Harvest Survival Food - Baked Wild Rice Casserole

Madame Twig whipped this up during a cooking frenzy while we were waiting for the snow to go away. She filled the freezers with all kinds of food so that we didn't have to think about what we are going to eat once the harvest started. Sorry, can't give you measurements on all of the ingredients, she made it up as she went, but I can tell you it is TO DIE FOR! 

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Baked Wild Rice Casserole

wild rice and basmati rice

1 pkg onion soup mix

1 can kidney beans, drained

frozen spinach

2 handfuls of cherry tomatoes

1/2 can tomato paste

chilli powder

hot sauce

1/2 cup shredded cheese

2 cups warm water

Sprinkle the onion soup mix on the bottom of a baking dish. Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Bake, covered, for 65-70 minutes.

Harvest Survival Food - Wheaten Bread

This is by far the easiest,  most delicious bread you will ever make. No kneading, no yeast, no rising...just mix ingredients and bake. It is an Irish recipe, if you do a google search you will find variations on the recipe which use eggs, treacle or yogurt. Our recipe is ultra simple, which makes it the perfect Harvest Survival Food. Don't confuse this loaf with another Irish bread called Soda. Wheaten is a high fibre whole wheat bread that tastes great fresh or toasted with butter and jam, or the way we often have it during the harvest, with mayo, thinly sliced Balderson Cheese and a dash of salt. 

Pre-harvest survival baking always includes a Wheaten Bread marathon! 

Wheaten

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup natural bran or wheat germ

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk or 2 tbsp vinegar in 2 cups of milk

1/4 cup canola oil

Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in milk and oil. Stir gently to moisten. Put mixture in a lightly greased loaf pan and cook at 350º for approx. 1 hour. Check centre of loaf with toothpick to make sure it is cooked through. Cool on rack. Freezes well.  

Branch, Stick and Twig Art

Ever wonder why we are so crazy about Sticks? Well, take a look at our Pinterest board and then tell us you aren't crazy about them too.

Willow Results

Here are the final pieces of willow weaving we produced over the past two weekends. 

Jackie's basket with a catalan base.

Jill's bird feeder.

Garden globes.

Christmas tree.

Cones and stars.

Wreaths.

Birth of a Wheelbarrow

Is the heat getting to us or does this tire look pregnant? Have you ever seen a baby wheelbarrow?

The Toads are Singing!

What a nice sound they make. They were singing all day today. They sing in the pond to attract females. Did you know the Toads can swim? Take a look... 

What I think is an American Toad. A few friends and I were camping on an island in early June in Nova Scotia. Once one started, many more joined in (mating call?) to the point where it was hard to get to sleep. Just in a quick beach sweep we found 6 of 'em.