Lehman's Country Life

United Feature Syndicate

MARYJANE’S EVERYDAY ORGANIC

Along with all of the wonders of the upcoming winter season comes the inevitable flu. Despite our best attempts to stay busy baking and planning celebrations, pesky cold and flu viruses often creep into our lives and put a damper on our plans. It usually starts with the sniffles, which shouldn’t be enough to waylay any party plans, but headaches, coughs and fevers can knock us down for the count. With characteristic can-do spirit, an old-fashioned farmgirl will likely face the flu with homemade chicken soup, hot tea and plenty of rest. She’ll try fresh air. She may even improvise her own neti pot using a repurposed dish-soap bottle — anything to avoid a trip to the doctor and the requisite dose of prescription pills.
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I love watermelon pickles.  My biggest goal of the summer is to collect the best watermelon rinds that I can and make them into yummy, luscious sweet pickles to soothe my soul in the wintertime.

However, it seems to me that the watermelons these days are bred to have skinny rinds and there is NO rind left of any decent sort to make into pickles.  A shame!  A travesty!  How can we have those delicious pickles if there are no rinds to use?  I managed to get a total of three (count them, THREE) pints of pickles last year and they were a sorry sight to see, skinny little pickles, ashamed to show their heads against the fat ones in the past.
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Holiday times, by their very nature, are busy, busy times.  But that doesn’t mean you have to rely on pizza and processed foods to feed your family between activities.

Go through those family recipes and start enjoying the season. Do not forget to bring out your slow cooker and dust it off.  Foods cooked slowly are wonderful this time of year. Fresh fruits and crunchy green salads add a healthy punch to the menu, too.

Here are some delicious homemade recipes to make ahead or in a hurry.

Eggnog French Toast
The first time I had this recipe was at a holiday party with a dear friend who is no longer here with us. They gave me their recipe and I am sharing it with you. Plan ahead – it is worth it!

4 cups purchased eggnog
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 country white bread loaf – (14.5 oz) — halved horizontally, half cut crosswise 8 slices — (do not use ends)
1/4 cup unsalted butter – (1/2 stick) — melted
Powdered sugar
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If you are a gardener and a cook, homegrown garlic is a must-do on your fall garden list. Nothing beats the taste of lovingly grown garlic and being a crop that grows well in many regions, there is no need to purchase imported garlic in the store (check labels!). Growing your own also opens up a whole new world of variety possibilities.

Pictured is the basket of labeled garlic I use for my Thursday demos at Lehman’s store and it’s interesting to hear folks who thought that “garlic was garlic” be amazed at the options. I am planting fifteen garlic varieties this fall, and one year a friend of ours (who is also a Lehman’s employee) planted fifty different kinds! Some are sturdy hard neck varieties like German Extra Hardy, the soft necks like Lorz Italian are great for braiding,  others like Georgian Fire have a more pungent flavor, while some are great for roasting like Chesnok Red. Our family favorite is Music, which is a Porcelain hard neck variety with large cloves and an excellent medium garlic flavor.
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Apples are possibly fall's most versatile fruit.

One of the things I really enjoy about fall is the time in the evenings to do a little more cooking. Apples, pumpkins, squash and even tomatoes are still available in local produce markets for us to partake of.   Each year more than 100 million bushels of apples are produced in Ohio during the fall season, featuring about 40 different varieties.  There are many farms open to pick your own, take a hayride and maybe get your pumpkins too!

Apples are a wonderful addition to a meal or for a quick snack.  They provide us with vitamin A and C, along with fiber, and other phytonutrients to keep us healthy.  They are low in fat and sodium, which makes them a perfect choice with only 75-80 calories for a medium apple.
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As the fall weather slips in it may seem work should slow down.  Not so for those of us that has chosen to live a life closer to the Olden Ways.  Many of us have farms, animals, and gardens to tend.  There is firewood to gather and the last of the harvest to put up.  But that doesn’t have to stop you from serving rustic and hearty meals to keep that energy up.

These recipes are rich in vegetables and rib-sticking good in the cooler weather.  Some use the slow cooker; others are quick and easy. All are perfect for supper one night and a hot lunch the following day.

Cuban Pork and Sweet Potato Stew
1 large (1 lb.) sweet potato, peeled and cut into ½” dice
1 pound lean pork loin, cut into 1″ pieces
1 can (14½ oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 medium garlic clove, minced
¼ cup orange juice
2 medium scallions, chopped (green part only)
½ tsp. table salt
¼ tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. black pepper
1½ TB fresh lime juice
2 TB fresh cilantro, chopped
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As we start and end the day with cooler temperatures, the garden’s bounty is dwindling also.  I’m guessing you still have lots of zucchini and many tomatoes if you are like many of the callers I hear from on a daily basis.  Tomatoes are the most frequently home canned product in the United States.  If this is your practice, here are a couple of tips to make your job easier.
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If I had only one word to describe the end of summer it would be “rollercoaster.”  The good, the bad and the ridiculous all seemed to converge at my house, and as the Labor Day weekend drew the summer season to a close, I found I had a surprising capacity for enjoying even the less-than-great times that August-into-September brought.

Among the blessings that went above and beyond anything I could have imagined was when the same friend from work who had come and bush-hogged my land a couple of weeks ago, showed up with a friend of his who’s a skilled mechanic, and the two of them loaded up and took custody of my tractor.  It was hauled it off to the Barn of Generous, Skilled Mechanics, and returned a week later running like a top, with the only “invoice” a muttered estimate for parts alone, that I can cover with a bit under half the money in my Tractor Maintenance fund.

To paraphrase one of my favorite radio financial advisors who says that “goals are dreams that show up in work clothes,” sometimes angels show up in jeans and sweaty T-shirts.
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If you’re still getting tomatoes and green peppers out of your garden, you’ve got to try this soup. It’s tasty, healthy, hearty and filling without being too heavy.  Plus, you basically dump a bunch of stuff in the crockpot and let it cook itself! My husband loves it,  and it really couldn’t be much easier. It takes about 15 minutes prep time.  I make it the night before, then just plug in the crockpot in the morning. Voila – dinner is done!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 lb. ground beef (could use sausage or ground turkey)

1 onion, chopped

4-6 large tomatoes, chopped coarsely (about 4-5 cups)

2-3 green peppers, chopped

1/4 c. uncooked rice (white or brown)

1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce

1-2 cups water

2-4 tablespoons brown sugar

garlic to taste  (fresh or dried, whatever you like or have in the house)

salt, pepper, Italian seasonings, etc. – season to your taste (my husband thinks next time I should add chili powder)

Directions: Brown meat and chopped onion with garlic in skillet. Drain and dump in crockpot.  Then dump in all the other ingredients and stir gently to mix. You’re done!

Cook on low for 8-9 hours. Makes a big crockpot full; serves 4-6.

Last night my family devoured this soup, along with cheese and crackers, fresh apples and raspberries from the farmer’s market. Yum!

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As fall is beginning to move in, afternoons are focused on the famous after-school snack.  Afternoon snacks are important to school age children because many have eaten lunch in late morning and their systems are ready to crash.  To children of the preschool age, daily snacks are even more important and can be a challenge.  Many preschoolers get as much as one-third of their total daily calories from snacks.  It is almost impossible for kids to get all the nutrients they need in just three meals.   Some easy tips, recipes
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