Putting up the Harvest

The gardens, the wilderness and our neighbors have blessed us with oodles of great fruits and vegetables that I have been canning. Two of my favorite books are the Ball Blue Book of Preserving and Small- Batch Preserving. Both are extremely amazing.

This is just a small portion of what we have "put up" so far this season.

So far we have preserved:

5 - 1/2 pts blueberry jelly (blueberries were foraged in the woods)

2 pts blueberry jelly (blueberries from the woods)

8- 1/2 pts bluebarb jam (blueberries from the woods and rhubarb from my garden)

10 pts green beans (beans from the garden)

7- 1/2 pts sugar snap peas (peas from the garden)

5pts garlic green beans (beas from the garden)

12 pts dilly beans (beans and dill from the garden)

7- 1/2 pts apple maple jam (local maple syrup and free apples from our neighbors apple tree...they were given to us, we did not steal them lol)

5 pts red hot applesauce (free apples from our neighbors apple tree)

6pts red hot apple wedges (free apples from our neighbors apple tree)

8 qts baby red potatoes (from our garden)

9qts white potatoes (from our garden)

2 qts green beans (from our garden)

2qts sugar snap peas (from our garden)

6pts stewed tomatoes (tomatoes and green peppers from our garden)

3 pts zucchini relish (zukes and green peppers form the garden. Red peppers given to us from my cousin)

7- 1/2 pts blackberry jam (blackberries picked by my sister's house)

We have also picked raspberries which were made into a custard cake dessert, strawberries that were froze, peas were shelled and froze, onions dried for future use in coups, salads, etc. Before I began keeping track I made rhubarb sauce, rhubarb jam, strawberry rhubarb jam and a few rhubarb desserts. The rhubarb comes from the garden and the strawberries were picked at a local pick your own strawberry patch/farm. We also have blueberries in the freezer from our foraging adventures.

Other goods I will be preserving in my very near future is more applesauce in the fall when we go to the orchard, tomato sauce, pizza sauce, stewed tomatoes (we can never have too many jars of those), whole tomatoes, salsa, sweet pickle slices, hamburger dills, sweet pickles, tomato soup, hopefully pesto, roasted red pepper spread, summer squash, zucchini, peaches, cherries for pies, cherry jam, cream corn, whole kernel corn, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and more beans and peas. August and September are busy months here for harvesting and home preserving. Our gardens are just beginning to give us an abundance of what we need on a daily basis. In the coming weeks I will have my hair in a pony tail, forget the eye make-up (because it would just melt off my face), towel on my shoulder and my green rooster apron around my neck. It's a great time of the year!! (Just don't judge me if you see me out in public and I have forgotten to take my apron off...hehe)

Taking Stock

Last summer Ken made shelves in the basement for the home canned goods and other items we use in our home. The cement walls down there are creepy and need a coat of paint but the shelves are soo darn tootan awesome!! They are looking rather bare, however. Store bought canned goods are occupying the space where home canned corn, green beans, carrots, and jams should be. We still have an abundance of our homemade tomato soup. This year we will have to cut back, give more away and definitely eat more soup. While reorganizing the shelves I found 8 or so bottles of homemade salsa which was mixed with the jars of home canned tomatoes and the stewed tomatoes. Talk about total excitement. We LOVE salsa!!
We still have oodles of jars of sweet pickles. We opened up a jar of baby dills and holy sour!! Sadly, we threw away those along with the dilly garlic beans. If any of you have a good recipe for a dill pickle recipe and wouldn't mind sharing, I am totally open!! We still have strawberry jam, spiced peach, apple pear and rhubarb jam. We don't go through much jam or jelly at all. One small batch of each kind would suffice for the whole year for us.

I also went way overboard on making applesauce. I come from a large family and making small meals just does not fit into my realm of thinking. This year, I still plan on making applesauce, but will freeze more apples for pies, muffins, etc. I will also make apple jelly & try apple butter.

In the picture below you can see my hand holding a tool my Mom used in her kitchen years ago when she made applesauce. I am now the proud owner and avid user of this. It brings me such joy using it, that apparently I am unable to know when enough is enough! LOL This puree-er is also used when I make homemade tomato sauce and pizza sauce. Who wants those pesky seeds in their sauce anyways? It has also come in use with raspberries and strawberries. I really need to find out what it really is called. I call it my applesauce maker thingy mablobber.

I'm a coupon clipper too and stock up on things we use when they are on sale. Ken even does this!! You can see by the amount of Irish Spring body soap and deodorant we have stocked. We don't use a lot of store bought canned goods but like to keep some on hand. I recently found a recipe to make your own rice a roni. We love rice a roni but it has msg, and oodles upon oodles of salt in it...that = no fun for miss Kathy. We are finding alternative, healthier versions of the foods we enjoy. I'll tell you this, I have been feeling so much better so it's definitely worth it!!

I make a lot of the cleaning products I use in our home. I can't wait till all the chemical crud we have in the basement is used up or given away. Recently, my friend told me how she washes her toilet...I have never been so excited!!! Really.

Mom...

I've been thinking about my Mom a lot. Tomorrow is the 23rd anniversary of her death. It seems as though it were yesterday...Mike coming to my bedside, telling me Mom was dying....I was 10....It was just a little past 7am, I went downstairs, everybody was crying, the phone rang, it was dad...Mom was gone....






I miss you Mom!! I wish you could have met my hubby Ken. He's a fabulous guy & I know you'd be proud to have him as a son in law. In the 10 short years I was graced with you as my Mom I learned so much. I'd like to think you had a HUGE part in making me the woman I've become!! I hope I make you proud. I give you the
credit for instilling the love of crafts in me and for my deep desire in preserving food. How much of an honor it was to have used your applesauce maker gadget this year!!



Katherine Marie!!!!! yeah, I actually miss hearing her say that. I'd get called that when I was being a lil rascall...which happened often. Who'd think the thing I'd hated the most would be one of the things I miss the most

Mission Declutterization & Organization

In my previous post I mentioed how my home is a disaster. Well, Ken doesn't think so...but I sure do!! Being thet I'm a total list maker & goal setter I am going to devote a week to mission organization, declutterization!!! I will post before & after pics.

I feel as though it's important to have a clutter free home. Clutter spazes me out in a way. I may just be feeling overwhelmed by the 20 something storage bins of Christmas holly jolly decorations strewn about my home...I dunno. But each evening I plan on setting forth a list of goals I woudl like to achieve for the following day. I feel like I need this list as I reminder to keep on task and to also remind myself that I did achive a great many tasks during the day. I dunno bout you but for me the days just whoosh by! It seems I am always doing something & not taking time for myself.

Here's what's in store for the rest of the day:

1. process 6 pie pumpkins into puree & freeze
2. empty dishwasher & put dirty dishes in there
3. clean off all countertops, sweep & scrub kitchen floor
4. Laundry (if I do the two loads today I will have the washer & dryer for bedding tomorrow)
5. finish Logan's afghan
6. bring the rest of my beading & jewelry making supplies up to the craft room (that means organizing the area I plan to store the supplies)
7. work on Ken's memory quilt
8. organize desktop computer area (this needs to be done anyways) so I can finish decorating den area for Christmas
9. Organize sewing cart
10. bring all Christmas odds & ends that are not being used upstairs (Tomorrow I will work on decorating the upstairs & using the decorations)

There you have it....I've got oodles upon oodles to do. The checks are already written out, bills are paid online, and the next three weeks of bill paying is prepped & ready to go when the $ is direct deposited. (I do keep a notebook with our budget written out to a science for each weeks bill paying) Have you decluttered & organized lately? Stay tuned for updates & photos =)

If I can can so can you!!!

Yup, you guess it, I've been canning again. Actually all day to be exact. I am afraid my Thankful Thursday weekly post will have to be postponed to tomorrow. I can call it Fwankful Friday then right? ;) Ok, back to preserving...totally did the peaches today & as far as I know they turned out yummalish!! Now, I haven't been canning for too many years. Usually it's the normal jams & jellies but this year I've allowed myself to go a bit bonkers in the domesticated department if you will. You'll see proof of such domesticated-ness in this very post!! Ok, so as my title says...if I can can, so can you. So, gather your supplies & lets go on a canning adventure with one huge dork...that'd be me =)















You'll need peaches. I have a bushel. Dork head me didn't measure it out exactly. Actually I rarely if ever measure things out. Cuz I live on the dangerous side. No wonder why the peas in the stew were hard!!! Should have read that peas need to be soaked. Anyways, that's another story for another time...Ok, peaches. Ok, so on the bottom I cut an X for easier peeling.

I then gathered my big honkan kettle that I like use for EVERYTHING & this fantastical apron my neighbor gave me for my birthday. Oh, and yes, if you look at the photo closely you will indeed see a Christmas clock on the wall behind the stove. Totally forgot it up there & honestly, I rather enjoy hearing a Christmas Carol each hour.

Ok, so miss dorkface HAD to model the apron. Not saying you will need a dork for this recipe...but it may help to be a lil dorky. It makes things funner. Especially peeling & pitting that many peaches. So yeah, put on something fun to wear that reflects some inner dork & some quirk. Plus the earrings help & the necklace sent by a friend completed my lovely ensemble.

Ok, peaches marked with an X, water boiling submerge peaches into the boiling water for ohhh about 60 seconds. You'll notice the skin starting to pull away from the yummy fruit. strain & then dump peaches into cold water. (This helps to get those skins off)

Peal skins, cut in half, pit & put into hot jars. Oh, and by the way you make a simple syrup of water & sugar to pour over the fruit. Now, be sure there are no air bubbles or your goods will turn yucky & all that hard work would be for nill. Wipe rims of jars, adjust lids & rings, tighten & place them into a boiling water bath. I processed mine for about a half an hour. They sealed up swell!!

During the water bath time be sure to model & show off some more "inner dorkiness" I do soooo love this apron Mrs Rinne gave me. It totally saved my shirt today & the roosters on it made me giddy with glee!!!

Applesauce...Shwell

Before you think I made a typo let me explain the title. Ok, this is highly dorky but it totally fits me =) Ok, when I was young we'd watch The Brady Bunch every night. Well in one of the episodes Peter says "pork chops and applesauce...shwell" That saying has stuck in my brain since then & if I talk about applesauce I automatically have to say shwell. I know...bizarre & a bit wackadoodle-ish.















We collected this bucket of apples Sunday night from Pat & Sam's house & I finally got time today to make them into yummy sauce. I first washed them, and cut off any not too swell looking spots. I didn't bother peeling them as the puree-er that I have would catch the skins. Plus the apples were rather small. (The next batch I will peel them) The picture I took of the apples cooking down turned out real crappy. So this is what I did...put the quartered apples in a very large pot, added some apple juice, a bit of sugar & water to prevent sticking. Covered the pot & let it boil. I stirred the apples periodically to prevent sticking & burning. I decided to use part apple juice instead of all water in the pot because I think that using all water takes away some of the apple flavor. It's totally up to the cook what they'd like to use.

After the apples were mushy enough I spooned them into Mom's applesauce maker. I recently blogged about this awesome gadget I inherited that was my Mom's. Using it today made me giddy as all heck. It was a lot of work but well worth it. As I rotated the wooden thing in the metal sieve the sauce dripped through the tiny holes & was then caught in a bowl that was placed under the sieve.

That whole basket of apples only yielded 5 jars. But it was a start & a trial run to the upcoming applesauce making days. Plus the apples made my home smell like Fall & inspired me to dig out my autumn decorations. Oh, how I love the Fall season!!! The apple orchard in Garden should be open starting next week. Then we'll be back in business and that is rather shwell if I do say so meself!!! =)

Raspberries Galore!!!

My lil brother JJ called this afternoon asking if I was up to anything tonight. He was wanting to spend the night at his big sis' house. Of course I said yes. I have missed the lil goober head!

I asked him if he'd want to go raspberry picking tonight & he was like "sure" So I stopped by my in laws & picked up my niece Brittany & away we went. This time I took the camera though!!!



Me & Brittany





Haha! JJ posing with his lil not so manly berry picking apron!!! He was not too snitz on this contraption at all & I do believe he felt his guyhood was violated with the prettyness!! LOL



JJ & Brittany being goofy heads!!

What a funtastical outing it was to hang with my lil bro & adorable niece!! Now hopefully they will help with the preserving part!! LOL

How this gal gets her thrills!!

Our Farmer's Market is now starting to bloom with awesome produce & crafts & other baked & canned goodies.

Ken was home this afternoon so we both got to go. First we picked up more rhubarb, like 5 bunches of it. Ken just loves rhubarb & he has almost consumed all the jam I made!! With what I just bought we should be golden for quite awhile!! =)

I picked up some honkan HUGE radishes! Like for serious, they are the size of large carrots. The woman selling them used to belong to the Laide's Guild at Church with my Mom years ago. I recognized her but she had no clue who I was. We also picked up some romaine lettuce for us & some spinach for my tortoise =)

Speaking of my tortoise...her name is Chloe. Chloe Michelle to be exact. Ken really wanted to name her "Shelly" because of her shell skeleton. Total originality there! Anyways, my friend has been a foster Mom to Chloe for the past few months because we were on the road. Well, now with Ken back at Niagara & with me staying home more it's time for Chloe to come home!!! =)

There was a woman from a Farm in Iron Mountain selling fresh Free Range Chicken. The thought of the chickens not being penned up & not having anything injected into them totally appealed to us so we bought some breasts to try out.

Tomorrow I will be jammin 5 batches of rhubarb jam & making a big batch stewed tomatoes to can for future Ken's sketti meals. Did I ever mention what a fabulous cook Ken is? He's oober messy & doesn't clean up after himself but the dishes he makes have always been scrumptious!!

Why is it that most of the people who go to the Farmer's Market are 20 years or more older than me? Am I like one of the only people my age that get their thrills out of canning & preserving?

We be Jammin'

Today I woke up feeling fantastic!! Such an awesome feeling!




Seeing today was so awesome I decided to start on making my jams & jellies. Last weekend I bought some rhubarb at our local Farmers Market. Then today I had to go to the regular grocery store’s produce department for the rest of my fruity needs. I made a batch of rhubarb jam, one batch of strawberry/rhubarb jam, one batch of peach jam & one batch of pear jam. I ended up with 7 jars of the pear, 7 peach, 10 strawberry/rhubarb, and 5 jars of the rhubarb.

I have this thing, when I make something I have to share it with my neighbors. Mrs Rinne, my step Mom, My mom in law & my neighbor each got one of the strawberry/rhubarb, a peach & a pear. still have plenty for Ken & I. I still have cherry jelly and strawberry jam to make.

Living in Upper MI doesn’t give us much of a growing season. Hopefully strawberries will be ready next week so I can get on a roll with that. We have two local strawberry patches here where we can pick our own berries. It’s pretty much a tradition.

I also am trying out wine making. I found a recipe a week or so ago. I wish I knew where I got it from. Anyways, I’ve never tried doing this & haven’t a clue how it will turn out. Funny thing is, neither Ken or I are wine drinkers much. My first batch is apple wine. I figure I can cook pork in it if I don’t feel like drinking. I’m not very patient & this recipe requires patience…not one of my strong points. It’ll take 30 days to do it’s fermenting process. Each of those days I have to stir the water, sugar, fruit mixture. After 30 days I can bottle it up & then let it sit on the shelf for up to 6 months. I reckon by the time it’s done I’ll be ready for a drink!!

My friend Sammi stopped by today on her way to a rummage sale. I haven’t been to a sale in a long time. It was just up the street so we walked there. She found a couple things & I found this stinkan adorable kitty toilet paper holder thingy for a buck & I had to have it for my bathroom!! Doesn't it look sooo fartan adorable in there!!