Canning Bacon

I woke up this morning with new found energy.... 

The other day I went shopping for food

 (something I haven't done since payday, oops)

NO ONE has starved, even if they tell you other wise!

Okay back to my new found energy.

I went shopping and I seen a 10 pound box of Bacon 

"irregular" pieces for $14.95. I just couldn't pass that up!

Today I decided I was going to try my hand in canning strips of bacon.  

Here it goes.... (holding my breath)

 Your also going to need WIDE mouth jars. 

The bacon I used actually had more meat less fat.

add a half a strip of parchment to keep it from sticking to itself.

fold in halfRoll it up tight!

each quart jar holds about 1.25 pounds of raw bacon.

The bacon was then pressure canned at 11 lbs of pressure for 90 mins and cooled ... This is the finished product ... I'm super excited to try this. So maybe I will pop the top and make some for breakfast.


*** Update Bacon fried up nicely... was a little interesting getting the bacon out of the jar with greasy fingers. :~)

Until Next Time,

Amy

Wordless Wednesday

Until Next Time

Amy

December???

Really??
 Its December already!!
  Where in the world did this year go?
  

Somebody pointed out to me that I haven't blogged... I haven't so much as popped in to say hello or help!
SO here I am HELLO!!
         ..........     HELP!!!

Around here we are getting ready for Christmas? I think... Not really sure here lately.

 I feel like I've been going in about 500 different directions... NOW don't laugh because it always feels like I'm going 500 different directions. 

Okay, So in a few days I will upload some of the wonderful things we have worked on one of them being Pumpkin pickles and the Green Greenhouse! 

YES, I said GREEN!! Everything is Green this year and not Brown!

Until Next Time,

Amy   

Our 'New' Classroom

This last week was a busy week .... 

I spent my time making an old bedroom into our 'New' classroom 

On Monday I wrote in my journal...

"This week I am going to turn Taylor's old bedroom into our new classroom, I should be finished with it by Wednesday"

Okay, Yes, My husband it right! ((See I said it!))

I do think that I have 48 hours in 24

and 14 days in a 7 day week.  (:~] 

On with my story.... 

Once upon a time,

There was a beautiful Queen

and she loved to go to large home improvement stores 

and purchase Cheap paint that others would return

then once she was finished there she would go to yard sales and

purchase large bolts of fabric for pennies.

So one day the Queen decided to make a classroom for her princes & princesses.

In hopes that it would keep them focused and be a little more organized. 

I started by emptying everything out of the room.

I then pulled out our paint cans... 

I thought the Purple and Green would be a great lively classroom colors.

Prince Tater Bug thought the yellow stripes would be a wonderful addition.

And to work we went....

Paint (2) gallon cans $5.oo each

Princess Turtle Run worked on curtains. 

She did a wonderful job working the sewing machine.

Fabric- Yard Sale.... $2.oo for 40 yards.

Then we found some shelves and 

used some of the extra paint on them as well.

I really had no hope for these shelves.

But I need something to put books on

and need to do it as cheap as possible.

Shelves.... Free with the purchase of the house

Turtle Run did a wonderful job on the curtains and the 

shelves turned out so much better then I expected.

Our Room is ready for Learning!

I have a couple things that I want to add to the room such as a storage box covered in padding and fabric to match the room..... But that will be a few weeks away.

Until Next Time,

Amy

Fall

Fall is sad for me... Its the mark that summer is over.
            
                   and winter is going to be here before we are ready.

But we have for the last 2 years been celebrate the end of summer with a fall project.

               This year we decided to carve pumpkins ..............

    

Then once we finished our carvings we moved on to some of our apples. 

  this year we got a good harvest.... 

Daddy made some of this AWESOME carmel cream cheese dip! 

And then we moved onto some Carmel Apples...... 

and.... they were better then they look!

Until Next Time,

Amy          

Broccoli & Cauliflower leaves.... Eatable??

YES, They are!   

I asked this question on facebook yesterday,

 wondering if any of my friends had ever eaten them.   

I had someone send me links to some sites about eating these leave.

 Well, that was enough for me... 

I told the kids what I was up to and they wanted in!

 Oh Yah! (Big smile from the mama!)

First we started with the picking. 

(Photos by my oldest daughter) 

Next, I washed the greens. (Not shown)

Then peeled them... 

The stems are called "the poor mans asparagus" 

which sounds to me that they might be a little tougher then what I want in my greens. 

But defiantly have their place in the kitchen.

 So OFF with their heads! 

I also ripped them into 3-4 inch large piece.

I also read that the greens might have a bitter taste.  So I filled a pot with cold water & leaves. I brought this to a boil. Once it came to a boil I dipped the greens out and added them to ice cold water. 

Next I drained the greens .... and gave them a good squeeze!




                                                                                          Then I gave them a chopping.

Fried some Bacon....  As my hubby said, Bacon makes everything taste better.

I then add the green to the bacon, added some garlic and sautéed them for about 3-5 mins. 

This gave them a nice crunch. Just the way I like my veggies.

Still amazes me something I once thought to be uneatable, 

something that would just find its way into the compost, could taste so good.

Until Next Time, 

Amy

When Hobbies become something more....

Amy the Photog.... 

(insert roar here)  

I did an amazing shoot the other day.... 

(but then again all my sessions are amazing) 

But the other day, I had two girls that showed up with cute dresses and colorful boots! 

They want a vintage look.

hmmm, I thought.... "A vintage look"

a vintage look, a vintage look, a vintage look

A vintage look is in the eye of the beholder 

There are as many vintage looks as there are Photographers.

(go ahead google "vintage photography" you'll see what I'm talking about)

I thought this might just be a pretty big challenge for me... 

 just going off the fact that I have never done a vintage look that wasn't black & white.

And these boots are just way to cute to make black & white! 

So I went to work and much to my surprise 

I stumbled onto this look and I'm in absolute love with it! 

And it didn't take me a week... just a few hours.

So my friends I will allow you to feast your eyes upon 

this "Lazy Day Birthday Celebration"

Until Next Time,

Amy

Way to busy to smell the flowers

I hate it when I feel so busy I don't have time to stop and smell the flowers....
         even though I only have Okra blooming in the yard right now...
                would like to stop and smell them....
                       I wonder what they smell like......

Anyway.... back to my business.... I have started a new blog site for all of my photography stuff and getting a few lookers.... Secretly hoping someone important sees my work and says.... Hey your so talented, I need to buy your work for THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS!!!    Okay okay, but a girl can dream can't she?  

     Oh, and if you have time check out the girls at their new blog  Canning for Beginner's   its a video blog and they are having so much fun putting it together!

Okay, I really just wanted to pop in and let everyone know that I am ALIVE and I am planing on blogging .... ummm.... just not sure when again.... But in the meantime check out the girls they are working hard on their video blog.


Until Next Time,


Amy

What a day!

Phew, what a day ahead of me.  My Post It Note list has now turned into a NOTEBOOK list! Here I'll let you peak at it.....

1. Buy Milk
2. Get water
3. I have yogurt to make (will post a blog about that) 
4. Make a meal for a friend  
5. Pick the garden
6. Make bread
7. Clear out room down stairs 
8. Price yard sale items
9. Clean up yard sale items
10. Make Children clean their rooms 
11.  do their chores
12. AND SCHOOL work
13. Start Pear Jam
14. Finish Tamales
15. Make Dinner (which may just end up being Tamales)
16. Take Children to Awanas
17. AND deliver friends Meal

That's the "List" and I'm sure it will grow before the day is over! I'll Let you know at the end of the day how successful I was.... IF, I'm still awake at the end of the day!

Over Not everything got done but I feel good about the stuff that did get finished! And Now I'm ready for bed! 


Until Next Time,


Amy

An Organized Garage

Have you heard that old adage, "out of sight out of mind?"  Well, that is the way our garage is for us. Only occasionally do I go out there and its more of 'open door.... throw... shut the door FAST!'  But I have learned that if you want to have a yard sale.... You have to have a place for all your sale items... thats where a garage would come in handy.  Or if you'd like your crafty husband to build you something.... He's going to need a work area and the living room is NOT acceptable.  And yes, I know this from experience.

So having the WHH home for an extended weekend we thought it'd be a great time to spend some quality time together... err... clean things up a bit.

We started with this....... Pulled a few things out and decided that we would end up with the same look, just without leaves and saw dust if we didn't get some totes... So Off we went and spent $40 on 8 totes (didn't use all of them... yet)

Over there somewhere is a huge work bench.... I know its there because about 2 years ago I used it to fix an earring. :~)

 I'm just not sure where all this came from.... or how it got there....

......after day one the work bench was an actual work bench!  Its so clean that you could eat off it... not really just another adage.

And by the end of Day 2..... if we wanted we could get one vehicle and the bike in the garage. Its not completely finished and won't be until that yard sale takes place.... hopefully in about two weeks.

And we both love the garage now. 

So I challenge you This fall pick one

 "out of sight out of mind?" 

area in your home and organize it, you'll be glad that you did!

Then tell me about it.

Until Next Time,

Amy

My passionate hobby

Ever find yourself thinking about something so much you can't remember the last time you thought any other thoughts?  For some it might be cooking, sewing or gardening, for me it would be photography!  I think about it daily! I'M talking every minute of everyday! So, I thought I'd blog about it....  ;~)

Anyway, I got this new photo editing program the other day.  Which we will call "Ed", you know I'm not getting paid to plug programs for companies so no free advertising from me! 

I have to confess, I am an old school photographer you know the film.... black N white.... you do it all yourself kind of photographer.   Yea, well I have a digital camera now and the dinosaur is now nicely displayed in a beautiful shadow box surrounded by some of my first Photographs **copies of course**     

Okay, back to Ed... So I got Ed a couple days ago and I've been dink-king around with some ol' (6mo) digital pictures that I have taken and then found one in my wedding dress that my biological mother took.  

               Okay Okay...  I'll stop yabberin' and start showin'

So I started off with this picture. I opened it up in Ed and thought I think I'm going to make myself look like I'm in the clouds.  Although this is a good picture I still really don't care for it for multiple reasons. 

Next I used this Picture....

I liked this cloud picture I took a few months ago because of the big puffy cloud in the bottom left corner. Although there is blue in the picture I didn't think there was enough blue. Sooooooo...........  I added this........

This picture was taken in Florida while we was vacationing.  I absolutely love the blue in the sky and the way the rays of the sun shine through the clouds. 

So I took these three picture, duplicated 2 of them to use the best in each picture.... And came up with this............ 

Now I can't tell you the exact steps that I took to have this ending result but I do remember masking, cutting rendering and moving all being a part of the process. Oh yes, and about 3 hours.....   I can't wait until I can play around with some more pictures, but first I have lessons to teach and dishes to wash. :~)

Until Next Time,  

Amy

School is now in session

YEP! School is now in session.  We started back a couple weeks ago... half load. Which means they are only doing  half of their normal work.  WHY?  You ask... Simple its easier on ME!  yes, thats right if I ease my children into doing school work then I am easing them into this new routine that will soon mark the end to summer and school will once again consume our lives.  Besides easing them into school means that I don't have mentally exhausted children that become cranky lil' angels with their halos wrapped tightly around their necks!  So far this new system is working like a charm! **insert wink here**  


So last night we had dinner with my BFF and she asks questions .... love her by the way! Anyway, she asked how the new education laws affected us with the homeschooling.... My answer was GREAT! "Ummm, what new laws?" She proceeded to explain to me that public schools have extended their school days. (my answer again Pure Genius!)  'REALLY?'  all the while thinking not very nice thoughts but keeping them totally to myself.... and no I'm not going to share them here either! I left there thinking about that question and  have decided this... We home school for multiple reasons one of which they can work at their own pace be it fast or slow. I will not sacrifice my child's brains to boredom nor to overwhelmingness, Period end of story! But, as always my heart goes out to all public school teachers may peace be with you.

Until Next Time,

Amy

Oklahoma Summer Gardening

 Gardening in Central Oklahoma has been completely different from gardening in Oregon, where I was raised.  Everything seemed to grow all season long with ZERO die off!  NOT Oklahoma! Two days of 100 degrees and say good bye to your tomatoes and anything else that might be a little weak from bug munches.    Today the kids and I pulled out our tomato plants that have browned and stopped growing and replaced them with a fall crop of green beans.  The green beans will add nitrogen back into the soil that the tomatoes have depleted. ......... or so I'm told.

Until Next time,

Amy

Mint!!!

So the other day, I was checking out my rapidly growing spearmint plant and orange peppermint plant.  And thought what in the world am I going to do with all this!!??

 And it hit me....... I could add some of that mint to my food processor and then add sugar let it sit and infuse (I know its a big word! repeat after me in~fuse, good job!) THEN I can add it to whatever recipe I'd like to have a *hint* of mint.  So I did just that!
I know I'm not the first to come up with this idea but Hey, I came up with it this day! That must count for something..... right?


The day I made all of this I was really concerned that it wasn't going to come out like I'd hoped... the mint had a strong unpleasant smell.... But I proceeded. Today, I opened up the jar and I'm telling you I heard angles singing!  Then my mind was racing... pear jam with mint.... strawberry mint jam.... tea with mint... sweet breads with mint sugar!

So that brings me to the next step... YOU! Put your thinking caps and and tell me your ideas!  What else can I do with mint?

Sourdough Waffles

Sourdough Waffles................

Yes, My sourdough adventure continues! Today, I made sourdough waffles.   Pictured above is 1/4 of the batter that I made.... :~) Who on earth would have thought that 4 cups of starter would have made so much batter.   8~}  .... It's okay to laugh.... I now have about a million waffles in the freezer for future breakfasts.  (and my kids think I'm the greatest not to mention the cost was roughly a bag of flour... pretty good deal if you ask me)  

 It did take a little night before prep work, but was well worth the effort.

The recipe I used was one I found on the internet... 1847 Oregon Trail (free) SOURDOUGH STARTER By Carl (Recipe)  It was so yum-A-lishous that there is no need to modify the recipe! 

The first few batches, I filled a little to full.... So I have a huge mess now to clean up.  

But, it was sooooo worth it! 

Don't forget to check out Carl Griffith's Oregon Trail Starter. He has an awesome story and they will send out the starter for cost of shipping.  I've already mailed off for mine ;~) 

Until Next Time,

Amy