ALABAMA PIE: Scrumptious Lemon!

MONTGOMERY PIE

TOP BATTER: 2 1/2 c. flour 1/2 c. butter or lard 3 tsp. baking powder 2 eggs 2 c. sugar 1 c. sweet milk Sift together flour and baking powder. Combine butter and sugar and cream thoroughly. After adding well beaten eggs, add milk and sifted dry ingredients alternately. Set aside while you make the other part. LOWER PART: 1 beaten egg 2 tsp. flour 1 lg. lemon grated rind and juice 1 c. sugar 1 c. table molasses Combine all ingredients for bottom of pie. Pour into unbaked pie shells. Spoon top batter over this mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 or 40 minutes. Makes 3 (8 inch) pies.

Homeopathy for children's emotional health

Homeopathy for children's emotional health

Fruit Tree Planting Day

I spent the morning planting some fruit trees that I have had heeled in by the compost bins. It was such a beautiful day that I knew I better get a move on with them, especially since I have more coming!

I found an old nursery pot behind one of the sheds and sterilized it for the newest baby. The nursery I  started buying from http://www.leggcreekfarm.com/ in TX gives you a free tree with every order so since it is a little whip, I give them a good start in a nursery pot with great compost/potting soil mixture that I make up myself. They take off like a rocket and that winter can be planted in the orchard. This one is a "Wild Pear" which I must do some research on. I think it will need a mate for pollination as most pears do. The prices are great at this nursery and their plants are especially for we in the deep south, unlike many nursery trees, so you can be assured that they will grow. 

I hope everyone had a great Presidents Day and Valentines Day. I know I did! Later gator!

YUMMIEST POTATOES & CARROTS!!!!

So many people turn their noses up at vegetables but there is no reason to if you know how to cook them up right.  Here is one of the favorite things I do with potatoes and carrots that even my vege hating guys gobble them down!

What You Need:

Six carrots peeled and cut into roughly one and a half inch sticks

Four potatoes cut up into bite sized chunks. (leave skins on)

Buttermilk or Ranch dressing, about 1/2 cup and a tablespoon of warm water.

Seasonings: A mixture of garlic, red pepper, black pepper and salt.

Spray on butter flavored oil or use your own oil and a bit of melted butter to lightly coat.

Cookie Sheet with edges also known as a jelly roll pan.

How To:

Wash veges, peel carrots, cut up potatoes and put all into a big gallon or 2 gallon baggie.

Spray with butter flavored oil or your own oil/butter mixture.

Add Buttermilk  or Ranch dressing to bag.

Add seasonings, a little or a lot, depending on what you like.

Close baggie and mush all around till veges are well coated.

Spread out on pan and bake for 30 minutes then stir veges around flipping as many as you can to the other side.

Cover with foil now and bake on for another 15-20 minutes.

No one has ever turned these down. Not even kids! Serves 2-4 depending on their appetites. Make as much as you want as it re-heats wonderfully!

HOW TO TAKE CUTTINGS FROM PANSIES!

As I have said before, I adore Pansies! To me they are the bright spot in winter that will always make me smile.

Today I have been taking cuttings of my Pansies that have been growing since fall.  I can grow them on till May before I remove their leggy selves and replace with my other favorite flower, Impatiens. Here is how I do it:

1- Cut a leggy pansy down low above a leaf joint and remove all the flowers and leaves except a few leaves at the very top.

2- Dip in rooting hormone. ( I prefer the gel type)

3- Plant in some good potting soil or a seed starting mix that has been pre-moistened up to the top of the stem and water in well.

4- Find some thin branches and put four of them in the pot so that you can put a gallon baggy over the pot without the plastic bag touching the leaves.

5- Place in a cool, bright part of your home or greenhouse and wait for them to root. New top growth will let you know that this has happened.

6- Place outside to grow on or transplant to whatever other container you wish to use. Fertilize with an organic fertilizer as per directions and enjoy for however long your pansy season is.

I hope this helps someone who wishes to expand their pansies without spending anymore money. If there is one thing I always am, it's frugal! Have a great weekend!