Sunday, December 22, 2013

Nearing Hibernation Mode

What with all the cold weather and snow our area has been having so far this winter, Papa Pea and I are very, very thankful we are spending the holidays here at home without having to drive any long distances.



Summer before this last one, I made lots of juice concentrate from our blueberries and raspberries.  The plan was to mix the concentrated stuff with water to have our own juice to drink.  It's worked out well although certainly the juice is not as sweet as commercially prepared juices.  But that's okay as it's the nutrients from the fruit we want rather than added sugar, right?  This morning I found another use for the pint jars of concentrate I still have left.

A while back I bought a case of organic frozen orange juice concentrate.  But drat and dang, the juice had a sour twang to it and because of that wasn't being consumed with any regularity.


This morning I mixed one jar of my blueberry concentrate into the jar of mixed up orange juice.  Wow!  Don't know what magic happened, but we now have an extremely tasty fruit drink which will encourage us to drink not only the orange juice but the homemade concentrate left.  As Kristina has on her blog header,

Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without.

Such a good feeling to be able to resurrect that sour orange juice by making it into a very desirable drink using my homemade concentrate.


This is my nest these days.  I park my bottom on the chaise lounge part of the couch and cover up with my Christmas quilt.  I have books to read, paper and pencil for making notes, knitting needles, yarn and patterns and should the desire hit, remote controls for the TV and DVDs on my right side.  Last night I toppled over onto the pillow against the couch arm and was sound asleep when Papa Pea came out of the bathroom after getting ready for bed.  Awake or dozing, it's a mighty comfortable spot when it's time for some relaxing.


It's another day when it's too cold to snow (9°), but it currently is snowing and blowing out there.  The above is a shot of one of our window boxes outside the kitchen window.  One would expect there to be green boughs and red berries underneath the little drifts, but instead there are branches of fall leaves and miniature pumpkins and gourds.  Weeks ago, we had our first wet, freezing snow before I could get the fall decorations pulled and the winter ones in the boxes.

Yessir, if you want to experience real winter time this year, come to northern Minnesota! 

14 comments:

DFW said...

Mama Pea, That juice does sound delicious. And, I love your nest!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Your drink sounds wonderful. Love your "nest" too. I think I will go "park" my behind in a cozy place and knit tonight too.

Mama Pea said...

DFW - The problem with my nest is that I feel like I could stay there all winter!

Mama Pea said...

We just finished dinner and I have an urge to do some knitting tonight, too. I'll be thinking of you!

Lisa said...

I LOVE your nest and your juice concoction sounds delicious and healthy.... and what a beautiful winter wonderland view you have out your windows and over the flower box drifts. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

RockWhisperer said...

I, too, believe in "using it up" . That's an old saying that I grew up with, my mother followed the discipline as well, though not with much forethought. Ever had lime jello salad with dill pickle brine in it? I have. YUK. Once in awhile, there are things a person just ought to throw away.

I think the concentrated juice idea is a good one, I pressed a lot of apples last summer and we are drinking that instead of buying orange juice this winter. It's a good feeling, consuming that which you prepared with your own hands from things that grew locally. You don't have to wonder what's in it.

Just hopped over here from Glenda's blog, looks like lots of good reading here.... Ilene in Oklahoma

Leigh said...

Juice concentrate canning is a brilliant idea! Now, why didn't I think of that. Hmm, I wonder if I could still do that with the zillion frozen blueberries I have.

You have to appreciate winter weather like yours because it does let us nest and take a break from the busy summer kind of life. To everything there is a season!

Tombstone Livestock said...

That looks like an excellent spot to hibernate .... and zzzzzzzzz.

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - I went to town today and was surprised to see how high the plowed snow was on the streets. We haven't had this much snow in so long I think we've forgotten what it looks like!

The best holiday wishes to you and your family, Lisa!

Mama Pea said...

Hi, Ilene! Thanks for commenting.

Oh, to have enough apples to make our own apple juice! What a treat that would be.

My husband's mom must have been related to your mother. She was famous for making "substitutions" in her recipes to use up what she had. She once put a small can of fruit cocktail in a casserole because she didn't have a small can of mushrooms. (Hey, that would have gone well with your lime jello salad with the pickle juice!)

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - You have a ZILLION FROZEN BLUEBERRIES?? Be prepared for visitors with bearing buckets!

Oh, I do appreciate our winter time as a rest and break from gardening. As much as I love it and feel growing our own is a necessity, I treasure the down time winter affords us up here.

Mama Pea said...

Tombstone Livestock - All my adult life I've maintained there is a very lazy person inside me trying to get out. If I let myself, I could spend so much time on that couch!

Evelyn aka Starfishy said...

I save my juice concentrate for making jelly. A popular recipe in my area is rhubarb punch (uses 7-UP though as a sweetener). Sometimes our best recipes are discovered by accident - glad you found a mix you like! Cheers! Evelyn

Mama Pea said...

Evelyn - Yes, I've had that rhubarb punch (made with 7-Up) and it is GOOD! I put a pint of the raspberry concentrate in some orange juice yesterday and my hubby is raving about it. Making the concentrate sure is an easy way to use up a surplus of berries in the summertime. I'll bet your jelly from your juice concentrate is yummy!