How Come There Isn’t Enough?

I need more time.  24 hours in a day isn’t enough….

24 hours in one day
– 8 hours for sleeping
– 1 hour for eating
– 8 hours for working
– 3 hours for “domestic chores”
– 1 hour for errands/etc.
= 3 hours a day for knitting/fiber related hobbies….

Seriously

How am I supposed to get these projects done?

DSC01793This is what I have on the go at the moment (not counting the project that is currently on Bob the loom, whom is missing from this photo…sorry Bob). I have a sweater just started (the lovely gold/brown yarn), … Read more...

Having a Stocked Pantry is….

like having your very own grocery store in your home.  Minus the outrageous prices and hard to pronounce ingredients that belong in scientific experiments.

I am winding down on canning season, my big ‘ol canning pot will soon be put away for another year.  It is time to enjoy a well stocked pantry and take pride in knowing the food we will be eating is actually that – food.  Not genetically modified, disease resistant and/or hormone filled products that the government deems safe.  What is safe about ingredients that have more than 12 letters in its name?

Me, I prefer … Read more...

Random Weekend Stuff

Busy.  Busy.  Busy.

That just about sums up our weekend.  Saturday’s weather was gorgeous, so hubby took advantage of the sun and warm temps to continue on with fixing the dock that was damaged during last April’s freak ice show put on by Mother Nature.

Dock PieceFirst was making a 33′ long side section that will sit on top of the frame timber on the left side of the dock.  Fashioned from a double set of 2′ x 10’s screwed together, the beast weighed a TON.  It sure looked purdy sitting up on the blocks….but then we had to haul it … Read more...

The Most Wonderful Day Of The Year!

Bwahahahahaha…the kidlets head back to school today.  Thank goodness the running amok all day long, screeching like banshees is done with for another summer.

I don’t like children very much.  I tolerate them at best.  They are loud.  They can be smelly.  They can definitely be dirty…and they ask WAY too many questions.

Why?

Why?

WHY?

I don’t know why!   Go ask your father!

So in honour of today’s special day (Back to School Day), I am spending the day in my jammies, knitting, reading, skinning and chopping tomatoes for sauce along with making one last batch of peach jalapeño Read more...

Preserving and Canning Food Guidelines

In light of recent news of a jam being responsible for the food poisoning episode last week at Toronto’s annual CNE (Canadian National Exhibition), it shows that even a commercial maker of jam’s and jellies can slip up when making their product.

Home cooks must follow a very strict and rigid set of rules when canning/preserving food for their families to avoid serious illness contracted from bacteria as a result of improper food handling.

I preserve a lot of food for my family, most of it being different types of jams, jellies and tomato products.  I have always taken every … Read more...

Tom-ay-toe or To-mah-toe?

I have oodles and oodles of the luscious red garden fruit and have been in tomato heaven for the past couple weeks.  Highlights have been making Tomato~Basil Jam, Green Tomato Relish, eating them every morning with my toasted cheese and tomato sammie, as well as thinly slicing them for pizza nights.  I have also spent part of this past weekend making homemade pasta sauce.  Which turned out 1000% better than last year’s batch, mainly because last year I had those stupid tomatoes that wouldn’t turn colour until December, no seriously, I had tomatoes sitting on the counter at … Read more...

Mint Jelly

We are continuing the Jelly theme this week.  Mainly because I have an overabundance of mint (who woulda thunk such a thing could ever happen!), anyone who has ever grown mint can attest to the virility of the fragrant herb.

I used to have mint planted IN the garden.  Then it tried to take over the world.  I dug it up in the Fall a few years ago, then spent a couple Spring’s digging/chopping out runners that were popping up all over.  After 3 years, it has been eradicated from the garden.  Until last year when I started one from … Read more...

Peach Jalapeño Jelly

Peaches are probably my second favourite fruit….right after Strawberries.  Good thing one is out of season before the next comes in, otherwise I wouldn’t know which delicious, delectable delight to grab first.

I have already put away loads of Strawberry Freezer Jam, Strawberry Lemon Marmalade and bags of whole frozen berries…but now it is time for…

Peach Bonanza Season!

Chipotle Peach Jam was made first, with Peach Jalapeño Jelly hot on its heels.  Less labour intensive than the Chipotle Peach Jam, as you just seed and roughly chop the peaches and chop the peppers leaving most of the seeds in … Read more...

Tomatillo Monster

I have a gardening success.
A HUGE gardening success.

I have effectively mastered the art of growing Tomatillos.

Last year I tried to grown them and I failed miserably.  Out of the three plants that were lovingly placed in the ground, 2 died and the third one grew and grew and grew and put forth masses of flowers and continued flowering like it was the last flowering plant on Earth.

But not one Tomatillo developed.
I was devastated.
OK, not really, but it was rather upsetting.

Reason being, Tomatillo plants need another Tomatillo plant beside them in order for the … Read more...

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

I am back from Vacation.  Did you miss me?  I hope so.

I love vacations.  They allow you to spoil yourself with too much food, too many spirits, too many late nights and too many days sleeping in.  All that spoiling leads to weight gain and a vacation hangover of monumental proportions.

Time to get back in control before I become the eighth Dwarf named Glutton.

I did accomplish quite a bit of stuff around the Homestead though.  The gardens kept me busy picking and weeding, along with herbs being trimmed, washed and hung to dry.  With the bounty … Read more...