Winter

Winter

Monday, May 4, 2020

The Beautiful Days of May

Happy May!

 Can you believe how fast 2020 is racing by?
 In just a little over six weeks, we will be taking care of our sweet grands in Arizona and getting ready to welcome a new baby to our family. My head does spin a bit.


We showed the house four times this weekend. This is the hardest part, having people tromp all through your house, and tell you what they don't like about it and then leave. Then of course, the waiting part. I think that is the toughest part the waiting and living in limbo. I have never been good at waiting rooms.


I read that while you wait for your house to sell, you should keep packing. So I have been packing.
I decided to start going through books. I am a hoarder when it comes to books. I have plastic containers of books. I tell myself, okay I am going to pack these up and take them to the used book store. Then, I look at the box I am supposed to be taking to the used book store and it has three books in it and I have just boxed up five boxes to keep. I find myself, having sort of this love thing going on with books. I can look at each book and remember what was going on in my life at that time. Or the hardest, which person I was reading that book out-loud to or Ron reading out loud. So many emotions are wrapped up in my books. Or the things I used for bookmarks. Pictures of the kids, notes from them. Or lists, or even this recipe I have been looking for for years.

This is only the smallest bit of books, I have bookcases everywhere.


Here is the history of the recipe. Then I will share it with you. When we moved to the house before this house, we had a next door neighbor who was a bit of a grump. Looking back, I think I might have been grumpy too, we had five little kids and I was pregnant with the sixth. I am sure we were very noisy and living next to us I imagine was hard. The kids were always climbing trees and you know rest. (Kicking balls in the pool, making noise, you know)

 In the fairy tale of Rapunzel. Remember what got her Mom in trouble with the witch? It was the salad that grew over the fence that appealed to the Mom so strongly, that she implored her husband to go over the wall and pick the lettuce. Which was how the witch, came to have Rapunzel in the first place.
  My neighbor next door gave me a jar of pickled beets. I had never eaten anything that tasted as good as that jar of beets. I wanted more beets, but I needed that recipe. Since I was pretty afraid to ask, I kept thinking about it and finally my desire for beets was greater than my fear. I got up the nerve to ask her, and she didn't say much, just stared. Then walked off. She was always a little gruff.

Then one day I looked out in her driveway. There was a pile about five feet tall and just as wide of beets! Someone had left her a whole truck load! I would stare and stare. I longed for beets. One day, she gave the recipe to one of the kids. I had never made beets before, and hands down this was the best recipe I had ever found.
 Then I lost the recipe. For twenty years, until last week, going through books, there it was! I had used it for a bookmark.

I am sharing it here so it will be around forever and ever.

Mrs Curlee's Beet Recipe. 

Canned Beet Pickles
Leave skin, short tops and tails on. Cook long enough to be able to slip off  skins. Skin or peel off.

2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cups strong vinegar
1 teaspoon cloves (ground)
1 teaspoon allspice
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 fifth of a thin sliced lemon

Add beets to the liquid Bring to boil---until tender
place in clean hot scalded jars and seal. 

Add garlic clove to each jar. 
to make very clear liquid---use pickling spices wrapped in white cloth,tie Boil to get flavor in small amount of water, add to liquid. 

I am so happy to have it. I wish I had beets in the ground this year. I will get some and make them at some point. 
I wish you all of the best. I hope you are all doing well. Thank you so much for stopping by today,

~Kim~
 
"The wind is tossing the lilacs,
The new leaves laugh in the sun,
And the petals fall on the orchard wall,
But for me the spring is done.

Beneath the apple blossoms
I go a wintry way,
For love that smiled in April
Is false to me in May."
-  Sara Teasdale, May
 

14 comments:

Nellie said...

Well, this is news to me! I had no idea you had your house for sale! It sounds like a rather big move you are undertaking, too! We haven't seen our grandchildren since Christmas, and we've no idea when we will be traveling again! There is too much to risk, so we have been connecting via family Zoom! I hope all goes well with your future plans!

kcmrugs@gmail.com said...

Our home is for sale as well. Luckily by the time they jump thru all the pandemic restrictions to enter the house they are pretty serious. All the best with your sale

Kerin said...

Well, at least one great thing came from you being in the 'begats' this week.. you found that recipe..yay!
Smart of you to share it as well, that way you will always have a resource for it, and everyone that makes pickled beets will have a delicious recipe as well, and hopefully no one will make yucky pickled beets ever again!!

Books are so wonderful, and each one is a wonderful new world :)
I can imagine that parting with your books is difficult.
Look at it this way... you can get new books once you move :)

Smiles :)
~K.

acorn hollow said...

I love beets and books my husband prefers neither. You gardens look lovely.
and lucky you going closer to family.
Cathy

Kessie said...

I'm so glad you posted that recipe! I have some beets to cook up, but I've just been too tired to do it. I might just steam them and eat them before they go bad. :-p I hope you finally get some bites on the house! Ugh, remember the summer we sold our other house? We saw every terrible kids movie at the theater. :-p

Julia said...

In six weeks you'll be getting another grandbaby. That is wonderful. I hope the house will sell before that. Why are people so fussy. They want everything perfect and looking like Hollywood mansions.

I gave a lot of my books away because I wanted to detach myself from them but we still have too many because I keep buying more, lol.

I planted beet seeds yesterday and some carrots but nothing else. I need to buy onion sets to plant as they do better if planted early.

Happy Belated Birthday Kim.
Take care.
Hugs, Julia

Pom Pom said...

Beets. I wish I liked them! I'm so glad you found the recipe!
You DO have lots of books. That's okay. Books are very good and we need them.

TheCrankyCrow said...

I am not a beet fan, but my husband absolutely loves pickled beets. Now if I were a better wife, I would make him some. But hey....there's too many books I haven't read yet to be canning beets! ;-). Seriously, I'm a book freak too and have boxes and boxes and boxes.... I know I need to part with them, but...well, obviously you know. For a while I distanced myself from reading because it was like an alcoholic....I did not know when to quite. I would be bone tired and yet be up til all hours reading...only to have to get up and go to work (and heaven knows, have my wits about me and patience overflowing). So I took a bit of a break...but now I am back at it...full gale. Running out of room to hide the remnants of my habit. Too bad we weren't neighbors....we could trade books back and forth and then not feel quite as guilty??? Stay well and sane my sweet friend. ~Robin~

Susan Zarzycki said...

I have lots of favorite books packed in plastic containers in our basement. These days I read via my Kindle because I have Macular degeneration and need to enlarge the font. Thanks for the recipe! 💖

Rugs and Pugs said...

Not nearly as many as you, but I have way too many books. Mostly crafts, decorating, etc.
Beets. No thank you...but happy you found the recipe :)

Debbie said...

i never liked the disruption of privacy showing a house brings. and people don't wipe their feet or take their shoes off, it can be messy. i have heard that covid19 can come in to your house on your shoes, that bothers me a bit!!!

i think you may be a book hoarder but i think that is the best thing you can hoard...and they are so organized!!

your flowers are, as always, beautiful!!!

Gretchen Joanna said...

I wonder if you expected to be in your house long enough to plant another garden? I'm glad you can!!

Sue said...

Love the beet story, Kim, I too love beets, I also love garlic, but don't remember garlic being in my recipe, thank you for sharing this recipe, I will try and make it this year!

I too have a hard time separating myself from my books and magazines, I have some magazines that are over 25 yrs. old. and books that are older, like you I know what situation I was in while reading those books! I have always wanted to be a Librarian.
praying your house sells soon.
Blessings,
Sue

Bonnie K said...

One of my students made me some pickeled beets. They were fabulous. Thanks for sharing because I think I will plant some beets.