Witch and ghost make merry on this last of dear October’s days...

I LOVE Halloween

When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween


Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead. The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal
cycle.

The festival observed at this time was called Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween). It was the biggest and most significant holiday of the Celtic year. The Celts believed that at the time of Samhain, more so than any other time of the year, the ghosts of the dead were able to mingle with the living, because at Samhain the souls of those who had died during the year traveled into the otherworld. People gathered to sacrifice animals, fruits, and vegetables. They also lit bonfires in honor of the dead, to aid them on their journey, and to keep them away from the living. On that day all manner of beings were abroad: ghosts, fairies, and demons--all part of the dark and dread.
Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people.



Samhain, with its emphasis on the supernatural, was decidedly pagan. While missionaries identified their holy days with those observed by the Celts, they branded the earlier religion's supernatural deities as evil, and associated them with the devil. As representatives of the rival religion, Druids were considered evil worshippers of devilish or demonic gods and spirits. The Celtic underworld inevitably became identified with the Christian Hell.

The Christian feast of All Saints was assigned to November 1st. The day honored every Christian saint, especially those that did not otherwise have a special day devoted to them. This feast day was meant to substitute for Samhain, to draw the devotion of the Celtic peoples, and, finally, to replace it forever. That did not happen, but the traditional Celtic deities diminished in status, becoming fairies or leprechauns of more recent traditions.

The old beliefs associated with Samhain never died out entirely. The powerful symbolism of the traveling dead was too strong, and perhaps too basic to the human psyche, to be satisfied with the new, more abstract Catholic feast honoring saints.

In old England cakes were made for the wandering souls, and people went "a' soulin'" for these "soul cakes." Halloween, a time of magic, also became a day of divination, with a host of magical beliefs: for instance, if persons hold a mirror on Halloween and walk backwards down the stairs to the basement, the face that appears in the mirror will be their next lover.
Virtually all present Halloween traditions can be traced to the ancient Celtic day of the dead. Halloween is a holiday of many mysterious customs, but each one has a history, or at least a story behind it. The wearing of costumes, for instance, and roaming from door to door demanding treats can be traced to the Celtic period and the first few centuries of the Christian era, when it was thought that the souls of the dead were out and around, along with fairies, witches, and demons. Offerings of food and drink were left out to placate them. As the centuries wore on, people began dressing like these dreadful creatures, performing antics in exchange for food and drink. This practice is called mumming, from which the practice of trick-or-treating evolved.

May Jack-o-lanterns burning bright
Of soft and golden hue
Pierce through the future’s veil and show
What fate now holds for you.

From ghoulies and ghosties
And long-leggedy beasties
And things that go bump in the night,
Good Lord, deliver us!

Our Country Life

You may have heard me say before that my only real ambition in life was to be a mother and wife.  It is still true today, however, the gig doesn't pay well so I am back to another year of teaching.  I do, at least, teach a subject I love.  Environmental science ties in nicely with my desire to live sustainably and be the best human being I can be.   A new change in the way we are doing things this year is homeschooling.  Our 13 year old twin boys are taking a year off to reinforce traditional life skills and fine tune their academics.  They are going back to basics, incorporating Bible study, and enjoying some time with their grandparents.  We have taught them to can food, clean and sharpen lawnmower blades and tools, chop and stack wood, drive a truck, grow a garden and tend animals, and they are in the process of engineering solar panels.  We did all of that this summer! They already could cook, but through 4-H they are becoming "Grill Sergeants" and will someday make their wives very happy with their newly acquired skills. My children's youth is slipping away and I am at work while it slides through my fingers.  Regardless, I am trying to enjoy as much of it as I possibly can. I love the country life and I took some pics to document ours. 

This morning's breakfast was chocolate waffles with fresh cherries, and western omelets. 90% of this meal was grown and produced by our family!

Want to be more sustainable too?  Here is a tutorial on canning salsa.  It is a good place to start! We have been canning corn, peaches, and tomatoes for several days but we are switching to salsa in the following photos.

SALSA Ingredients

• Tomatoes - about 15 lbs (yes, quite a few - you remove the skins, seeds ( I leave the seeds in because they don't bother us) and a lot of the water, so it takes a lot to start.) You'll need about 3 quarts of prepared chopped tomatoes. This makes about 8 pints of salsa! If you only want to make a single jar, see this page instead!
• Salsa mix or your own seasonings. The Ball salsa mix sells for about $2.00 to $4.00 per packet. A packet will make about a 7 pint jars. See step 7 below for seasonings.
• 2 cups Lemon juice (if you make your own seasoning) or  white vinegar (if you use the Ball or Mrs. Wages mixes)  Ball is better IMO.
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 10 Jalapeno peppers chopped (or as many as you like)
• 5 onions chopped (or as many as you like)

Equipment 

• 1 Water bath Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 - $30 at  local "big box" stores.  Canners, supplies and kits    can be purchased by clicking here if you prefer. Tomatoes are on the border between the high-acid fruits that can be preserved in a boiling-water bath and the low-acid fruits, vegetables and meats that need pressure canning.
• Pint (or smaller) canning jars (Ball or Kerr jars can be found at Publix, Kroger, or local "big box" stores - about $8 per dozen jars including the lids and rings).
• Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
• Rings - metal bands that secure the lids to the jars. They may be reused many times.
• Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars) 
• Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at mall kitchen stores and local "big box" stores.  I love this do hickey - it is a magnet with a handle.
• 1 large pot.
• Large spoons and ladles
• Jar funnel ($3-Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger and Safeway and local "big box" stores; sometimes even hardware stores)

Step 1 - Selecting the tomatoes and chopping the veggies

It's fun to grow and pick your own and you can obviously get better quality tomatoes.  The ones above are the "uglies" from our garden.  We slice the prettiest fresh and can the ones  on which the bugs and birds munch. All the veggies below are from our garden - they are so much better than anything you can get from the grocery store. If you don't garden visit the farmers market.  Chop the peppers, onions, cilantro. etc... and set those aside.

Step 2:  Slipping the Skins

Here's a trick you may not know: put the tomatoes, a few at a time in a large pot of boiling water for no more than 1 minute (30 - 45 seconds is usually enough) then plunge them into a waiting bowl of cold water. This makes the skins slide right off of the tomatoes! If you leave the skins in, they become tough and chewy.

Step 3: Remove seeds and Chop Tomatoes

After you have peeled the skins off the tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half and chop into the size chunks you like best.  Remove the seeds and excess water at this point if you like ( I leave the seeds in because we like them and they add fiber). Combine the spice pack, tomatoes, vinegar, and all veggies in a large pot and mix (no need to cook at this point).

You may add whatever you like at this point, here are some ideas:

3 cups chopped onions

6 jalapeño peppers, seeded, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2 cups lemon or lime juice (if you are using a mix, be sure to follow their recipe; the packet mixes often use vinegar instead of lemon juice)

1 tablespoon salt (optional)

1tablespoon sugar (optional - you use Stevia, my preference (or if you prefer, Splenda) if you are on a sugar-restricted diet, or simply omit the sugar)

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cumin (optional)

2 tablespoons oregano leaves or chopped cilantro

If you like the sauce hotter, add 1 teaspoon of chili powder.

Step 4: Sanatize and Heat Jars

The dishwasher is fine for sanatizing the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle. I get that going while I'm preparing everything else, so it's done by the time I'm ready to fill the jars.
Be sure to let it go through the rinse cycle to get rid of any soap! Lids: Put the lids into a pan of boiling water for at least several minutes.  Note: everything gets sanitized in the water bath to prevent spoilage

                                                                        

Step 5: Filling the Jars

Fill pint to within ¼-inch of the top, clean the rim with a moist towel and seat the lid and hand-tighten the ring around them.  Be sure the contact surfaces (top of the jar and underside of the ring) are clean to get a good seal!

Step 6: Boil The Jars in a Hot Water Bath

Put them in the canner and keep them covered with at least 1 to 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. Process the jars in a boiling-water bath for 20 min. minimum.  This is necessary to kill germs.

 

Step 7 : Cool Down

Lift the jars out of the water and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight). You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok.

Enjoy your salsa all through the winter!  It makes great gifts too!

This is part of the flock - We have 120 or so and way too many roosters, but the roosters are so pretty we can't stand to get rid of them!

Ok, so my goal for today is to get the junk out for a yard sale tomorrow but instead I'm blogging and taking a photo of a really cool manicure I did myself.  These are so cool and you can do them in 10 minutes with no drying time.  http://sallyhansen.com/products/nails/nail-color/salon-effects-real-nail-polish-strips  This design is called love letter and it is 3 days old and still looks great.  Also, if your nails are short (like mine) you can get 2 manicures and 1 pedicure out of a $10 pack.  No bad. huh?  My goal for this blog is to make it like an Online journal for notable moments.  I need to start posting photos of my culinary adventures such as the chocolate beet cake we made this week and the raddish chips we experimented with.  Maybe that will be a good outlet for me.  Oh wait, school starts in a week.  Nothing creative will enter my mind for the next 10 months...