A Few Fair Entries

It's Fair time! ....State Fair time.

We took a few entries to the state fair to drop off. My daughter and her friend came along with me to get a sneak peek of the excitement to come. And they helped me carry my items inside, thank you girls...I had a lot.

We dropped off the Pickled Peaches, Pickled Garlic, and Strawberry/Blueberry jam. These sweet little old ladies were taking all of the entries and they were so excited to see what people made. I loved watching them smile when they would take jars of wonderful stuff from the entry table to the competition table.

I snapped a picture as quick as I could, while answering questions, getting my claim check, signing a waiver, and telling the girls not to go too far. So, I missed the great shot of all my pieces that I entered but managed to get a shot of the knitted dress really fast before they took it off to the knitting section.

Got a quick pic of the dress too. It's a close up but hopefully I'll get a full picture this weekend.

It's so exciting to watch all the people that come to the arts and crafts building and look around! People get so impressed and amazed at what other regular, busy people can create. I hope it's as inspiring to you as it is to me!!!

The Harvest's Bounty

Here's the bounty of our harvest as of the middle of August. Well, I know it's not that much of a bounty, but over the weeks we continually get about this much every few days. I'm very proud of this, mostly because the grasshoppers have taken residence in our garden and those little buggers are eating up our hard work. They are tricky and quick which makes it all the more frustrating when I'm yelling at them.

These beautiful tomatoes were calling for me to keep them preserved somehow, someway and I love to keep summer flavor...so off to research I go.

While researching I gently covered my precious tomatoes. I wasn't sure how we were going to dry and by the power of the internet, I found three different ways - over, dehydrator, and car. We have a borrowed dehydrator with no manual so I was leary to do that and I wasn't too sure about the consistency of the dashboard of the car so I decided to try the oven method....and I left them in too long.

Then my heart broke when I saw the crispy, dark red "chips" sitting on the cookie sheet instead of summer flavors preserved in the Italian red color I was expecting. Ouch, ouch, ouch. They tasted terrible! So now what?

Ken and I babysat the dehydrator one afternoon and checked those tomatoes like they were turning into gold. I'm going to leave you hanging and will post the pretty, red tomatoes on the next post.

p.s. they turned out great!!!

Peachy Keen and Ice Cream

Nothing says summer like homemade ice cream at Grandma's house. I have fond memories of my dad and uncle turning the hand crank while each of us kids took a turn sitting on the cold towel on top of the metal cylinder. What was even better? The small bits of peaches Grandma cut up and threw in the mix.

Boys making ice cream, I love it.

Up close with the recipe...and vanilla.

And here's instructions from Grandma. I have to tell you that Grandma has the most amazing stories that you could hardly believe. I love to listen to her and hear about her life. I wish I could bottle her up so I don't forget a word she says! I guess that's why we love making ice cream, so we have our own stories to tell. Who couldn't love a grandma that does this with you?

Looks like she's made it a million times! "You blend, I'll hold."

...steady now...

and the last ingredients go in.

We used an electric ice cream maker and it was wonderful! No one got tired and everything inside was evenly mixed.

"Here....let me show you how!"

"Now you do it." (I could close my eyes and hear her voice like I was right there. So sweet.)

Look at those chunks of frozen peaches!

I think I had 3 bowls in a row....yikes!

Disclaimer: Grandma did not know I was posting these pictures. Don't worry, Grandma, no one judges you on your kitchen counter-top. I know that's what you're thinking.

Can I Can? ...That is the question.

I think that's the question on the shoulders of today's home-growers. Are we really qualified to can like our grandmas and mothers used to do? I don't feel like I have this tugging at our wallet quite like the Depression, like my grandma did back when everyone canned and wasted nothing, but I still want to do my part. She made it look so easy and that makes me feel a little inadequate on whether or not I'll be successful at it canning. But I'm willing to try, and this week I wanted to try pickling. I mean, we grew the cucumbers, so let's do it!

I was very careful to follow the directions in the Ball Blue Book! That meant clean, hot jars and lids to work with and a large canning pot of hot water waiting in the background.

I think my cucumbers are a little big but I picked every one I could find so I would have the right amount. The recipe called for 8 lbs of cucumbers so we got out the scale and started adding...

...they were so pretty and green...
Chop, chop went the knife into workable sizes of spears.
Here I packed the jars as full as I could stuff them. Sometimes I got a little frustrated and chopped the cucumbers into smaller pieces and shoved them in just so I could win the battle of space inside that jar (I'm not sure you are supposed to do that). Then I laddled the hot brine (vinegar, sugar, canning salt, and pickling spices) inside the jars until the liquid was about 1/2 inch from the top of the jar. The handy blue tool I'm using inside the jar is to squeeze out air bubbles, an absolute must! If there are air bubbles insied your jar, bacteria has the perfect place to grow, so smoosh those cucumbers down all the way around until no more bubbles rise.

The jars go into the water bath for cooking. A water bath just means a big pot of boiling water.

15 minutes later, out they come.

You can see here the bright green jars have not been cooked yet in the water bath. The "dill" looking pickles are completely cooked and ready for storage.

There are a couple of wonderful things about canning:

I love keeping something we grew.

I love that there are no preservatives in this wonderful food.

I love that people appreciate these items as gifts (genuinely appreciate, no faking).

I love that our children are seeing where food comes from and they do have a choice in what they consume.

I love having a full cupboard.

I love actually tasting summer in the dead of winter...it just can't be reproduced!

I can't wait to try these but here's where patience begins...the recipe says to wait 7 weeks for them to cure so I'm not sure our hard work has paid off yet. I'm hoping for the best and I'm glad I'm not getting graded.

Vintage Cookbook

This was a real find. It's so cute and authentic! I opened it up and actually found a table of contents....I don't think people do that anymore.

It was darling! The penmanship was amazing and even though the pages were worn (because they were cooked around) the book was in great condition.

I couldn't find any handwritten dates but then I found the pictures and they said it all.

This pic was so sweet because she noted where she got the recipe - from OG&E, our local electric company. I bet she got this recipe in her monthly bill in Small Town America. (They still do that here and I love it!)

Cake Mama

This beauty of a cake was made by my friend, Jess.


It's a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, ice cream in the middle, and white chocolate curls on top.

The glass cake stand is pretty and frosted while she did the curls...

...and great tip from Jess, use a marble tile like a cutting board to thin out the white chocolate. It's cooler than room temp (I didn't know that) and you can get the right temper of the chocolate. Why does this matter? If the temper is wrong, the chocolate tastes ok but can't be manipulated the way you want, a.k.a. it will be blochy and sticky. Read the directions on the packaging and do exactly what it says! Chocolate has a mind of it's own when you are trying to make it look pretty.

Beautiful job, Jess!

Make-shift Martha

Ok, I'm not claiming to be Martha or anything but remember that cupcake book I bought a few months ago? Well, I made the Blackberry Cornmeal Muffins straight out of the book.

Oh my goodness, this recipe was very easy, very pretty and very good.

I took pics by the book so you could see how an average girl like me can even make muffins look gourmet. The sugar is sprinkled on the top which gives it that delightful sweet surprise when you bite in.

These had the consistency of a dense muffin not necessarily a light and fluffy muffin. That means you get full much faster...but I ate two anyway.
Take advantage of the bounty of blackberries right now. They are in season and not too expensive. They freeze great and are better than the frozen ones you by prepackaged. I don't know why I can tell the difference but it seems like I can.

Just a glisten of sugar says...."Eat me!"

Strawberry Freezer Jam

This weekend we decided to make some jam, freezer jam. We had a recipe from, none other than, America Girl. Kit Kittridge has a cookbook with a great little recipe for jam.

The difference in freezer jam and regular canned jam is that the freezer jam cannot be stored on a shelf. It has to be put in the freezer or consumed within about 3 weeks.



There is a key to canning properly and that is measurement. All of your measurements have to be exact or else your jam will not set properly. We used a scale and measured the 20 oz. of strawberries the recipe required.


Mashed the strawberries up with a potato masher....

....let the sugar and strawberries set for 10 minues, then added the fresh lemon juice and liquid pectin (you can buy at the grocery store). Stir for 3 minutes and pour into containers.

And there you have it! Beautifull jars of jam. What is the difference between jam and jelly, you ask? Jelly has the fruit strained out where jam has fruit chunks left in it. We, as a family, love the fruit chunks so we always make jam. And everyone I know that cans food always asks for the jar back when the recipient is done, that way you can swap out an empty jar for a full one and save money.

Smoke City and Strawberry Shortcake

Over the holiday weekend, my husband, Ken, went to a place called Smoke City. It's that dreamland that men go into when they open the lid of a hot smoker just waiting to be filled with meat. His eyes glaze over and he gets a smile on his face. Nothing could come between him and the grill. Four slabs of ribs and three rubs from scratch. The word delicious only does a fraction of justice! Thanks, babe!

Then we move on to celebrate his sister, Sammy, my sister-in-law. She is a wonderful aspect in my life and was the next best step to an amazing dinner. She gave me these flowers several years ago and I just keep picking them every spring, precious!

Sammy made this awesome Strawberry Shortcake Cake from the pro...The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I love Sammy's idea of the strawberries on top! It's so you, Sammy!

The link is under my Recipe tab and she said it was easy to make and a definite show stopper. (we all love that)

Even getting cut apart, it's a beauty. Love it!!!

Blueberry Muffin Land

These scrumptous blueberry muffins were made especially for my friend Dorraine. I think you all have that one special person in your life. You know, the one you talk about to other friends like they know who she is and when they look at you like they are thinking too hard, you say, "You know, D-O-R-R-A-I-N-E." Then they give that look of "your crazy but go ahead and continue." She is my pragmatic-nonjudgemental-caring-question/answering-Martha Stewart. We all need one.

So hear's to you, Dorraine, blueberry muffin land...made from scratch with fresh blueberries and buttermilk. Oh, Dorraine and I never count calories!

Anyone need a perfect recipe? Let me know and I'll send it out!