This year's weather has been tough! It was so cool for so long and then...BAM!...hot. Blueberries didn't fair very well--we missed out on those all together. Our favorite picking farm really struggled to have berries available to pick and those already picked were so expensive! But the peaches are beautiful and plentiful.
First half bushel gave me:
2 batches Peach Salsa
1 batch Peach-Pineapple Jam
peaches gobbled by the family :-)
I just picked up another half bushel today at the market. In a couple days I plan to can quarts of peaches in light syrup. Haven't done that in ages, but these are so good and much more reasonable than the past couple of years. The farmer tells me I should get about 12 quarts from my half bushel; we'll see how I do.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Finally Official
Scout earned his Eagle on July 11, 2011.
We waited a long time for the official paperwork to arrive, but it got here last night via his Scoutmaster. Court of Honor is in the works to celebrate Scout's achievement. We are so proud of him!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Swiss Chard, Beets & Potatoes
YUM! Bounty from my garden (Swiss Chard) and the Farmer's Market made an amazing dinner today. (We ate "dinner" at "lunch" because of events happening later today. :-) ) Gotta write this down before I forget what I put in the pot. Measurements will come later--when I make it again. Thankfully there is just enough left to feed DH for supper!
Ingredients:
olive oil
1 onion
big scoop of garlic
3/4 package bacon
4 redskin potatoes
4-5 beets, peeled
bunch of Swiss Chard
Canadian Steak Seasoning
cider vinegar
Slice all veggies into thin pieces/chunks. Cut bacon into pieces. Olive oil in cast iron dutch oven (with lid). Add onion and garlic and saute. Then add bacon chunks. Next add potatoes. Stir often to avoid sticking to pan. Sprinkle some seasoning. When potatoes start to soften, add beets and Swiss Chard stem pieces. Sprinkle some more seasoning. Cover to cook down a bit. Continue with stirring. When cooked through, add Swiss Chard leaf pieces and cider vinegar. Replace lid and simmer a couple minutes.
Ingredients:
olive oil
1 onion
big scoop of garlic
3/4 package bacon
4 redskin potatoes
4-5 beets, peeled
bunch of Swiss Chard
Canadian Steak Seasoning
cider vinegar
Slice all veggies into thin pieces/chunks. Cut bacon into pieces. Olive oil in cast iron dutch oven (with lid). Add onion and garlic and saute. Then add bacon chunks. Next add potatoes. Stir often to avoid sticking to pan. Sprinkle some seasoning. When potatoes start to soften, add beets and Swiss Chard stem pieces. Sprinkle some more seasoning. Cover to cook down a bit. Continue with stirring. When cooked through, add Swiss Chard leaf pieces and cider vinegar. Replace lid and simmer a couple minutes.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Strawberry Jam Recipes
I usually count on the recipe sheet inside the little box of pectin when it comes to making our favorite jams. This year, however, they have a new little bottle of pectin that you buy instead of the boxes. No more little recipe sheet! I'm typing in my favorite recipes here so I'll be able to find them next year! (Both recipes are from Ball pectin.)
Strawberry Lemon Marmalade
4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 1-lb containers)
1/4 cup thinly sliced lemon peel (about 2 medium lemons) (We used the zester for smaller pieces)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
6 cups sugar
Hull and crush berries one layer at a time using a potato masher. Combine lemon peel and water to cover. Simmer 5 minutes. Drain and discard liquid. Add peel to prepared strawberries. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Fill jars, seal and water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes 7 (8 oz) half pints
Triple Berry Jam
2 1/2 cups crushed strawberries (about 2 1-lb containers)
1 1/2 cups crushed raspberries (about 3 6-oz containers) (I pulled from the freezer)
1 cup crushed blueberries
7 cups sugar
Hull strawberries and stem blueberries. Crush berries one layer at a time using potato masher. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Fill jars, seal and water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes 8 (8 oz) half pints
Strawberry Lemon Marmalade
4 cups crushed strawberries (about 4 1-lb containers)
1/4 cup thinly sliced lemon peel (about 2 medium lemons) (We used the zester for smaller pieces)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
6 cups sugar
Hull and crush berries one layer at a time using a potato masher. Combine lemon peel and water to cover. Simmer 5 minutes. Drain and discard liquid. Add peel to prepared strawberries. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Fill jars, seal and water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes 7 (8 oz) half pints
Triple Berry Jam
2 1/2 cups crushed strawberries (about 2 1-lb containers)
1 1/2 cups crushed raspberries (about 3 6-oz containers) (I pulled from the freezer)
1 cup crushed blueberries
7 cups sugar
Hull strawberries and stem blueberries. Crush berries one layer at a time using potato masher. Gradually stir in pectin. Add up to 1/2 tsp. margarine to reduce foaming, if desired. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Fill jars, seal and water bath for 10 minutes.
Makes 8 (8 oz) half pints
Strawberries
The strawberries came late and quickly this year, only lasting about 2 1/2 weeks. When I went looking for them this Saturday, there weren't any at the Farmer's Market. Ugh! DH and I headed north a bit to the orchards and got lucky. I got a flat of big, beautiful strawberries for $20.
Once home, PinkOne and I made several batches of jam and I froze a few containers. I tried something new this year for the frozen berries--sliced and a little bit of sugar. Once the juice started to flow a little bit, I packaged them up in the ZipLock little bowls (1 3/4 cup size) and popped them in the freezer. We'll see how we like them that way.
One flat of strawberries equals:
Once home, PinkOne and I made several batches of jam and I froze a few containers. I tried something new this year for the frozen berries--sliced and a little bit of sugar. Once the juice started to flow a little bit, I packaged them up in the ZipLock little bowls (1 3/4 cup size) and popped them in the freezer. We'll see how we like them that way.
One flat of strawberries equals:
- 5 bowls of frozen berries & sugar
- 1 batch (3 1/2 pints) Strawberry Lemon Marmalade (by PinkOne)
- 2 batches (8 1/2 pints) Triple Berry
Not bad for the weekend!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Books, Dinner, a Game & a Movie
What a great date--with Scout. While DH and PinkOne headed on their date to see a friend in a school play, Scout offered to take me to dinner. (He wanted Thai food really badly! lol) So we headed to town, stopped in at the new used book store (I bought a book for each of us) and had Thai food for dinner. Yes, he paid for dinner. He was so proud of himself! Scout is doing an awesome job of saving his money and he gets great pleasure in spending a little bit of it now and then.
After dinner we came home and played a couple games of Battleship--each of us won one game. Now one of our favorite movies is on--National Treasure. What a great evening!
After dinner we came home and played a couple games of Battleship--each of us won one game. Now one of our favorite movies is on--National Treasure. What a great evening!
Friday, May 13, 2011
Spring Has (Finally) Sprung
The windows are open and the cherry blossoms are in FULL bloom! I love the smell! It will only last a couple days, but it is always my favorite time of year.
I am so bad at this blogging thing. Actually, I'm bad at most everything except running to the next activity. But, as a wise empty nester recently shared with me, these days are short indeed. With Scout 16--and driving!--and PinkOne 13, we don't have too many days left. I'm trying to soak in each day/event/time together to save for when they fly the coop.
I am so bad at this blogging thing. Actually, I'm bad at most everything except running to the next activity. But, as a wise empty nester recently shared with me, these days are short indeed. With Scout 16--and driving!--and PinkOne 13, we don't have too many days left. I'm trying to soak in each day/event/time together to save for when they fly the coop.
Spring saw the Family Easter Experience at church, two dance recitals--they ROCKED! and Driver's Ed for Scout along with all the usual things like homeschooling, housekeeping, etc.
Dog training has also started up again for 4-H and this year Scout and Emma are trying "off leash". The first week Emma actually sat at the agility course and cried until it was her turn. Too funny! She loves being off-leash. They have a lot of work to do, but the potential is definitely there.
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