Thanksgiving dinner

     Oh what fun Thanksgiving is. We host Thanksgiving every year and I always get so happy being able to spend so much time in the kitchen prepping to feed family. I'm not sure what the bigger compliment is, seeing the plates come out one by one so full that food is stacked on top of food, or the way everyone leans back when they're finished because their full belly prevents them from leaning forward for another second. Either way, I've always been a firm believer that good times happen around good food.
     This year, I took the home made stuffing up a notch and started with home made bread. We made a couple loaves, starting a few nights before Thanksgiving. The bread was nothing out of the ordinary, just simple white bread.

     The night before, we cubed it so it could dry out just a little. I've made the same stuffing for years and mine actually calls for soft bread cubes, but I don't like them pillow soft, so cubing them and leaving them in a loosely covered bowl over night is usually perfect. When you're ready to stuff the turkey, melt 3/4 cup butter and soften 2 sliced celery stalks and a chopped medium onion. As soon as this starts cooking on the stove, Shawn already starts to inhale deeply. The smell is amazing. To the 9 cups of cubed bread, add approx 2 teaspoons of ground sage, mix it around real good, then toss in the butter, celery and onion mixture. Just stir it until it's all coated real good and start shoving inside that beautiful bird. This recipe can be used inside any bird, turkey, chicken or even Cornish hens. Because it's such a basic stuffing, no sausage or berries, etc., it's very versatile.

     This is before we tied up the legs, but I wanted you to be able to see the stuffing inside. This bird was so big that all the stuffing fit inside, but normally I have some left over. Anything that doesn't fit inside, just put in an oven safe casserole dish, cover it and place in the refrigerator. After the turkey comes out of the oven and is resting, I can usually bake the left over stuffing and rolls at the same time so everything is nice and hot for dinner.
     Unfortunately, since we were juggling so much with company coming in, turkey coming out and a hundred other fun kitchen things, I didn't get a picture of the finished bird. I didn't do anything special seasoning this years turkey. It was a simple butter and salt and pepper bird, but I've done quite a few variations from herbs to brine to pumpkin pie spice rubbed, which was amazing. We did expect a bigger crowd this year, hence the large bird, and since some of the family doesn't care too much for out-of-the-box ideas, I just stayed with simple. The flavor of the turkey and stuffing is going to be fantastic no matter what you do.

     This picture was actually taken the next day during our day of watching movies, cleaning up and pigging out on left overs. I don't do black Friday shopping. I do sweats, movies and enjoy my husband. My sister does the sweet potato casserole every year and if she were to ever decide not to bring it, I'd be lost. It's the sweet that cuts through the savory on the plate. It's almost a dessert in itself. So this was almost all of our meal. Not pictured is the cranberry sauce and the rolls. Why didn't I show the rolls? Because that's tomorrow's blog. The rolls were so amazing and so easy that I'm going to share that entire recipe with you.
     We also took the turkey carcass, some celery and a few other vegetable odds and ends, put it in a large stock pot, covered it with water and simmered it very slowly for hours. It was at least 3 hours, but I can't say for sure because I went more by eye than time. This yielded 5 quarts of amazing home made turkey stock. On Saturday, with 4 cups of that turkey stock, we made a mashed potato topped turkey pot pie. It's another one of my traditional after Thanksgiving meals, though normally with pie crust. This year I decided to try it with the mashed potatoes. It was good, but I think I missed the pie crust on top of this.

     It was still a great comfort food kind of evening and with the temperatures beginning to drop, I don't complain at all about the oven being on.
    Tune in tomorrow when I share the best roll recipe you've ever seen, and who I copied the recipe from!
Chat soon and I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving!
Penni

First snow of the winter

     I'm certainly not complaining.  It's near the end of November in Michigan and we've actually enjoyed temperatures near the 70s this month. But for our first snowfall of the season, it packed quite the punch. We were hammered with over ten inches of snow today. I'm thankful I didn't have to leave the house.
     Shawn and I couldn't wait to let Kota outside, who we found sleeping belly up on the couch. I gave him a few minutes to wake up and then opened the door. As soon as he could see outside his ears went up. Suddenly he was like a kid on Christmas morning. And he spent the majority of his day sleeping in the snow. He made a few random trips inside to pick out another of his many bones and went back outside. We watched through the window giggling as he buried them in the snow.

     I do love seeing him in the snow. It's definitely one of his favorite times of year and I was pretty happy for him today. As for me? Meh, maybe another day or two of this and then I'll be ready for beach weather again. 

Chat soon!

Penni

Squeaky clean...

     I'm a Pinterest lover just like many of you out there. We like to believe all the innovative ideas that we're seeing actually work. Most of them probably do. I don't know because I've only tried a few handful of projects or recipes and out of the millions of ideas, my few don't leave me any authority to judge. But I do know many of those so called short cut life savers aren't worth squat and turn out to be complete failures.
     I've ended up with a few of those failures, but in time, I've realized many of the recipes just needed a few tweaks and I could improve it to be the scrumptious dish it was meant to be. We once tried apple pie empanadas. I was so excited as I was making them because they looked amazing. I was using our home made apple pie filling and making, what I thought was, caramel for the first time. Lots of butter. In fact, a crazy amount of butter. But I followed the recipe. As it baked, the house smelled amazing and our mouths watered when I pulled them out of the oven. It was so hard to wait that 20 minutes or so to let it cool.
     One bite and I was so disappointed. The tortilla wrap and filling were amazing, but the caramel sauce was pretty much a pool of butter. Way too much. So much butter that it ruined all of it. Go figure. Too much butter. It really turned me off and I could feel my veins harden just taste testing it. Use about a quarter of the butter called for, bump up the sugar and viola. No more wasted apple pie filling. I assume as people copy and paste each others recipes and share them on Pinterest, there are probably unintentional typos or someone's misjudgment. One wrong word can be the difference between a success and a flop. Try it your self and see what happens. Learn from it. Better it if you can and make it your own.
     And then you run across the recipes and mixes that bring back a childhood memory of your grandmother or great aunt or some such who used to do it that way. And they'd always say, "I've done it like this for 50 years." But what if somewhere in your memory, you remember how well it turned out for them? We gave one of those old wives tales a shot.
     We followed the old 3, 2, 1 glass cleaner recipe. Even as a young teen I can remember being at a friends house while she was doing chores. They used a home made cleaner, I remember she said vinegar, and she used newspapers, and the mirrors all came out so spotless. I was amazed. How could anything but expensive cleaner and paper towels get such a streak free shine? Then I came across this recipe on Pinterest, which was only one of 100's that I came across.

Easy 3-2-1 Formula for Washing Windows

It's simply three drops of blue Dawn, two-thirds cup of water, and one-third cup of white vinegar.  (Did I mention this only costs pennies per cup?)

     Just pour it into a spray bottle and spray away. That's it. You can see the rest of the post here:

     http://lessthanperfectlifeofbliss.blogspot.com/2014/03/easy-3-2-1-formula-for-washing-windows.html
     So I take this mixture and head to the bathroom. The dirtiest mirrors in the house. I sprayed it all over and already I wasn't impressed. It started dripping right away and looked like nothing more than straight up water. However the vinegar smell was a tad douche related. Yes... I said it. I grabbed a wad of paper towel, (next time I'll save the Sunday paper) and started wiping, not having much hope.

   I wiped as fast as I could and changed the paper towel around to make sure I kept drying with a dry spot, but it just seemed to move the fluid around and I thought for sure my mirrors were going to look disgusting. When I gave up trying to dry them and stood back, instantly the moisture started to clear up and I was left with streak free, spotless mirrors... with a little vinegar smell. I couldn't believe it. I stood there with my mouth open wondering, "How much money have I spent on Windex over the years?" No offense against Windex.
     I moved to the bedroom and did that mirror and wiped every other glass or mirror surface I had. I picked up a little momentum even because I felt pretty accomplished and smitten with myself. Just like grandma used to do it. Two thumbs up is my review on this one. I'll never buy mirror cleaner again. No kidding. And I'll try more of the home made home cleaners now that this one has proven to be a success.
Chat soon!
Penni
 

Recipe success!

     It's been a wonderful few days of recipes, old and new. I did tell you the next time I made our usual weekly loaf of bread that I would be sure to post pictures and the recipe, so here it is!

Place in your bread machine in this order:
3/4 cup Water (80 degrees approx.)
1 Tbsp. oil or butter
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. powdered milk
1 3/4 cup bread flour (I actually only use your standard all purpose flour)
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
Add 1 Tbsp. of sunflower seeds if desired. We've been using maple toffee covered sunflower seeds. So all ingredients into the machine.

I set the machine for a one pound loaf on wheat setting and it's good to be left alone for 3.5 hours. Set it and forget it. I do love my bread machine.

     I have such a great husband. I text him from work and said, "Do me a favor and snap a picture of the loaf of bread for our blog BEFORE you eat it all." I couldn't help but giggle when he text back, "Uhhhhh...." I knew it was too late. He did still manage to impress and set his sliced bread down with the left over loaf, included our jam and took the best picture. This was his breakfast. This bread toasts up so nice. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. We now make this bread at least once a week, but sometimes more because it doesn't last through the week. You can certainly make a larger loaf. My machine will go up to a 2 pound loaf. I choose to make them smaller because I'd rather make another loaf than make too much and be wasteful throwing it out.

     We tried another bread this weekend. And it too will be added to the regular rotation. It's a Portuguese sweet bread and I found it right on Allrecipe.com.



Portuguese Sweet Bread I

Recipe By:Jennifer Houde

"This recipe is for the bread machine. It is similar to homemade grandmother's sweet bread."

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons margarine
• 1/3 cup white sugar

• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions

1. Add ingredients in order suggested by your manufacturer.
2. Select "sweet bread" setting.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.com

     And this is what it looks like... Yes, again, I only get a picture of a slice because this was cut pretty fast. We sliced it up and used it that same night to make stuffed french toast with sausage for dinner. Who doesn't love a breakfast dinner, right?

     We just stuffed it with whipped cream cheese, made french toast with it and we topped it with our peach syrup. It was so amazing. Shawn said it tasted like he ordered it from a gourmet restaurant. I think he likes when I experiment in the kitchen. He seems to be reaping the rewards. He liked this one so much that he requested it for breakfast again the next morning. He doesn't request breakfast. It's not my strong suit. The cooking is, but the getting up and moving early is not. Hence, breakfast dinners. :)  But I didn't hesitate. He asked for it, he gets it. It's kind of my rule with him.

     We had a wonderful productive weekend. Finally sat down Sunday night in a spotless house, lunches ready for the next day, and amazing weather for November in Michigan. Oddly amazing, thanks be to El Nino. So why not take advantage of the rare Michigan fall? Shawn made a pot of coffee and we sat on the deck in the dark watching the stars because the sky was completely clear. This is unheard of this time of year. No coats, winds or shivering. Just a mug of coffee, my husband, dog at my feet and ending a productive weekend with a perfect night. I love my weekends with Shawn and one of these days when I hit the lottery, I'm calling into work sick!

Next post I'll be sharing the recips we've tried for home cleaning supplies. I'll give my take on some of the Pintrest recipes I've made. Some have been around for decades and some are new. You can find the carziest ideas on Pintrest and not all of them are legit and a success that they claim. We've tried some and the reviews are in! Tune in.

Chat soon

Penni







A pack too close to home

     This morning was the usual Monday with the alarm starting at 5:30 am and after hitting snooze 3 times, we finally crawl out of bed at 6:00. First thing Kota wanted to go outside so Shawn throws on his robe and heads to the kitchen to make our morning cup of Joe, while I head to the bathroom to begin the daily regime.
     The mornings have been extra dark since daylight savings and before any lights get turned on, I look at the sky on my way to the bathroom. There has been so many stars and it even looks cold and crisp lately. The winter is coming, and with that, our dogs natural love to sit out in the cold. I normally head back out of the bedroom right about the time Shawn walks by with a mug in each hand. Ahh he's so wonderful...
     He says very nonchalantly, "Can hear the coyotes howling in the distance..." And sets my coffee down.
     Apparently I found this more of a shock then he did, though we have come face to face recently with a coyote while out walking Kota in the dark. "Did he come back in? Where is he? Do they sound close?"
     Shawn just shrugged, "He's hanging outside. They sound like they're in the distance."
     Ok... Shawn can't hear like he once could and I could be right next to him carrying on an entire conversation only to realize he has no clue I'm even speaking to him. That's usually followed up with him looking at me and saying, "huh?" So right now, I don't trust his assessment of howling in the distance. Luckily, he senses my not-so-hidden panic and he heads back out to check on the dog.
     "He's fine. He's sleeping on the porch."
     I guess I'm good with that... And eventually he did come in. I'm sure he was enjoying the sounds of the howls and I'm a little surprised he didn't answer those calls. It's not odd for him to be outside laying quietly in the yard in the cold and dark, when he's feeling closest to his natural roots, that he decides to howl like a wild wolf. His howl is subtle and smooth. It's gorgeous. So I was definitely surprised he wasn't howling back at the posse calling out this morning.
     I made bread over the weekend. I've been trying to use my bread machine weekly and make home made bread and trying not to buy so much store bought. Just another small step to us trying to be more self sufficient. We have a million ways to improve in that area, and in some ways, we're wasteful. Any small change I can make in lowering the grocery cost and just making what I need, adds up to larger change over time. So I've just been making a combo white wheat bread once a week. I'm focusing on just getting better and familiarizing myself with dough and the machine before I branch out to other loaves.
     This weekend I decided to toss in some butter toffee covered sunflower seeds. It came out so good that I couldn't take a picture fast enough! The loaf is already half gone. So now that I know, I'll do it again in the next couple of days and not only post pictures, but also the recipe. Tune in if you like home made bread!
Chat soon
Penni

Time off

     Sunday night was an exciting night in my house. WWE pay per view event and it was a good one. One of my favorites, Alberto Del Rio is signed back to WWE and Brock Lesner beat the Undertaker, and Seth beat Kane and I can go on and on about the excitement.  But I'll spare you. :)
   

     We ate soft pretzels and celebrated, and I was thankful that I had taken Monday off. I decided to burn my last vacation day for the year and I decided to treat it as if I was playing hooky. I woke at my normal time, woke the boy up for school, then sat in my robe in bed drinking coffee and watching Good Morning America.  It was wonderful.  

     We decided after some breakfast to go crazy and make it a day that we binge watch some Netflix.  We finished season 5 of Walking Dead. Can't get enough of that show! So after that, we did dishes and then watched 6 episodes of the second season of American Horror Story. I'm 6 episodes in and I'm still not sure yet who is crazy!

     We made a nice BBQ chicken dinner and I also finished a blanket I've been crocheting.  I'll box it up because this one is a Christmas gift already spoken for.

     So today on my blog I thought I'd share my favorite way to make BBQ chicken in the oven. Nothing beats grilling, but I don't get the same stickiness with this chicken on the grill as I do in the oven.

     A pack of 12 drumsticks (the usual size where I shop)

     Flour for dipping (season with salt and pepper and I also like the kick of cayenne)

     Your favorite BBQ sauce 

Melt a half a stick of butter in a large baking dish. Then, skin or no skin, your choice, flour the chicken and place in a single layer in dish. Bake at 450 for 45 minutes. Pull dish out, turn oven down to 350, flip chicken over then smother in BBQ sauce. Bake another 15 minutes at 350. Done. Always comes out delicious.  

Let me know if you try it!

Chat soon!

Penni

Hunter's visit

     It's a good thing I don't make my living by blogging, right? I've neglected my blog page so I'm here to spruce it up and tell you what's been going on in our busy lives. The work week is the typical 9 to 5 week, dinner, showers blah blah blah, but come the weekend, it's really always something new with us. We do normally spend our weekends in the kitchen, where we love to be. Some people consider cooking and baking and creating culinary masterpieces work, but it's one of the best hobbies that we love and it's what we do most.
     This weekend we took a little breather from the kitchen though. For good reason. Canning season is coming to a low, not that it ever really stops for us, but it's not as urgent as it was in the spring and summer. So we took a break this weekend and gladly babysat our oldest grandson, Hunter. Such a ball of energy this kid is. Hunter is approx 1.5 years old and just such a sweet boy. He likes to snuggle and share smooches with his grandparents, but that's when you can get him to sit still for 30 seconds. He certainly wore us out, but it was an absolute joy.

     Yes, that smile can melt us quicker than chocolate in July. And just as sweet, (and sometimes sticky). His mother, my daughter Rikki, is an independent consultant for Jamberry Nails. That alone is another fun story I'll share soon and if you've never heard of Jamberry, I urge you to check it out at rikkisue.jamberry.com. Anyway, she had a show to do in our area, which worked out great for us. She came in on Friday night. It was great to get home from work and see them here. We made dinner and then basically spent the night visiting and spending time together. Then Saturday we woke early and she was out the door to show off her goods. We were left to babysit for 8 hours.

     When you're not use to chasing that energy any longer, it's a challenge, not that we didn't love it. In fact we can't wait to do it again. Running and laughing from one side of the house to the other until he finally sat down and slowly faded away for an afternoon nap while we watched The Box Trolls. That too I recommend if you haven't seen it. It was a great movie. Hunter fell asleep and I was still glued to the movie.

     Eventually he woke up, we had a snack, mom showed up and then they were gone. It all went by so fast. Saturday evening after they left, it was quiet. Strangely quiet. And it was only one day that they were here. But things felt a tad empty and it wasn't until we woke up this morning to a dog hacking toilet water in my face when things felt back to normal again.

     So today has been a fairly lazy day at home. We baked fresh bread, did laundry and took showers and then decided what we wanted for dinner. I've been craving pancakes for about a week now and since we had sausage, well, why not? So Shawn made sausage and I whipped up a batch of pancakes. The pancakes were pretty standard, made with Bisquick, but the syrup was very much not standard. A few months back, we had made a batch of peach syrup from the scraps and peels of peaches after we made peach butter. It's the perfect syrup consistency and when we used it on the pancakes, it really took them up a notch. So pancakes with peach syrup and sausage is what was on the menu tonight.

     So as I sit here full and very much satisfied from a wonderful dinner, I felt it was worthy enough to share with you. When you're making jams from stone fruits, there is some waste. It seems awful to throw out the peels and scraps knowing there is so much flavor still in them. So take all of the peels and put in a pot. Barely cover them with water and boil down. I've seen recipes that vary in time. Some boil at a higher heat for less time, but I went with a lower heat and simmered for about an hour. Strain, and what you have left is yummy peach juice.

     At this point, you can be done with the peach scraps, but really, you don't have to be. Peaches are one of the few things that even after you've tried to suck the juice out with this method, even the boiled down mash is still flavorful. It's perfectly fine to freeze the scraps after this boiling and use in smoothies or something similar. I've even seen people puree it and make fruit leathers.

     So now we had 8 cups of juice. You'll need half of that in sugar. So in the crock pot went the 8 cups of peach juice and 4 cups of sugar. We let it cook all night. There is no secret as crock pots can really vary in degree. Cook it on low until it takes on the thickness of honey. I think ours cooked about 12 hours and it did literally look just like honey with a slightly more orange color. Put in half pints and water bath for 20 minutes. That's it. We labeled them up and put them on the shelf. Tonight, it made for the best tasting, gourmet-ish pancakes ever. As soon as we popped a lid off the smell of the peachy goodness hit the nose. Perfection. Let me know if you try it!

     Until next time! Thanks for reading!

Penni



Something new

     In our canning and preserving journeys, Shawn and I are taking in a ton of knowledge. We not only learn something new every day, but some days it feels like we learn ten new things. And one of us is always reading to the other, whether it's an article in a canning magazine, a fellow blogger daily canning experience or even from the friendly canning fan facebook pages. We're forever stumbling onto a new fact or food and excited to share with the other.
     About a week ago on our favorite canning facebook page, someone posted a picture of their latest try, pickled cherry tomatoes. She had tried it for the first time and was asking if it was normal for the cherry tomatoes to float to the top. I was intrigued right from laying my eyes on the pictures because we are expecting a large harvest of cherry tomatoes this year and I would love to try something rather than just shoving them in the freezer. So I read through the 30 or so comments from more experienced canners.
     I learned that yes, it is normal for the tomatoes to float to the top. Once they suck in the pickled brine they'll sink to the bottom. In the jar, my eyes spotted garlic and maybe dill or an herb of some sort. Many of the comments were how to use them once ready and I noticed an abundant amount of comments stating they were great in pasta salads, which are huge in my house. I started the quest of googling for a recipe and also located one in my trusty Ball canning book. The Ball recipe called for a full sprig of fresh rosemary in each jar. I love rosemary.
     So throughout the week I had collected a couple huge handfuls of cherry tomatoes from our generous plants. I kept piling them on the counter, watching them turn from orangish-red to bright red juicy looking treats. Even though we eat them constantly, it was still time to make a preserving decision and I knew I wanted to try a couple of jars of the pickled tomatoes. I'd rather try one or two jars before I do 50 just to crack one open and discover I had just wasted my surplus making something I won't eat. So Shawn and I cleaned and prepared enough to make 2 jars. Of course, it started as one... then went to two and really, it ended up being two and a half so we could dig into the half jar right away for a tester.

     As you can see, they are so appealing to look at in the jar, especially with the sprig of rosemary jumping out at you. They look perfect with just a little floating, but I knew from the research that they'll sink. So once we pulled them out of the canner we put them on the counter and walked away. I have to walk away just to keep myself from digging in too early and burning my tongue. So we decided to kill some time before dinner on this Saturday afternoon and watch the B-rated zombie movie Chernobyl Diaries. In all it's cheesyness, I liked it, but I'm a fan of the low budget horror movies. Nothing like planning the month of October (Shocktober in my house) around the worst horror flicks we can find. We have more fun trying to scare each other and laughing at the movies than we do being scared.
     So back to the tomatoes. Sounds kind of Gross, right? Pickled tomatoes. Once they were cool enough I asked Shawn to pull out the grill and I tossed on a couple thick steaks. While that was cooking I fried up some taters and made little salads. Then it was the moment. I twisted off the jar ring and popped the lid off. Right away I could smell rosemary and I was excited. I topped our salads with only 2 each, not knowing what to expect, plated the steaks and taters and we went against our policy and headed for the living room to watch TV while we ate. Really, we had the tail end of the 2 star zombie movie to finish up.
     We sit down, share a little smooch like we do before every meal and then Shawn grabbed his fork, "I'm starting with one of these bad boys right here", as he held the dripping tomato from his fork. I was nervous. I don't know... He popped it in his mouth and immediately as he chewed, he was boobing his head up and down to say "yes". So I did the same. It was a burst of flavor.
     Do they taste pickled? Yes. But the rosemary really shines through and cuts the vinegar down to an enjoyable level. They were awesome. Then I wished I had added a few more to my plate, but at the same time, I know they'll be even better in a week or so once they've soaked up the brine and rosemary and garlic. I can't wait to try them again.
     The day went by too fast, but we still have a goal to make some bread tonight so I'm off to the kitchen again. I'm thankful my husband enjoys hanging in the kitchen as much as I do. :)
Chat soon
Penni

Up and rolling

     Today was an exciting day. The logo is ready for our new business and that finally means full steam ahead. Tonight I get to play with all the marketing materials. Foorever Jammin' is already getting requests and I don't even have the labels on the jars yet. I hope that's sign of things to come and we need to get our butts in gear and fill some orders!

     Take note of the awesome logo because it'll be sweeping the country one day. :) We really do have the bar set pretty high for ourselves here. We are working very hard and excitment levels are through the roof. My goal is to be up and running by Labor Day so I can sell at a few local markets before the cold weather comes. We still have so much work to do though. Right now, I'd sell out of jams and jellies in a day. I will be spending my spare time building inventory, but that's the fun part so I don't mind.
     We're also going to be trying a few flavors we've never done before. Some don't really appeal to me, but have me curious, and just because I don't like something, doesn't mean someone else doesn't. I'm sure as we grow, we'll get a feel for what is popular and what is a flop. This weekend we'll be trying a small batch of strawberry basil jam. Not something I would of ever saught out, but since Shawn stumbled on the idea and people seem to like the sweet and savory combo, I'm willing to give it a shot. I do love both strawberries and basil. I'm curious, to say the least.
     Another gift I received today was freshly harvested garlic. My friend Theresa sent it over with her son, who is my son's other half, and it smelled wonderful. I've actually never experienced freshly dug up garlic before and I think I like it. It was smaller than what I buy in the store, but it sure packed a punch.
     The garlic couldn't have come on a better day. I really needed to harvest my basil, but after working all day I wasn't up for making the strawberry basil jam tonight. So when I got home and saw the garlic on the counter, I thought, "Score!" and I whipped up a nice batch of pesto and that's now in the freezer. During harvest season, I can't seem to make enough pesto. We freeze it in individual containers and through out the year, it's perfect for a quick easy dinner that has that fresh taste of summer no matter how much snow is on the ground. This was only my first batch so I have much more to go.
     So, Thursday night Smakdown is on. Ahhh we love our cheesy wrestling nights. I'm off to enjoy the fun with my boys and play with some business cards. I hope your day was as thrilling as mine was. New logo, fresh harvests and a handsome husband who just wants my company. My life is awesome.
     Enjoy your night!
Penni

    

Making friends

     One of our favorite things to do is hang out in our yard. We take great pride in the care and appearance, and absolutely consider it our little haven. Kota agrees. Kota is our 7 year old husky and fits every stubborn stereotype you've ever heard about husky's. This includes him being very territorial over his yard.
     Last summer was the best so far. I believe the count was up to him winning the battle with 3 very large possums and one turtle. I felt bad about the turtle. They have a tendency to climb up from the wetlands behind our yard and make the unfortunate decision to tread on Kota territory. We've saved several, but one did slip by without us knowing. I can live without the possums. In fact, last year was an oddly populated year for quite a few animals, but our yard stays clear. Nothing catches you off guard more than when Kota prances proudly up on to the deck with a 15 pound possum in his mouth that has curled itself around the dogs face, as it breathed its last breath.
     Since those more vicious of animals have seemed to gotten smart and moved on to other territories, this year the rabbit population has gone up, as well as the birds. They love our quiet yard just as much as we do, but sometimes we worry about the bunnies. And boy, they sure were some very small bunnies roaming on their own this year. We just kept trying to keep Kota calm and telling him to , "Be nice..." whenever the bunnies were having dinner in the yard.
     So imagine our surprise watching him for over a half hour lay next to a bunny as it ate. Neither one seemed to really be bothered by the other, though Kota did want to lay close and watch him. I think the bunny was safe as long as it didn't make any sudden moves, which it didn't.

     Introducing our fur baby, Kota. The bunny is pretty camouflaged in the picture so just to point out, hes on the the left of Kota, just munching away. With our kids grown, Kota is the current baby of the house, and treated as such. I don't deny it. I've absolutely turned into one of those gross baby talking dog owners whom I used to loathe. At one time, people who chose to plan their lives around a pet were a mystery to me. I grew up with  a dog and even had one as an adult, but I had gone 7 years without any pets, without any dependency.
     Then my friend came across Kota, who was just turning 4 at the time. Kota's loving owners had sadly fallen on hard times and had to make extreme life changes, which included trying to find a loving home for him. She had asked if I would be interested and I thought about it for a month or so while Kota stayed with her, waiting. I took a long time to weigh out the life change owning him would cause. The time, the walking and upkeep, the dependency and the poop.
     Eventually, we decided we were ready to take that leap and it's been a wonderful ride ever since. We feel like we've hit a lottery with Kota. Not only is he beautiful, but he's really a good boy. And I consider him the Jim Carrey of dogs as his actions can get quite animated, comical and clumsy. I will fully admit he is not a dog I could of had while the children were younger. He's an adults dog for sure. He's a good boy, but he doesn't do a darn thing that he doesn't want to and I'm only guessing he's tolerate toddler tail yanking to a certain point, but then I can't promise he wouldn't let someone know he's had enough.
     He's fit right in perfectly with Shawn and I and completes our lives. Taking care of him has never been a chore, but an absolute pleasure. So now you've been introduced to the first member of our family. The dog, who thinks he's a horse, unless he thinks he's a small lap dog... Thank you Streeter for thinking of us when looking for a loving home. Kota is treated like a king and will be loved forever.
Chat tomorrow!
Penni

Proud momma

     So today I harvested my first handfuls from our garden. I plucked about 20 cherry tomatoes and 4 jalapenos,  grinning the whole time. What a great feeling it is to plant a seed, give some care and then be rewarded with such a gift. I was simply giddy.
     Shawn was down in the "Enchanted Foorest" and I couldn't wait for him to come out of the woods to show him. With arms stretched out in front of me, cupped hands full of tomatoes,  I brave mosquito heaven and headed for the woods. Luckily,  he was coming out at the same time, ( I don't know how he can stand the mosquitoes that long). He looked up at me coming at him with a goofy look on my face and just laughed at me.
     I said, " I feel like a proud momma!"
     He just laughed again, but he did look in my hands and was pretty impressed.
     " Holy cow! Well hold on. Let me get the camera..."

     Look at those beauties! Some fat, juicy things. The larger tomatoes are just starting to turn the slightest bit orange.  I know canning salsa is just around the corner and we have to do quite a bit of salsa this year due to the requests! It's so good that we can eat a jar in one sitting. Fresh is so much better. Hear that? Grow your salsa!

     It was a wonderful night. I think in the next few posts, we'll start introducing you to our family. They are too wonderful not to share! 

Have a wonderful evening! 

Penni

For real??

Happy Sunday!
     Shawn and I have been working hard at getting ready to launch Foorever Jammin and get our treats out on the market. We've been playing with recipes, choosing our favorites and trying our hand at whipping up new concoctions. This weekend was a blast.

      Yes, that's exactly what it looks like. This weekend we made Mt. Dew jelly. For those of us who are Mt Dew addicts, this was a must try. It was fun to make, a novelty, and I'm sure it'll appeal to the younger crowds when we sell. Jam is no longer for the stereotypical old grandma any longer and nothing would thrill me more than to see a teen walk away from my counter with a jar. I think this will do it. I can't say it changed my biscuit eating days forever, but it's a fun jelly.
     Thanks to my husband, Shawn, giving me strength and company, I've learned to expand my jam and jelly recipes this year. We've really made leaps and bounds from the basic apple butter we started canning years ago. Now don't get me wrong, we still make that classic recipe, but we also make a version with red hot candies in it now. We also did peach butter this year and from the scraps and peels, we made the most amazing peach honey. I'm making things I never even heard of.
     We also did mango raspberry jam this weekend. Again, not something I would of tried, but I'm so impressed with the flavor. I never would of thought of pairing mangoes and raspberries, but I came across it while searching for other recipes. So we thought we'd give it a shot. We'd like to have a Cabana Series of jams, highlighting tropical  flavors, and this fit the bill. The mango really adds a softness. It almost takes the EEK out of the tart raspberries and together they combine perfectly. I hope you all get to try it!
      If we aren't making jams, jellies, breads and candies, we're watching WWE and working. Tonight happens to be a WWE pay per view. This is always an exciting day in my house. Dinner early, showers out of the way and chores complete, because by 7:30 pm we'll be flopping down in front of the TV to watch someone else give blood, sweat and tears, (and vomit if you're a Lesner fan). There is usually a pin or two during some quick wrastling sessions as well. At least until the dog feels the need to jump in and save his momma.
     So big night ahead. While watching the pay per view, we'll also be working on some jar labels and some new recipes. Let's see what kind of inspiration the WWE can bring to the jelly world!
Chat soon!
Penni