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Enjoy end of summer vacation with produce

School starts this month already. How fast the summer goes, just when one is busy enjoying it! There is one constant in every household during the school year — the young ones are always looking for something to eat when they get home from the classroom. That is a good time to have conversations with them as they are excited about the start of a new school year and anxious to tell you about all the new things. Whether you have cookies or carrot sticks for them, do enjoy this chance of getting them to talk to you. Too often we, as parents and grandparents, let the “busyness” of our own activities get in the way of talking to the young ones to find out what is going on in their minds and their activities. The start of a new school year is a good time to renew the conversation connection with them, starting now as you plan for the weeks ahead. Look at their school schedules and make plans, as a family, for the days they will have off from the classroom.

The tomatoes here on the hilltop are definitely “late bloomers”. They are just starting to ripen the same time as I am getting a little weary of canning and freezing. Maybe there will be salsa and spaghetti sauce made this year, and maybe not. The farmers’ markets have been doing a great job of keeping us in fresh veggies, for which I am thankful since this year’s garden here is rather diminished. Next year, maybe only flowers will appear on the hilltop. That is, if I can keep the dogs from chasing each other through the rows (the gladiolas that are in the garden now are blooming on the ground.)

We have just returned from South Carolina and celebrating the first birthday of our only great-granddaughter (there are six boys in the “great”-category, so she is special). It never ceases to amaze me how quickly they go from babies to “thirty-something.” I recently held the youngest of the “great” boys when he was only hours old and am so thankful that family group is close enough for us to see more often. It seems such a short time ago that I held his mother, a member of the “grand” generation when she was a new baby, thirty-some years ago. If all your children and their families live close to you, be very thankful and enjoy all the time you can spend with them. Take lots of pictures and record the events in your journal. In later years, you will be glad you did.

Grandmother Semon recorded farm events on a large calendar, the kind banks used to give out. The date of big snows, when the lettuce was planted, what cow was due and other necessary farm information was always recorded. However, when that information was obsolete, the calendar was discarded. How wonderful it would have been if it had been written in a book that might have survived.

We never think to ask questions about past events that shaped a family until all the family members have gone. Why did this event happen or what was living like long ago, etc. Who came to this country with the family or why did they come, and what did they do for a living in the past? Oral history gives us just enough of a glimpse of the past to stir our curiosity and make us wish we could talk to our ancestors. It will be the same with our descendants if we don’t leave a written journal for them. Our kids all know we walked six miles to school, through five feet of snow, all uphill, both going and coming, so the journal you write will be for later generations. It might be a pleasant memory jogger for when we become older, too, or lead to conversations with our own family members. It would be a reminder to ourselves of the accomplishments we worked through in our own lives, too.

We think of all the things we would like to record when we are awake in the middle of the night. By morning, we push them aside and forget the promise to ourselves to write things down. I think I have written dozens of books, all in my head, and that is where they have stayed. I hope you have done better than I have.

Spend the days of August enjoying the end of summer vacation. The chill winds of winter will be here before we realize it. Now, early morning coffee on the deck is a true pleasure here on the hilltop, with the sun coming up and a nice breeze bringing the scent of hay — a good way to start the day in the country. Find your place to relax and plan your day. Count your blessings and give the kids an extra hug. Pray for our protectors and thank a veteran. Help someone today, and keep a smile, even when you don’t feel like it. God Bless.

***

ZUCCHINI COOKIES

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup chopped nuts

1 teaspoon grated lemon peal

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375-degrees. Mix sugars, butter, and eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2-inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake until almost no indentation remains when touched, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool. Frost with Lemon Frosting.

LEMON FROSTING

3 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon grated lemon peal

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon water

Mix sugar, butter, and lemon peel. Beat in lemon juice and water. If necessary, add more water, 1 teaspoon at a time until of spreading consistency.

***

HOT DOG RELISH

5 cups coarsely ground cucumbers

2 coarsely ground hot/sweet peppers

2 coarsely ground green peppers

3 cups coarsely ground onions

3 cups coarsely ground celery

3/4 cup canning salt

1 1/2 quarts water

1 quart white vinegar

2 teaspoons mustard seed

2 teaspoons celery seed

3 cups sugar

Cover cucumbers, peppers, onions and celery with salt and water. Let stand overnight. Drain. Add vinegar, mustard and celery seeds, and sugar. Bring to a boil and cook slowly 10 minutes. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal.

***

CHOW-CHOW

3 large onions

5 medium green tomatoes

6 green peppers

2 cups green beans, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups cauliflower, broken into small buds

2 cups fresh corn kernels

1/4 cup pickling salt

3 cups sugar

2 cups cider vinegar

1 tablespoon mustard seed

1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed

3/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup water

Coarsely grind or chop in food processor the onions, tomatoes, and green peppers. In a large bowl, combine vegetables, beans, cauliflower, and corn. Sprinkle with pickling salt and let stand overnight. Next day, rinse and drain. Place in stainless steel or enamel kettle. Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard seed, celery seed, turmeric, and 1 cup water. Pour over vegetables. Bring to boiling and boil gently 5 minutes. Pour into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace, Seal and process in boiling water bath 15 minutes, for pints, after water comes to boiling.

***

INDIAN RELISH

3 quarts chopped green tomatoes

1 quart chopped onions

1 quart chopped bell peppers (red and green, mixed)

1 tablespoon celery seed

3 tablespoons mustard seed

1/2 cup pickling salt

3 pounds sugar

1 quart vinegar

Combine all ingredients and boil 15 minutes. Be careful not to cook too long. Start timing from the minute the mixture starts to boil up in the center. Stir fairly often. Pour into hot, sterilized jars and seal.

***

PICKLED BEETS

8 cups cooked beets (sliced, julienne-cut, or cubed)

2 cups water

2 cups vinegar

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon canning salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

Combine all ingredients except beets. Heat to boiling, then pour over beets. Pack into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2-inch headroom. Seal. Process in hot water canner for 15 minutes after water starts to boil.

***

Patty Christopher is a longtime food columnist for the Parkersburg News and Sentinel.

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