Lehman's Country Life

Dear Readers,
It’s almost time for back to school! Whether you are relaxing together or working together, time spent with your children talking and listening, is essential when they are young so that as they grow up, they feel they can still come and talk to you about the everyday things (plus the really important decisions they must make). Make sure you take time to hear about their day, any challenges they’ve had and support to get their homework done. Work on building a good routine these first couple of weeks and the rest of the year will go much smoother.

One of the things I look forward to this time of year is working together in food preservation. Breaking beans, husking corn and picking tomatoes have been a regular task done by my mother, my aunt and myself. It’s a lot of work and I appreciate more each year the time and effort that many of you spend to enjoy your results when the snow is flying. I’ve received several calls on tomatoes, specifically on salsa recipes, and thought you might enjoy the following information I found from a co-worker in Huron County, Ohio, Deb Angell.

Tomatoes have long been recognized as a fairly good source of vitamin C and they contain a smidgen of beta carotene. But until recently, we didn’t realize the antioxidants that make them a favored commodity for fighting many diseases. Experts urge people to eat more tomatoes and tomato products, at least 5 servings per week. The key is lycopene and you get the best results from this anitioxidant when it is heated or cooked to release its best form.
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There is a little hunter-gatherer in us all. Before humankind settled down and started to make gardens in settlements we were nomadic hunter-gatherers. And June is really the start of the foraging-for-free-food season.

I tend to think that hay fever is the sophisticate’s response to being alienated from this most ancient of activities. One herbalist told me that if you looked out in the countryside you would probably find something to heal whatever ails you within twenty yards of your doorstep.

Since most people go in for lawns these days you probably won’t prove her right if you live in the suburbs or exurbs. But if you can get out into the country in June, the flowering blossom of the elder may just help your hay fever!

Medical herbalists reckon that tea made from the elder flower, sweetened with some local honey, might just ease your hay fever symptoms. Elder is mildly antihistamine, while the pollen in local honey will help acclimatise your immune system so that it won’t be so irritated by pollen.

The blossoms are creamy umbrellas of tiny flowers and the scent is both sweet and slightly astringent. Wine makers prize the flower heads to make elderflower champagne. I use them to make a syrup that can be diluted with sparkling mineral water to make a refreshing soft drink.

The syrup (which includes some lemon juice) is also useful to add to gooseberry jam or jelly. The combination of elderflower with gooseberry is delightful.

June is also the time to start taking inventory of your preserving equipment. You can recycle jars for storing dried herbs like elderflower and meadowsweet for teas. But for making jams, jellies and pickles you really need to consider getting proper canning jars. You also need a really large preserving pan (or stockpot) and a selection of funnels to fit different sizes of jars or bottles.

While it is fashionable to eat ‘seasonally,’ if you don’t want to incur huge food miles it is well worth taking a leaf from our hunter-gatherer ancestors and storing for the winter months when in our cold northern climates there is a dearth of ‘seasonal’ food available. They are the real mentors for teaching us how to live a low impact lifestyle. So we need to make like the squirrels and get foraging and storing!

Editor’s Note: The information in this article is not professional medical advice. Lehman’s makes no claim to the above information. Consult with your physician or another professional healthcare provider before making decisions about natural therapies and/or remedies.

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Spring is perfect soup weather. It’s easy, it’s quick, and many times you can leave it to simmer while you work outside. Around my house it is a staple as springtime is very busy on the farm! New baby animals being born, gardens to ready up, tend and plant and lots of other outside chores. Try these recipes on the stove top or in the slow cooker.

Spaghetti and Meatball Soup
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 carrot, peeled and chopped into a small dice
1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
2 small ribs celery chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 cups tomato sauce or 1 (14-ounce) can plus 1 (8-ounce) can
3 cups chicken stock, available in a box on the soup aisle
1 pound ground beef, pork and veal mix (meatloaf mix)
1/2 cup grated cheese, Parmigiano or Romano, plus more to pass at table
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Our old Border Collie was looking kind of “creaky” last fall, and later when the weather turned really nasty she stayed in her dog house for long periods of time. On the occasions when she did come out, she was really gimped up. At the worst, she was carrying her hind leg as though her hip pained her considerably.Contemplating her pain, I recalled an old timer once telling me that a teaspoon of pectin a day would both get rid of and keep arthritis away.

I checked the information out and putting it together with additional information gleaned during research, I came up with a recipe for “dog treats” that for the old dog have turned out to be the equivalent of an ancient “spring tonic”.

Within a week of putting our old collie on these treats we could see an improvement. After a couple weeks she was running around again – on all four legs.
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Ask anyone in my office, and they’ll tell you that my grandmother is one of the best bakers around. This greatly endears her to my co-workers, since I often bring in the goodies she so nicely shares with me. (The fact that she taught half of our employees – or their kids – in the 3rd grade is also a large part of the endearment.) This moist, nutty bread went over BIG, and several people asked for the recipe, so here it is, straight from the farmhouse kitchen of Grandma Ruth:

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 eggs

l teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3-4 )

l teaspoon salt

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup cashews, chopped

1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Grease bottom of loaf pan. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients (except nuts and apricots) just until moistened. Stir in nuts and apricots. Pour into pan. Bake 1 1/4 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool five minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan. Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.

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By Melinda J Hill, CFCS, CFLE
Extension Educator Family and Consumer Sciences
OSU Extension, Wayne County, Ohio

It’s cold, it’s gray and sometimes winter seems like it will last forever. What smells better at the end of the day than something warm that greets you when you open the door? We all have our favorite soup recipes. Some have been passed down through the generations and others can be additional ingredients that supplement a canned soup.

When planning your meal, all you need to add to a thick wholesome soup or stew is a slice of whole grain bread or crackers, some fruit or salad and a glass of milk, and voila – you have a healthy, well-balanced meal.

Some soups are simple and can be made in the microwave or on the stovetop in a matter of minutes. Others like to simmer and blend flavors and work best in the crock pot or soup pot, cooking and tenderizing (and filling your house with tantalizing aromas) for hours.

There are two main types of soup: those made from some kind of stock, and cream-based soups. Stock soups are made with vegetables, meats, poultry or fish; these are generally lower in calories. Cream-based soups are made of milk, cream or yogurt as a large part of the liquid.
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It’s the dead of winter in many locales, and if you’re weary of meat-and-potato casseroles, now’s the perfect time to spice up your cooking with a touch of the exotic. For a limited time only, Lehman’s is offering Hawaii-grown macadamia nuts in the shell ($12 for 2 lb) shipped direct from sunny Hawaii to your doorstep.

Now when we say “limited time only,” we mean it. The harvesting season in Hawaii will only last another few weeks (give or take, depending upon the weather) and after that, we won’t be able to get these nuts again until next winter. We purchase the nuts from a small grower in Hawaii – not a big middleman – and he ships them right to you.

Why buy these nuts in the shell, you ask? Freshly dried and cracked macadamia nuts have an even creamier, more buttery flavor than the store-bought jarred ones. With a good nutcracker, a great novel and a wood fire, they could just make for the perfect winter evening.

And when it comes to cooking with them, a little extra effort can translate into a LOT of extra taste. Here are a couple great new recipes to try:
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Today was the day I chose to make Swedish Meatballs but discovered I was out of noodles. So today was also noodle-making day.

Homemade egg noodles are so much better tasting (and better for you) than store noodles. Who knows what is put into the noodles in the factories? I KNOW what is in my noodles: nothing but fresh stuff!

The noodle dough is very simple. My favorite one is about one cup of flour to one egg, a plop of olive oil, a pinch of salt and water to make the dough stiff but not sticky. The eggs, of course, are farm fresh, which gives the noodles that lovely yellow color. I use organic unbleached white flour from the local Co-op. Many people use whole wheat, but I chose white as the flour of my choice. Sea salt and filtered water; good virgin olive oil – all the stuff fit for kings and peasants alike. Start with as much flour as you like, and then add the rest of the ingredients to match.
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Are you planning a New Year’s Eve party or just a family get together over the holiday weekend? Here is an old favorite recipe – Party Mix and one with a new twist – Barbecue Party Mix – it’s really good, you need to try it! I use my Roaster with Granny Speckles to make both of these recipes. Did you think the only use for a roaster is for your Thanksgiving turkey or Christmas ham – think again. Enjoy!

Original Party Mix
Ingredients:
6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3 cups corn cereal
3 cups rice cereal
3 cups wheat cereal
1 cup mixed nuts
1 cup bite-size pretzels
1 cup garlic-flavor bite-size bagel chips or regular-size bagel chips, broken into 1-inch pieces

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½ cup shortening / lard / butter

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

½ cup cherry juice

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 cups flour

1 cup chopped maraschino cherries

½ tsp salt

½ cup nuts, chopped

Mix in order of the list / bake in 350º oven for about 40 minutes or so. I like to put the batter in the small loaf pans (1/4 size of normal bread pan) to make individual breads for gifts.

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