Sumac Jelly

  Ever heard of it? When one thinks of Sumac", they normally think POISON! However that is not the kind of Sumac I am speaking of.
  The kind of Sumac that I am talking about was used by Native American Indians. It can be used to make tea, Sumacade(like lemonade) , jelly or you can dry it as a spice. Add it to pepper for a lemon/pepper seasoning.
  We just made our first batch of jelly with it. A tall tree like bush that was an impediment to me one day, is now a gold mine! Funny how seeing things for what they really are, changes your perspective!
  That is part of the path of self sufficiency isn't it?
  First lets talk about the safe, non poisonous type of Sumac. The clusters of berries are RED.
  Second lets talk about the unsafe, poisonous type of Sumac. The clusters of berries are WHITE.
  So, red good! White bad! There is a clear way to identify the difference...color!
 
 
  Here is a picture of the Sumac that I use. Sumac has the flavor of a mild lemon juice. Sumac berries should be harvested before a big rain. The reason being, there are small hairs on the berries which affect the taste factor of the final product. A hard rain will wash this hair away and leave a bitter flavor. As well, too much boiling will do the same. I treat the Sumac delicately. Here is how I do it.
  We harvest the red cone shape berry clusters by nipping off the entire head. I clean the cones  by gently submerging them into a pot of cold salt water. Then again in clean water. Following this I put on a pot of water to boil. When it has come to a boil I turn it off. When it is done boiling and has cooled a bit, I plunge the cones in and let them steep. After a while I get a potato masher and help to extract the juice. After about , hmmm, who knows, I go off and do some things with one of the 9 children then come back:)......Not likely more than an hour. I then strain out all of the berries through a colander. Then, I strain it through a mesh strainer. THEN I strain through very fine mesh or tripled cheese cloth. Yes by the time I am done I have strained it three times to ensure that I have gotten every single little hair out of the juice. If you swallow one of these you will know it, as it is scratchy on your throat...I speak from experience:)
  Now the following confession is not a recommendation as I would never want to contradict the experts (whoever they are) If you want to make Sumac jelly ''properly"then get a box of Sure Jell, follow the directions for Elderberry (minus the lemon juice) and make it like they say. The following is merely what I do...
  I essentially double the recipe. I also only use bulk fruit pectin as it is cheaper by FAR. If you want to be REALLY self sufficient make up some apple juice to go with it and skip the powder pectin altogether. Ok so here is my DOUBLE recipe;
6 cups Sumac juice
9 cups sugar
10 T powder pectin (which is equivalent to two boxes)
  Add the pectin to the juice and bring to a boil. (also add a bit of butter for foaming if you like. I do)
  Dump in all the sugar, bring to a boil again and keep at a full rolling boil for 1 minute.
  Water bath process for 5 minutes....wella! That will make 6 pints.
  I would love to hear what you think about it! We love it and it must be good! They sell it for 9$ a pint online!
 Enjoy!
 

Carrot crop!

  My daughter finally grew some great carrots this year!

  We thought it would be nice to dehydrate some so we can eat them in the winter- thus taking another opportunity to thank her for her efforts!

Tea harvest!

  Mint tea that is! We were also able to put up some lemon balm. 

  There's just something so homey and quaint about raising, hang drying and putting up tea!

  So comforting to know that it's clean, organically grown, safe to drink and from the front yard!  No chemicals, poisons, not from an unknown source! 

  Isn't it such a blessing? 

HERE IT IS! THE WICK OMNIBUS!

This guy does a far better job than I could do of giving a raving review of this incredible series so I will let him have at it!
 

Dear review reader, How I envy you. If you are reading this, there's a good chance it means that you have never read W1CK and you're trying to decide whether or not you'll give the Omnibus a chance. If you do, you'll get thrown into the kind of mindbending narrative that redefines the way you thought about books. And that's why I envy you. I wish I was, just like you, about to embark on this fabulous adventure for the first time. It makes me kind of mad, actually. Sure, I could reread it, but the pleasure of entering that world without knowing what to expect can't be repeated. Well, actually, that's not quite true. The feeling itself can be repeated: I had experienced it before when I discovered Hugh Howey's Wool. You see? That's the type of experience you're about to face. OK. A few arguments to help you decide, then. But no spoilers here, don't worry. First, it's cheaper than buying the four separate books that constitute the whole story. Second, no, you don't need to be a science-fiction addict, or a dystopia-lover, or a survivalist buff, or anything really, to love this book. Except, and that's my third point... Third, this book is first and foremost real, good, well-written Literature with a capital L. I mean a book written by an author, not just a writer. I mean a book in which each word was carefully weighed and compared with others before being chosen for its surface and hidden meaning. I mean a book that will thrill you first with its narrative, but that will more importantly keep you on your toes and make you read between the lines to get the deeper meaning. About that. And I could have said... Wait, I'll just do it: Fourth, don't worry about that deeper meaning. You may have read about Michael Bunker before, you might have seen a photo or two, and you could be worried that his intentions don't fit in with your lifestyle or beliefs. I'm saying this because that's what I felt at first when I started. I was a little suspicious. So let me just get things straight with that "deeper meaning" thing. It's not about religion or survivalism or anything like that. Once again, it's all about Literature and tying things together, putting multiple meanings into words, creating Meaning. An author, what I personally call an author, is not someone who spends hours a day just to come up with flips and twists. There has to be more. And there is with Bunker. It won't try to convert you to anything or ask you to believe in anything. It's "just" an awesome narrative written like a classic by a master of letters.   Max Zaoui ~ Everyone’s a Critic Reviews

Copyright © 2013 Michael Bunker, All rights reserved.

A book recommendation coming soon!!!

  As soon as I get the complete details- which will  be SOON- we are going to recommend a book series to you.

  It is a HIGHLY recommended book from us and we would like to see all of our friends read it!

  Stay tuned and get ready to hear about it....!!!!

My girl and I!

  We decided to take a pic together today as we waited for Daddy to take us to town. After 5 tries we gave up and settled for this one! How do you like it??