Rice Crispy Treat and Egg Fans

There is a little girl who comes to the farmers' market in Burlington with her mom, her grandma and her little brother just for the purpose of getting a rice crispy treat from Grama Sue. Last week I was so busy that I didn't get any made. When I had to admit that I didn't have any I got "the look" and what a look it was! I don't ever want to go through that again! OUCH!

Anyway, I got lunch all ready to cook today when I suddenly realized I still needed to make rice crispy treats and we have to leave for the market in 3 hours! So, I put lunch off and made rice crispy treats. Little Rice Crispy Treat Girl, I don't know your name, but you will have your cookie today!

Then, just as we sat down for dinner, the phone rang. The man on the line said he was from Macomb and he was calling to tell us how much he loves our eggs! What a sweetheart! This is why we love what we do!

THANK YOU!



God Bless You All!


~Grama Sue

Skinning Tomatoes

Now why didn't someone tell me this 30 years ago? Today I'm reading a post from Food In Jars on Facebook and someone is asking about blanching times for tomatoes. One person responds they never blanch, just put the tomatoes whole into bags and stick in the bag. When you start to thaw them, put them in cold water and the skins will fall right off! I usually freeze my tomatoes and make things like chili and spaghetti sauce during the winter when I'm in the house all day and I want the heat. I've spent countless hours sweating over a pan of boiling water skinning tomatoes. Turns out it just wasn't needed! I used to have a list of things I learned after I turned 40, looks like I'm need to make one for things I've learned after 50!

God Bless!


~Grama Sue

Garden Musings

Got to blog, got to blog, my mother is counting on it ... Oh! Am I here? Yes! This computer has been difficult to work with lately. I need to sit down and reformat it I guess, but who's got time? Anyway, here's me selling my weed at the farmers' market! This is Sweet Annie. It is a weed that grows along our fences. Grampa used to kill it, but then he found out we could sell it for $3 a bundle so now he lets it grow. You should hear all the comments we get, but I assure you, it's perfectly legal to sell this weed at the farmers' markets.

The summer is winding down. I love this time of year! Every meal is loaded with fresh veggies from the garden and Grandma Whitson and I are busy putting up jams, tomatoes and all kinds of apple stuff like applesauce, pie filling and apple butter. I usually try to put up about 50 quarts of chili, some spaghetti, goulash sauce and salsa, but I'm not sure if I'll get enough tomatoes this year. We are finally starting to get green beans. I doubt if there will be enough to put up, but that's OK, I still have plenty left from last year. I've started making jams with honey instead of sugar. I've even ventured into some interesting ingredients. Ever tried cucumber/apple or orange/cantaloupe jam? They are really good. We've been letting people sample at the markets so come on down.

The chickens are starting to come back into production and the baby chicks are starting to lay. Pretty soon we should have 250 to 300 eggs a day. I've been doing some elder care on weekends, but my client is going to a nursing home soon. I hate that he has to go, but I'm going to need my weekends to get out to the stores and sell eggs!

The corn and bean fields are starting to turn. Grampa will be in the fields soon. I'm going to continue doing the markets until the first part of October. The Burlington market goes through October, but I plan to quit all but that one soon. Gotta get my house cleaned and get a jump on the reassessment year for my tax assessing job. 

It's been a wet year. The geese have loved it even if our garden hasn't. I'll leave you with a video of my back yard in the morning ... I'm so rich!

God Bless You All!

~Grama Sue