An Update of Sorts

We haven't posted here much this spring and summer because we haven't really been doing much around the farm. We started fencing off our garden area early in the spring. We had all the posts put in and 1 1/2 sides fenced in with wire.

Matthew ended up getting sick with a lingering infection that we finally got cleared up within the last month and, now, we noticed the 2" x 4" welded wire we used is too loose because the posts are so far apart. So, we have undone the worst of the fencing and have started to reposition the posts so they are closer together.

We got 2 of the 5 posts in today but with the heat and the lack of rain making the ground so hard, that was as far as we got. Hopefully, we will get the other 3 posts done this week and will be able to get the ground tilled soon so that we can have a late summer/fall garden.

Krystal's Italian Tomato Soup

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
3 15-oz. cans crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp. Paula Deen's House Seasoning (recipe towards the bottom of the page)
1 tbsp. Italian Seasoning (I buy mine already blended)

Directions
Mince garlic and onion. Saute in a dutch oven with crushed red pepper until the onion is translucent. Add crushed tomatoes, water, house seasoning and Italian seasoning and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 30-45 minutes or until thickened the way you want it. Yields about 10 cups.

Pumpkin Pie Bread

I have been craving both pumpkin and gingerbread for the last two weeks so, today, I combined them and created pumpkin pie bread.

Ingredients
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
3/4 cup water
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Dash ground cloves

Instructions
Grease and flour a 9-inch pan. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until combined (should be the consistency of muffin batter). Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.