13" tree) and you could buy a smaller one for 10 cents.   We had a Woolworth's Five and Dime in South Bend when I was a young girl, and I suppose that's where my Mom got her tree.   The tree I have isn't the original, but I found one at an antique store many years ago.   I usually put tiny ornaments on it, but this year I decided to be original and put gumdrops on the branches.    Isn't this tree the cutest thing ever?  I just love nostalgic items from the 1950's and this gumdrop tree brings back so many memories......................

An ad for the original 1950's gumdrop tree

My tree decked out in tiny ornaments last year

This year I put gumdrops on the tree, like it was meant to have

A Story to be Continued, Part 2

We've made a lot of progress on my craft room!   We're about halfway done.   Only thing left to do is put some kind of board  on the outer wall, put up a wallpaper trim on another wall (I already have that - a pine cone trim), put in a drop ceiling with different lighting, and get a nice big folding table for me to use as a cutting table.   At some point we plan to put tile on the floor or paint it, but not yet.   If you compare these photos with the first one, you can see the difference! 

This wall will be trimmed with wallpaper trim

We added another wall of shelves.

Nice and neat now!

A Different Christmas Cookie

A few years ago I was looking through cookbooks for something new to put on the cookie plate at Christmas.   I came across this fun recipe for tiny little shortbread cookies called Elf Bites (even the recipe name is cute for a Christmas cookie!).  They turned out to be a big hit, and so they have become a new Christmas tradition at our house.  I brought a bowl full of these to a church party once, and the kids really liked them.  Up here in the frozen north, we often have friends and neighbors over for cards or board games in the evenings, and these little cookies make a good 'munchie'.   A bag full of these in the car is a good munchie, too, for winter travel.   This recipe is easy and the only putzy part is getting everything on the baking sheet.  (Here's where little kids can help you!)  I like to put little bowls or cups of these on the table when we play cards or Scrabble.  They are buttery, crisp, and not too sweet.  Theoretically they make about 256 little cookie bits, but I usually only get about 180 pieces, because I cut them into slightly larger than the 1/2 inch pieces called for in the recipe.   Give them a try for a fun little snack!

ELF BITES

1/2 c. (1 stick) of butter - use ONLY butter

1/4 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 1/4 c. flour 

1/4 tsp salt

4 tsp. multi-colored nonpareils

Cream the butter, sugar, salt and almond extract.   Add the flour.  (You might just use your hands at this point).   Work in the nonpareils into the dough with your hands.  Line an 8 inch square pan with wax paper, and pat the dough into the pan and refrigerate until firm.  (usually a couple hours)  Lift out the dough using the wax paper and with a sharp knife on a board, cut into 1/2 slices and then into 1/2 inch squares.  Place on an un-greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 -17 min in a 325 oven, until the bottoms just begin to look a little brown.   Don't overbake these.   Let them sit on the cookie sheet until they are cool enough to put into whatever container you wish. 

Pat the dough into a wax paper lined 8 in square pan.

The little Elf Bites ready for baking

 

A cup of tasty little Elf Bites!

A Story to be Continued.........

After building this house 8 years ago, we are finally getting some projects done!  Like finishing the basement.  For 8 years I have had my crafting area in a corner of the basement, and I've had to trip around "the obstacle course" to get anywhere.   It didn't stop me from sewing quilts or doing projects, though.  But it sure would be nice if the area I had to work in was neat, orderly and well lighted!  And so we began to close in an area that will only be mine!  Here is a before photo.   When the after photo is done, I will post that later on.  What a cluttered mess, huh?  Ya, I know where everything is, but there isn't really any place to put things.   Soon there will be shelves, electricity, new lighting and a nice big table for cutting and laying things out.   So, this post is "to be continued............"

It's not pretty, but functional. 

A Thanksgiving Long Ago

Every year memories of a long ago Thanksgiving come to mind.  It was a Thanksgiving on Nov 23, 1981, the year me and my family went to Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth Massachusetts.   We were living in Rhode Island at the time, so it wasn't too long of a drive.   Plimoth Plantation (they use the old English spelling) is a living history museum where the people there are 'character actors' of Pilgrims of 1621.  They live in a village of homes built to look like the originals of that time.  Now, wouldn't that be an interesting "job", to be a Pilgrim from April through November and act like it is 1621?  When you visit this living history place, you watch them do gardening, cooking and general living.   You can ask them questions, but if it is about something that happened after 1621 they don't know what you are talking about!
     Here is a photo of the general place, and one of me and my children.   They were about 7 yrs old in the photo and I was about 33. (Was I really that young?  Sigh.......)

Me and my boys at Plimoth Plantation

A general view of Plimoth Plantation

This is a living replica of the original Mayflower ship

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!   And by the way, please don't call it "turkey day".  This day is not to honor the American turkey!  It is a day set aside to give thanks to God for our many blessings!   That is what the original meaning was back in 1621.  The Pilgrims were a very religious bunch of folks and came here for religious freedom.  They patterned their thankful celebration after the Harvest Home celebrations in England at that time era.  And if you really want to celebrate like they did, then you need to eat clams, venison, wild game birds, corn porridge, and boiled pumpkin.  Yum, yum, eh?  Our Thanksgiving  menu has changed a lot over the years, and the modern day menu bears little resemblance to what was eaten throughout our country's history.  Every generation added something new, and cooks added their new ideas, and suddenly it is the 21st century and people think you should 'only' eat turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole and pumpkin pie.
     Well, whatever you decide to eat this year, think about the many blessings we have received.  And Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing the Psaltery

This week I am practicing the psaltery for our church's annual music program after our Harvest dinner.   The psaltery I have is called a 'bowed psaltery' because it is played with a bow.   Back in 2001, I attended an event called a Frontier Rendezvous in Aitkin MN and saw a woman there playing a psaltery.   These frontier rendezvous events are a re-enactment of life and skills back in the pioneer days, and this lady was playing the psaltery with two bows (she had the psaltery on a little lap stand so she could play with both hands) and played a variety of Appalachian and folk tunes.  She was an excellent psaltery player and I was very impressed, both with her and the instrument.  I knew right then that this was an instrument I wanted to learn to play!  A very dear friend bought me a psaltery for Christmas that year, and so I began to learn.   A bowed psaltery is easier for a keyboard player like me to learn because the strings are arranged with octaves of notes on one side, and the sharps and flats on the other side.  The arrangement of the instrument is more or less like a piano keyboard, but the opposite in sound - i.e. the higher up you go, the lower the tone.  The psaltery is played by moving the bow on the strings in between the metal pegs, and how fast or slow you play is determined by your touch on the strings and technique. 
     Over the years I have improved somewhat, although I will never be as good as that lady at the Rendezvous.  I still have a hard time with string technique.  But I do a fair enough job that I feel confident playing at church.   For the past couple years I have done hymns on the psaltery, and this year I will play the hymn 'God Will Take Care of You'.  (Last year I played 'Let All Things Now Living' to the tune of Ash Grove)  The psaltery has a very delicate sound, so I need to play in front of a microphone in order for the congregation to hear me in a large room.  But the sound of a psaltery is soothing and mellow, and music like Christmas carols or folk/mountain/Celtic music or hymns sound especially good on it.   You can hear what a psaltery sounds like by Googling it (try You-Tube) and then you can hear really good musicians!

The psaltery is played by holding it against your body and moving the bow between the pegs on the strings

A close-up of the bowed psaltery.  It is tuned by adjusting the pegs on the bottom.

Putting rosin on the bow.

A close-up of the strings

   Over the years I have learned to play accordion, organ and piano.  Playing the bowed psaltery adds a new skill, and certainly helps to pass the time on those long winter evenings!

I'm Addicted

Now that I have your attention and you are wondering what I'm addicted to, I'll tell you............crossword puzzles!  It all started about 3 years ago when Harold was first diagnosed with cancer and we had to spend many, many hours in the hospital.  He would be in a room for several hours with an IV drip, or we would be waiting for tests and doctors and procedures.  The hospital tries hard to please patients with a TV in every room and plenty of snacks and magazines and friendly nurses to talk with.   There's even a great cafeteria, a chapel, and a piano in the lobby you can play.  But I still found myself with a lot of time to fill, and Harold spent most of the time sleeping during chemo.   So I went to the hospital gift shop to look for a book to read and found a display of puzzle books.  Remembering that I used to work crosswords as a kid - the Five and Dime store around the corner sold easy puzzle books for kids - I bought a couple of those books.   And that's when I got hooked.
     At age 65 I have accumulated a head full of useless information and trivia facts.  Working crossword puzzles brings to mind all that stuff that I forgot I knew!   Now I can use all that stuff I learned in college, all that Latin I took in high school, all the years of history and pop culture I have read about.  It really is amazing all the facts I can bring up in my head from the puzzle clues!  They say that "old people" should do things to keep the brain active (in a few months I'll be 66 and I think that qualifies me as an old person).   I work puzzles while soaking in the tub, or in waiting rooms at the hospital, or with my morning coffee (of course AFTER I do my daily devotions and Bible readings, the Lord comes first!), or sometimes in the evening before bed.   Harold always laughs at me for working at least 3 or 4 puzzles a day, and if there's a puzzle in a newspaper I'll work it.  
     I have to say I've gotten better at these puzzles.   The 'easy' ones I can do in about 2 minutes.  The medium ones take about 1/2 hour, and the hard ones are very challenging for me at this point.   Last spring I took an Amtrak train out to Massachusetts to visit my son and his family.  It was a 37 hour trip.  Yep, I took along 5 or 6 puzzle books, and about 2 dozen sharpened pencils with erasers in a nice plastic flip box.  What a nerd, huh?  Everyone on the train was playing with electronic gadgets or watching movies on an iPad or texting.  Here I was, an old school geek, playing with paper and pencil.  Oh well.   If a person is going to be addicted to something, I guess crossword puzzles are fairly harmless.    So, a word to my family:  if you ever wonder what kind of gift to get for Mom, how about crossword puzzle books?   hee hee..........

Good For Another Three Months

Today Harold and I went to Fargo to his oncologist.  Some of you may know that Harold has been fighting multiple myeloma for the past 3 years.  He has had radiation for tumors, almost 3 years of chemo, and lots of at home drugs.  He's been in remission for a few months now, and the good news is that he still is!  From now on he only has to go to Fargo to the Roger Maris Cancer Center every three months for an IV drip of a bone strengthener and a check up with the oncologist.  And instead of weekly blood tests, he only needs monthly blood tests.  Unless something changes this will be the new routine.  He is also taking a new anti-cancer drug called Pomalyst for multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer), and that seems to be working well for him.    This is a good deal, because driving to Fargo is not only boring, but it can be dangerous in the winter.  The land is extremely flat (Harold says you can watch your dog run away from home for 3 days), and when it is snowing and windy, the driving is always white out conditions.   Today I took a photo of the typical landscape we drive through for 2 hours to get to Fargo:

Flat, boring driving out on the prairies in North Dakota and Minnesota

Here are a couple photos of this same stretch of land in the winter.  As you can see, driving is difficult and any kind of wind at all blows the snow into near zero visibility.

North Dakota prairie on a clear winter day.

North Dakota when the wind is blowing on the prairie. (And wind chill is about 50 below zero)

So, as you can tell from the pictures, if we don't have to drive much to Fargo this winter that is wonderful news!   We don't have to drive to Fargo until February 5, 2014!  And any trips we MIGHT make to Fargo (for fun or shopping) we can do on a nice clear, calm day when it isn't snowing and the roads are not icy!
We really do love the prairie lands when crops are growing and the prairie grasses and wildflowers are blooming.  But winter on the prairie is something else.............well, us northern Minnesotans and North Dakotans are a truly hardy bunch of people, don'cha know!

A New Way to Cook Wild Rice

I usually don't write articles about cooking very often,  because there are guys who read my blog, too, and I can just hear them right now groaning that 'this will be a boring one'.  So maybe this will appeal more to the ladies - but if any of you guys out there do cooking, listen up, because this method works! 
     I was reading a Thanksgiving cookbook and the lady mentioned that wild rice could be cooked in a crock pot.  Since I know that it takes wild rice a long time to cook, I had my doubts that putting raw wild rice in a slow cooker would work out ok.  So being the ever-skeptic, I had to try it.   The recipe said to use a 3 to 1 ratio of water to wild rice.  This is what I did:

1 c. wild rice
3 c. vegetable broth (bouillon cube)
1 onion, chopped
about 1/2 c. chopped red pepper
1 carrot, chopped
1 can mushrooms, juice and all
1 stick of celery, chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper

I put everything in the crock pot and put it on HI for 1 hour and low for 3 hrs. (The recipe said you could do 5 hours on low - I might try that next time).  And hey - it works!   The wild rice is cooked nicely!  And you don't get that 'wild rice smell' while it is cooking.  If you have ever boiled wild rice you know what smell I am talking about - kind of a "weedy" smell.
     I think this will work out great for holidays.  Wild rice makes a nice side dish for holiday menus, but oven space is at a premium for baking a casserole of it, and stove top space is usually also at a premium with so many things going.  Putting the wild rice in a crock pot works out great, keeps things warm, and you already have a nice serving dish!  So, I learned something new, and I am sharing this with you all..............

A perfectly cooked side dish

The Yearly Bittersweet Quest

Every year about this time I enjoy scavenging for bittersweet to make wreaths and swags for decoration.  I just love the colorful bittersweet vines at this time of the year.   Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder to find bittersweet around here because our dear Minnesota DNR has decided that this plant is a 'noxious weed' and they have tried to eradicate it with lots of sprays - and they have just about done it, too!   About the only place to find this colorful vine is on someone's private land or at the edges of woods. Wreaths made with this plant can last a couple years if you carefully pack them in a box and don't disturb it much.  Last year I made a very small swag because I couldn't find much, but this year I found enough to make a nice wreath!   What do you think?  I have this hanging on my back porch. To me, this says "Fall" like nothing else, and the price is right, too - free!

My Latest Quilt

For the past week and a half I have been sewing a fall themed quilt.  I enjoy quilting and have done many quilts over the years.  Some I keep for myself, some I give away.   All my quilts are usually of the "scrappy" variety, simple, and tied or hand quilted with simple designs.  Machine quilting is not for me, nor do I ever send a quilt to a longarmer.   Sometimes I think contemporary quilts have so much quilting and stippling that they are stiff and thin and not very warm.   I like a quilt that has some air space in it, is warm, and uses a variety of fabrics.   Quilting was originally a way to use up old clothing and fabric scraps and be thrifty.   But modern quilters will often go out and purchase all new fabric (yes, I have done that for a few of my quilts), and then spend upwards of $150 to send a quilt out to be machine quilted elsewhere at a longarmer.   They may be beautiful quilts, but just not for me.   To each his own, you know?  I'm sort of a fabric junkie anyway, and hate to throw out even small pieces of fabric.  So my quilts usually have a folksy feel and look to them.  I also like to use old blankets as batting.   It is so much warmer than a typical quilt batting, and much cheaper.   You can usually get old blankets for a dollar or less at garage sales, whereas a typical quilt batting can cost from $10 to $50 depending on the type and size.  So, here is a photo of the latest creation and a couple close ups of some of the details of fabric.  

This quilt is 56 x 72

Another view

Some of the fall fabrics

Here are just a few of the quilts I have made in the past.   Each quilt is sort of like a blank canvas, I think - a way to express (what little?) artistic ability I have!

Here's one I made for my niece

A Christmas quilt I made for my son and his wife

A 'train quilt' I made for my great nephew

A summer quilt I made for my sister

Here's one I made in plaid flannel for my husband

It Has Started........

This morning we woke up to this:

We got not quite an inch of snow, the trees are completely bare of leaves.  Winter is here.  Ugh.
In this next photo, the horses seem to be wondering where the good grass is to eat.   This will be their 24th winter - they KNOW what winter is.  Poor things. Now they will be eating dry hay until next May.

      I couldn't get a photo of the cats, but the new kittens have never seen snow.   They walked around all hunkered down, afraid of what they were stepping in.
     Yep - I guess 'winter is here'.

I Have a Request

The process of cleaning up the garden and the yard for winter has begun.  Gradually we are ripping out old plants, taking down wires, and putting garden tools away.   I gathered up all the cd's I could find that I hang from wires around the garden to keep the deer away (See blog post from June called Deer Be Gone).   Many were cracked, worn, or lost.  Those brittle plastic cd's don't weather well at all.  The constant sun and wind wears off the shiny part that scares away the deer.  I could only recover 32 of them, and that will barely go around the garden next year.   If any of you who read my blog come across old cd's of any kind, could you save them for me?  I don't care what's on them - I won't read them or listen to them or watch them - I just want some  to hang around the garden and scare deer with!  So if you are cleaning out boxes or you get some in the mail that you don't want or you have some old software cd's you don't use for your computer, could you save them for me?  Next time you see me I could get them, or you could give them to one of my family members.  If you send them to me I will reimburse you for postage costs.  I would certainly appreciate it!  And they really work to keep the deer away!!
     It's a little sad to tear apart the garden, but I had a really successful year.  The garden produced plenty to sell, can up, eat, give away (and feed to animals!) I always learn something new with each garden, and every year I make a note of what worked and what didn't.   When things dry up, Harold and I will till everything up and gather and burn off brush.
     Last weekend I took Mom back home.  She enjoyed her time up here and was a great help to me.  As usual, the trip through Wisconsin was especially enjoyable.  What a beautiful state!  I always like to take those back roads that have letters instead of highway numbers (like highway K or HH or P).  Those roads are paved, scenic, go through cute little towns, and are always interesting.   It is my annual "mini vacation" to drive around Wisconsin.
     Snow flurries are predicted for the weekend, so 'winter is coming' up here in the north country!  Our colorful leaves are already gone and we are looking at sticks again until next May.   Sigh.

You grow WHAT???????

This year I decided to try growing rutabagas.  This is a vegetable that I only recently began to enjoy.  Several years ago I tried a vegetable pie recipe that used rutabagas and it was so delicious that I always make this pie at Thanksgiving time.  Since I am a vegetarian, folks always ask me "What do you eat at Thanksgiving?"  I always answer "Good seasonal food, well prepared", but that never satisfies as an answer.   When I tell them I prepare an elegant vegetable pie with 6 kinds of shredded veggies, and rice, and cheese, in a sour cream lattice crust, I get an equally blank stare!  (If you decide you would like the recipe for this, email me)
     So today I harvested the rest of the rutabagas because the weatherman is predicting another hard freeze.  Plus I see that the deer are beginning to eat my rutabagas!  They have already eaten the green tops, and now they are working on the tender flesh.  I will put some rutabagas diced up, in the freezer today, some I will send home with my Mom, and some I will give away and some I will keep for Thanksgiving pie!  I sold many at market this fall.   They are very popular with the Norwegians around here.  A favorite dish they enjoy is called "Mashed Swedes", which is mashed potatoes and rutabagas mashed together and seasoned well with salt and pepper and plenty of cream and butter.
Rutabagas are also great in vegetable soup and stews.

A wagon load of rutabagas, and curious cats

Check out these giants!  A green pepper is added for a size reference!

The deer have started to eat them straight out of the garden

The garden looks pretty sad now after several freezes

My garden buddy Rosemary is wondering what happened to her world

One of several piles of winter squash waiting for a home

The only thing left to harvest is about 30 pumpkins.