Category: Around the Kisner Homestead

Remembering My Big Sister – Jeansylvia

Today would have been my big sister’s birthday…84 years old. She passed away in 2017, but every December 1st since then I’ve made it a point to recall a few of my treasured memories of her. I’d like to share just a few with you. Some time in the last 20 years, she combined her first and middle name to make one…Jeansylvia. To me, however, she will always be Jean.

I have only a few pictures of my sister before I was born. Here is a picture of my family before I was born and they lived in New Jersey.

I was born in New Jersey, and 6 months later we moved to State College. Jean must have been 9 years old in the first picture. Mark would have been 6 years old. I’m sure I was a novelty at the beginning.

About 1957, when we returned from my Dad’s year-long sabbatical in the Philippines, Jean would have been about 20 years old and in college. For this picture we modeled our special outfits representing traditional clothes from the Philippines:

In 1959, Jean competed for the first step in the Miss Pennsylvania Pageant. She won Miss Centre County, but did not go further. This picture below was in the paper. A few years ago, Bert and I attended an 80th birthday celebration of the young man driving the car. (We had no idea who he was in 1959!) This picture was part of his memory board at the party. What a surprise to see my sister on his memory board! I hadn’t seen this picture for many years, so it was a real treat.

More recently we would drive up to Mansfield to have lunch with Jean, Mark and Lita. This is one of my favorite pictures of her:

When she passed away, I had to quickly come up with an obituary while I was in a hotel room. Luckily, her daughter was with me and could fill in all the details of next of kin, etc. However, I wanted to add a sentence or two about her personality. This is what I came up with:

“With a quick wit and engaging smile, she charmed all she met. She was an avid reader, prolific journal writer and nature lover. If you want to honor her memory, love a neighbor, help a friend and pass it on.”

So, CHEERS to you, my big sister! We all miss your smile and sense of humor!

I hope all of you take a minute on a loved one’s birthday to cherish a favorite memory too.

If you’d like to comment or share a memory of Jeansylvia, you can comment here or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Experimental Pancakes for Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Friends and Family! Yes, we had turkey and gravy. Yes, we had potatoes. Yes, we had corn. We did not bother with pumpkin pie because I can’t eat it. We did not have any extra people around so we kept it simple.

It was a lazy day in general so I enlisted Bert’s help in trying a new recipe. It was a recipe suggested by my nutritionist as a way to work more protein into breakfast for a gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free pancakes that incorporated my plant-based protein powder.

Bert’s expertise in making great pancakes from scratch (or even from a pancake mix) is well known in the family. He seems to know just how to adjust the ingredients and the heat under the skillet to make lovely, fluffy pancakes (even on the cook stove at camp!). Since regular pancakes have eggs and milk in them, they have been off my list of acceptable breakfast foods for a long time (so sad).

The following recipe shows the original recipe and the additional ingredients Bert added to make an acceptable pancake. On the right is for a double batch, which is what we made. I really don’t have to be gluten-free, but we thought we’d give it a try.

These were the basic ingredients:

When mixed up it looked like corn bread batter:

When first placed on the griddle, they looked like it might work…

…however, trying to flip them was impossible! The first two pancakes went into the garbage.

So, Bert added flour, oil and some water (exact measurements were not possible at this point.) Remember…this was an experiment!

The next pancake worked much better.

We had to taste this one just to see if it was worth it. It was delicious!

After we nibbled on the first two pancakes, we were left with this lovely stack of thin pancakes.

When they were cool, I carefully placed them on foil and slipped them into the freezer. I’ll package them up so I can have them for breakfast. Next time, we’ll just know to add those extra ingredients at the beginning…but they won’t be gluten-free!

My experimental pancakes ended up being delicious. I’m thankful for Bert’s expertise! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving Day too!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Remembering Our First Date

It seems so long ago, 58 years, yet I’m reminded of our first date every year by the headlines back then…

(Original Caption) New York, New York: Headlines announcing Kennedy’s assassination from three New York newspapers, the Times, the Daily News, and the Herald Tribune. November 23, 1963.

I was eagerly anticipating our first date. We were supposed to go to a fall dance at the High School. We hardly knew each other…had just met in English class our Senior Year, even though we had been in the same schools since 7th grade. Our paths had not crossed in any class before.

We were in our afternoon classes when the PA announcements came on that President Kennedy had been shot. We all listened in stunned silence. Over the next few hours, we were bombarded with all the speculations from the news media, our teachers and our classmates. The details would unfold over the days and weeks to follow.

Many of the pictures in the news are still familiar to me today:

President John Kennedy rides in a motorcade from the Dallas airport into the city with his wife Jacqueline and Texas Governor John Connally.
Lyndon B. Johnson, during his inauguration immediately after John F. Kennedy’s assassination, with Jackie Kennedy by his side.
Members of the Kennedy family at the funeral of assassinated president John F. Kennedy at Washington DC. From left: Senator Edward Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, (aged 6), Jackie Kennedy (1929 – 1994), Attorney General Robert Kennedy and John Kennedy (1960 – 1999) (aged 3). (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

By the time I got home from school, the world had changed. I think we were all in shock. All I could think about was what a relief it would be to go to a dance to feel somewhat normal again…if only for a few hours.

Of course, we had not gotten the memo that the dance was cancelled! So, I got dressed up, Bert came over to pick me up and we went to the school. Oh no! The sign on the door gave us a reality check! We headed back home to just go for a walk around my neighborhood and talk. We hardly knew each other so it was an awkward time.

It was also a memorable beginning to our relationship that I will be reminded of every year. I guess it stuck, because 58 years later we’re still hanging in there!

This year we’ve been married 54 years!

Do you have memories of that day back in 1963? I’d love to hear about them! My email address is marykisner@comcast.net.

Last Garden Update November 12, 2021

Sad as it is, our gardens in November look very similar to how they looked in the early spring (see https://marykisner.com/homestead-tour/). Of course, we had snow on the ground then, but who knows…it could snow this weekend!

Bert has almost everything tidied up except the partial row of carrots that we will probably dig up next week. Here’s how things look now:

The Dogwood trees are done and I imagine the first snow will bring down the leaves.
The whole row of dogwood trees look pretty sad…but notice how green the grass still is! Bert will mow one more time before putting the mowers away.
The Lemongrass is no longer green thanks to the frosts…we’re not sure whether to just cut it off or leave it until spring.
For some reason the chamomile stays green most of the winter. I did cut it back a few weeks ago, but it is still growing!
I cut the Lemon Balm back a few weeks ago, almost down to ground level, but it is determined to stay green a little longer.
The bright green carrots on the left will be dug up this next week. The Lavender will probably not come back next year, but we’re going to leave it alone and see what happens in the spring.
The rest of the garden will have a good rest until spring.
And my dear Echinacea will drop all those seed soon. Hopefully we’ll have a nice full patch of flowers next year.
The Butternut trees dropped their leaves quite quickly after the first frost.
And of course, Bert has removed the rain barrels for the winter and connected the spouting back up on the shop. If you want to see how he hooks them up, see https://marykisner.com/setting-up-the-rain-barrels/.

So, the next posting about the garden will be next spring. Maybe I’ll have to share snow pictures for all you folks in California, Texas and Florida…just to remind you what you’re missing! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Internet Down, Change of Plans

Yesterday we headed out before 8 a.m. for our yearly appointments with the eye doctor. While I was waiting for Bert to finish his appointment, I mentally made a list of the things I needed to do when we got home…most had to do with things I needed to finish online. I needed to finish downloading a book to read; I wanted to print out a recipe I had found the day before about using essential oils to make a serum to use to strengthen my nails; and I had email to send out. Top of the list was to send a text to our daughter about a possible visit after Thanksgiving.

When we got home…a little bleary-eyed from having our eyes dilated…lo and behold we discovered our internet service was down and the TV was not available. Then we found our AT&T cell service was also not working! Rats!

For the first hour or two, we were struggling to figure out if it was problem with our computers, the router, or our wiring, etc. We determined it was not our equipment. (Later, we heard that a huge off-road dump truck at a nearby quarry had forgotten to lower his truck bed and had tangled with poles and wires serving both the internet service and AT&T!) Service was out for the whole day!

So, now plans needed to change! First, I needed to get in touch with our daughter…but text, email and cell phone calls were out. Luckily, we still have our land line so I could call her. After that, we settled in with “real books” and enjoyed some quiet time.

I usually reach for the TV music channel for background music while we read so I found music on my phone and with bluetooth was able to connect with the small Bose speaker in the living room. Perfect!

Next, I melted down some soap to make more individual soaps for gifts.

Finally, I made a small batch of applesauce from some apples given to us by a neighbor. Yum!

A nice quiet day! I must say it was pretty quiet without any spam phone calls and nuisance emails and texts. Of course, when the power was restored we played catch up…the phone started ringing with junk calls and I had over 50 junk emails! Actually, this was a good reminder to print out recipes and download books when I can…just in case!

I hope you have some real books to read on your shelf and other projects available in case this happens to you! Outdoor activities away from technology will always be available too. I hope you had an uneventful week!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Hydrate With Sweet Drops in Your Water

Water, water everywhere! One pass through the “water” or “soda” aisle in the grocery store can be enlightening. We can buy plain water...bottled from local tap water or spring water from someplace else; carbonated water…with added fizz; flavored water…with added sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners from sucralose to aspartame, to natural sweeteners from fruit to stevia; and water that’s been incorporated into soda drinks, with sweeteners and caffeine. So many choices and so expensive!

Apparently, many of us are still dehydrated! Hard to believe, I know! I guess our bodies know when we aren’t getting enough water. Sugar water with fizz makes us think we are drinking enough, but our bodies still have to filter out the sugar and other chemicals to make use of the water. So, the advice out there is to drink more plain water!

I’m still working on drinking more water (see https://marykisner.com/from-the-bookshelf-infused-water/). While the water infused with fruit and herbs was interesting and tasty, it was just not easy to work into my day. I prefer bottled water or water in a thermos when I’m driving, or ice water in a restaurant, and I found I was still reaching for diet soda at home. I’m now going to try harder to drink more water and get the diet soda out of my life!

I remembered I had these Sweet Drops in my cupboard and pulled them out.

It says on the bottle: “each tiny 2 oz. bottle will flavor over 200 8 oz. glasses of water!” (Each bottle costs about $6.00). The Drops are made with Stevia, a natural sweetener. Some folks say they don’t like the after-taste of Stevia, but I think they are using too much. Five drops are enough to counteract the chlorine taste in the water and ice cubes and generally make the water “taste” better. The goal is not to make a sweet soda-like drink out of these drops, but to make the water itself more appealing. Some of the flavors come in drops like this:

I think the drops must be “bigger” since this has only 32 servings!

You can find these drops on Amazon and possibly your Health Food Store. Another idea is to add a splash of ReaLemon concentrate to a glass of ice water. It feels like I’ve added a slice of lemon…just like in a restaurant.

So, find your favorite glass, mug or thermos…add cold water and maybe ice…and a few Sweet Drops and hydrate! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Garden Update October 3, 2021

The weather is finally feeling like fall and our garden tasks change from production to preservation and clean up. The only food item left in the garden is carrots, and we’ll dig them up as we need them. Take a look at things today:

The planter I used for lettuce and radishes is at rest until next spring.
The spearmint is drooping a little but we’ll enjoy it until the first frost.
We planted the lemon grass late this summer. Not sure what to do with it yet.
Chamomile was buried under the lemon balm, but it’s still green.
The stevia and lemon balm are trimmed for the winter.
I cut the basil off, but the rosemary is still looking good.
I may still harvest some thyme from these plants.
The geraniums still have flowers.
Bert emptied the rain barrels by the shop and today he’s draining the big tank out into the grass.
Up in the garden the only plants left are the carrots and the lavender. We’ll use the carrots over the next two months. Not sure if the lavender will come back next year.
The rest of the garden beds are empty.
The echinacea is going to seed.
The large butternut trees are two different varieties and the one on the left loses its leaves first.
But the redbud trees have shown no sign of changing color or dropping their leaves.
The lavender I picked during the summer is finally dry enough to rub off the buds.
Here’s the bag of lavender buds ready for me to use in sachets.
Some of the echinacea seed heads were ready to pick.
The green and wax beans are dried and ready for soup.
The tomatoes are processed into sauce…ready for pizza or spaghetti.
And the carrots are ready to eat!

So that’s the end of the adventure of the Kisner’s garden for 2021. This year we tried to grow only what we will eat or at least are willing to weed and preserve! Who knows what the seed catalogs in the spring will entice us to try? Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Remembering Patty and her Italian Bread

I pulled out my recipes today to make some Italian bread. It’s been a while so when I found the recipe I was reminded of my sister-in-law, Patty…my big brother’s first wife. She was a real sweetheart and my mentor when I started my own family.

Here’s an early picture with two of their kids, Eric and Pam. Paul, Todd and Teresa rounded out their wonderful family by the early 1980’s. We were sorry to lose her in 1984, but my memories keep her in my heart to this day.

In 1980, Ted, Kathy and I spent a few days with my brother’s family on the farm in northern Pennsylvania. We borrowed my sister’s motor home while she was out of town and had an adventure going to Uncle Mark’s farm.

Ted was four and a half and Kathy was three. Such sincere smiles!

We parked the motor home in the backyard of the farm house and enjoyed visits with the barn cats and the cousins. Early on the first morning, we were awakened by sheep sounds. What a surprise to look out the window and see we had been surrounded by a whole flock of sheep! That was the beginning of our adventure!

Of course, this post is about making Italian bread so let me just say every time I make this recipe, I’m reminded of those days visiting the farm. Patty was always baking something and I was inspired by her ability to whip out this Italian bread or homemade pizza crust in a flash. We had many conversations about baking with whole wheat flour and making our own yogurt. Great memories!

So…here is the recipe for her Italian bread:

When I make bread, I often start with the liquid ingredients and then add flour. This recipe starts with all the flour in the bowl and then adds the liquid ingredients. I had forgotten this, but it worked out just fine.

At this point, I dumped the dough out onto the floured table, gave it a few “kneads” and put it an oiled bowl to rise.

An hour later, the dough had raised to the top of the bowl.

I shaped it into two long loaves and let it raise on the pan.

After 40 minutes the dough was almost over the side of the pan so it went into a hot oven (400 degrees). In 20 minutes the whole kitchen smelled great!

Of course, before I could get a picture of the loaves, SOMEONE had to have a chunk!

So that’s the story of Patty’s Italian bread recipe, memories and all! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Garden Update August 31, 2021

Fall is in the air! The garden is winding down, the evening dusk is coming earlier every day and school buses have started to roll by. The last of the garden produce is ready for harvest. Luckily, the echinacea flowers are still spectacular and the lavender flowers are going strong, so the garden doesn’t look abandoned.

Here’s the latest tour of the garden plots:

First, the raised planter still has one batch of lettuce growing well. The last radishes are in the refrigerator ready for the next salad. The lettuce on the left was cut a few days ago, but the roots are still there. We’ll dump the whole bin shortly.

The spearmint is in flower and the bees are busy.

The cucumbers are long gone but just a month ago Bert planted a lemongrass plant, just to see how it would do. Pretty huge now, but I know it won’t survive the winter.

On the left the chamomile is pretty flat, but I was able to harvest some of the flowers for future use. In the center is lemon balm and on the right is stevia. Kind of got out of control with the heat, but the bees are loving the flowers.

The red and green basil is crazy too. On the right is thyme. Time to cut it all back. The thyme and rosemary (hidden behind the basil) should come back next year if I mulch it over the winter.

Up in the garden on the hill, the row of lavender is beautiful. I am cutting stems of flower buds to dry. The row next to it is carrots. They are pretty much done growing but we’ll leave them in the ground for another month or two. We’ll dig them up as we need them.

This section had two rows of carrots and two shorter rows of beans. We pulled the beans last weekend and dug up most of the carrots. (Remember that carrot cake I wrote about last week!)

This section is green beans just beginning to flower. They were planted in late July and I wasn’t sure they would make beans before the first frost. We’ll see!

These two sections had tomatoes and early beans. Last weekend we pulled the tomato plants. A dozen tomatoes are on the kitchen table. We’re eating them every day. Delicious!

And the beautiful echinacea are blooming their hearts out. They should reseed themselves and come up next spring.

A few flowers have turned black, so soon I can cut them to save the seeds!

Another hint that fall is coming is the furious feeding frenzy of the hummingbirds. Usually they disappear around Labor Day, so each day we see them is a gift. Just as we were excited to be anticipating gardening season, something about the change of the seasons seems just right. Fall has its own beauty here in Pennsylvania. Time for pumpkins and apple butter! I’m ready to have cooler nights and fall colors. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

From Carrots to Vegan Carrot Cake

It’s been a while since I made carrot cake but a new pile of carrots from the garden was irresistible. A neighbor who was generous with her potatoes, which we didn’t grow this year, inspired me to make carrot cake, with an extra to share.

Since I knew the carrot cake recipe has many steps, including shredding the carrots, chopping the nuts and measuring out all the other ingredients, I figured it would be easier to just do both cakes at the same time.

Here’s the recipe:

Note: A little change to the recipe…this needs to bake longer than 45 minutes…probably 50-55 minutes. I usually make cupcakes and they cook through fine, but the center of these cakes was still too moist. The toothpick came out clean, but when cool the center was not cooked enough. I kept the cake in the refrigerator and that helped, but in the future, I’ll go back to making cupcakes.

To make two cakes I needed a lot of carrots. Luckily, we had just dug some up from the garden. I still needed a few extra, but the little ones from the store didn’t shred very easily. I finally had to chunk them up before feeding them through the food processor shredding blade. (Note to self: start with more big carrots!)

(Sorry…I forgot to take a picture of the food processor working).

I measured out all the ingredients in matching bowls so I wouldn’t miss anything.

Before I mixed everything all together, I preheated the oven and sprayed the pans…

…and scooped the batter into the pans.

While the cakes were baking, I washed up all the dishes. I was amazed how many dishes I used to make this double batch. Whew!

The cakes turned out just fine…but not quite cooked in the middle. I noticed that didn’t stop us from eating it!

A little sprinkle of powdered sugar dressed it up. My neighbor seemed pleased to give it a try! Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly if you have questions at marykisner@comcast.net.