If Peter Piper picked a peck of Pickled Peppers...

As I am searching for a recipe to "pickle peppers" that little tongue twisters keeps coming to mind. Although, I never really thought about it...Peter Piper couldn't of "picked" pickled peppers - he would of had to pick peppers & then take them through the pickling process. I did that tonight! I had a batch of sweet banana peppers from my mother-in-laws garden (mine aren't ready yet). I sliced the peppers & made my own pickling liquid and canned them. Are you wondering what you would do with jars of pickled peppers? How about on top homemade pizza? or on your favorite sandwich? on a salad...the possibilities are endless. They are a great condiment & look so nice in the ball jars! I added some diced red peppers to each jar & a clove of garlic - for taste and to make the jar look even better! :)

All it takes is...

aprox. 2 1/2 - 3 lbs. any variety of peppers (sliced as thick or thin as you like them)
approximately 8 pint jars
1 clove of fresh garlic per jar
1/2 tsp of canning/pickling salt per jar
1/2 tsp of alum per jar (i've never heard of alum until today! - I found it with all of the canning supplies at the store...it's in a spice jar...it's basically used to keep the pepper crispy!)
7 cups of distilled white vinegar
7 cups of water

it's that easy!
boil the water & vinegar.

place your clove of garlic in your jar - fill with sliced pepper rings.
add 1/2 tsp of both salt & alum -
fill jars with your boiling vinegar & water.
place lids & rings on jars

let sit until the jars seals itself...or place in a water bath canner for aprox. 10 minutes...

it's that easy! and you have banana peppers! Yum!

Stay at home Mom

On most days my job title would be a "stay-at-home-mom" on others days I am off working some odd job. You just never know with me. I like learning new things. The other day I heard Zach describe me to someone at the tavern...he said: "don't just give Jen fish, teach her to fish." I liked that. He is right. I enjoy learning new things and figuring things out. If someone else can go to the pond and bring home dinner, I can go to the pond and bring home dinner! I want to learn.

Over a year ago I applied for the Post Master Relief position at the Post office in Merom. I figured I had to do it...there are only a handful of jobs in tihs town and i just couldn't pass this one up. Even though i was pregnant with my third son at the time I interviewed for the position... i just had to get my foot in the door. I got the job - I have been working every Saturday morning since for 3 hours. I also fill in whenever the postmaster needs off.

On Thursday my boss called me for a temporary position at the Fairbanks post office to be Officer in Charge. The postmaster has been out of the office on medical leave...and again I just couldn't pass it up. So I've scheduled babysitters and went to work! I am running this post office about 15 minutes north of my house. and although i will miss my kids while i am at work during the day i still know in the back of my head that it is just temporary and then i get to go back to being a stay-at-home mom/marykay lady/pie baker/waitress! You see I know that if I put in my time now filling in where I can that eventually it will pay off for me if I ever want to go full time with the postal service.

It's all about the Back-up-plan. I think there needs to be something on the back burner - just in case. I guess I am one of those people who just can't sit still...I like to be involved & doing something, whatever it is!

Yum! Strawberry Jam

Just finished my first batch of strawberry jam! It puts me in the best mood! I love the fact that preserving season has officially started for me. I decided to make my first batch "Sugar Free!" To some people I know that probably doesn't sound good...but I love the taste of fresh strawberries and don't believe they need all of that extra sugar. and i don't mind sugar free jam...i figure it's better for you - especially for my grandpa who is diabetic. i still have a bunch of berries washed and ready to go...i will probably bake a pie or custard and then move on to the real full of sugar jam!

making jam is really pretty easy & so rewarding!
I used
crystal cut 8 oz ball jars.
1 packet of sugar free pectin (the powdered kind in a box)
1 cup of 100% grape juice (with no sugar added.)

I washed and hulled my berries (approx. 2 quarts)
I then placed the first quart in a pot and smashed them with my potato masher
then added the next quart and mashed them as well.
then added 1 cup of grape juice
then add the pectin
stir cont. until the mixture comes to a full boil.
once mix reaches a full boil cook 1 minute more while cont. stirring.
then turn off heat, remove foam from top of mix and fill aprox. 6 clean & hot jelly jars.

i filled all jars according to preserving guidelines leaving a 1/4 inch head space.
then removed any air bubbles
placed lids & rings on and processed in a water bath canner for 10 minutes!

So simple! - and now i have six jars of jam perfect for gifts or for my family & i to eat!!

What do you think it would have cost me at the grocery store to buy six - 8 ounce jars of SUGAR FREE STRAWBERRY JAM? not to mention it's organic too! No chemicals where used on these berries~

A Coon Gets our Baby Chickens!

Today I went out to the chicken coop to feed them the hulls I cut from my strawberries. As I walked up to the fence I saw 4 of my "meat birds" laying dead...and covered in flies...i panned their area and also saw one of our small buffs, one of my favorites the polish crested, and a silver lace wyndot...all dead...I hate that sooo much...I called Zach at work and when he came home he did some investigating a narrowed it down to coon(s). I figure there must have been more than one since everyone one of our babies from this spring was missing! Zach said that coons usually just eat the head off the bird and leave the rest and that was the case for the birds left in the yard... but I cannot account for the other 18 birds! We figure that once the coon killed them owls probably swooped in and carried off what they could! I know this is kind of sick...but I guess it is a fact of "farming"...It's times like this that I don't love the whole "country girl" thing! All of our larger birds appear to be o.k. although they pretty much stayed inside the coop today...they must be somewhat scared over what happened last night...I imagine it was pretty gruesome!

Those Polish Crested birds where so cool looking...I need to look through my camera to see if I have a picture of them! I picked these two birds out...they were black and on the top of their heads they had a little fro of hair...like a little puff ball! What a shame!

first batch of strawberries!

On Mother's Day morning the boys and I went and picked strawberries. We have picked strawberries the last five years. I usually freeze some of the berries whole as well as can yummy strawberry jam. This year Ty & Ike & I took our Easter baskets down to John's house...he had tons of berries...I had my entire basket full (mine is the biggest) Ty's was half full (his was the middle sized) and I look over and Ike's basket is completely empty - but his little face was red & juicy! He ate all the berries instead of putting them in his basket! We came home and have eaten quite a few...the rest will make our first batch of jam! There is nothing like homemade jam. This year I have decided to make Sugar Free Jam! Mainly because I love strawberries so much that I don't need sugar...so I think the flavor of the Jam would be just as good without all that added sugar!! I also need to make my cousin Eddy a fresh Strawberry Pie...he's been asking me for once since Thanksgiving...I wonder if I could mail it to him? So looks like tomorrow will be the first day to start preserving and storing...stocking the pantry! I will upload some pictures of our strawberry picking and my garden ASAP...I've got to get a new battery for my camera since mine has seem to go missing. :)

My favorite time of year!

it's my favorite time of year. (i actually could probably say that at every change in season...because i do love something about every season) the days are getting longer - everything is turning green. we've been working the soil to get ready for my garden. this is our 4th summer in Merom, IN and each year I've done a little more as far as gardening, harvesting & preserving. I really enjoy all of it and learn more and more everyday. I am always eager to try something new. for instance last year was my first time using a pressure canner - I wonder what I will try this year?

Last spring we got 25 chicks! It has been such a pleasure raising them, eating the eggs & even selling the eggs. i have to give zach all the credit on the chickens & eggs. i don't get out there with them two often. but i have tried all kinds of new recipes that call for lots of eggs. We actually have a demand for our free ranged brown eggs. you sure can tell a difference in our eggs and any white egg you buy at the grocery. They sell for $2.00 a dozen. we did some research and read that the more grass a chicken eats the hire their eggs are in omega 3. so, of course, we feed them lots of fresh cut grass. This year we decided to get more chickens meat birds & layers. I thought it would be fun to trying raising some birds to eat. no hormones here - or medicine or any of that. just birds running around having fun and eating healthy. we got a total of 24 more birds. we increased their area giving them more freedom! and it gave me more of my garden area back...and it is going to be some very fertile soil after having my chickens in it.

i started planted the garden last weekend. zach tilled my first area up for me. I like a garden right out back where i can run out in the middle of cooking to gather some last minute things. i planted some new veggies i've never planted before. brussell sprouts, cabbage, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet banana peppers, jalepeno peppers, cherry tomatoes, early girl tomatoes, celebrity tomatoes and more. I wanted a wide variety in this small garden.

we are in the process of building some raised garden beds for me this year. i normally plant 3 basic herbs - cilantro, basil & oregano...but this year i wanted an entire herb garden...they are going to be planted in raised beds in my backyard around the garage. i wanted an "edible landscape" - this way i figure it will make the garage look better landscaped - and smell really good near the back patio. i can't wait to get these plants in the ground! i've been stocking up!

my neighbor John-Dick and I worked together in the garden a lot last year. he has trouble harvesting the small crops...so i would pick for him and then myself - we also share a lot of recipes for canning. this year we decided to put out a garden together. we were suppose to do some planting today but it is raining, that will have to wait. this garden is where my bulk tomatoes, green beans, sweet peppers, hot peppers, peas, zuchini, cucumbers, etc... will go.

gardening is so rewarding for me. i can't wait to share the ups & downs of my gardening experiences with you.