Friday, September 10, 2010

FILIGREE ON FENCES


A THING FOR VINES THAT CLING.....


Here are some pictures of the various vines in my gardens! I love them. First are the vines on the back garden fence. Next is the morning glory and bean pole in the vegetable garden.


The biggest vine is my honeysuckle that grows at the entrance to the English Garden. I started it from a cutting.
A scarlet runner bean grows out in the English Garden on an old set of springs from a baby bed. I picked them up at the edge of the road. The picutre would not post for some reason.We painted the side rails and made trellises out of rest of the baby bed too! They sit in other parts of the garden.
"Between the house and the barns was a small stone building, an old milk house with rambling vines creeping slyly up its corners." From "The Fields of May"
Here is the Amish Frosting Recipe I promised. I do not vouch for it's health properties--it's not something you want to make a steady diet of!!!
1 cup milk
4 heaping Tbl. flour
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
Cook milk and flour until thick. Let cool completely to room temperature or cooler. Beat butter and shortening together for four minutes. (The beating time is important-do a full four minutes)
Add sugar to this mixture and beat 4 more minutes.
Add milk and flour mixture and beat 4 more minutes.
You can beat in a bit of vanilla if you desire, but I usually do not.
I usually double this recipe. I bake a nice fudgy chocolate cake in two round pans, cool, and then slice the layers to create 4 layers. Use a nice long bread knife and be careful not to break the cakes. Divide frosting evenly between layers, top and sides. I like this best when chilled. If it gets too warm, sometimes it tends to separate.
We are enjoying incredibly beautiful fall weather here this week. I hope you are too. Please add a comment with your vote (previous post discussions) for your favorite method of breadmaking--by hand or by bread machine! Blessings, LORI

2 comments:

  1. I like vines, too! Yours are lovely.

    I WON'T be sharing that frosting recipe on my Power, Love and Self-Control blog :)

    Do you use like Crisco for the shortening? I know some Amish use lard for a lot of their baking (or at least I see it sold in Amish stores...)

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  2. Rebecca: Thanks for the "vine compliment." Yes, I use Crisco or whatever white shortening I have. I really liked the Smart Balance shortening as a healthier alternative, but can no longer find it on the market. I used it for pie crusts and everything and it was wonderful! PS: Sorry to all readers for the post being run all together--no matter how hard I tried the computer refused to give me adequate spacing!

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