sour cherries

It's a Saturday in May, which means...farmer's market. It's one of my favorite places to go! It's a little early in the summer, so not too many things ready yet. Lots of lettuces, onions, spinach, radishes. Also, two of my favorite are in season...strawberries and cherries. Well, I bought strawberries a few days ago and made jam. I bought cherries today. Needless to say, my next adventure.....cherry freezer jam!


This will be my first time ever making cherry freezer jam. The recipe inside the SURE JELL box calls for sour cherries, and that's exactly what I bought. If time allows, I am hoping to make the jam tomorrow. I think I can fit it in!! I'll let ya know how it goes.

Happy Birthday Everest

happy birthday to my son Everest!
12 years old.
had a small party.
hot dogs on the grill.
Doritos.
cake.

splashed around in the creek.

dollar store smoke bombs.

kids had so much fun!
it doesn't take a lot of fancy stuff
or lots of money
to have a great time.
it was actually the easiest
and one of the most enjoyable birthday parties
I've had for my kids.

Today was completely rain free and I was loving it. However...yesterday...it rained all day long! It was a perfect day to make freezer jam from fresh locally grown strawberries.

I purchased three containers of strawberries at $4.00 a double pint. I have been saving empty peanut butter jars and salsa jars for months, so I was definitely prepared.


My friend Becky taught me that one. The first time I made freezer jam was at her house. She brought out this mixture of saved jars for our jam. I didn't know you could do that. I guess it seems obvious now, but I always thought you had to use those nice perfect canning jars. But, since you are freezing the jam, you don't have to have the canning lids that need to be sucked down when sealed. That's the one thing I love about making freezer jam, I don't have to worry about sterilizing the jars and making sure everything you use is sterile. This is just way more relaxing!


My jars of jam were looking a little plain, so I decided to get out my quilting fabric and find some great vintage-looking pieces. This makes me think of Little House on The Prairie. I can just see these jars of jam for sale at Mrs. Olson's store!


I had my first taste of my strawberry jam this afternoon! Oh my goodness!! It was absolutely delicious!! I toasted a slice of Italian bread...smeared it with lots of butter... and added a heaping spoonful of strawberry jam! It was pure heaven! The taste of the fresh strawberries really shines through! There is no comparing homemade jam to store bought jam. Homemade is just a thousand times better!

If you would like to try your hand at making strawberry freezer jam, you can follow this recipe below....or you can buy a box of SURE JEL and follow the directions inside the box for FREEZER JAM. It is the exact recipe I used. You will need 1 box of SURE JEL per recipe. One recipe uses 2 pints strawberries.

Recipe for strawberry freezer jam
In a large mixing bowl, crush 2 pints strawberries with a potato masher. This will yield approx. 2 cups crushed berries. Add 4 cups granulated sugar to berries and stir. Leave mixture to sit for 10 minutes.

Empty 1 box SURE JEL into a small pot. Add 3/4 cup water to pot. Mix over med. high heat until boiling. Once boiling, set your timer and continue to boil and stir for exactly 1 minute. After 1 minute, immediately remove from heat and pour into berries. Stir into the berries for 3 minutes.

Using a canning funnel and a ladle, immediately ladle jam into jars leaving 1/2 inch space at top of jar allowing for expansion during freezing. Fasten lid on jars and leave to sit on counter top at room temperature for 24 hours to allow time to set. After 24 hours, freeze jars of jam. Or, you can refrigerate jam for up to 3 weeks. Only put in your fridge what you plan to eat within that time.

rainy day

It is June and the weather here has been very crappy indeed.
I cannot believe how chilly it is out there!
I awoke this morning to 50 degrees and rain!


What is going on??
Memorial Day weekend was nice and hot!
But now that we have come into June, forget it!
It's been raining almost every day.
My newly planted tomato plants are drowning.

I fear that they will get too much water and turn yellow and die!

We are in need of a hot, dry day!
My lettuce plants are flourishing...

and I have been enjoying lettuce on every sandwich, especially the B.L.T.'s!
The carrots are doing fantastic...


Their soft fern like tops are growing taller every day.
I had to pull a rogue carrot the other day
to make room for other planting.
The carrot was about 3 inches long!
I was excited to eat it, but when I cut into it,
it was still fairly green inside...
so it became best friends with the compost bin!

Slugs have invaded my garden this year, and I am not happy!
They completely ate the new growth on the bean plants
(which died anyway from a very late frost)
and are happily munching their way through the rows of lettuce.




I researched organic methods of ridding my small garden of these tiny but ravenous slugs..so off to the garden I will go with jars of beer to embed in the soil in hopes of drowning the slimy little suckers. Sounds so mean, but what's a girl to do. There were a few other suggestions I am going to try..leave a few small pots here and there turned upside down, then during the heat of the day, flip the pots over and there you will find the slugs hiding from the heat...then take slugs and crush slugs! Once again, sounds so mean!

Anyhow....
On my agenda for today....make pot of Starbucks coffee....drink Starbucks coffee....with lots of cream and lots of sugar!

Also on my agenda for today...go to local farm and buy lots and lots of strawberries to make freezer jelly...or jam, or preserves..whatever you call it...I call it jelly. If it's jelled, then it's jelly! I have been saving all of my empty peanut butter jars and salsa jars and I am ready! The only other thing I have to do is stop by the grocery store to buy some SURE GEL. Jeez, I'm not even sure if that's how you spell it! I am more than excited, and today...being as it is monsooning outside...will be the perfect day. aaaahhhhh! I can't wait to have a slice of warm, toasted, Italian bread with butter and homemade strawberry jelly.

By the way, if you would like to try your hand at making freezer jelly, all the directions are in the SURE GEL package. You can find it in any grocery store or Mom and Pop hardware store with the canning supplies. I think you can make a batch in about 10-15 minutes. Let the jars sit out on the counter overnight...put one in your fridge for eating right away, and put the rest in your freezer for later! Once jelly is thawed, it will keep in your fridge for a few weeks. But...I don't think it will last that long! Once your family gets a taste, it will be gobbled up in no time!

Lemon Buttermilk Rhubarb Bundt Cake

Rhubarb!

I have never cooked with rhubarb until a few days ago. I was very excited at my first attempt and hoped it went well. The first and only time I ever ate rhubarb was a few years ago when a friend had made a pie for my family. The only other memory I have of rhubarb, was back in my teens. I remember my Mom finding a rhubarb plant just over the hill of our front yard. We had just moved to a new house and my Mom had found what appeared to be a small garden that was overgrown. She worked for a few days, clearing the weeds away, giving the rhubarb a chance at breathing room, sunlight and rain. I wonder how many years it had been growing there. She was so excited, telling us of her plans to let it grow, cut it, cook it down and make jam. I was a little leery. I didn't believe my Mom...that this plant was actually edible...let alone, that it would somehow transform into sweet jam. There was NO way she was going to get me to eat it!

Well,
fast forward to present day...
I am oh so curious about rhubarb! Is it just me, or does rhubarb seem so very vintage? Something that little old ladies cook and put into pies to sell at church bazaars. Rarely do I see a recipe for rhubarb, and I never do I see a dessert with rhubarb at picnics and parties. It's just not as popular as say...chocolate chip cookies! Me, being the person that likes all things vintage...and being the person that likes all things NOT popular...I am finding myself intrigued by it's long, beautiful, slender, green and ruby red stalks. I am amazed by the fact that when cooked down, rhubarb releases it's sweet, natural sugars.
And so...

now there are pies to be made...

and

cakes to be baked...

and jams to be jelled...

Now folks...
here is a cake that will make your mouth water,
your cheeks pucker,
and your sweet tooth happy!

I found this recipe for Lemon Buttermilk Rhubarb Bundt Cake
on a wonderful blog called
honey and jam.

The cake is unbelievably moist, with it's 2 sticks of butter, 3/4 cup buttermilk, and 3 whole eggs! The recipe is very simple! You've got to give it a try. The next time you find yourself needing a cake to take to a picnic, why not make this recipe. Your friends and family will be quite impressed that you know how to make such a vintage recipe! Not to mention the fact that it is fantastically delicious!



The End!