Harvesting Hawthorne Berries

I had a goal of collecting 5 lbs. of the hawthorne berries today but I didn't start early enough and the sun went down before I finished. I tasted a few of various colors to see which ones I wanted. It basically tastes like a green apple, but not quite so tart. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought it might be a little tart or bitter. None of the colors tasted bad but the darker ones were slightly more sweet. There's not a lot of meat in the little berries because there's 5 seeds, that take most of the inside. The sun has to be shining on the fruit or you can't tell what's red and what's purple. It was hard enough distinguishing with the sun. I kept getting stabbed by the thorns on the limbs though no scrathes, stabs were too bad. In the end, I only got 2 1/2 lbs. I think I picked for 2-3 hours, I'm not realy sure.



While I was out picking, I had dinner cooking in the crockpot, split pea soup. I had a meaty ham bone in the freezer for a few months from the last time we had ham. I always cube all the ham we dno't eat that first night and use it in recipes that call for cubed ham. It tastes much better than the bagged ones you can buy. I save the bone, with meat still attached, for soups. I've never had split peas soup before though and I had a bag of split peas to use up so thought it would be perfect. It filled the whole house with a good smell! I thought it was pretty good, not great, but it was good.



Crock Pot Split Pea Soup

1 (16 ounce) package dried split peas, rinsed
1 meaty ham bone
3 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, plus leaves, chopped
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon sesoning salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh pepper
1 1/2 quarts hot water

1. Layer ingredients in crockpot.
2. Pour in water, so don't stir.
3. Cover and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.
4. Remove Bay leaf. Remove bone & meat from soup.
5. Sperate meat from bone, shred into small pieces and return to pot.

The dogs and I went for another walk tonight. They were only half as long as their first walks but they were all so grateful that I took them. Now, everyone is sprawled on the floor asleep.

Visits & soup

Yesterday, I loaded the trailer with all the things to be recycled that I have been gathering for about 4 months. It filled the trailer and it even filled the trunk. After I unloaded all but the things I was taking to Jared and Debbie's, I headed down to Spanish Fork and visited with the Mendoza's. I taught them how to play graces but I don't think they liked it as much as I do. Valerie scared me by saying there was a fire in the grill where she was cooking. It just turned out to be a lot of smoke. Valerie, Alex and I carried the mattress and box spring to the trailer. I drove up to Heather and Tom's and Heather helped me carry it into the house (I hope you were able to get it into the bedroom, Heather). I visited with her for a couple of hours before heading over to drop off a bunch of plastic bags and some newspapers for packing fragile things. I stayed there for about an hour before heading home.

I've been trying to be more creative with my leftovers so I don't have to eat the same thing 4-5 nights in a row. I bought country ribs to use in the scrapple but I only used half of them. I cooked up the rest of the ribs and ate those for a couple of nights but I got sick of it. I went online and found a recipe for soup using leftover pork. It was really good!! I don't generally like anything too spicy but I loved this soup.

GREEN CHILE CHILI

1 pound cooked pork, cubed
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup choped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (16 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (7 oz) can diced green chiles
1/4 teaspoon oregano
salt to taste
2 cups water

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender. Do not allow garlic to brown.

Add flour and cook until golden.

Add cooked pork and remaining ingredients. Simmer, covered, 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove cover. Simmer, uncovered, 5 to 10 minutes to desired consistency.



Also, I've been trying to be as conscientious as I can about what I throw away. I recycle all the plastic that is recycleable here, glass, cans, bags, paper & newspaper but one thing I haven't been doing is saving food scraps (or rotten food) to throw into the field. Ideally, it would be put in a compost pile but I don't have one of those right now so the field has to do. So today, when I found the dogs treats had mold growing on them, I started saving the scraps and cleaned out the fridge. I'll be dumping it before I go to bed tonight. When I get settled in Boise, I'll see if I can find any red wigglers to start a compost bin.



On a sad note, Adam's dad fell from a ladder this week and broke a rib and his arm. He'll be going into surgery to have a steel rod put into his arm on Tuesday. I'm sure he could use everyone's prayers for a fast recovery.