pig roast

A couple weekends ago, (10.13.12) we were lucky enough to be invited to a PIG ROAST! (Before the age of 19 I didn't even know these existed, but they sure do and man it's yummy!) Grandpa H & Grandma S invited us and a bunch of other family and friends down to their haven in the woods. They have some land, along with a gorgeous log home and we were excited to go down for some fun.

They had hay rides for the kids (and Mommy who got to tag along).

 

They have a bunch of animals, including goats- I think these are dwarf goats (?) They also have chickens (& free-range eggs).

Levi was happy to find a tractor/mower he could climb on and "drive."

 They also have 3 gorgeous, sweet, BIG dogs (only 2 seen here).  

They also added some alpacas to their farm family.

Aren't they gorgeous? I didn't know they have big poofy hair on their heads like that. Very cool.

Thanks for a fun day with family, friends, good food, and PLENTY of fun!

science fun

I found this cool website with a bunch of kids' science projects. One rainy morning we did a couple.

#1 Fizzy cups
More instructions here
Ingredients:
Food coloring
Baking soda
32 oz. white vinegar
6 clear plastic cups
9x13 pan
6 spoons

 Directions:

1. Fill 6 plastic cups 1/2 full with vinegar. Place cups in 9x13 pan.

2. Place 3 dots of food coloring in each spoon.

3. With a clean spoon, scoop some baking soda onto each spoon containing the food coloring.

4. Pick and spoon and gradually stir it into a vinegar cup. Keep stirring and the color will become more vibrant.

 This was really fun. All 3 of the kids LOVED it.

#2 Bubble art
instructions here
Ingredients:
Bubble mixture
Tempura paint
bowls
straws
paper

{canning} roasted marinara sauce

Back in August...

My in-laws have a pretty BOUNTEOUS garden (or they did during the peak of the season) and they had TOMATOES coming out their ears! A few different times, I brought enough home to make some salsa. And MAN is fresh homemade salsa (or pico de gallo) tasty!

Pap & Grandma went on a little trip for a few days so they asked me if I'd come over and pick their tomatoes every 2-3 days. And so I did. (Jackson liked helping too- he thought it was a treasure hunt searching all under and around for the RED ones ready to pick.) Each day time I went to pick I brought home almost a whole grocery bag filled with them!

What am I going to do with ALL of these tomatoes?! So, I thought I'd try my hand at making Marinara Sauce to can. It was an experience, a lot of prep and work but it is also VERY yummy. I did these 2 pans of tomatoes, onion, garlic, etc. and it only made almost 2 quarts. Sheesh. That part makes me crazy.

Below is the recipe I used, with some of my own alterations. I also consulted with this recipe, which I really like because she separates her sauce making into 2-3 days. This blog has great visuals for sauce newbies (like me.) I may try her recipe next time, but I think it's pretty similar to this one I used.

Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce with Garlic and Oregano

Although 10 pounds of tomatoes sounds like a lot, roasting concentrates that into 6-7+ cups, enough for 3-4 pint jars. (I learned that picking tomatoes @ Pap's house can get you 5 lb. in 1 day.) One jar will serve 4 for dinner over pasta. This sauce will keep fresh in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can also freeze it or pressure-can it. To roast this many tomatoes at once, you will need to use two roasting pans so as not to crowd the ingredients while roasting. That may require two ovens or roasting in two batches. This recipe is easily halved.

Yield: 7-8 cups (approximately 2 liters)

Ingredients

• 10 pounds (4.5 kilos) fresh, organic tomatoes
• 16 whole, peeled, large, plump organic garlic cloves
• ½ c. extra virgin olive oil
• ½ c. dry red wine  (or use chicken or vegetable broth)
• 6 T. fresh oregano leaves (or 6 sprigs of fresh oregano from 3/4 oz. package fresh oregano)
• 3/4 oz. package of fresh basil
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 1 T. kosher salt or sea salt
• 2 t. ground black pepper
• lemon juice, divided

Tools: large roasting pans and a food processor

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees (218C). Get out  two large roasting pans. I use a big stainless steel All Clad (like for roasting a turkey). If you don’t have roasting pans, use large heavy (or doubled) disposable aluminum pans. I used my big rimmed cookie sheets.
2. Wash the tomatoes. Depending on the type of tomato, you may need to cut out the core first, as with large Beefsteak or Heirloom varieties. Then, cut tomatoes into large chunks. Don’t cut the pieces too small. Big chunks are good. The smaller the pieces are the faster they will roast.
3. Place tomatoes in the roasting pan; add garlic cloves, oil, broth, oregano, basil, onion, salt and pepper. Toss with your hands.
4. Place pans in the oven (s) and roast until tomatoes have reduced and are starting to get a few black edges. The pan should still have some juices, not be dry.  Depending on your oven it should take 45-60 minutes. Stir half way through. If the tomatoes are really juicy, it may take longer.
5. Remove pan from oven, set on the stove top and allow to cool a few minutes until you can handle it. Carefully transfer the roasted tomatoes into (a Victorio Strainer- see notes below) or a food processor with a steel blade and pulse 5-6 times. (You'll need to do this in batches- won't all fit in your blender. When it's blended, put it in a big pot or bowl. Continue adding and pulsing tomatoes.) You can also use an immersion blender (stick blender) in a deep pot or bowl to minimize splattering.
6. The sauce it ready to serve, or cool completely to refrigerate,  freeze or process for canning.
7. IMPORTANT NOTE: To can, add 2 T. lemon juice to each quart immediately PRIOR to filling with sauce (use 1 T. lemon juice for pints). Next add the tomato sauce, until you have 1/2" of headspace left. Using a plastic (not metal...it can damage the jars) knife, poke it along the sides of the jar to remove any air bubbles. Re-fill a bit if necessary. 
8. Take a small piece of the paper towel, wipe the rim. Using the magnetic wand, get a lid out of the pot and place it on your jar. Hand-tighten a metal ring around the top, and it's ready for the canner.
9. I like to quickly prepare two jars at a time, and add them to the canner simultaneously. As the jars are added to the canning basket, it's important to keep it balanced, or the jars will topple over.
10. Keep preparing jars two at a time, and add them until the canner is full. Carefully lower the basket. When the canner is full, make sure you have a couple inches of water over the jars. If you don't, add more water. Bring the water to a full boil, replace the lid, and set your timer (PROCESS 35 minutes for pints; 40 minutes for quarts*). Remove the canner lid, wait 5 minutes, and then remove your jars, placing them on a counter/table lined with a towel. Repeat until all the jars have been processed.
11. Leave the jars untouched for 24 hours. After that time, you can take off the band (some keep it on) clean the bottles, label the top, and place in your pantry.

I ended up making 2 different batches (same recipe) of sauce, and ended up with a GRAND total of 5 quarts. Seems so chinsy for ALL the time and work I put into it, but the sauce is REALLY good and I think I'll even do it again next year.

A few things I learned on my new adventure making marinara sauce: 

   1. You MUST use a water bath canner when canning tomatoes (no steam canner allowed). Canning tomatoes or tomato sauce is very delicate and you have to be sure you do it right so you and your family don't get food poisoning. No pressure. :)

2. I was SO glad I had access to a Victorio Strainer. The 1st batch of sauce I made, I just scooped my roasted tomatoes, etc. into my food processor and pulsed it a bit. I kind of like the look of the chunks of onion and garlic, etc. in my sauce. However, the 2nd batch of sauce I made I borrowed a Victorio Strainer and it was SO easy. I scooped the roasted goodness into the top and Jackson cranked on the handle and voila! Yummy, smooth marinara sauce like that from an italian restaurant! I think next time I'll stick with the strainer because it was SO easy! (And the kids had fun helping with it too.)

{canning} pears, pears, pears!

It's that time of year again! One of my favorite! Fall! The cooler temps, the need for a sweatshirt and jeans, the crunchy colorful leaves, apple crisp and of course, pears!

Apparently, pears were not as plentiful this year so it took some work to track them down, but I found some! Whew! We'd eaten all of the pears I canned last year and needed to get some more into storage.
So, over the course of 2 days I processed these 116 bears into 24 quarts. That's the most I've ever done but I'm so excited about them! They are so delicious and everyone at my house LOVES them!

Here's the pear recipe I use.

Pears

Prep time: approx 20 minutes PER quart
Processing time: 30 minutes, water bath canner OR steam canner
Yield: makes 2.5 to 3 lbs pears per quart

Note: You know your PEARS are ready when they are firm, but yellow with some green spots.

Prep work:

1. Fill steam canner to reach the grate, put on lid and bring to a simmer. 
2. Wash lids and rings in hot soapy water. Rinse. Assemble lids and arrange in a small saucepan. Fill with water until 1" above lids. Heat on med/low until you see steam coming off them (they should NOT boil), then turn them on LOW until you need them.
3. Run jars through the dishwasher and leave them there until you need them (to keep them sanitary). OR, wash them, then place them on a cookie sheet and put them in the oven on LOW or WARM until you need them.
4. Wash pears, and lay them out on a towel on your counter to dry. (Jackson was a HUGE help with this. I think he liked helping me with our afternoon of pears. It was a lot of good time together. He's such a sweet good boy. I enjoyed the company with this task. We make a great team!)
5.  Make your syrup.

Light syrup: 
2 1/4 c. Sugar
5 1/2 c. water

Directions:

1. Combine sugar and water in a stockpot. 
2. Stir occasionally. Once it boils a little, turn it to low until ready to use. 

Prep work, continued:
6. Continue prepping your pears. Fill a BIG bowl with cool water. Add 1 t. Fruit Fresh to water. Peel your pears. (I found using a VEGETABLE PEELER works WONDERFULLY well! That way you keep as much of the pear as possible). Then scoop out the seeds with a melon baller (GREAT TRICK TOO!), cut out stem and blossom end with knife. Cut in half, and place in your water bowl. Depending on the size of the pear, you made need to quarter your pears so they'll fit in the jars.
7. When you are ready to pack your pears, remove them from this water bowl. (Don't add this liquid to your canning syrup. This fruit fresh water they've soaked in will turn your pears snowy white when you process them.)

NOTE: When this water bowl is empty of pears, add another 1 t. fruit fresh as you continue prepping your next batch of pears. Do this EACH time, with each batch of pears, to keep them snowy white. (I learned if I DON'T do this, my pears turn a bit pinky.)

RAW PACK:
8. Pack pears gently into hot jars, shaking gently to settle them and make more room at the top of the jar. Leave 1/2" headspace. ladle hot syrup over pears, leaving 1/2" headspace. Remove air bbble with a non-metallic know or bubble release tool. Wipe screw bands and rim. Adjust 2 piece cap. Process quarts 30 minutes (pints 25 minutes).
9. Turn canner to HIGH. When you see a stream of steam projecting 4" from the vent (steam canner) begin counting. Process then let cool 5 minutes in canner before you remove them to a towel on the counter to cool 24 hours. Cover with another towel to prevent jars from breaking by house drafts or a/c.
10. Once they are cooled, check to make sure they've all sealed. If not, put them in the fridge and DEVOUR within 2 weeks.
11. Store in a cool, dark, dry place. Best taste and color if used within 1 year.


For this batch of 116 pears, I made a quadruple batch of syrup (9 c. sugar to 21 c. water) in my BIG soup pot.

shredded chicken with the kitchen aid?

WHAT?! I know! I was talking with my friend about cooking and shredding chicken and she shared this with me (something she learned on Pinterest). After the chicken breasts have cooled a few minutes, pop 1 or 2 in your kitchen aid mixer with the paddle attachment.

Be sure to LOCK the mixer head or place your hand on it as it might bop up and down while it's starting to shred the chicken.

Within a couple minutes (or less!) your chicken looks like this! SO simple and easy. Remove this shredded chicken to a large bowl, and continue the process with the rest of your chicken. (If you left it in the mixer it'd be pulvarized by the time you're done with the rest of your chicken.)

This is QUITE a handy new trick I learned and I had to share it with the 2 readers of my blog. ;) Enjoy!

strawberry syrup

Last June (as strawberry season approached) I had the feeling I should make Strawberry Syrup. I'd recently looked more closely at the actual ingredients of the strawberry syrup you get at the store. I was sad to see it's basically made of high fructose corn syrup. So I found a recipe in my Ball Blue Book of Preserving recipe book and it worked great! Here it is!

If you're new to canning or need a refresher of how to prep your jars, lids, etc. read up over on this recipe.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 quarts strawberries
3 c. water, divided
1 2" strip of lemon peel
2 1/2 c. sugar
3 1/2 c. corn syrup
2 T. lemon juice

Directions:

1. Wash strawberries; drain. Stem and crush strawberries. (I LOVE tossing them in my food processor and giving them a whirl. SO easy!) 
2. Combine strawberries, 1 1/2 c. water and lemon peel in a medium saucepot. Simmer 5 minutes
3. Strain through a damp jelly bag or several layers of cheesecloth laid out over a sieve. After about 30 minutes of straining, I gather the cheesecloth up and twist it so I can get out ALL of the juice.
4.  Combine sugar and 1 1/2 c. water in a medium saucepot; boil to 230*F (took approx. 25 minutes to get to this temp. for me; may need to adjust for altitude). Add strawberry juice and corn syrup to sugar syrup. Boil 5 minutes. Stir in lemon juice. 
5. Ladle hot syrup into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Adjust 2 piece caps. Process 10 minutes in boiling-water or steam canner.

*Note: Fruit syrup is typically thin. If a thicker syrup is desired for serving, combine 1 c. syrup with 1 T. cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, cooking until syrup thickens. Do not add cornstarch before canning!

We loved the Strawberry Syrup so much last year we used it all up and I had to make more! We just LOVE it! It's the only way Jackson will eat pancakes or waffles.

strawberry jam

I have been making Strawberry Jam annually since 2008 when I got this tasty recipe!

And yes, the picture above is a pretty color but the fruit is settled at the top or the bottom. I followed someone's advice to keep turning the jars as they cool (after processing) so the berries would be better dispersed throughout. (I may have turned them too many times?) Some of them turned out better than others in that regard but they all taste great!

Strawberry Jam
Prep time: 45 minutes
Processing time: 10 minutes in boiling-water or steam canner
Makes approx 8 c.

Ingredients
4 pints (8 c.) fully ripe strawberries, crushed to make 5 cups
1 box pectin
1/4 t. fruit fresh (or 2 crushed vitamin C tablets)
1/4 t. butter
7 c. sugar, measured into a separate bowl

(If I have some prep time before my actual canning day I'll wash and chop and crush the berries, put them in a plastic container and refrigerate until I'm ready to start. I'll also pre-measure my sugar and put it in a plastic container too. Doesn't seem like much but after cutting and prepping all those berries, I need to turn my time and attention to other things- aka 3 kiddos.) 

Never double a jam or jelly recipe. It will not set. Jams & jellies may take up to 2 weeks to set.

If you are familiar with canning, these canning prep steps are not needed for you- because you already know the routine. But I'll include for my posterity or any others just starting out.

Canning prep:

1. Fill water bath canner half full with water (or your steam canner so it touches the grate.) Bring to a simmer.
2. Wash canning jars & screw lids in hot soapy water. Rinse in warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids in sauce pan. Let stand in hot water until ready to use. Or do what I do and put them in a saucepan. Place lids in water to cover and bring to a simmer, turn to low and put the lid on. Keep lids in simmering (not boiling) water until ready for use. (Note: over-heating lids by BOILING can result in seal failure.)
3. Place canning jars on a cookie sheet in a 200* oven until ready to use. (This keeps them sterile until you are ready for them.)
4. Place a double layer of towels on your counter for when you pull your hot jars from the oven.

Recipe Prep:

1. Wash berries. Discard stems. Chop or grind strawberries, one cup at a time, into small pieces. A potato masher works well for this. If you use a food processor, PULSE to chop. Do not PUREE. Place in a large soup pot.
2. Stir pectin and fruit fresh into strawberries. Add butter to reduce foaming. Bring to a full rolling boil (which means a boil that doesn't stop bubbling when stirred) on high heat, stirring constantly.  Stir in sugar in a "up and down, up and down, around and around, side to side, side to side and around and around" pattern. Return to a full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute and remove from heat. Skim off foam with a metal spoon and discard in a mug.

Jam to Jar directions: 

1. Remove your cookie sheet filled with jars from the oven and place on your towels. Immediately ladle jam into prepared jars, filling within 1/8" from the top. Wipe jar lip and threads with a clean, damp cloth. Cover with hot 2 piece lid.Screw bands tightly.
2. Place jars on elevated rack in water bath canner or in the steam bath canner. Lower rack into water bath canner.(I usually just use my steam canner instead of a water bath canner.) Water must cover jars by 1-2". Add boiling water if necessary. (I'll often need the water that was in the saucepan with my lids. Nice that it's there and already hot and I can just add it if I need to.) Cover. Bring water to a gentle boil THEN start your processing time of 10 minutes.
3. Remove jars and set upright on towel to cool completely. Cover with another towel to prevent jars from breaking by house drafts or a/c. After an hour, if strawberry pieces begin to float, gently tip jars upside-down and set for 30 minutes. Then gently turn upright and set on towel to finish cooling. (Avoid air bubbles by turning gently.)
4. Next day, after jars have cooled 12-24 hours, check seals by pressing middle of lid with finger. If lid springs back, lids are not sealed and refrigeration is necessary. You can now remove the bands. Wipe the sealed jars with a clean, damp cloth. Label each jar with name of contents and date. Store in a cool, dry, dark place. Best taste and color if used within 1 year. (And we always do! No problem!)