Life is just "Plum" good....

I made a nice little batch of Plum Jam today.

I used the Damson Preserves recipe in my Ball canning book.

I have no idea what kind of plums these were but Boy Oh Boy Oh Boy!!!!!!

It is good stuff!!!

My Dad used to like Damson Preserves better than anything he could ever get a hold of.

My Great Grandma Ella used to always make them for him and I thought it was nasty as a child.

I am not sure why I didn't like them but I thought Damsons were something along the line of Morels or something yucky like that!

I wonder if I would like Damson preserves now??? hmmmm????

If these are Damsons, I am converted!!

This is by far my new favorite jam now.

Look how thick!

You almost need a knife to cut thru them.

I am so proud of my 9 little bitty 4 ounce jars!!!

I will be on the lookout for some more plums to make more of this delicacy this season.

On to the other itty bitty's......

Momma and all her chilluns are tucked safely in bed tonight with their father watching vigil over them!! It just involved a flashlight, a cordless drill, the removal of a few boards, Danny. Leslie, Emma and I in the dark on a chicken hunt!!

I just love how chilled out a crazy spastic banty hen and all 10 of her babies are after dark!! No wonder they fall prey to so many critters......it's like

"Oh just take me and do anything you want to me, just don't wake me!"

You chicken folks will know what I am talking about here!!!!

We did go buy us a live critter trap today and we have it set behind the coop tonight.

I am pretty certain there will be a big old barn cat in there tomorrow morning :-)))

So life for me is "Plum good" right now!!!

In a pickle.......

I feel like a pickle!!

I have been in so much vinegar this week that I should be pickled myself!

I made this gallon jar of refrigerator dill pickles today. They are supposed to ready to eat in a week, just in time for our family reunion!!

The recipe did not call for carrots but I just couldn't help myself when I saw a bag of petite carrots calling my name today.

These are Dill Spears from the same recipe that I made the dills this week.

These cukes were a little large for slices so I speared them and soaked them in lime and I am sure hoping they will be crisp.....fingers crossed!!

It really is hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

I am in such a habit of cranking that rim down on those jars as tight as I can get them. I am having difficulty getting it thru my thick skull that Miss Kim at Ball doesn't want me to do that any longer!! I backed these off and they did not pucker after processing them!!!

I had to make a run to Red Hill General Store today....which I am fortunate to live about 15 miles from.......to buy canning jars that they had on sale. While I was there I just had to buy this pickle book too!

Maybe I will learn something about making pickles ;-)))

I just wish I had enough time to read it.

My kitchen table is covered with October beans drying off that were picked tonight. They will be canned tomorrow along with the batch that Danny hulled tonight.

I have 10 pounds of beautiful sweet plums in a basket to make jam with tomorrow.

I have a huge watermelon that the nice gentleman at the farmers market gave me today to use for watermelon rind pickles. It had a small brown hole that looked as if a stick had poked it in the patch and he said they couldn't sell it so he gave it to me. I am hoping that we can enjoy the melon and have a good rind for the pickles too.

I would also like to try some watermelon rind preserves this year.

This is the year for me to pickle or preserve it seems!!

Most years I am so busy putting up the big stuff...bushels of beans and tomatoes at a time and no time is left for small batch canning.

Well 11 quarts of pickles at a time shouldn't be considered small batch I guess!!

NOW........

Remember Miss Carrie my banty with 10 of the cutest babies ever?

Well Miss smart*** here decided that she should be turned out yesterday to get some exercise and allow her babies to frolic in the grass.

Frolic they did too. The babies hopped around in the grass like bugs or little black grasshoppers and my heart just fluttered!!!

In about 30 minutes she took them under the chicken coop and they have not been spotted since.

Danny got down on the ground with a flashlight tonight before dark and he said he could see all the way thru and there were no chickens, only a lot of black feathers. SOBBING SOB SOB SOB.........oh be still my heart
I have been so sad all evening thinking about what I did to all my babies.

After dark tonight I remembered that I did not lock my other chickens up so I went down there and I could hear what sounded like 10 babies under the building!!!! They were just a chirping!!

I sure hope their mother is OK and she brings them out soon before some other critter gets all of them.

I made a trade with my Dad this week.

He gets a pair of banties, I have a pair that came from the incubator batch, and I get 8 Rhode Island Red laying hens!!! Good trade huh? He thinks so too. He thinks his hens are too old at age 2!! They are young in my book. My hens are at least 5 years old and I get an egg almost everyday from them!! He is getting the same but he is afraid they will stop soon and he has too many anyway. They will carry me over til my Buckeyes start laying this fall and then I can get rid of some of my old hens. I have all my eggs sold that I can spare now!!! woooowoooo!!! that has been a long time coming too. I also have 5 gallons of goat milk sold each week!!!

Finally this farm is going to hold it's own!!

hahahahah
Do you believe that one??????

Happy canning!!

I am going to S~C~R~E~E~E~E~A~A~M~M!!!!

There is not a whole lot of things in life that brings me any more satisfaction than my own home canned foods. Such as these Dill Pickles. Especially when I pay $5.99 for 4 new short fat pint jars just because they are so darned cute that I couldn't refuse them.

I mean my pickles just wouldn't be the same in ordinary pint jars now would they?

Cukes and dill from my garden!!

Aaaaahhhhhhh they look soooooo good!!!!!

They are just beautiful, I think so anyway, Just like a jar of Vlassic's!!

I have tried to make dill pickles in the past and they always turned out slimy.

My dearest husband being the kind man that he is asked me if I thought I might learn to make some dill pickles that were in fact edible?

Stupid man....he just might be wearing some slimy dill pickles on his head in a few weeks.

Especially if I have wasted all this time on these pickles following ALL the rules to a T and they still don't come out good.

and HERE IS THE PROBLEM!!!!!!

This is what has me screaming at the top of my lungs!!!

OH MY GOODNESSSSSSSSS!!!

I am ready to give up home canning after almost 40 years.

Remember this story last week or so.

I have done every bit of research short of calling Mr Ball or Mr Kerr and picking their brains.

I know that when you have cooked and canned for as many years as I have that anyone can get lax on certain procedures and use shortcuts where you have developed them but I do not in home canning cause it is too much hard work to have a can of food sit on the cellar shelf and spoil only to be emptied out and wash the jar to refill the next season and try it again. I hate to empty those jars too. Unless I am enjoying the food out of that jar!!

Thank goodness I almost never lose a jar of food any more like I did when I was first canning many moons ago.

These pickles were processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes and I timed it right down to the millisecond! I took the canned quilters advice and made sure that the water was not boiling too hard but was just right this time.

The last time this happened I was using Kerr lids on new jars and some generic Amish country store buy in bulk lids that have always been perfect.

Today I had new jars and lids that were Ball and some more generic lids that puckered just the same.

I went to this blog and followed her instructions to a T about getting the air bubbles out of the
jar too! I made sure they were not too full of pickles or liquid and the lids were adjusted by hand.

I just had an idea that maybe this has something to do with the vinegar.

The only common denominator among these batches??????

The first time this happened I was canning Peach Pickles and 2 out of 6 jars puckered but they sealed. The second time was Lime Pickles and 6 out of 11 jars puckered but sealed and today

2 out of 7 jars puckered and they just came out so I am not sure if they will seal or not. 1 jar looks like it is puckered beyond the point of returning to seal!!

Of course this is not a food that can just be ate in about a week and be ready, these pickles have to sit for 6 weeks before they are ready.

I am using white vinegar and of course different jugs cause it covers several batches...........

Please, anyone
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

What am I doing wrong???

Update!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just called the Ball hotline @1-800-240-3340

and this very nice lady named Kim told me that I have been milking too many goats!!!

I have apparently developed some very good hand strength lately which is probably from hand milking!! She said that I am tightening down my lids on my jars to tight so the air cannot escape and therefor it buckles the lids!! OMG!!!! Why did I fret over this problem for so long and not give Miss Kim a call?

She also told me that the lids are much thinner than they used to be so we are supposed to only close the lid, not torque it down!!!!! I didn't know my own strength I guess. I didn't realize that I was screwing them down that hard because I knew that they weren't supposed to be that tight anymore. I remember Mama having Daddy tighten her jars down before she processed them so they would seal!! Times have changed!

Lesson learned!!

I have to go find something else to can now and give this a try to see if she is right!

Some lightweight canning????

Miss Kim, my newest friend is going to send me out some coupons for free can lids because of my troubles!!!! Wootwoot!!!

Free can lids????? Yes!!

Dandelion Jelly Recipe

4 Cups yellow dandelion blossoms

3 Cups boiling water

5 Cups sugar

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

Few drops yellow food coloring (optional) I used it

1 Package Sure-Jel or other powdered pectin

Pull the yellow parts of the blossom away from the green parts. Discard all the green parts because they are bitter. I opened the blossom by holding the green part with both hands and popping the green part open with both thumbs and then peeled the yellow part out.

Pour boiling water over the blossoms and let sit over night. The next morning strain the blossoms from the steeped water. I used a muslin cloth to strain them and squeeze out all the liquid. Add enough water to make 4 cups liquid. I had to add 1 cup of water and I added it to the blossoms and microwaved for 6 minutes strained them again, then added this to the other liquid.

Place the liquid in a large pot add food coloring if desired, bring to boil and boil for 2 minutes add sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest. Boil and stir til sugar is dissolved. Add pectin boil for 1 minute stirring constantly. Skim foam if needed.

Place in jars and seal using boiling water method. Yields 7 half pint jelly jars.

Dandelion Jelly

So much to talk about today!

I just finished a batch of this sweet heavenly yumminess!

I have never tried it before but I was encouraged to do so by one of my blogger friends and I sure am happy that I did!!

I think this will be a dose of"Sunshine" on my warm butter biscuit!!
I made 7 half pint jars and I am getting another batch ready!!

This is a "Good Thing" as Martha would say!

Putting up with Becky

Gotcha!!

You thought I was going to talk about someone having to

"PUT UP WITH ME"!

haaaahhhaaahahahahaah that's funny!!

I mean putting up food to feed my family

all 2 of us!

I spent almost the whole day today in the kitchen.

I made French Bread

and

Italian Bread.

Do you know the difference? I do!

I started a bowl of sourdough starter.

Yes it's in a bowl this time.

A huge 4 quart mixing bowl, with a towel under the bowl just in case it does like all my other starters have done in the past.........heat up and boil over the sides like a science project gone mad!! I am armed and ready this time around!!

I do not want to be cleaning that wood stove tomorrow morning!

Smooth as a babies butt when I first covered it.

In a couple hours she was a cooking!!




Remember my Valentines Day present from my sweetie?
Well I asked for them anyway.....a bushel of sweet potatoes!






I decided to go ahead and precook about 1/2 of the bushel.
I baked them slowly in the oven and then peeled them and put them in the freezer.
They are ready for me at anytime to thaw and make a quick sweet potato dish.






Yummy!!

I also was in the canning mood!

This old yellow pressure canner has been with me since my first Christmas as a married woman.

34 years and she is in better shape than I am.

She has been thru the wringer and back again.

She has been run over by a tractor trailer.....oh yes this is true....Danny used her to wash his big rig one time and forgot about her sitting there behind when he moved and ran right over her!!

She must be a Timex!

Oh yeah, I got ran over by a tractor trailer one time too.

I have a few blemishes from that one tho!!!

I am married to the great beans and potato eater.

He has never met a bean he didn't like.

I am one step ahead of him now......with all this beautiful spring weather that is right in front of me.....and a garden in dire need of repair...that means a lot of long hours outside and no time to cook a pot of beans......wallah...canned pintos ready to pop open right before he gets home and he'll think I slaved in the kitchen all day!!

October beans for the same reason.....a quickie in the kitchen!

7 quarts of Pintos

7 quarts of Octobers

Then I made homemade tortillas and beef and bean burritos for dinner.

Topped the evening off with a funny crazy movie and 2 hours of American Idol.

I am now officially pooped.

My dearest bed buddy seems to never sleep well anymore and when

he doesn't sleep neither do I.

For some reason he slept good last night.

I had to touch him this morning to make sure he was still with me cause he was so quiet.

It sure made me feel good today and I feel even better knowing how much I accomplished today.

Amazing what a good nights sleep will do for you!!

It makes you not be able to decide whether you should cook French, Italian, Mexican or American cuisine ........or just make them all in the same day!!!

Skinny Dippin'.......

Friday after a day of painting at The Fairy's Rest in 90 degree weather and no A/C (no electricity yet) we had no choice but to get creative and think of some way to cool down right?
So what shall we do but hit the lake? After all that's why we have land there.

I have no idea what I was doing here. I look really stupid. I was not skipping rocks but Morgan was. Isn't the lake gorgeous? We had it all to ourselves too because it was hazy and school was actually in. Morgan got out of school early. This is so out of character for Robin to hop in a lake with her clothes on cause she is too prissy. Morgan was OK with it though. Robin loved it too!!! She said she wished she would have been doing this all summer!

This is Ryan's Branch area of Philpott Lake. We have been coming here for years and years. We usually put the boat in right around the corner so to speak to the left of here at Union Bridge. We had so much fun "Skinny Dippin" in my case it was "Chunky Dunkin". So much fun that we all went back on Saturday for another dip/dunk with Leslie and the kids. I am sure it is the last of the year too. The weather has definately cooled down tremendously since the weekend.

Today there was no swimming to be done. Just tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes....... 7 quarts of juice and 10 packages of frozen tomatoes for chili and soups this winter!!

World's easiest grape juice recipe...

I have made this grape juice for the past 30 something years. It is so easy and delicious! Start with 1 cup of grapes, seedless or not, washed and placed in a quart jar whole.
Sweeten to taste. I have always used 1 cup of sugar. I have also learned over the years that this is too sweet. I now use 2/3 cup of sugar per quart.

Fill jars with boiling water and seal.

Place in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

Store in a cool dry place for at least 30 days before using. Drain grapes and enjoy a wonderful juice. I have used all sorts of grapes over the years but this year we have our first crop of Seedless Concord grapes. I think this will be yummy.....move over Welches!! Danny drinks grape juice every day for the antioxidant properties of grapes. This will definately save us some money. I just made 9 quarts from vine til sealed in jars in less than an hour!!!

I'm in love.........

with pickles...
lots of pickles...


Apparently, I am really in love with pickles. I talked my dear husband into purchasing 1/2 bushel of pickling cucumbers Friday evening. I mean it was only 1/2 bushel. That would just be enough to build my stash of yummy sweet Lime Pickles like I made last year.........What was I thinking???? I now have pickles coming out of my ears!!!!

I am only half way thru and I am already at 10 1/2 quarts or 21 pints!!!! I am looking at about 42 pints!!!!! Oh Goody Goody!!! We do really love em. My mother always said that lime pickles were yucky so I wouldn't even try them til last year. My sil told me she liked them so I tried them and OMG they are the best pickles in the world!!! If you have never tried them you should be ashamed of yourself....as am I, for letting all those great cukes go to waste. The recipe is on the pickling lime can. Old South Lime pickles. If you are interested and cannot find it, let me know and I'll get it to you.

The best part is I am starting to get a slew of cukes in my garden ;-) I should get my fill of these beauties this year!!!

I am also in love with my new triplets!!!! A little white/red girl...OH SOOOO CUTE!!!! named Goldie.

A solid white boy...with an angelic face named Silver.

A brown boy....JUST PRECIOUS and he really likes me too!! named Bronze. Rusty for short ;-)

See the pattern here.....in order of birth, we watched, 1st a gold, 2nd silver and 3rd bronze....

We have three Olympian Gymnast. They will need to be gymnast to keep up with Tango's tricks and flips that he can do!! He has more energy than any goat I have ever seen. I guess it's cause I am such a good mother.....guess that makes me an ole nanny goat huh????

This is the last of the babies for this year. 5 total! Whew, it's been hectic with a lot of nail biting and hair pulling :) Leslie was here and got to see the triplets birth with us and she was so excited. The grandpunks all missed it though. Maybe next year!!!

Recipe for the pickles

Becky's Sweet Pickles

Syrup:

1 quart white vinegar

1 cup water

5 cups white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 Tablespoons pickling spice

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Thinly slice small to medium sized cucumbers and place in large enamel pot. Cover with a brine mixture of 2 quarts cold water and 1 cup salt enough to cover the cucumbers. Let set for 2-4 hours. Drain and rinse lightly with cold water. Prepare syrup and cover the slices. Bring to a boil and turn off heat. Fill jars with pickles and seal with a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

You will have to guess at how many cucumbers you will need to make a batch. I had 9 pints of pickles and had at least a pint and 1/2 of syrup left over that I refrigerated for use today with more cukes. This was using one recipe of syrup but it took 2 batches of the brine to cover them.

Leslie made a GREAT sweet sandwich pickle last year that had brown sugar in it. We really loved them but I didn't have all the ingredients on hand yesterday so I decided that I would use the things that I like in pickles and make my own recipe. I think I might add some garlic to the next batch.

While I was making these I had the food network on the TV and Emeril was making a very similar pickle so I felt like I was on the right track anyway!!! Go Emeril!!

Happy pickling!!

Becky

Becky's Sweet Pickle Recipe

I found these beauties in my garden and I am thrilled! Haven't had Cukes for homemade pickles for several years, but I might make up for it this year!!
I didn't have enough for a really big batch of 14 Day Pickles so I studied my cook books and online recipes for a good while and then decided to make my own recipe. Yes I know that is very risky!! Danny just walked in and saw a small bowl of them on the table that wouldn't fit in the jars, and he said they were great!! So I guess it worked.
I made 9 pints and my kitchen is full of that wonderful popping sound that is music to any canner's ears!! I have also froze 13 bags of squash and picked another bucket full to freeze later!!
I had to act like a housewife today, ya know back to the real world, after the wild and crazy weekend we had on the lake. The pic above is my darling on the tube, no I am not driving the boat, Brad our nephew is. We met up with them on Sunday for a lot of fun.

This is SIL Eric skiing! He and Robin went down with us on Sunday but they had to leave early so she could go to work that night. We stayed til 8PM!!!

I have to post the pics of the 2 of them on the tube. Really cute!!!

Ok so I'm off to eat supper.....home raised fried chicken, fresh half runner green beans, squash and macaroni salad.....pickles on the side ;)

til later!!
Becky