Simple Strawberry Jam

Simple Strawberry Jam

2 quarts strawberries, crushed
6 cups sugar

Combine berries and sugar in a large sauce pot.

Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly until thick, about 40 minutes. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Pour hot into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Adjust caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Yield: about 4 pints.

Tip of the Week
Save the box that your jars came in to store your canned items and your empty jars as you use them. The boxes can easily be stack on top of one another.

Adding to the list....

Well, it's no surprise that I am adding to my Crafting List. I came across a blogger V and Co that makes rag rugs and when I saw it I just knew that I had to make one...or many! I grew up with rag rugs in my house and my mom had a large basket full of rag balls that I would play with. Here is a free Tutorial for making a rag rug! Yay for simplicity! It's funny to think that these rag rugs were made because they could not afford nice rugs so they saved up rags and scrap fabric to make floor coverings and now we want to make them even though most of us can afford to buy a new rug. It's not that we want a new rug....it's that we want to craft and we love the charm that certain crafts bring to our homes. Happy Crafting

My Treasures

The showcase piece for this week's "My Treasures" is this well used cookbook that belonged to my Great-Grandma Taffer. While my Nana was sick with cancer she took time with me to pass down a few precious pieces that belonged to her. I felt so honored to be given this cookbook that belonged to her mother. It, no doubt, was a staple cookbook in my great-grandmother's home as she cooked many meals for her large family. As I look through it, searching for a recipe, I instinctively treat it as if it were made of glass. One recipe in particular that I love from this book is the spoon bread! So light and fluffy.


Spoon Bread

1 cup corn meal
2 cups sweet milk
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites whipped up
1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Bring milk to a boil and the add salt and slowly stir in corn meal. Cook to mush while stirring constantly. Cool mixture. Add egg yolks, melted butter and baking powder to cooled corn meal mixture. Fold in whipped egg whites. Bake in buttered baking dish (it takes a rather small dish) about 30 minutes on 375'. Serve hot.

Dilly Beans!!!

Here is a Southern treat. Dilly Beans! These yummy treats are sour, spicy and crispy. A great summer snack or side dish to a picnic or BBQ.



Dilly Beans

2 pounds trimmed green beans
4 heads dill or 4 teaspoons dried dill
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)
4 garlic cloves
1 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 1/2 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup canning salt or non iodize salt

Pack beans lengthwise into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. (wide mouth jars work best) To each pint, add 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1 clove garlic and 1 head or 1 teaspoon dill (1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes if you want them really hot). Combine remaining ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Pour hot liquid over beans leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. I use a wooden chopstick to get air bubbles out. Top with prepared lids and rings. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Let the Dilly Beans pickle for at least 4 weeks.

For guidelines and canning tips go here.

dress

I combined two of my favorite colors. Yellow and Turquoise!!! I love polka dots too so this dress is perfect! I used the directions from the sundress pattern on Martha Stewart's website but left the fabric wider towards the bottom by tapering it like an "A" line dress because her butt is nice and plump. (just the way I like it. hehe)



(Excuse the wrinkles. She was in the car seat for awhile)

adding to Amelia's closet

I finally loaded pictures so you all could see what I have been sewing. I took an Asian inspired floral fabric and used the Simplicity 5118 pattern to sew this sweet summer dress with flirty sleeves. I absolutely love sewing for her. I get great joy out of it.

I love the sleeves.

Her Gold sandals were a perfect touch!

I have more pictures of dresses to post soon.

Tip of the week

Even though my computer is acting up I'm going to try and post again because I miss it so much! Here we go. Tip of the week.


My husband and I try to eat raw most of the day for many reasons so we buy lots of vegetables and fruits. Sometimes we don't eat our produce fast enough and the broccoli, radishes and carrots tend to get "floppy" or soft so I came up with the idea of plunging the vegetables into ice cold water until they firm up. It's amazing how, soft and floppy broccoli can firm right up. Most of the produce will firm back up but some may not. Remember there is a differences between soft spoiled food and soft edible food.

I like to keep the radishes in a little water in the fridge, as well as, the celery. Another vegetable that can get soft but still be edible are potatoes. I peel them and add them to ice water and they too firm back up.