Dandelion Jelly & Syrup

Awe, Dandelion Jelly

 Its as easy as any jelly.

We started off by picking flower 

4 cups worth of dandelion flowers

we washed them until we thought they were clean enough

finished picking the longer stems off.

we chose to leave the green bottoms on

but if you want your jelly to be a brighter yellow without a little tint of green

take the green bottoms off. 

I really didn't want to spend that much time on making this jelly.

6 cups of water 

bring to a boil 

reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes

remove from heat and let sit until cooled

NOW for the fun part... Strain and Squeeze all the yummy goodness out of those little flowers

Next your going to put 3 cups of the juice back into the pot

(this is for the jelly.

 Syrup will be at the end)

O~Kay... this is what make Jelly so yum~a~lishous 

Now for the 'healthy" stuff..... 

*enter sarcasm here*

5 1/2 cups of sugar

1/4 teaspoon real vanilla

1/4 cup real Orange Juice (I used pulp free)

1 box of Pectin 

Now you let it boil until it passes your jelly test.

(cold plate, a little bit of you syrup 

back in icebox till cooled 

then wipe your finger through it if it looks like jelly then your done)

once its reached your likeness of consistency pour it into 

sterile jars and process in hot water bath for 15 mins

Viola, 

You have Dandelion Jelly.

Now for the Syrup,

add 6 cups of sugar

DON'T add the Pectin

boil for 10 mins

pour into your jars

and process just as you did with the jelly

Husband says,  "hm, that's interesting it tastes just like the flower smells"

(  big smiles from me  )

So get out there and make some Dandelion Jelly!!  

Until Next Time,

Amy

Welcome to Spring!

Nothing say's Welcome to Spring like a yard full of Dandelions.

So we decided to pick a bowl full of these lovely little weeds.

Susun Weed says,  "the gardener's best revenge is to eat the weeds."

So that is what we intend to do,

we will walk you through different ways to 

eat your weeds this Spring.

First off we started by picking these lovely flowers from our yard and our neighbors yard 

knowing that no herbicides have been used in these yards.

We washed them under cold water until we felt they were clean. 

Next, Al~Bug seasoned some flour with salt and pepper

Wiped up an egg... Dipped each flower into the egg then into the seasoned flower.

Then into the hot oil around 400 degrees 

until crispy and crunchy 

Watch closely or they will burn

Then ENJOY!!

You can enjoy them plain or dipped into you favorite dipping sauce.

Until Next Time,

Amy

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