Signatures

Handwriting facinates me. It always has. I can remember laying on Mom's bedroom floor as a 4 yr old with a pencil and paper 'writing' away trying to copy Mom's lovely cursive hand. Mom's handwriting is the prettiest I've ever seen, even, smooth, beautiful and perfectly legible.

But there is a particular area of handwriting which especially catches my interest. That is, peopls signatures.

Seeing as I was homeschooled by a history loving Mom I suppose it's no suprise that the signature I know best is John Hancock's famouse Declaration of Independence signature. I love how big, bold and clear it is!

Benjamin Franklin's is a fantastic one as well.

It's so rare to see clear legible signatures now days. :(  Penmanship is a dying art. This is what the modern signature looks like.

Honestly, without knowing that was the persons signature, one would never be able to tell who it was supposed to indicate!

Over the summer I had the priviledge of meeting Mr Daniel Hannon, a British MP, and he signed my U.S. Constitution that I carry in my purse.  I was delighted when my brother (who aquired the signature for me) returned my constitution and I was able to actually READ the signature!

I'm working on my own signature. I want it to be neat, legible and lovely... a throw back to the era when folks took care to do even the simple things like signing their name in a neat and pretty fashion.

Pickled Beets Part III

Pack the jars with the slice beets. Be sure to leave a good 1/2" head space in between the beets and the top.  I had 14 pint jars and two jars which fall in between pint and quart.



Collect your tools. Remember to wash the ladle and funnel.



Pop your first batch of rings into the skillet and let them sterilize.



Skim off the cinnamon sticks and some of the allspice.



Don't take all though, you want to eave enough to put one or two in each jar.



Begin filling the jars with the brine. Leave a 1/4" head space.



Once sealed, set them on their heads for 5 minutes before turning them upright. This helps kill any remaining germs on the lids.

 

Enjoy!  My favorite way to have these is, drain the juice off into a saucepan, add a bit of corn starch to thicken the juice, the return the beets to the sauce and serve warm.

Or my Mom likes to warm the beets up in the juice as is, then saves the juice and pops hard boiled eggs into it and lets them pickle in the fridge for a few days.  Not my cup of tea, but lots of folks seem to like them!

Pickled Beets Part II

If you cook like me, you'll realize now that you only have half the ingredients you need. So take a break and run to the grocery store.

If you're smart and have all ingredients on hand, keep reading!

You'll need...



   

             8 cups of white vinegar.                              3 cups of water.

   

               4 cinnamon sticks.                               2 tablespoons whole Allspice.

  

           1 tablespoon sea salt.                                      4 cups sugar.

Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 or so minutes.  Get your skillet ready for sterilizing your jar rings.


If your jars are not washed, wash them in HOT soapy water. If they are washed, I'd still rinse them in HOT water.



Wash your jar rings as well. I don't bother washing the seals as I always use new seals when I'm canning.

Pickled Beets Part 1

Yesterday I harvested the last two rows of beets in the garden.  I had planted a good bit of beets specifically for making pickled beets. Y'all might know them as Harvard Beets as well.

Our favorite way to have beets is pickled so I thought I'd share the process with all of you. 




If  you've never worked with beets then I'm warning you, they are MESSY! I do as much of my work with them as possible outside, wearing old cloths with the hose nearby.

First, you need to cut off the greens. Some folks save beet greens but I personally don't care for them and would much rather have Swiss Chard! So I hack the greens off and toss them on the compost.

 

Next, they need washed.  This is where the hose comes into play. It helps if the beets are laying on a slotted surface like the picnic table!

 


Now, cut off all the tails and trim off the rough skin around the top.  Toss the tails onto the compost.  Be wary of the beet juice. 

 

Now, before heading inside use the hose to clean up your hands and knife... unless you don't mind beet juice hand prints on your doors!  Once inside, wash them all again.



For this next step a food processor is a great blessing. I use my Mom's old Cuisinart food processor with a #8 blade for slicing my beets. Be sure to quarter the bigger beets before slicing them.

Fig tree.