Friday, September 05, 2008, 17:32
The Rural Route 2 Cookbook
I now have copies of the Rural Route 2 Cookbook!
If you would like to order a copy click here to find the cookbook website. Then go to the "Buy Now" button.
The cookbook cost is $16.95 each (plus applicable sales tax if you live in the state of Wisconsin).
And as always -- free shipping!
LeAnn R. Ralph
Thursday, September 04, 2008, 17:05
An Abrupt Change
That's one thing about living in a part of the country where there are seasons. If I don't like the weather, I usually only have to wait a day or two, and the weather will change to something different.
It was hot and humid and sweltering over the weekend. Thursday the temperature is struggling to get up in the 60s. Most definitely, it feels like fall. Starting to look like fall, too. The five-leaved ivy is turning red. The leaves on some of the trees are turning yellow and falling off -- aspen trees, for one. There is some goldenrod blooming and some wild aster and blazing star and dusty clover and white snakeroot.
The fall wildflowers would be here regardless of the drought. They are prairie plants and very tough, although I think there would be more of them if we would get more rain. The leaves on the trees are turning yellow and falling off right now because it has been so dry.
I like the idea that native prairie plants are so tough. Over the centuries, they must have developed under conditions where it was quite dry at times. And they're still surviving now. Not in the miles and miles of prairie as they once were. But in small clusters here and there.
The wild grapes are well on their way to being ripe, too. And so is the elderberry. I don't know if I will find enough of either to do anything with them. I would love to make some grape jelly. You cannot buy grape jelly in the store that has the taste of wild grape jelly. If I could find enough elderberries, I would bake a pie with them. They also make good pancake syrup. For some reason, the elderberries do not seem to set up well as jelly, but they make great pancake syrup.
Actually, I cannot say that I would not be able to "find" enough elderberries, because when I've been driving around the countryside for newspaper work, I see clusters of elderberries in different areas. But whether I can find elderberries where it's *convenient* for me to get them is the thing.
It's also at this time of year that I start to notice how much shorter the days are than they were only a short time ago. We really lose quite a lot of daylight in August and September. Not so long ago the sun was setting at 9 p.m. Then it was 8:30 p.m. Now it's closer to 7:30 p.m. By December, the sun will be setting at 4:30 p.m. I don't really mind the cold weather of winter. It's the short days that bother me most.
LeAnn R. Ralph