Summer in Colorado

I'm starting to get emails from my followers because I haven't been posting. Well, it's summer in Colorado! And I'm outside for 2-3 hours every morning doing yardwork. Yes, we really HAVE to downsize soon. We have just over 2/3 acre for our yard and that's just too big for me to take care of. But rather than flowers, I have been turning my flowerbeds into fruit beds. And this year, for the first time since we moved in here, we have apples, peaches, pears, cherries, raspberries and strawberries.

I'm seriously thinking of filling up the jacuzzi with dirt and turning it into a planter! I need to find a place to grow some tomatoes and green beans next year! Suppose I could just dig up the entire yard....just not sure I need even more work to do!

This is just one of the raspberry beds, but I think it makes a great way to hide "under the deck". I started out with strawberries in front....but I've had to transplant most of them. I cut the raspberries back to 2' every fall and they produced berries through October last year.

I think it's going to be a bumper crop again this year!

The strawberries are loving the fertilizer I put down. Just so thick. Maybe ripe in another 2 weeks.

The pears have a ways to go, but the tree is going to be full.

The apples are too thick and will probably break some branches this year, but they are looking quite healthy. It's definitely organic gardening in my back yard.

Two peach trees and I will be calling my neighbors to come pick them as we will never eat this much fruit....ever!!!

And the branches on the cherry tree are already bending over from the weight. Don't know when we've had such a bumper crop.

I do have good neighbors who bring their kids and love to come pick the fruit. I take what I can reach from the ground and they bring ladders and huge bags. We have a neighborhood email and I simple send a note when stuff is ready to pick. Sort of fun.

Days like today, I love having so much produce growing right in our back yard. But it sure is work. And it sure cuts into my art time!

Other updates - I've been busy with my genealogy project - working on the Cotopaxi Jewish Agricultural Colony research. The Colorado Jewish Genealogy Society voted me in as their Secretary last week, and I'm going to be working on an art poster contest for the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies.

Kerry is doing great. He has been released from the cardiac surgeon and now with the neurosurgeon's team. Physical Therapy has started on his back. Surgery maybe as early as August.

I'm just too busy to post! But I promise to try to do better!

Fruitless Fruitcake

I grew up in a family that celebrated Christmas as the biggest holiday of the year. My life today is entwined in memories of yummy smells this time of year. So, when it snows in Colorado, I get the urge to bake! Last night, I made Grandma Myrtle's fruitless fruitcake. Ok....don't click away just yet! LOL! I know....no one likes fruitcake. But this is FRUITLESS fruitcake....no candied fruit in it at all. And oh! I wish you could have smelled my house!!! Yummm!!

Now why do certain smells remind us of certain events in our lives? I don't think I had a childhood Christmas without her fruitcake. She also made date pudding, date swirl cookies and sugar cookies (which I made this week). I remember so much food as a kid....tables and counters laden with pies, cakes, dumplings, cookies, cupcakes and candy. It was the one time you ate til it really, really hurt!

So while things were in the oven, I quickly edited some photos from 1964 and did another digital layout.



I even wrote a little poem to go with it:

When it starts to snow
and the sun sets early
I remember holidays
from my past with glee.
Family gathered
to eat and play
time to share
things to say.
Hard to think
it was so long ago.
These photos keep my
memories aglow!

The fruitcake turned out absolutely perfect! You should give it a try...it's a prized family recipe!

Combine these ingredients into a saucepan on the top of the stove:
1 1/2 c raisins
1 1/2c dates
2 c sugar
5 T shortening
2 c water

Cook this at least 20 minutes, boiling all the time and stirring constantly. It will turn into a rather thick paste. Pour it out into a large mixing bowl and stir in

2 c flour
1 t baking soda
2 t cinnamon
1 c walnuts (chopped real fine)

after that is mixed well, stir in 1 more cup of flour

pour into a greased angel food cake pan. You know, the kind with a hole in the center. Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 350F. When done, let cool and then remove from the pan. Wrap tight in plastic wrap and set aside for at least 24 hours. Now, over the years, I have found that it's best to bake this at Thanksgiving and put in the refrigerator until Christmas. OK...who am I kidding? I've never had one last that long around here!!!

It has the consistency of fruitcake, but no fruit...and it should be quite chewy in the center. Just one of my very favorite things to have on hand to serve guests this time of year.


Note: Digital papers and embellishments from Memory Makers Magazine and Scrappers Guide.
Recipe credit to Myrtle House.