Piccalilli (Green Tomatoe Relish)

Oh, goodness, I took a picture last week of the pints of Piccalilli we made and it's nowhere to be found on the camera.  Well, nothing I can do about that. 
My neighbor told me to go pick all of her and her son's green tomatoes out of their gardens.  She was tired of canning and was done with the garden this year.  I happily spent an entire afternoon picking green tomatoes!  As the sun shone on my back I couldn't help but think how truly blessed I am to have such giving, friendly neighbors.  I savored my surroundings that day, as where I live is truly beautiful.  It's a humble, blue-collar, small town; quiet except for the birds chirping and an occasional car passing by in the distance.  It was a gift not only of tomatoes, but also of an enjoyable afternoon.
I had to leave the two laundry baskets of tomatoes right where I picked them as I couldn't pick them up.  Each weighed about 50 lbs, my husband told me.  I asked him to pick them up on the way home as he passed their garden.  He didn't realize how much there was!  Yes, he weighed them!
So what to do with all those green tomatoes.  Green tomatoe relish, of course!  We made 3 times the recipe and still had some tomatoes left over, but it made a dent just the same.  I got this recipe from another woman that lives in town; a farmer's wife.  She told me the recipe was delicious and she didn't let me down.  Here it is:

Green Tomatoe Relish
22 green tomatoes, quartered
2 small onions or 1 large, quartered
6 green peppers, quartered
6 sweet red peppers, quartered
1-1/2 qts vinegar
3-1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup salt
1-1/2 tsp allspice
1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp clery seeds
1/2 cup mustard seeds

Wash veggies put through food chopper, usng medium blade. Drain. Place veggies in pot, add 1 quart vinegar.  Boil 30 min, stirring now and then.  Drain and discard liquid. Return veggies to kettle and add remaining vinegar, sugar, salt and spices. Simmer 3 minutes.  Keep mixture simmering while packing jars. 
Pack into one hot, sterilized jar at a time.  Fill to within 1/8" of jar top.  Seal each jar at once.  Process in boiling water bath (212) for 5 minutes. Makes 6-7 pints.


          

Delicious Lenten Supper

Yesterday was Friday, which meant meatless meals throughout the day. I'm not much of a meateater anyway, so I kind of like Friday's during lent!
For lunch, I made Creamy Vegetable Soup. Although I've made vegetable soup many times before, this was the first time I made it creamed. I got the idea from Elizabeth . It was really good and my girls loved it. I'll definitely be making it again.
For supper I made Kartoffelpuffer, which are basically potato pancakes. Again, I've made potato pancakes many times but this particular recipe is a keeper. They held together much better than the ones I've made in the past. I think keeping the onion and potato separate and squeezing out the juices separately before mixing them together is the secret. Whatever it was, they were very good and I'll make them again.
To round out the meal, I made zucchini and onion sauteed in olive oil with salt and pepper for seasoning, and a green salad. I made a light pound cake for dessert with a spoonful of left over Layered Fruit Salad (see post below) from the communion.
What is your favorite meatless meal?

Caressa's Special Day!

We had a wonderful morning as Caressa celebrated her First Holy Communion! Father Tom, our pastor, gave her the sacrament during the morning daily Mass. He did a beautiful homily, as always, and made it very meaningful for her. She is elated!

Here she is back at home opening her gifts. She changed into her everyday clothes so she wouldn't get the communion dress dirty. Seeing she's the last of my little ones to make the sacrament, it was a little sad for me. I'll tuck the dress away and save it for my future granddaughters in case their mom would like their daughters to wear the dress.

I was a little worried on Tuesday as Caressa had a decent fever and cold. Not worried health-wise but certainly worried that the communion may not take place. It's terribly hard to get the family together all at the same time. The older boys schedules are all over the place and this day was the only one that would work. She bounced back on Wednesday, thankfully, but Cassidy followed suit with a fever yesterday. The rest of us all have colds but no fever so it was all good.

Afterwards, we had a nice brunch. We had Baked French Toast with Maple Syrup,

which was ridiculously delicious and equally fattening, Cracked Pepper & Brown Sugar Oven-Roasted Bacon, Pretty Layered Fruit Salad, (scroll down a bit for both recipes - under Brunch) Canadian Bacon, Linzer Cookies, and Whole Wheat Mocha Nut Muffins! Everything was really good!

I thought I would be able to relax once breakfast was over and my husband went back to work and the older kids continued on with their day, but no... that didn't happen right away. A trip to the Minute Clinic for Kaleigh was next. She's had the same virus and got antibiotics. She could have done without them, but is going to New York tomorrow with Kyle and Casey and wanted to feel better than she does today, so I conceded.

However in the afternoon I finally got to take a half hour for myself and read some of the book, Plain. It's very interesting and inspiring to someone like myself; a lover (or dreamer) of a quiet, country life. I'm just barely into the first part of the book but looking forward to reading more.

I foolishly thought I would have this piece, Berger Shepherd, finished in time to gift Father Tom with for the special Communion. I just purchased the pattern last week; why I thought I could do it in time is beyond me. He will get it soon, though, as long as my swollen, arthritic finger holds up. It's a nuisance and it irritates me no end that it dictates how much needlework I can or cannot do.

My new little kitty, Daisy was lounging on top of Mixie this afternoon on my pile of paperwork spread across my desk. Looks like I have some neatening up to do.

Here she is again. Isn't she just beautiful? One of my Mother of Divine Grace families that I consult for gifted me with her. I just love her; she is one of the sweetest kitties we've ever had. Of course, it depends on who you talk to around here on which kitty is the most loveable, but I think she'd win hands down should we ever take a vote on it.

Making Dinnertime Special

Sometimes it's the little things that make the everyday special, don'tchya think? This afternoon I put together a rather humble supper but made the evening meal inviting by dimming the lights, lighting a few candles and putting on some soft music. We had a small gathering around the table; just the three youngest girls, Gary and myself. The girls commented on how pretty the table looked and how nice of a meal it was. Really, I think it was the ambiance. Whatever it was, we all enjoyed it. My humble salad recipe is below:

Layered Salad
One head Romaine lettuce, chopped
Spinach leaves - a few handfuls
chopped celery
chopped onion
chopped red pepper
4 sliced hard boiled eggs
4 strips cooked crisp bacon
shredded cheddar cheese
dressing (recipe follows)

Layer salad in order listed in a 13 x 9 baking dish except pour dressing over veggies, then add eggs, etc. over dressing. Refrigerate 2-3 hours before serving.

Dressing (revised from Joanna Lund recipe)
1/2 cup mayo
2 TBS yogurt
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 TBS vinegar
Whisk and pour over greens

A Bit of This and a Bit of That

As much as I love the spring, summer and fall, winter is a beautiful season all its' own. Being inside more has some advantages. The kids and I get schoolwork done without the yearning to go outside (well, not as much as the warmer months, anyway) and inside amusements take front seat. I've been working on a beautiful piece, The Marriage of Minds, by The Drawn Thread.

I began this piece several years ago hoping to get it done by our 20th (I think) anniversary. That didn't happen. I can't remember why I put it away. It was either because we were moving or a new baby was on the way; could have been both! But whatever the reason, I just didn't reach my goal.
Luckily, I had it all together tucked away in a cabinet. Every time I went into the drawer that I kept it in, I felt the need to take it out and work on it. I finally took it out a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with it all over again.

I hope to have it done for our 29th anniversary in August. Because there are many different stitches along with standard cross stitch, it is a delight to work on and is keeping my attention.

However, my eye wanders and soon I look beyond what I'm working on and snatch up projects for the future! I bought a few during an on-line sale, a few at a LNS once a year sale and (gasp) a few more today at another LNS that are not pictured because she had to order them. I think I'm pretty set for awhile...lol... I do my "fun stuff" at night once I'm done with reading to the kiddies, schoolwork, and the usual workings of family life. I recently finished reading The Scent of Water by Elizabeth Goudge. Wonderful, insightful book. I really like her writing anyway, and this book did not disappoint. I look forward to starting Crampton Hodnet by Barbara Pym. It promises to be a delightful, comical story and I'm really in the mood for something light and funny!

I made some loose granola today. It is really good! I'm looking forward to sprinkling some on top of my morning yogurt!

At the same time, I made granola bars that are half gone, already. Scrumptious! These are so much healthier and tastier than store bought, not to mention cheaper.
Hope your weekend is a good one!

Christmas Cookies!

Seeing that my kids ate all the cookies from the Christmas Cookie Swap, I needed to make a few so I would have a platter come Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Here's what I came up with:
Linzer Cookies, those pretty ones with the raspberry peeking through, Homemade Peppermint Oreos, those chocolate sandwich cookies, White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread, the pretty pink ones there, and Pineapple Turnovers, the ones with the red sparkly sugar on top.
I've made Linzer cookies before but may have used a different recipe. This one was good, but next time I'll cut back on the lemon peel. A little too lemony for my taste. Otherwise they're good. The Peppermint Oreos are yummy. I didn't have any peppermint extract so I improvised with Creme De Mint that's been sitting in my 'fridge since last Christmas. The White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread are delicious and the Pineapple Turnovers are good too, although I should have rolled the dough much thinner. Next time, I'll cut them into squares and fold in the corners. They'll be much prettier, will allow more filling in each cookie and won't be so doughy. So it wasn't the recipe, just my need to learn how to make them.
I'm going to make Raspberry Swirl Cheese Cupcakes for dessert, too. I made those last week to take to my cross-stitch group Christmas party and they were really good. Really good! And the usual jelly rolls will find their way onto our table, too, just like they do every year. Goodness, once this feasting is over I'll need to walk and exercise extra!
As I was uploading the cookie pic I saw this one. This is my oldest daughter, Kaleigh, and my oldest son's dog, Billy. Billy is a hound/mix and as lovable as can be. He's a great guard dog, too, and now that my poodle, Cookie, is 14, blind and deaf, he watches over and takes care of him every time they go outside.

I'm Sewing As Fast As I Can

I had all my shopping pretty much done and wrapping under control, but still was falling behind some with a few handmade gifts I wanted to do. Not homeschooling this week has been a great break and has allowed me to indulge myself in some cooking, baking, embroidery, cross-stitching and sewing.
This little doll quilt was made from scraps and fat quarters I had in my stash. I thought this little scottie dog would be cute for Kierra's new doll she'll get for Christmas.

Caressa will get a new "baby", too, and seeing as she loves kitties, I thought she would like to keep her new doll warm with this one. I googled in for free patterns of cat and scottie dog and found these. This was a two evening project for each. They were a fun little project and I think my little ones will like them.

We've had a stomach virus visiting our house the last couple days so once I came home from Mass yesterday morning we didn't go out again. (Gee, it sounds like we go even if we're sick, which isn't the case; one was sick and stayed home, and the next one got sick over the course of the day) Anyway, seeing that I wasn't going anywhere too soon, I thought I'd make these two cute little bags for my girlies to carry around their little itty-baby dolls they'll get. I tend to go overboard a bit on the doll buying every year, much to my husband's teasing. I just can't help myself. Ah, well... as you can see I used the same scrap fabric found in the little quilts. I found the sweet embroidery pattern by seeing another blog and just free-handed the pattern. I thought it would be O.K. seeing I'm not selling the bags, just making them for my own kiddoes to enjoy.

Here is one of my favorite gifts I came up with this year for my brother: a man's chocolate basket! I filled it with Munson's chocolates, Starbucks Peppermint Hot Cocoa Mix and a few nippers; Khalua, Chocolate Liquor and Irish Whiskey. I almost want to keep it for myself!

Lots of cookie baking going on, too. These were my contribution this year. I made twelve dozen. Out of the eleven dozen I came home with plus my dozen I now have one dozen left. My kids nearly went through the entire tray of cookies. Little piggies! This is a really bad picture. The cookies really are quite beautiful and festive. I'm just a terrible photographer... I'm in the process of baking more cookies so I'll be back with more pictures and recipes.

Along with cookie baking, we made pierogi on Sunday! This is a tradition we do each year and I corral in anyone that's willing to help. They are a lot of work, but oh, so worth it! Here is our family recipe. I make 3 double recipes:
Pierogi
1 beaten egg
2-1/4 cups sifted flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk - hot
2 TBS butter
Melt butter and milk together - cool 'til warm. Add rest of ingredients and mix with hands to make a nice dough.
Filling
Potato and Cheese
Boil four peeled potatoes, mash. Add butter and 1-1/2 lbs of Farmer's Cheese. Mix.

Saurkraut Filling
Brown salt pork til crispy. Toss salt pork and to the grease brown chopped onion. Rinse saurkraut (I usually use one large can and one small bag of saurkraut). Place in bowl and mix kraut with grease. I know, not the healthiest thing here but hey, it's only once a year!

How to Make pierogi...
Roll out dough nice and thin; a little thinner than a ravioli. Take a glass and cut circles. Dip your finger in some water and trace around the edge of the dough to help it stick. Fill with a small spoonful of filling and fold dough over itself and stick together. Use the backside of a fork to press down the edge. Once all the pierogi are made, place in boiling water for 10 minutes. This step needs to be done in batches and takes awhile. We do it on a propane cooker in the garage. One year we broke a glass 9x13 by cooking them on the stove. Another year we burned out our microwave from the steam from the top of the stove going up to where the microwave is (over the stove). So... we learned our lesson and do it out in the garage!
Once all the pierogi are made (and yes, you'll have some "blow-outs" as we call them, where the edges come apart and the filling leaks) it's time to freeze them or put in the 'fridge.
When it's time to actually eat them, we like to brown them in a bit of butter.

We ended up making over 12 dozen. I stopped counting after that. It's always an enjoyable way to spend an afternoon!

How to Can Carrots Tutorial

Read all directions before starting!
I used to be intimidated by the whole canning thing. No need though, as canning is not very difficult at all. I picked about 8 lbs of carrots (and beets, too!) and got busy canning them. Here is a very easy, step by step guide in canning carrots.
First pick your carrots.

Second, put them in a large bowl filled with water to soak while you scrub each one with a scrub brush. Scrub them really good to get off all the dirt in the crevices! Isn't the color stunning?
Slice the carrots into nice pieces, neither too thin nor too thick. At this point, you can put them into baggies and put them into the refrigerator overnight, as I did. If you're not too tired, continue... At this point you want to have your canning jars hot. I put mine in the dishwasher and run them through a full cycle so they are clean and hot when I need them. Also, get your water going in your pressure canner.
Put water into a large pot and put a colander inside the pot with the carrots in it. When the water comes to a boil, reduce heat and simmer carrots for five minutes. They will still be a bit firm; you don't want to cook them all the way through. Remove from heat.

While the carrots are cooking, get your canning jars out of the dishwasher and put one teaspoon salt in each quart jar and one half teaspoon salt in each pint jar.

Next, using a canning funnel, fill jars with carrots filling only to the bottom of the neck of the jar. Shake down a bit.

Fill each jar with nearly boiling carrot water using a ladle. Fill just to where the bottom of the canning funnel is inside the jar, which is 1/2" headspace. Wipe around the outside of the jar with a clean, wet, cloth. Put on lids, jar rubbers and metal rings.

Place in pressure canner and process for 30-35 minutes at 10 lbs.

Remove and admire your beautiful jars of carrots. You'll really enjoy them this winter!

Because the Box is Always More Fun...

than the actual toy that came in it, right?
Another couple of projects from my Homemaker's Mentor Course. This was chocolate dipped spoons to go along with a home made Mocha Mix. The mix is delicious and the chocolate dipped spoons are great fun for stirring. My little girls really enjoyed this project as once I showed them what to do they did it all!
This project was to encourage making a live centerpiece for the table. This is Montana Wheat that I normally ground for bread making. I just sprinkled grains in some very wet organic soil, covered them with more soil and squirted the top. I give them a good spray every day. This is about a week's worth of growth. Once it grows a bit more, I'll put it on the kitchen table and snip the greens to add to smoothies and salads. Nice idea, huh?

BOSH, Bread, and More Scarves!

I recently purchased a BOSH Mixer from Marmeedear and have used it twice so far. The first thing I made was cinnamon buns. They were so good. I made the batter the evening before and baked them the following morning. What a nice breakfast! Today I made bread; five loaves plus rolls. I could have made six loaves but opted for some buns. The bowl of the mixer doesn't look huge but it holds a ridiculous amount of flour and making six loaves of bread at one time was a snap. I waited a couple years to make this purchase, but I believe it is well worth it and will pay itself back within a year.

Here is the bread dough straight from the mixer. I was just patting it into a round blob to let it sit on the cookie sheet to rise.

As you can see, it did rise quite a bit. I watched a Youtube video of Martha from Marmeedear making bread. The next time I bake bread, which I think will be next week, I will use her recipe from her book, "The Bread Box". I learned several things watching her Youtube video, Marmees Breadmarket, on how to successfully make Whole Wheat bread. I've been baking bread on and off for quite a few years but it was a struggle using smaller mixers. So I'm anxiously waiting to get my new cookbook as her bread seems much lighter and moister than mine. I'm always up for learning new things!

This is the finished product. It was deliciously good hot out of the oven! It browned nicely and I swiped butter over the top. We should be set for bread for the next few days. Looks like lunch tomorrow will be freshly made soup and bread!

Kaleigh recently made this pretty little scarf for a two year old little girl. Her mama saw one that Kaleigh made for the lady's nephew and wanted one for her daughter. Kaleigh crocheted a little edge on it too. She is going to do a post on her blog later today where you can find her free pattern. Please give her a visit if you'd like over here at Pixxie Sparkles, her blog, and enjoy the free pattern. She used Lamb's Pride yarn in Rosy Velvet.

This is another scarf I made out of the Red Heart Curly Q yarn. I blogged about it in an earlier post. I made this one for my friend's birthday. She works at an elementary school and stands outside during recess. I thought this would keep her a bit warmer. This is the third one I've made, Kaleigh made one for my mom and I have one more skein left to make myself a scarf. I really like the pattern because it fits nicely in your jacket without being too long, has the hole in the middle and the yarn is very soft.

I'll be back for another post soon, as I'd like to show you my completed block from LittleMissShabby free BOM. It's really, really cute!

Wintery Day & A Baby Cardigan

So what do you think of my new blog look? Kaleigh helped me this afternoon (O.K., more than helped me!) giving my blog a facelift. I added a few new things to my sidebar, including an e-mail feed! I've subscribed to many blogs using the feature and I really like it.
I recently made a baby cardigan sweater for my cousin who just had her first baby. We visited them last week and he was as cute as a button. I'm sure the blue hat and sweater will look extra cute on him as he has beautiful blue eyes! The pattern was free from my local yarn store. I used 100 Purewool yarn from my stash. It is my very favorite every day wool. It's soft as butter and a pleasure to knit with.

We were in for some wintery weather today, so after doing school with the kiddoes I decided to make homemade sausage. I have never done so before. I used half ground turkey and half ground pork along with spices. I joined Homemakersmentor and it was one of our lessons to make sausage and/or salami from scratch. So far I have been really happy with this program and group. If you love homemaking and would like to continue your skills give it a visit and click around and see if it's for you. We are having sausage, sour dough bisquits and broccoli for dinner. Should be ready in a few minutes!

Ohhh... and guess what the UPS man brought me today? A BOSCH Mixer from Marmeedear! I bought a grain mill from Martha a couple of years ago and really wanted a BOSCH Mixer so I can make six loaves of bread at a time, among other things! A big investment, yes, but one I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of.

Kierra and Oliver in the morning. He fits right in with the family! Hope you're having a wonderful week. I've got so much more to share; I'll be back soon!

A Blessed Triduum To You

Praying the Stations of the Cross is a something we do every Good Friday. Here, my three little ones are at the last station.

Good Friday and Hot Cross Buns go hand in hand, right? These are the same ones I made last year. The recipe is from the Urban Homemaker. They are really good!
Oh, and in case you're Catholic, today is the day to begin the Devine Mercy Novena. You can find the prayer here: www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy/novena.htm.
A blessed Triduum to you and yours.