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Autumn Harvest – Sweet Potatoes
Now is the perfect time to can sweet potatoes – they have been on sale for $0.25 per pound! We purchased enough sweet potatoes to do about 30 quarts.
Sweet Potatoes
Method:
Boil whole sweet potatoes for about 10 minutes or just until slightly tender. Drain. Allow to cool slightly. Peel. Cut into large chunks and place in Mason jars. Add 1/4 tsp. Fruit Fresh if desired. Cover with boiling water leaving 1 inch head space. Place on lids.
Process for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure or 65 minutes for pints.
Note: I live above 1000 feet so I have to pressure can everything at 15 pounds of pressure. (I do not have the dial guage canner.)
Autumn Harvest – Canning Greens and Roots
Greens – Collards, Mustard, Kale, Spinach, Turnips
I am very excited about canning greens this year! My husband stopped at a roadside stand and purchased collard greens for $0.25 per 1 pound! Then there are the turnip greens and roots – the local Baptist pastor and his wife over planted. I get to pick a whole lot of turnips for free!
Method:
For each 7-quart canner load, you need an average of 28 pounds, or for each 9-pint canner load, you need an average of 18 pounds of fresh spinach or other greens.
Can only freshly harvested greens. Discard any wilted, discolored, diseased, or insect-damaged leaves. Leaves should be tender and attractive in color.
Wash only small amounts of greens at one time. Drain water, and continue rinsing until water is clear and free of grit. Cut out tough stems and midribs. Place 1 pound of greens at a time in cheesecloth bag or blancher basket, and steam 3 to 5 minutes or until wilted thoroughly.
Fill jars loosely with greens, add fresh boiling water and leave 1 inch of head space. Add ½ teaspoon canning salt to each quart jar if desired.
Process in a dial-gauge pressure canner at 11 pounds pressure, or, in a weighted-gauge pressure canner at 10 pounds pressure, pints for 70 minutes; quarts for 90 minutes.
Turnip Roots:
I love turnip roots and this year I get them for free while they are still young and tender!
Method:
Wash turnips, scrubbing well. Peel, slice or dice. Place turnips in a saucepan, cover with boiling water and boil 5 minutes. Drain. Pack hot into hot jars, leaving 1-inch head space. Add ½ teaspoon salt to pints; 1 teaspoon to quarts, (or less) if desired. Cover with boiling water leaving 1 inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rims. Adjust lids. Process at 10 pounds of pressure 30 minutes for pints or 35 minutes for quarts.
Note: I live above 1000 feet so I have to pressure can everything at 15 pounds of pressure. (I do not have the dial guage canner.)
Autumn Harvest – Canning Kiwi Jam
Kiwi:
Kiwi is abundant this time of the year. If you know someone (like I do) who has a Kiwi vine or are lucky enough to have one yourself, you should get out your water bath canner! Last year I was given an amazing 200 pounds of kiwi! This year the harvest was not as spectacular, but good enough that I can make several batches of homemade jam. You should try my oh soooo good Strawberry Kiwi Jam – it is one of our favorites. Or you can simply make the Kiwi Jam below. We love this jam and it is the prettiest green color – very festive for the holidays.
Kiwi Jam
This is a very pretty jam – a nice festive green for the holidays!
5 cups crushed kiwi
7 cups sugar
1 pkg. fruit pectin powder
Sterilize 8 half-pint jars. Place lids in a small pot, cover with water and simmer until ready to use. Bring boiling water canner to a simmer. Measure out sugar into a large measuring cup or bowl.
Use a potato masher to crush your fruit in another large bowl. Be sure to measure correctly. (The total cups needed are after crushing, not while fruit is whole.) In a large pot, add fruit. Stir in 1 box of pectin. You may want to add a pat of butter to help reduce the amount of foam that will form on top.
Bring the fruit and pectin mixture to a full rolling boil. This means that when you stir, the bubbling does not stop. You should be stirring constantly as you wait for the fruit to boil to keep from scorching the fruit.
Stir in sugar all at once, quickly. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil for exactly one minute. You will probably want to set your timer for this. Over boiling will result in a jam that is tough. Under boiling will result in a jam that is runny. Please be careful – this mixture is very, very hot and can cause serious burns. Keep your little ones away from the stove!
After 1 minute, remove the jam from heat. Skim off any foam. You can put the foam in a bowl and microwave later, allow to cool and then use it as you would your jam – on a piece of toast.
Spread a thick towel on the counter next to the stove and place your hot, sterile jars on top of the towel. Use a wide mouth canning funnel to help make ladling easier. Ladle jam into jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of space from the top. Wipe jars rims with a clean damp cloth. Cover with lids and rings. Screw bands finger tight – you don’t want them too tight or the jars could bread during processing – too loose and your jam will bubble out during the processing.
Place jars on an elevated rack in your water bath canner, or on top of loose canning rings placed in the bottom of your pot. It is best to use a special jar lifter to place the jars in and remove from the pot. Add water if needed to cover the jars by about an inch. Cover the pot and bring the water up to a full boil. After the water starts to boil, you can begin timing your jars. For half-pint jars, you will need to process for 5 minutes. If you used pint jars, 10 minutes. If you live in the mountains like I do (or at a higher elevation), you will need to add more time according to your elevation:
1,000 – 3,000 feet – add 5 minutes
3,000 – 6,000 feet – add 10 minutes
6,000 – 8,000 feet – add 15 minutes
8,000 – 10,000 feet – add 20 minutes
Strawberry Kiwi Jam
This past winter, we were given about 200 lb.s of kiwi from my husband’s Aunt Evelyn who lives in Cleveland, GA. I had to find lots of ways to use up those delicious little fruits! By far, this was my favorite concoction – and the family agrees! I couldn’t find a recipe for Strawberry Kiwi Jam, so I made my own and it really turned out amazing!
Melissa’s Amazing Strawberry Kiwi Jam
4 cups crushed strawberries
1 cup crushed kiwi
7 cups sugar
1 pkg. fruit pectin powder
Sterilize 8 half-pint jars. Place lids in a small pot, cover with water and simmer until ready to use. Bring boiling water canner to a simmer. Measure out sugar into a large measuring cup or bowl.
Use a potato masher to crush your fruit in another large bowl. Be sure to measure correctly. (The total cups needed are after cushing, not while fruit is whole.) In a large pot, add fruit. Stir in 1 box of pectin. You may want to add a pat of butter to help reduce the amount of foam that will form on top.
Bring the fruit and pectin mixture to a full rolling boil. This means that when you stir, the bubbling does not stop. You should be stirring constantly as you wait for the fruit to boil to keep from scorching the fruit.
Stir in sugar all at once, quickly. Return the mixture to a full rolling boil and boil for exactly one minute. You will probably want to set your timer for this. Over boiling will result in a jam that is tough. Under boiling will result in a jam that is runny. Please be careful – this mixture is very, very hot and can cause serious burns. Keep your little ones away from the stove!
After 1 minute, remove the jam from heat. Skim off any foam. You can put the foam in a bowl and microwave later, allow to cool and then use it as you would your jam – on a piece of toast.
Spread a thick towel on the counter next to the stove and place your hot, sterile jars on top of the towel. Use a wide mouth canning funnel to help make ladling easier. Ladle jam into jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of space from the top. Wipe jars rims with a clean damp cloth. Cover with lids and rings. Screw bands finger tight – you don’t want them too tight or the jars could bread during processing – too loose and your jam will bubble out during the processing.
Place jars on an elevated rack in your water bath canner, or on top of loose canning rings placed in the bottom of your pot. It is best to use a special jar lifter to place the jars in and remove from the pot. Add water if needed to cover the jars by about an inch. Cover the pot and bring the water up to a full boil. After the water starts to boil, you can begin timing your jars. For half-pint jars, you will need to process for 5 minutes. If you used pint jars, 10 minutes. If you live in the mountains like I do (or at a higher elevation), you will need to add more time according to your elevation:
1,000 – 3,000 feet – add 5 minutes
3,000 – 6,000 feet – add 10 minutes
6,000 – 8,000 feet – add 15 minutes
8,000 – 10,000 feet – add 20 minutes
The jam is out of this world good and sooo pretty! It is good on toast and especially my Sweet Sourdough Bread and Tea Towel Biscuits. You can see in the picture above the jam spread on a biscuit. I almost forgot to take the picture!
Stocking Up
I have mixed feelings about stocking up on food and supplies for the time of trouble. I believe that God will take care of my family and even send us food to eat if we were hungry. He did it for Elijah. He can do it for us as well. I think that if we stock up on food and other supplies that we will risk having others take the supplies from us by force.
On the other hand, we have no way of predicting when the “great time of trouble” will actually begin. There could be a depression like the Great Depression before the real “time of trouble” begins. We just don’t know. I have been praying about it and asking God what I should do to prepare for my family.
I feel strongly that I need to do what I can to prepare for an uncertain future. My first priority is to prepare my heart and the hearts of my children for the return of Jesus. They are ready! I praise God for this. My five year old loves to pray at meal time and during family worship. She always ask Jesus to come back soon. I am so thankful for my children who love the Lord and are anxious for His return!
So, what am I doing to prepare our home? In order to come to terms with my trust in God – believing that He will take care of us, I know I cannot rely on my own means to care for my family. I have to do what I can in the here and now to make sure that we have the supplies we need, but also be prepared and prepare my family with the knowledge that our home, our food, our belongings do not really matter. We need to be ready to walk away a moment’s notice and leave all of our earthly possessions behind. I actually cannot wait to see Jesus, so I am definitely ready! How exciting this time we live in is! Like the great hymn… It’s a Grand and Awful Time.
So here is a list of things that might be important to have. This is my own list, you might find a better one some where else. You might want to add to it, or take away from it.
1. Water. They say 1 gallon of water per person per day. We don’t have that much – there are a lot of people in our family and keeping 20 gallons of water per day for even a month would be too much space – that would be 500 gallons a month! We get our water free from springs here in Harlan County. The spring we get our water from is about 30 miles from here, though, so we would need another water source.
2. Rain Barrels. If you are not able to store enough water, rain barrels are a viable option – if you live in an area where it rains on a regular basis. This water will not be pure so you will need to have some way to purify the water. Boiling, bleach, or filters will work. In the event of an emergency, you can rig a tarp to catch water and drain into a barrel or large bucket. For every inch of rain, 1 square foot of space on your tarp or roof will yield about 1/2 gallon water. So, a 10 x 10 tarp could produce about 50 gallons of water for every inch of rain. That’s a lot of water!
3. Activated Charcoal. We use activated charcoal on a regular basis in our home. We use it mostly for stomach/ intestinal upsets. Once I drank some water that was contaminated (I didn’t realize it until after I drank it) and I took charcoal then. Activated charcoal can be used to purify your water if you need to. You can actually just stir in a teaspoon into your water and drink. Activated charcoal is tasteless and odorless. You can mix the powder into your water and drink or you can fill gelatin capsules with the powder, or you can buy it in tablet form. I prefer the powder. We use the Millard & Wilson Brand of charcoal. You can probably find this in your local health food store.
4. Toiletries. Think about the basics: toilet paper, feminine products, soap. You might want to invest in cloth feminine napkins, or have supplies on hand to make your own. Cleanliness would also be an issue – how would you wash cloth napkins if there was no pure water source? If there is no water running in your house, toilets would not be operating. They teach us in Pathfinders to dig a hole and bury it and to not “go to the bathroom” within 100 feet of a water source. If you have a baby in the house… what about diapers? You should have a stock of cloth diapers (about three dozen) on hand – and not the really nice thick ones. If you are needing to wash diapers out by hand, thin birdseye cloth diapers would be ideal – and they dry quickly. These are available at any Wal-Mart.
5. Cleaning Agents. In this country we are so used to having running water (in most places – here in Harlan County where I live, 1/3 of the county still does not have running water!) that we have no real idea about what it means to have to haul water from the nearest source in order to clean ourselves and our homes. A large pot that would be suitable for a fire pit would be good to have on hand. And some of the basics – vinegar, baking soda, borax, plain soap, bleach, and a wash board. I have a large sink in my basement that has a washboard on it.
6. Medicines and More. What would happen if the economy collapsed and you had no way to get your medicines? And then there are the basics: Tylenol, aspirin, cough syrup. If you had an injury you might need: hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, peroxide, bandages, bandage tape, guaze, burn ointment, calamine lotion. In our house we rely often on herbal medicines. We make our own tinctures and ointments. I recommend that everyone have on hand: Cayenne Tincture, Dried Ginger Root, Lobelia Tincture, Garlic.
7. Food. We can’t live without food, right? I suggest you stock up on things that will last. Dried beans, grains such as rice, oats and wheat, cornmeal, sugar, TVP, popcorn kernels, powdered milk, canned foods. There are some great websites about food storage that I have recently found. One of my favorites is the Food Storage Made Easy. This group of ladies teaches you how to store what you eat and eat what you store. Maybe I am the only one, but I didn’t know that the Mormons have always stored up food for the time of trouble! On Food Storage Made Easy, these ladies have even provided a handy worksheet for helping you plan a 3 month supply of food for your family. Again, remember that if you have a baby and you do not breastfeed, you need to stock up on formula. Food grade buckets with gamma seals are ideal for storing food. If you do decide to stock up on a large amount of food, you need to rotate your food and keep your supply updated regularly. Eat it or by the time you need it, it may be no good.
8. Lighting. If we have no electricity, candles and solar lanterns would be really good to have on hand. My son has a neat flashlight that you can shake and it recharges itself.
Like I said before, I am preparing for the worst with the idea that if/when I need to “flee into the wilderness” that my heart is also prepared for that. I am going to get a topographical map so that we can learn more about our area.
Jesus said, “But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains: And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.
“For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days. And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.” Mark 13: 14-23 (emphasis mine)
Preserving 2008: My Totals for the Year
I love canning! There is something so wonderful about looking at the jars of homemade canned foods lined up on the shelves, knowing that my family is provided for…
The following were canned between September and November 2008:
Apple Relish
18 pints
Apple Chutney
4 half-pints
3 pints
Apple Butter
36 quarter-pints
3 half-pints
19 pints
Apple Cider
1 pint
15 quarts
Apple Syrup
6 pints
4 quarts
Apple Sauce
6 quarts
Apple Pie Jam
4 pints
Apple Spice Marmalade
12 quarter pints
Apple Pie Filling
6 quarts
Apple Pepper Jelly
12 quarter-pints
3 half-pints
Kiwi Jam
21 half-pints
Pepper Jelly
12 quarter pints
1 half-pint
Wild Plum Jam
2 half-pints
4 pints
Dill Pickles
23 pints
Kosher Dill Pickles
6 quarts
Bread and Butter Pickles
3 pints
13 quarts
February Already
I can hardly believe that we are two days into February! These last three weeks since I posted last have been so busy, I haven’t had much time to even turn on the computer. We had family staying with us for over a week, plus I have been reorganizing my school closets – (shall we say… not fun!) and I have been focusing more on my piano practicing.
I have been canning again! Last week I did 3 batches of my very own Strawberry Kiwi Jam, and 1 batch of Strawberry Marmalade. Yesterday I did 2 batches of Blueberry Jam. I am gearing up to do a few batches of Kiwi Jam and Kiwi Marmalade today and tomorrow.
It is snowing today. Kentucky has been very hard hit this last week. Fortunately, our county was just south of the line where the ice storm hit last week. We had thought we were going to be hit, but then all of a sudden, it moved north of us. We just got some snow and very bad wind. However, it has been very, very cold – for weeks now it seems. Yesterday was pleasant and sunny – a nice respite! But the cold is back and we are enjoying the fireplace and the coziness of doing schoolwork and other projects near the fire.
One of my goals, that I did not mention in my last post was my desire to cook big, hearty breakfasts for my family everyday. I have been very consistent with this! The first few days when we had homemade biscuits for three days in a row, the kids were amazed and very excited. I have to say that it has made all the difference in the world with how our mornings go. I get up early enough to have my prayer and devotion, with enough time to wake the kids and cook breakfast and be eating by 7 or 7:30 in the morning. The kids are roused from the bed easier too. Certain children (who will go unnamed) of mine enjoy snuggling down deeper in the covers when I wake them in the mornings. We follow breakfast with our morning worship.
And, I have to confess, that I have been waking at 5:30 am with urges like cleaning out the refrigerator! I have made a ritual of waking. After my devotions, I lite 5 or 6 candles in my kitchen. It is still dark outside at that time of the morning and I let the candles burn for a couple of hours. I do this again as I clean the kitchen after our evening meal. My husband noticed my new ritual and went and bought me two new huge bags of tea lights (which I primarily use in my candle holders for quick clean up) so I wouldn’t run out.
Today’s Menu:
Breakfast: Blueberry Pancakes with Real Maple Syrup and Hashbrown Patties
Lunch: Vegetable Barley Soup with Homemade Cheese Crackers and Greek Salad
Supper: Pot Pie with Homemade Biscuit Topping, Sweet Potato Casserole and Steamed Califlower
I haven’t had a chance to finish this week’s menu, but will work on that later today!
Goals for 2009
As I said in my earlier post, I don’t usually set New Year’s Resolutions. However – this year, it just feels right. I have spent a lot of time figuring out what it is I want for my life – it’s funny how this changes somewhat over the years.
I realized just a month ago or so that part of the problem I am having has to do with the fact that my son, James, is turning 18 in two months. At first I couldn’t figure out why I had this feeling of desperation when it came to all those “ideals” I have had that have not quite been realized over the years. I want to hang on to the time we have left – desperately. I have four girls at home ages 14, 12, 8, and 5. I always knew the time went by fast. When my second baby was born, I realized how quickly my son had gone from being a little baby to a big three year old. I have tried hard to savor the moments over the years. I take lots of photos and document our family’s life by scrapbooking each week. But as our lives have become ever more hectic and crazy, that time to really savor the moment is fast disappearing. So… there are changes that need to be made now – not when they are all grown up. My goals for this year have a lot to do with that – some are less obvious than others, but they all have to do with creating the life of peace and simplicity that I so desire.
1. Have family worship twice a day without fail instead of once a day.
This has always been on my schedule, but for some reason, it doesn’t always work out that way. Things get in the way, people come over, we are at church a lot, etc. I don’t want anything to take the place of family worship.
2. Live a sustainable life.
This has been on my mind for months. I have been planning and planning… and planning. We are currently pouring over our seed catalogs and composting and getting ready for our large garden this year. I have not done much gardening over the years, but I finally have space to have a large garden. My goal is to get to the point where we don’t have to purchase anything from the store except for staples like flour (or grains), sugar, vinegar, TVP, etc.
We are vegetarian so living off of a garden is not totally out of the question. I began a food journal on January 1 and have been writing down everything we eat. I plan to keep the food journal for the entire year to give me an idea of how much food we really eat. Our family of 7 (plus 12 other family members that I feed regularly) eats quite a bit!
My husband is building a large raised bed in our backyard for me to have an herb garden as well. I hope to grow all of the herbs I regularly use – using the fresh while in season and harvesting them to dry for over winter use.
I also plan to preserve everything I possibly can. I canned large amounts in the fall of 2008 and kept a journal of what I made. I plan to chart our usage – as we use a canned item, mark it as used and see what our habits are, and how much of different items we are likely to use in a given year. Of course, I will be using what I have and doing my best to plan my meals around what I have in my pantry, but what if I found that we enjoyed two jars of homemade pickles a week and I had only made enough pickles to last half the year? The following year, I could plan a larger crop of pickles and put more up.
My step-daughter and I (along with my children) are planning to do the garden together. We are ordering our seeds from Seeds of Change and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds because they sell only Heirloom and Open Pollinated seeds, which means the harvested seeds will produce fruits and vegetables. We plan to harvest our seeds and thereby reduce our need next year to purchase seeds. I do realize that this is our first garden and it will be a learning experience. I doubt we will be overjoyed with our results, but I am giving this garden to God and letting Him have the control.
We harvested several bushels of hickory nuts this year. I hope to be able to do this every year and reduce our need for store bought nuts. We also have lots and lots of blackberry brambles on our farm and are looking forward to those this summer! We also have three apple trees which produced abundant and delicious crops this past fall. We have plans to plant a good number of blueberry bushes, a male and female kiwi plant, more fruit trees, and more.
We plan to have a nice little flock of chickens this spring and hope to have lots of fresh eggs. We are in the process of looking for a good horse for my girls. They have literally dreamed of owning a horse for years, and this is something I desperately want to give them before they are grown. We are learning everything we can about horses. Thankfully, my girls have some experience already.
And, if I had my way, I would own my own milking cow… maybe one day. But we will have some goats in the near future – maybe a milking goat?
3. Make all of my food from scratch.
I already make the majority of our food from scratch. However, I know of a few areas that I could improve on. I used to bake my own fresh bread, but stopped due to health reasons. I want to begin this again, this time being very carefully not to eat fresh bread right out of the oven, but allow it to sit for two or three days before eating it.
I want to make my own homemade mixes. Things like Taco Seasoning and Self-Rising Flour. We have used King Arthur flour for years. I believe it is the best. They do not add aluminum to their Self-Rising Flour. But it has become increasingly difficult for me to find the flour in our area. I’d like to learn to even make my own flour and corn tortillas.
I also have a Wheat Mill, that I would like to use more often.
4. I want to work on Scripture Memory with my children.
I have not been nearly as consistent about this as I should have been. I want to incorporate this into our Family Worship time.
5. I want to spend more quiet time with my children.
My girls and I like to scrapbook once a week – currently Thursdays. This is a really fun time for us. I want to have more time in the evenings to just sit with them and teach them to sew or do other quiet activities. Our evenings over the last couple of years are generally very hectic and with our schedule being what it is, there are periods of weeks where we are at church every night. But on those nights when we are home, I want to create a quiet routine so that there is no rushing, no frantic pace. I want to spend more time snuggling up with my girls.
6. I want to reduce, reuse, and repurpose.
I am slowly going through every closet, every attic, every storage bin, every drawer in our house and purging as much as possible. I simply do not want to have more than we need. I want to buy less. I want to live a practical, ordinary life. I want to find ways to make what we have work. The older I get, the more I realize how futile “stuff” really is. The only treasure I can take with me to heaven is my precious, sweet family. Nothing else matters.
7. I want to spend more time outdoors with my family.
We will be gardening a lot this year. So, we will be outside more than in the past. But I want to spend even more time out in God’s creation exploring the world around us. I want to take more hikes. I want to plan a week long backpacking trip into the wilderness with my kids. I want to go camping every chance I get. If I had my way, we’d plan a camping trip for every month, but I suppose I will have to settle at this point for once every two or three months. I want to spend more time studying nature with my children. We have done quite a bit of this over the last couple of years, but I want more! I want to work on my nature journal/ field guide that I started last summer which has sat unused for months now.
8. I want to paint more.
My little girl Hannah has been asking for a week now for me to teach her how to paint with watercolors. I want to find the time to watercolor with my children. We gave each of the girls a really nice art set with watercolors and bought four easels this year. I want to nurture their creativity.
9. I want to spend more time playing the piano.
I have been taking lessons for six months now, but I struggle to find the time to practice. I am learning in spite of this! My goal is to be able to play for my churches by the end of the year. I also want to teach my children to play the piano.
10. I want to learn to play the guitar.
You can’t take a piano on a camp out, but a guitar can go everywhere!
11. I want to paint two or three more murals for my churches.
In reality, I may only get around to doing one this year and one next, but I want to see it done.
12. I want to make the Sabbath even more of a blessing to my family.
In our home, we keep the Sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. During that time we refrain from secular activities, we do not buy or sell, we don’t go out to eat, etc. We spend the time focusing on God, going to church, and spending quality time for family.
However, Fridays are often so busy that my Sabbath preparation is rushed. Cooking for Friday and for Sabbath is often overwhelming because I am too rushed or feel like time is running out as the sun slowly makes its way behind the mountains.
I want Fridays to be solely focused on the Sabbath preparation. I want our thoughts to be turned wholly toward how we can make the Sabbath special and sacred. I want to feel like I have time to prepare a nice Sabbath dinner for Friday evening and cook a good meal for Sabbath afternoon. I want to find the time every week to set the table and light our wonderful Jewish Shabbat candles and enjoy our Jewish Challah bread instead of hit and miss. I want to find new ways to make the Sabbath really special for the children. I want Sabbath to be something that my family remembers as more than just special. I will post some of my ideas in a future post.
13. I want to see A Virtuous Woman grow and reach and serve more women than ever.
I have had a great vision for this ministry for many years now. I spent the week talking to some women that I know who are all pastor’s wives. We prayed together over this ministry and I have a greater peace than I have had in over a year. I know God is working and in His perfect time, things will be better than ever!
I could share more specific goals I have for my children, our homeschooling, our worship, our local ministry, but then this would go on forever. I believe this is going to be a good year. I am looking forward to every minute!
The Pickles are Done!
Well, it is 9 pm and I have finished my pickles – ALL 53 Pounds. Actually, before Mykal brought home the 53 pounds, he had brought me home 7 pounds, so I suppose I actually canned 60 pounds of pickles which totaled: 72 jars of which were 40 Pints, and 32 Quarts!
I made Bread and Butter Pickles, Dill Pickles, Sweet Pickles, and Kosher Dill Pickles. I used the Ball Mixes rather than using my own recipe. However, I did get a recipe for Easy Pickles from my mom who got them from a friend of hers. My mom had never tried them, but said her friend loved them, so I made 1 Quart jar. The recipe is:
Jill’s Easy Pickles
Fill jar with sliced or quartered cucumbers. Cover with white vinegar. Put lid on jar (I used one of those wonderful Ball plastic jar lids) and place in refrigerator for 3 weeks. Pour off vinegar. Cover with sugar. The sugar will cause liquid to come out of the cucumbers. When the jar is filled with liquid the pickles are done.
I guess I will find out if they are any good. These pickles are not processed and must be refrigerated to keep fresh.
My first batch of pickles was using the Ball Bread and Butter Mix.
I followed the directions on the back of the pack. It said to slice the pickles and pack them in the jar, which is what I did. I had never made pickles before.
Then, in a large pot, you put your vinegar, sugar, and spices.
And then, you bring the mixture to a boil. After it boils, you remove the mixture from heat and ladle the liquid over the cucumbers. Wipe the rims, place on your lids and rings and process in a water bath canner for the recommended amount of time. I live above 1,000 feet, so I had to add five minutes to the time.
When the time was up, I removed the hot jars and placed them on the table cover with a thick towel to cool. Unfortunately, no one told me that when you can pickles using the raw pack method, the cucumbers shrink during processing (despite the fact that I really packed them tight!). So, my first batch of pickles shrunk and are floating and not very pretty.
So, for the rest of the batches, when I wanted sliced pickles (as opposed to spears) I dropped the sliced pickles into the vinegar mixture and brought it back to a boil for 90 seconds. Then, I used a slotted spoon to add the slices to the jar. Finally, I covered the slices with the liquid. I found that using this method, the vinegar mixture went further and made more pickles.
I found that cutting the cucumbers into spears and packing them into wide mouth pint jars was perfect and the shrinking was not a problem using the raw pack method. The rest of my jars turned out beautiful and I am very pleased with them!
Pickles and More…
On Friday, my husband brought home a 53 pound case of pickling cucumbers that he got for only $30.00. So, you know what I have been working on all morning!
The cucumbers were on top of what I already had to can – 3 bushels of apples sitting in my kitchen. Oh, and the big pumpkin you see in the photo Mykal got for $1.00 and he wants me to make pumpkin butter or simply can it. I have another pumpkin waiting for that purpose, too!
Since Friday morning (not counting Sabbath, yesterday) I have canned 71 jars of either pickles or apples and I still have 2 bushels of apples and about 2/3 of the case of pickles left to can!!
On Friday I canned Apple Syrup, Apple Cider, Apple Spice Marmalade (definitely a keeper of a recipe!) and Apple Butter.
I am guessing we have 3 or 4 bushels of apples still on the trees. I can’t bear the thought of them falling to the ground and going to waste!
Then there are the peppers that one of our church members gave to us last week.
I am hoping to make some pepper jelly and pickled peppers. I stuffed about 20 of them for supper on Friday. I may end up just capping most of the bell peppers and freezing them for stuffing later. But I will definitely make some pepper jelly before the end of the week.
