Happy Valentine's Day 2015

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you dear readers <3

Personal Goals

As many of you might remember, my 2014 goal was to not buy any pre packaged or processed foods from the grocery. I've done pretty well with that but I'm far from perfect. Normal trips to the grocery consist of shopping the produce and dairy aisles with a quick trip down the baking aisle. I buy most of my eggs and any meat that I'm going to eat from local farms who pasture raise and don't use antibiotics.

Life Gets Away...

Seriously guys. Life just gets so busy sometimes that I blink and its already February!

It's been crazy snowy lately and I have to admit that I love it! I shoveled the driveway Sunday in lieu of the gym (since I couldn't get out of my street). It took me 45 minutes or so and then we built a snowman! This was before he got eyes but the kids were so excited they kept shaking his twig arms and saying "Nice to meet you". It was flipping adorable.

The end of summer...

 ...which means canning is in full force! I made this fantastic peach jalapeno jam. Sweet and heat. Great on a block of cream cheese to eat with crackers, great on a biscuit with dinner, great as a glaze on pork!
Ready to make your own?
I may have mentioned that I like to halve and pit my peaches before blanching...so much easier. So here goes...

8C peeled diced peaches
4 minced jalapenos, seeds removed
1 1/2C honey
juice of 3 limes
powdered pectin of your choice (I use Ball for lower sugar recipes)
If you've made any jam before then you know the drill, bring first 4 ingredients to a boil in a wide, heavy bottomed pot. Reduce to a low boil and cook, stirring often, until thick and sticky (220F on  candy thermometer). Stir in one packet pectin, return to boil and then fill your prepared jars and process 10 minutes in a water bath canner.

 Easy peasy!

 Banana pepper rings were a new item to can this year. Lots of recipes out there. I chose a cold pack method and a brine that contained turmeric for that classic yellow color. A second batch of these will be happening this week.

A good friend of mine texted me a photo a few weeks back. It was a canning jar, empty of it's pickles, containing only the leftover brine. I could see it had mustard seed but it also contained a cinnamon stick! It was someone's grandma's secret recipe and she wondered if I'd ever heard of such a thing. Cinnamon Brown Sugar Pickles. I searched the interwebs for such a thing...found an old recipe from the early 1900s and tried it out. I'll let you know what the verdict is when these are tasted!

 And Bread and Butter pickles are a family tradition. It's the first thing I remember canning with my mom.

1 peck med cucumbers sliced
3  chopped white onions
3 chopped green bell peppers
sprinkle with 1/2C pickling salt, mix well and let rest for 4 hours
In large pan on stove combine following brine ingredients:
3C white vinegar and 3C cider vinegar
3C sugar
2T mustard seed
2tsp turmeric
1T whole cloves
Bring to a boil making sure sugar is dissolved. Squeeze liquid from vegetables and add to brine pot. Once all cukes are in brine give a good stir to heat through and pack into prepared pint jars.This recipe makes a bout 12-14 pints. Process for 15 minutes in a water bath canner. Try to wait about a month before eating

 these! Patience, Grasshopper!

And, of course, I have to show off my new tattoo.  Last Wednesday I got this great traditional dagger through an anatomical heart. It's hard to get a good picture of this as it's on my inner thigh. I'm working on covering my legs. this is on my left leg. My tattoo artist said 'You have a lot of shitty spots left on this leg'...meaning my knee cap, ankle, knee ditch, etc. Oh well.


Hope you enjoyed this quick update. Time passes so quickly between posts, I'm so sorry!

Happy canning! I <3 you all.

I've been a canning machine!

 This year I've decided to try some new recipes along with the 'old standbys'. 0ne of the new recipes I canned today is corncob jelly. It's a beautiful pale yellow with a taste resembling honey. This recipe made much more than I expected so I will definitely have it for sale at the Akron Farm & Flea.



I made a scrumptious batch of vanilla-peach-bourban jam! Just look at that amazing color! The bourbon doesn't make it taste boozy, it just helps enhance the flavor of the vanilla. Yummy!

 

Did you miss me much?

I'm back!
Thanks to a new (used) Macbook Pro that I picked up this evening, I can finally get back to you gracious readers! I think it's been 3 months since I've updated. It feels like I'm meeting you all over again so.....Nice to meet you! Welcome to my blog about all the things that keep me busy during my days.

I've been a busy bee and I'm deep into the 2014 canning season. This most recent batch was blueberry butter cooked down in my crock pot. The recipe made six half pint jars and as soon as I posted the picture I had three of them sold!

I picked blueberries twice this summer. Twelve pounds both times. That's a lot of blueberries! I made blueberry jam, one batch with sugar and one batch with honey. I made blueberry pie filling too!

Not enough hours in the day!

So, my laptop has taken a crap and I'm trying to blog post from my phone. Wish me luck!

I believe it's finally spring here in Ohio. It's a holiday weekend and I have 4 days of work... like a mini vacation with no plans. Temperatures in the 70s and no rain - I'll take it!

I've done some baking this week. Gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookie bars and vegan rhubarb applesauce bread. I'll share these recipes soon!

I've also been power walking again. I have a neighborhood route that's about 4 miles. My goal is to walk 5 days a week or more, so far I've only managed 2. 😕 But I have gotten my time down to 14:35 per minute!

Time for laundry and dishes. More soon!