Our Thanksgiving - And a better-late-than-never Bake of the Week!

Well, there you have it everyone: our 50th post! I feel like we should celebrate with a cake or something. No? How about with some zucchini-apple pie then:

It didn't last long at all!

I am sure I've mentioned it before, but this is my favourite time of year...

As you can tell, this is just one of the three posts I started, then never finished. This one was dedicated to the wonderful Thanksgiving we shared, and was also going to feature a new creation of ours; zucchini-apple pie. (I can only take partial credit for the pie; though I baked it, the whole idea was Chris'. I think I looked at him like he had two heads when he suggested using zucchini in an apple pie, but as always, he was right. It was delicious!)

Our Thanksgiving was amazing. Everything; from the food, to the conversation, to the warmth and love of being surrounded by our family and friend (you know who you are; and I use the term "friend" loosely; we consider you more family than friend!). Our house was packed; and at final count, ourselves included, there were 19 people present. It was a blast! I kept looking at the food, and beautiful new dishes (we didn't have nearly enough place settings and so I had to purchase more - and was very fortunate to find plates and bowls at $1 a piece, and the flatware was also on sale!), and couldn't believe how lucky we are. That with so many people going hungry in the world, with so much hurt and devastation, we were able to feed that many people a great meal, and not break the bank. Mind you, all the vegetables came from the garden (we had 6 different side dishes), and the desert and dinner rolls were home-made, but still. We are blessed.

And even though our kitchen was packed, it was not uncomfortably so. It kept the house warm, and our rooms were never without the sound of laughter. And then the next day, we went over to Chris' parents for another dinner - what a wonderful weekend! (My stomach is still recovering!)

But back to the pie...

I took the basic apple pie recipe I use, and just substitute peeled and cored zucchini slices for some of the apples. The ratio depends entirely on your own preference, and does nothing to the way it is cooked. In fact, I would go as far as to say it does nothing to the taste, either. It is preferable to use zucchinis that grew large (at least 1 1/2 feet in length) as the texture is then more like apples, but as far as taste goes, the zucchini just absorbs the spices, sugar, lemon, and apple flavour. None of our guest knew what was really in the pie until we told them (after it was consumed, mind you!), and even then, some didn't believe us!

Apple-Zucchini Pie

Take 6-8 cups of a combination of:

apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4 inch thick and

zucchini, peeled, cored and sliced thinly

Mix fruit together in a large bowl with:

3/4 cups sugar

2-3 tbsp flour

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 15 minutes, or use the time to prepare your favourite dough recipe. You'll need enough to make a bottom and top crust for at least a 9 inch pie pan. Once you've filled the pan with the bottom crust, pour in the fruit mixture, and dot the top with 2 tbsp of butter. Cover with the top crust (don't forget to put vents in the top), place a baking sheet undernieth to catch any overflow, and bake at 425 F for half an hour. Then reduce the temperature to 350 F and bake for another 30-45 minutes, until the crust is golden and juices come bubbling out.

I like to serve the pie warm with vanilla ice cream, but it is still good at room temperature (and actually cuts better when it's cooler).

So yummy!

The curse of the 50th post

I have to apologise for the break in writing this month. I am not sure why I stopped, sure, with Hallowe'en costumes and Christmas presents being made we've been a little extra busy, but not so much as to keep from making even a couple of short posts.

I started writing three different topics, but just wasn't able to finish any of them! The first was a celebration for the 50th post; and then it just went downhill from there. But we did it! Here is the 50th post on the blog!

Perhaps to some it is not considered a huge achievement, but to me, it is the start of a long and wonderful journey towards sharing our family's experiences with the world. It may be of some interest to know that one of my main reasons for starting the blog is that I want to one day write a book chronicling our progress towards a more sustainable lifestyle. And by writing a blog, I can not only share our journey now, but go back at a later date and use these posts as the basis for that book.

Sure we've started small; just with friends and family following us here or on Facebook, but every time I see that someone new (and previously unknown to us) has liked our page or has chosen to follow the blog, I get so excited! Though I know that to keep people reading and interested, I have to maintain my posting!

So without any further interruptions, I am going to go finish the other posts I had started (including continuing the Bake of the Week again!), and I'll be back with some more interesting news soon!

True Wealth

I once heard Chris remark that the only true material wealth is land. Not your house, or business, or the buildings on it. But the soil, the earth; the land itself.

For currencies can fail; stocks become worthless; even all the jewels and gold in the world are only worth as much as someone is willing to pay for them. But with enough land to feed and house you, you and your descendants will never be poor.

This idea was a driving force for us when we purchase our home, and we were lucky enough to not only find a house that was everything we could need and more, but one that came with a property large enough for us to begin farming it and make the land work for us. Yet lately that has had an even greater meaning for me.

Unfortunately, the health (both mental and physical) of my grandmother is failing. It is hard enough to watch as she becomes like a little child again; confused and angry when her body and mind let her down, or to hear of the effect this is having on my grandfather; who used her as such a point of strength and support. But now I learn that "The Farm" she owned will be up for sale, and most likely sooner than later.

I use the word farm loosely; though in the days my great-grandfather owned it it was a working cattle farm, right now it is 49 acres of pristine meadows, forest, and lake.

I remember as a child, going up for days at a time and just running free. Playing in the grasses, walking through the woods, having refreshing snacks under the great maple trees that shaded the patio. We were super-heroes there; pioneers; even Sailor Moon! And to hear my mother talk, she has similar memories, of visiting her own grandparents and playing in the fields, being as carefree as a child can be in such nature.

And now, as I think about The Farm leaving the family, I am filled with such a sense of mourning. Not just that it has been with the family now for two generations, but the fact now that even if anyone wanted to, there is no way any of our family could ever afford to purchase that kind and amount of land ever again. It must be worth a fortune.

But I honestly don't care about that. I am saddened that such a gift will be leaving the family. To me, something like that is to be cherished, passed from one generation to the next. I do not care who in our family owns it, as long as someone does.

I do not blame my grandparents; they must do what they feel is right, and I suppose it really is none of my business. What angers me is that it seems like no one realizes what a loss this will be. Everyone is so focused on the here and now, that they give no mind to what my generation's children, or their children's children could be doing with such land. As one of my relatives mentioned, "we've all enjoyed the farm over the years, and it's fair to say that that era is coming to an end." It is spoken as if it was just a place to have fun (which it was), but it boggles my mind that no one realizes the value of The Farm, and not just the monetary value of it.

I just wish I could do more. I know emotionally I can be there for them, offer my support, and I will always be there, no matter what happens. But I just wish I could do more.

I wish I had the funds to buy The Farm outright. It would be in the family, they could spend as much time as they wanted there (or any family members for that matter), but not have to worry about it being a money pit, or about having to keep paying the taxes etc. on a place they just can't live at (the winters can be hard there, the driveway alone is a chore to navigate once the snow arrives).

I wish a bunch of us in the family could go in together and buy it. There is so much that could be done! The Farm could be rented to a family to actually farm it. We could turn it into a CSA; have it available to the Scouts to use as a camp ground (which they used to, I remember as a child walking through the forest and seeing the tree forts they had built); or use it as a venue for re-enactors. It could be lent to a university or school to experiment with various environmentally-responsible gardening techniques.

Now part of me did know this day would eventually come. But I still feel so helpless. I know it's not my place, but I just wish I could do something! Once The Farm is gone, not in any of our lifetimes would we be able to acquire such a thing again. It's sad.

A few months ago, before my grandmother began to get so ill the boys and I went to visit her, and took some great photos. I am afraid they will be all I'll have left to remember such a place, and only hope I can get back again to see it at least one more time. It really is amazing.