The Final Word on the 2017 Popcorn Saga

I just spent the entire afternoon putting our popcorn crop into quart jars for storage.  We ended up with 38 quart jars filled to the brim, and then some in smaller jars.   That's a lot of popcorn!  We have already given away several quarts before this afternoon, and we have popped at least a quart of corn doing our testing.  The popcorn is consistently popping well with just a minimal amount of "old maids", so we figured the popcorn is dry enough (or moist enough).  Popcorn is supposed to have about 14% humidity to pop well, and how can we figure that without special equipment?  So we just test pop some and if it works well, then we call it 'done'.  I store the popcorn in glass jars as that keeps the humidity well. 

For Christmas this year, lots of friends and family will get popcorn for a gift! (psst!  Don't tell them!  Ha!)  I will present a jar full to local folks, and when I send the popcorn, I will transfer it to lightweight ziplock baggies for mailing purposes.  We will save plenty for our own use - popcorn makes great "Scrabble Food".  In the spring we will bag up some in 1 lb bags to sell at our farmer's market booth.  We ended up with over 77 lbs of popcorn.

Here is what 33 of the jars looked like:

This is what is left AFTER saving some jars for ourselves and after giving away some.  Many of these jars will become Christmas gifts, which I will package up and decorate nicely.   Our popcorn is organic, too, as we do not use any sprays here on the farm.  It's not as perfect as professional popcorn processed with machines, but I can guarantee it is a lot cleaner!

 Now that our garden harvest is officially complete, I can concentrate on Christmas baking and gift giving and wrapping.  I also have three of my Christmas accordion shows to do within the month at various assisted living centers.  I play popular holiday music and wear really funny hats to go along with the music.  It gets folks laughing and feeling good, and that's the whole point of the show.  I also want to make a good batch of that Norwegian specialty - lefsa!  My Christmas gifts this year will all be homemade or baked - I absolutely hate shopping!  The mere thought of going to the mall or one of those big box stores to fight the crowds gives me a headache just thinking about it.   Besides, most folks already have everything they need.  Almost everyone appreciates food gifts or something made with love and thoughtfulness.  And as for little kids' gifts, everything they want costs way more than my budget allows.  Have you seen the prices of toys these days?  Little ones will have to get "grandma gifts" and you know - I think they also like those better.   They get plenty of toys from their parents.   Don't you think Christmas has become way too commercialized?  I do.

Winter Came Early this Year

I haven't been here writing much lately, because nothing much has been happening.  Winter came early for us this year.   Both the snow and the cold.  We've had snow on the ground since a little before Halloween, and we've had temps in the single digits already.   Tonight we are supposed to get another inch or so of snow and the overnight low will be below zero.   And more snow is also predicted for Friday - it just keeps accumulating.    Even the lake is frozen and snow covered already:

Two Squaw Lake is already iced over and snow covered.  This is about a month earlier than usual.

Even our driveway is covered in snow:

Our snow covered driveway.   Harold has the tractor tire chains laid out (see bottom left of photo) to put on his tractor/loader this afternoon.

A person can't do much outside - except hunt and cut wood, that is!  This is the big "deer hunting time" here in Minnesota.   We allow neighborhood hunters access to our land for hunting purposes, and they stop by to visit and tell stories of their successes or lack thereof.   The coffee pot stays busy, the cookie jar needs filling and we entertain a lot at this time.  I keep plenty of cocoa and hot cider mix on hand, too, to warm up cold hunters.  Another round of folks are due to come up this weekend, so we'll be busy again entertaining hunters and friends.  Harold doesn't hunt, but we usually get a generous amount of deer meat given to us.  There's way too many deer around here, and so I don't mind when the hunters thin out the herd.   There will be less critters to eat up my gardens next spring!
    
The cookie jar was empty again, so today I made Snickerdoodles, one of my favorite cookies.   Just about everyone loves these buttery tasty cookies.   I always make a double batch because a single recipe is usually gone within the hour when guests come over for coffee!  All winter long, we Minnesotans drink lots of black coffee and eat plenty of goodies and solve the world's problems from inside our warm kitchens.

A batch of Snickerdoodle cookies cooling.

Pretty soon instead of cookies I will be making a good sized batch of Lefsa, that delicious Norwegian specialty made from mashed potatoes.

So that's what has been happening here lately - lots of talk, lots of coffee, lots of talking about the weather and deer.   Does life get any better?  Or easier?