Yes, I can can!

So I may have mentioned in my last post that I bought some veggies and that I was going to can cukes, and maters, and corn....Well, I think I may have had a slight miscalculation in just how much I would end up with........Take a look....

Here is what I did:  dill pickle slices, sweet pickle slices, bread and butter pickles, sweet relish, dill relish, dill spears, sweet spears, ground tomatoes, salsa, rhubarb, pickled beets, corn relish, and one small jar of jalapenos.  I had to freeze 4 small containers of tomatoes since I ran out of jars.  (Even after buying two more cases yesterday!)  I really enjoy doing this, but in smaller batches next time.  I worked all day on Saturday and over half of today.  I am worn out but feel such a sense of accoumplishment.  Over 100 jars! 


Though I am no pro by any means, I have a couple of suggestions for anyone who is doing significant food processing.  First, use a turkey cooker to heat your canner.  It puts the mess and heat outside.  It is great if you are like me and too short to see into a canner on the stove.  Secondly, when sterilizing jars and lids, put them on a cookie sheet and place in your oven at a low temp (I used 200 degrees)  The jars are hot and dry and ready for filling.  And my last tip for anyone cutting corn off the cob:  Use a bundt pan!  The cob fits snugly into the center of the pan and you can run your knife down the side of the ear, and the corn falls into the pan, not all over the place. 


Here is my mom's recipe for corn relish.  It is my first time to try it, but I loved it when she made it: 
3 Pints of corn
1 Pint of finely chopped celery
1 cup of finely chopped onion
1 each finely chopped red and green bell peppers
1 1/2 Cup Sugar
2 Tablespoon Salt
2 Tablespoon Celery Seed
1 Cup Vinegar
Mix all ingredients together and bring to a boil, simmering at low heat for about 20 minutes.  Fill into sterilized, hot jars and adjust 2 pc lids.  Process in a hot water canner for approx 15 min.


(I made a few changes to the recipe:  I added an orange bell pepper and processed for a longer time since we live at 9000 ft. Check with your recipe book or local extension office for processing times at your elevation.) 


Yummy!


Have a great week, everyone!

I love snowmen!

When the thermometer is pushing triple digits, I like to spend time making my snowmen, kinda cools me off.  These have been in the works a while, but with moving and all, it took me a while to finish.  We attended a car/airplane show last week-end and I was in Cheyenne for a bit, taking Brooklynne, my granddaughter, to her first day of kindergarten.  Let me know what you think about these!

These are my take on a pattern called Snowball Fight by the Olde Country Cupboard.  I tried to get a closeup of some of the mice on the hats.  Aren't they so cute?

This little guy is from a pattern from SewManyPrims.  I really like this one.  Can't wait to start another!  But that may have to wait...I went to the Brighton farm stands on my way back from Cheyenne and loaded up on cukes, maters, and corn.  Plan on doing some serious canning this weekend.

Still getting the new office set up.  It is smaller than our last place, but nicer.  Think I will be bringing my sewing machine to work really soon.

Have a blessed week ahead.....

Candy Cane, anyone????

I went shopping at my sister's shed a couple of weeks ago and took some of those ugly skinny plastic candy canes off of her hands.  I wound some off'shite fleece strips around them and then some skinny strips of red for the stripes.  I aged and glittered them and when they were dry, I added an aged tag, some foliage and some vintage themed ribbon.  Here are some of them:

We have been moving our construction office this week, so I haven't finished my other projects but I did work on them.  Hopefully I will get settled and get back to working on my projects in a few day.  Mostly, I just vegged out today.  I did cut hubby's hair and groomed the puppies.  They got so dirty during the move. 

  Have a good week!

Busy....busy....busy

I haven't written for a couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean I haven't been very busy.  I have been canning a little, some rhubarb and some peaches:

My beets are nearly ready, maybe next weekend.

I also have some projects in process:

Mostly, just hand work and some painting left on these.  I finished up some candy canes but they were still drying last night.  My DSL has been down at home so I couldn't post until this morning. 

We are also in the process of moving our shop for our construction business.  I have a small studio set up there as well, so for now, all of that stuff is coming home.  Gotta find a place for that and all my show merchandise too.  Whoo!  I'm tired already, just thinking about it.  Oh, yeah, and hubby had surgery.  He is fine and we are moving forward, but it's always something, huh?  I guess life would be boring without the downs as well as the ups.  I hope to do a better job at posting in the future.....but gotta go now!