Christmas Eve Day

Here it is 9:45 AM and I just finished a batch of Spritz cookies. I'm on a "break" and then will make pineapple squares, a recipe from my mother-in-law. B requested it.

The weather has turned cold so it feels rather wintry - Makes it seem more like Christmas. We are ready - and the decorations are minimal and high - so Honey doesn't get to them. While she is improving with age, she still gets into things - toilet paper is her "thing" this week! She also loves B's shoes and you know when you hear her run from one room to another, she has something she shouldn't!

Last night I made soup from a bit of leftover chuck roast. There was some pan sauce that I started with and added a can of beef broth and then some beef base and water. Added the diced roast. The pan sauce had onions, carrots and fire roasted canned tomatoes so we were good to go! I then added some frozen cut up cabbage I had frozen after making pigs (stuffed cabbage). There is always the inner leaves that are, for us, too small to stuff. Rather than throw it out or have it sit in the refrigerator in hopes I would do something with it (which means wait until it turns green and THEN throw it out) I chopped it and froze it. So I added a few handfuls of that and let it simmer one glass of wine in length. I drink my wine slowly and don't fill the glass up, so that would be about 20 minutes. I then checked the soup, added a bit more water, salt and pepper and then added pasta - a mixture of small pastas that were mixed together in a jar. And then, in about 15 minutes we ate. Now B is not a soup fan but he liked this. I served it with rolls - Hawaiian bread - that we had purchased at Sam's for Christmas dinner. The meal was very good and we both enjoyed it!

The brown blanket is a new one - A Christmas present from Aunt Mary. She loves it. She is next to B's chair. Honey is asleep and B is on the iPad - a favorite pass time for both of them!

And while at Sam's the other day we picked up some flowers. I put them on the breakfast area table and with the red table cloth it really looks nice. Of course, if we go out, the flowers get moved 'cause "the girl" would love to check them out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

First Day of Winter

It was rather warn for what you would expect for December. Busy day doing a list of tasks including laundry errands and cleaning. Wrapped some gifts but didn't get to the spritz cookies. Honey is zonked out on the floor by B as its been a busy day for here supervising all that we do.
I'd like to thank those of you who mentioned in your Christmas cards how you like the blog and the pictures. it's nice to know I'm not talking to just Walt! An email comment is nice or a blog comment.
Dinner was baked chicken thighs breaded with crumbs seasoned with herbs and garlic powder. Salad and veggies on the side. I made a second batch of cranberry conserve and found some other things I want to try next week. It's good to be busy.
Honey is making noises a cross between a snore and a hum. Guess she is having a good dream!

December Snow

Well, the rain turned to snow last night around 10 PM. We awoke to a beautiful winter wonderland! Since the temperature was 32 it's starting to melt but is still quite lovely. We got about 3.5 inches. Pictures follow....

The sky was just starting to clear - very lovely morning

As you can see, the plow was out and our roads are clear. Right now, it's 35 and the wind, while light, is causing the snow to fall from the tree branches.

And of course, Miss Honey was out on the deck to supervise though you can't see her clearly.

Snow???

It's been raining all day - damp and dreary. We have been watching the weather forecast and are expecting snow maybe up to 6 inches! We took a quick run to Walmart for some tree decorations. We have cut back on decorations thanks to Miss Honey who eats or chews many things left out and about. We put a 4 ft tree on the microwave located above Honey level but visible. I needed small balls and it now looks rather nice. A ceramic tree I got from Carol many years ago (maybe Doris too) is on the bar in the lower level. A wreath is on the door and the stockings are hung by the fireplace in the bedroom. I'm still working on a stocking for Honey. So we are set

I really don't need snow to feel the Christmas spirt. But I guess we will get some!

A busy weekend

Here is is, the first weekend in December! The weather, except for that crazy snow storm in October, has been relatively mild. We have had to scrape the windows of the car in the morning, but generally, it's been mild. While we have taken advantage of "Black Friday" cyber sales, I'm still not thinking Christmas! Not Bah Humbug, just not Ho Ho Ho.

I get on these clean up the mess kicks, but I also get complacent to what I see and overlook messes that should be shouting to me. On Saturday, as we sat in the breakfast area, talk turned to the mess of lap tops, boxes and "stuff" on the shelves below the window in the breakfast area. Wow, it was a jumble of stuff and I never saw it! So, I attacked the mess! What did we have??? In a brown box canning lids and things related to canning. In another box place mats and in a third box, napkins. Now these boxes were decorator boxes but still, they really didn't belong on the shelf. Then there were several tiered plates that were rather dusty showing that I don't use them. And finally, our 2 laptops (his and hers) were on the top of the shelves (a bit less than 3 feet high) along with wires. So I cleaned! And after moving the canning stuff to the storage where the canning jar stuff is, it looked better. I removed the 2 boxes with napkins and place mats and found a better location for the lap tops. So the breakfast area looks much better. We also moved a larger TV to that area. Today I dealt with the place mats and napkins which caused me to go through three drawers in my large china cabinet in the dining room. Some stuff went to storage, some to "fall" and "summer" areas and some to get rid of. And now that area looks better!  Talk about one thing leading to another!

So now I need to check out the Christmas stuff and see what we can put up. With a dog who still gets into things, we are limited to what can be put out on the main level as when we leave, she has access to several rooms. Maybe a tree down in the lower level? That's the next project to work on.

Dinner is in the oven. We went to Costco earlier this week and have been enjoying the meat we purchased as I've been serving some and freezing the rest. Last night was pot roast from the chuck roasts and tonight is chicken thighs baked in the oven after they were breaded. With that we will have potatoes - baked for B and sweet potato for me. Some veggie for a side and pumpkin pie from Costco - they really have good pie!

Like I said, busy weekend!!!

Cranberry Conserve

Back in the 80s I sold some baked goods, snacks and such to people we knew. Not a big business but it did pay for some nice pans and baking things. I enjoyed doing it. I stopped when my "real" job expanded and I was working longer hours. One of my popular items for sale was cranberry conserve. I did not can it but freshly made, it would keep in the refrigerator for several weeks...if it wasn't eaten sooner. I also canned for us using the fresh produce we picked at the local farms. (sure miss Jersey's produce!)
This year I'm back into canning for just us. I have several canning books and read them to get ideas. I came across a cranberry conserve recipe in the Ball canning book that is MY recipe! Exact same ingredients but it also included directions for canning. So, this afternoon I made the conserve and canned it. While the recipe said it would make about four 8 oz. jars, I ended up with a bit more. The recipe and pictures are below.

1 orange cut and placed in food processor. The orange is unpeeled - if there are seeds, try to remove them all (this one had none). Chop well. Place chopped orange and 2 cups water in a deep pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat, partially covering, and boil gently until peel is tender, about 5 minutes. (now the peel is HOT so I sure didn't taste it...just timed it for 5 minutes then continued)

 Add 4 cups of cranberries that have been well rinsed, 1/2 cup raisins and 3 cups sugar to pot with orange. Stir this well to dissolved sugar. Then raise heat to get a hard boil and stir frequently until the mixture thickens. The cranberries pop and the mixture will foam and expand and thus I use a spaghetti pot that is rather high so that I don't get splattered while I stir. After about 9 minutes add 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Now you can use any kind of nut - I used chopped black walnut.

The sugar, raisins and nuts

The cranberries in the pot.

 After another 5 minutes or so (stir constantly) the mixture will really get thick. It looked like jelly. Remove the pot from the stove and if there is foam on the top of the mixture, skim it off with a spoon and discard.

At this point you can let it cool or can it. If you choose to can it, ladle the hot conserve into canning jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and wipe rim. Center lid on jar and screw band down until resistance is met..then a bit more.

Place jars in canner that holds boiling water (low boil) making sure the jars are covered with water.

Bring water to a faster boil and process for 15 minutes adjusted for your altitude. (I processed for 20 minutes as we are above 1,000 ft over sea level) At end of the time turn off pot and let jars sit for 5 minutes, then remove from the water, cool overnight and then store.

This green thing is a jar holder from Ball that I had seen on line and found in WalMart. I use it for small batches as it fits into a stock pot. I had just lifted it out of the pot and let it rest here for a few minutes, then move it back out of the way to cool.

And here are the three sealed jars. They will sit here overnight and tomorrow I'll check the seal and remove the bands carefully and store. I have 2 more jars that I did not can and I will EAT them starting tomorrow. I haven't made this for several years and I'm really going to enjoy eating it!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Gloomy Day

We expected rain and got it. It was misty this morning on the way to breakfast - not even enough to call it rain. Had an excellent breakfast and back home. After some chores around the house I headed out to the post office and then to work at the library. Left around noon and did some banking and then picked up milk at the local IGA. Leftover meatloaf for lunch, The rain was just a drizzle and B went out to blow the driveway and deck. Then the rain became heavier and now it's very heavy and very dark - as I said, gloomy day.

I've been down on the computer downloading pictures and then importing them into LightRoom and labeling them. I then saved some in jpg for the blog.

We got a new VW bug. The black one we had was to reproduce (for want of a better word) the bug we had back in the mid 60s. Ahhh the "good old days". Even though the engine was in the front when the original one had the engine in the back, it was pretty close to what we had. Sun roof, flower holder, black. However, it was not the most comfortable car to drive in, but it was more comfortable than the 1966 bug we had. Then VW changed the style and came out with a "new" beetle. While the overall look is similar, it is very different! More room, great sound system and navigation, generally better. And, silver does not show the dirt/dust as fast as black does. So, we now have a new car.

Honey was on the deck looking out. I cropped the picture. Notice the new collar? It's a bit wider and looks so nice.

She is on a leash - it just doesn't show.

She often goes out on the driveway with B and just sits. However, here she was kinda trotting along to get down the driveway to see what ever she could see. Honey loves to watch traffic. We don't have much traffic on our road but she can see the better traveled road from the end of the driveway and from the deck. She sits in anticipation of a car coming up the hill.

Our neighbors wave(as they pass the house in their car) since they can see her in the house as she stands on one of the chairs and looks out the windows. She is so popular, our girl!  LOL

A good day

I'm in the living room on the iPad. I can tell this is going to be tedious LOL

Right now I'm working on dinner. We had rump roast the other day and tonight is leftovers. B loves sliced beef and gravy over bread. So that's what he will have. I love rice do I'm now cooking rice. I put some EVO Ina pan and when warm added chopped onions. Then added the rice and then the water with a vegetable base added. And that is simmering.
I started a list of things to do yesterday which resulted in yes. Things I did! So several loads of laundry, vacuum maine level, iron lots of stuff while watching The Chew and several other programs.
So, a good time. And this is not Avery easy way to blog.

Hump Day

Well, yea, that's what we called it back when I was working.... half way through the week. The weather has been so nice it's hard to believe we got around 11 inches of snow last weekend! We have had sun the past few days and mild temperatures. A bit cooler today than yesterday but B got out to wash off the new VW and then painted the landscaping ties with his trusty roller. (yes, we got a new VW Bug...more in another post including pictures)

With daylight savings over, we are all adjusting to the "fall back" time. We keep Honey up longer and then take her out so she is still able to be in her crate until 5:30 when we all get up. Right now she is spread out on the floor asleep. She makes these funny noises - she just did a HUMMMM that accompanied a stretch and she is fast asleep. (it's 5:15PM and she just came in from a walk)
We get up and I take Honey out (that's the deal) and then make coffee and we sit at the breakfast table and check our email and such on the iPad (love that thing). And then B takes Honey out and they get the paper, back in for a carrot treat and I get the paper and then they finish their tour of the property and Honey does her "thing". We are coming up to Thanksgiving and we added Honey to our family the day after Thanksgiving and boy, has she improved this past year! Every day she behaves better and yes, every day we figure out better how to handle her.
 This morning, while I was checking my emails I got a notice that I had a dentist appointment at 9:30. So that kinda stopped my plans for the day that I made while I was making coffee. Well, I did get dinner decided on and partially defrosted (strip steak) defrosted in the microwave and then in the refrigerator. A load of laundry, puttering around and some work outside while B was doing his painting.
I'm reading a good book - Robert B. Parker's Killing the Blues by Michael Brandman.  Parker is a wonderful writer - I first started reading his Spencer books... he is brief and to the point and a few words say so much! This book is a Jesse Stone novel. They have been made into TV movies with Tom Selleck (pure hunk) as Jesse Stone. Parker died and the producer of the series has continued the story and it's very good (not done the book yet) and very close to Parker's style.
So, that's today....and dinner is ready to go! Steak on the counter warming up. Rather than cook on the grill - since it's so dark and rather cool- I'll sear it on the stove and then pop it in the oven. I'm going to serve it with piorgies with butter and onions and a salad. Hope dinner is as good as it sounds. 

Snow out back

Still snowing

Yep, we got snow

When we woke this morning it was grey, dismal, overcast, mild and dry. So we thought - maybe the forecast has changed, and we won't get snow. So we went out to breakfast and back home and still now snow. And it was still rather mild - in the lower 40s. Then the wind picked up...and in the midst of all the leaves that were falling were flakes...maybe snow....yes, SNOW.  And here it is, 3:37 and it's STILL snowing.
So, what to do on a dismal, snowy day?? Well, I made cookies. While I don't expect any trick or treaters, you never know so I'm now able to offer chocolate chip cookies.

They turned out quite good - it was a new recipe. It made 6 tray fulls. Honey was very interested in what I was baking. However, I don't feed her people food and especially no chocolate. I'll have to make her dog bones sometimes. Honey did get to go outside and just LOVES the snow! She enjoyed snow last year and she still loves it. B put her out on the deck that runs around the house. She was playing and eating the snow. B was throwing snow balls at her and she would bit them and wonder where they went. Below are some pictures of Honey.

As well as seeing Honey, you can see how much snow we have so far.

Right now we have about 4 or 5 inches. More to come. UGH!

Where did the snow ball go?????

Vampire Bite

Well, not a vampire but a tick. We worked outside yesterday and I was cleaning out flower beds and leaning over. This morning I washed my hair. After breakfast I wen to finish my hair and as I used the curling iron I noticed blood my neck. A bit of rubbing alcohol and some antibiotic cream was all I thought was needed. Then a bit later I touched it and it was hard eww. Had B check it ...... Yep a tick. Went to the local Urgent Care and after a short wait was seen by a very nice Doctor who indicated I was not the first person with a tick bite. She removed the rather small critter and yes, it could be a deer tick Got a prescription and I'm back home. So that kinda killed my afternoon.

Dinner is creamed chicken on toast using the SAMs chicken we got the other day. I'll make stock from what's left and freeze it. I'm needing another glass of wine....

Posting from my iPhone

Just updated my phone to the 5.0 software. Also downloaded the Blogger apt. So I'm trying it out. Let's see if this picture posts. It's the view as I sit at my computer on the lower level and look out the window.

Eating can be fun!

In anticipation of the rain we will get today, I cooked chicken out on the grill last night. I've found it easier to purchase a whole chicken (generally in the 4 to 5 pound range) that generally sells for 99 cents a pound at WalMart (Purdue) and then cut it up. I grilled half of the chicken on the grill adding BBQ sauce at the end. The wing tips and back bone get frozen separately as does the other half cut up into 5 pieces. Along with the chicken, I used a grill pan to grill veggies - potatoes, carrots and beets. B doesn't like the carrots and beets so I get them all! We shared the potatoes and I also made a salad. A very good meal! Below the grilling pictures are some pictures of Honey enjoying her meal!

The chicken goes on skin down for about 5 minutes. Then I turn it for another few minutes and then cook with indirect heat by turning the middle burner off and closing the lid.

The veggies then went on and the outside burners were turned to medium. The lid closed and I checked it every so often. About 8 minutes before the chicken was done, I brushed the chicken with BBQ sauce. Since I'm out of the sauce I make, I used one we purchased.

The meal was very good, if I do say so myself!!

And then there is Honey - who scarfs her food down like it's her last meal.

So, to slow her down a bit, we've been putting most of her kibble in these orange balls that she rolls around and as it rolls, kibble pops out. She can pick the ball up and move it around, something she does to be sure she gets every last bit! When one ball is done, she comes back into the kitchen and I give her the other ball which she drops, spilling out kibble. And around the house she goes, nosing the ball and then picking up the kibble.

 Here she is in the foyer - she likes it there as she can push up to the walls and move it along. The pictures are a bit blurry as she was moving rather fast!

And below, she is in the breakfast area and you can see the kiddie fence we use to block her from the lower level steps. She could push it aside but she doesn't. She goes all over the house with the balls and then will re-run her route to make sure she didn't miss any food. It does slow her down and we enjoy watching her.

Look, Up in the Tree!! Is it a Bird? NO - A Raccoon!!

Thursday night, while walking Honey, B saw two eyes glowing in the dark....up a tree by the back corner of the driveway. He thought it was some kind of animal but wasn't sure what. Friday he called me to the back deck off the bedroom and asked me to look up....and quite high up, this is what we saw. A raccoon up the tree. Apparently this is what he saw the night before and this guy appeared to be asleep. I quickly grabbed the camera and took some pictures. While we are always careful about not leaving sliding doors open for Honey, we will be particularly sure we close the screens the entire way..don't want a coon dropping in for a visit!

I went back a while later and he had moved around a bit.

Then I panned out - he/she is on the right tree below the branch that juts out to the right. Really quite high!

Rain, Rain and yes, More Rain

Well, the chicken I was grilling turned out really good! And it was raining so much, I couldn't go out and cover the grill as I needed to wipe it off first. Finally got a chance to get it covered between rain. And then last night it poured!! I mean heavy rain and the stream was very loud this morning and the overcast skies told us it was going to be again a rainy day...and it was. We are getting rather sick of this. Fortunately, while the rain is heavy, we are dry as is our lower level! We are so thankful for that (and so glad we got the roof replaced several years ago!

Yesterday I did NOTHING...just sat and read a very good book "Betrayal of Trust" by J. A. Jance. She writes several "series" and this was a J. P. Beaumont novel and it was a gripping story that I enjoyed very much. So it was an enjoyable and I guess I did do something - I enjoyed reading a book.

I took pictures and will post them shortly. Right now I need to start working on dinner. The rest of the BBQ chicken from the grill and some roasted veggies in the oven. It's now 63 out so the oven on and roasting veggies should be good for a cool, gloomy evening. Hope you are all warm and dry!

Busy in the Kitchen

Goodness, I've been busy in the kitchen these past several days! We purchased some red and green peppers along with several long hots. In addition to that I got 10 pounds of beets, cabbage, frying peppers, yams. All this stuff was for canning or cooking projects. The cabbage, along with hamburger from Sam's was for pigs (stuffed cabbage). We had that 2 nights and I froze a container for a third meal in another few weeks. I still have one head of cabbage - not sure what I'm going to do with that. The peppers were to try two canning recipes along with trying out the steam canner I purchased. I made Hot Pickled Sweet Peppers yesterday. It had better be outstanding as it took quite a bit of time. First time through a recipe always takes more time but this one... well, the sweet peppers, red and green had to be roasted in the oven and then peeled. There were also hot peppers to seed and cut and they got mixed up and covered with a brine and canned. I've never roasted/peeled peppers before. After quartering them, removing the seeds and ribs, they were roasted for 20 minutes in a 450 oven and then covered with foil to steam. The directions said to steam in a brown bag but the foil just sounded better. I then started peeling... just didn't work. The skin just wouldn't come off. After trying with several pieces, I popped them back in the oven for another 20 minutes and voila, they were relatively easy to peel. I'll wait several weeks before I try them - sure hope they are worth it. The second batch was relatively easy - clean and cut red and green peppers, heat in a brine that was hot, pack in jars and can. I still have to do something with the beets - that's tomorrow.

Tonight we have chicken on the grill with BBQ sauce I made. We really like that sauce!

It's dark out and has been raining off and on...I'll just grill between the rain drops.

Busy September So Far!

Labor Day is a wash out this year. But we are still enjoying the day even though it is raining off and on. Right now Honey and B are in the living room - B on the Ipad, Honey on the floor sleeping. I'm at the breakfast area table on the computer.

I've talked about canning, but I've also been dehydrating! I used to dehydrate back in the 80s when I also was canning. However, the dehydrator I had was rather basic - on or off with no ability to adjust temperature. So this time around I decided to get one that did have temperature adjustment and I've been experimenting. Saturday I decided to dry some of the herbs I'm growing in pots out on the deck. I did 3 racks of basil leaves, one of oregano stems and one of marjoram stems. The fact that it was rather humid probably extended the time. I kept the temperature low - 95 - as per instructions in one of my books. I started at 2 and at 7 the stuff was kinda dry but not brittle. Turned the temperature up to 105 and at 8 turned the thing off. Sunday I started it again with another temperature boost and finally the marjoram and oregano were dry. The basil took a bit longer. Below are some pictures:

This is the marjoram at the start. There is a liner on the tray since once dried it will be rather small!

And here it is done and you can see the plastic liner was really needed. I use an empty coffee filter for lots of things and here it was just the thing to drop the leaves in as I striped them off the stem. I was then able to use it like a funnel to pour into a small jar.

Didn't get a lot...but there is more in the pots and this was an experiment!

Yesterday I served skirt steak for dinner. I never had that before and found a recipe in one of my 2 Weber grilling cook books I had gotten at BJ's a while back. The recipe suggested serving it with grilled red potatoes which sounded good but I had potato salad in the refrig so we went with that. The cooking time was fast! And it cooked using direct high heat. I first made a rub consisting of kosher salt, ground cumin, granulated garlic and black pepper. This was spread on the steaks and then they sat out a bit to come to room temperature. Heated the grill and in a flash...about 6 minutes... they were done! The steak was good but next time I would reduce the salt in the rub. Very tasty and I served it with the potato salad and a tomato and onion salad with Italian dressing. Picture of the steak before cooking follows....



And finally, an update on Honey! She has been going for short rides with B in the VW and just loving it! She loved riding in the SUV but she bounced all over the place and got very hyper. So, we are hoping that a little ride every day or so will get her used to riding and less hyper. Truth be told, I think they both really enjoy their little outing even though B insists that he is the one who will drive! The picture below is of their return from the little drive yesterday. As you can see, Honey makes a great navigator!



Storm Pictures

During a lull in the rain, I ventured out to take some pictures. B and Honey watched from the deck. I walked down our road and headed toward the stream since taking a picture from the road was not workable - too many trees. This is a picture of the stream about 75 yards from the side of our house. Still trees but you get the idea!

This picture was from the main road that our street goes into. I shot up the stream and you get a better sense of the amount of water. Normally the trees are not under water! 

And then I turned around and went across the road. The stream enters a very large pipe to go under the road. This side then takes it to the Lake. Again, these trees are not usually under water.

And it's still raining at 11:27 AM 

Rains are slowing down

Well, we made it through the hurricane. It was dark all day Friday and we got one heavy shower then just the gloom. The rains started late afternoon and into the night, waking me around 3 with heavy gusts and heavy rains. I just looked out, closed a few windows and went back to sleep. We spent yesterday with the TV on - mostly to the Philly station as their coverage was very comprehensive. The local stations - Scranton and Wilkes Barre - really didn't have much to report though we were under a flood watch. Scranton got over 3 inches of rain by this morning so it's safe to assume that we are around that also. B is out right now with Honey who does NOT like the rain. We are in a lull and he is taking advantage of that.

Our "little" stream is again not little. I hope to get out shortly to take some pictures. The wind is still blowing and the showers occur off and on and right now is an off time!

I've got the dehydrator running. I did some fruit several days ago - a mixture of things. Today I'm drying lemons and oranges. I took some pictures when I started and will take some when they are done. It will be interesting to see how long it takes and how they look and taste. I'm thinking lemon or oranges in hot tea this winter when the lemons are not looking as good as they do now. I threw in an orange just to see what it does. Experimenting and then writing down the results. Reports on this later.

The New Grill

   The new grill that we purchased arrived and we spend Monday assembling it. The Weber people sure packed it well and we opened it up in the driveway and carried the pieces up to the deck that wraps around the house. It is now located at the corner by the sliders that are close to the kitchen. We read the directions and B assembled while I was assistant. Went together smoothly and as we worked we took pictures.

Gosh, so many pieces. As we worked, I unboxed stuff and took off the plastic.

Hummmm where did that last piece of plastic wrap go????

Honey got it!! She is such a help!!??

B did most of the putting together.

A guy has to have tools...and use them, which he did.

And Honey helped! Believe me, while the ratchet thing was really neat, her "help" made it more difficult!

And away Honey went to check out B taking pictures.

A side burner

The finished grill. While we have made sure it works by "firing" it up yesterday, we will save cooking on it until tomorrow or Friday.

Sunday

We had intended to go to breakfast this morning but Honey got sick. Tummy trouble that started at 4 o'clock and woke me up. She was doing better by 8 and we gave her some eggs and cheese which helped. By mid afternoon she was back to normal.

It was a busy weekend just doing things around the house. Several loads of laundry, meals to cook, general cleaning and dusting. I've been working downstairs trying to refuse the "stuff" we have. I'm making headway.

Dinner was roast in the oven with potatoes and carrots. It was very good and there is enough left over for sandwiches or something.

No, it's not exciting but it's enjoyable.

Canning and such

Here are some pictures of the canning I did last week.

My first project was blueberry jam. It turned out VERY sweet! But VERY good!

Notice that green "thing" in the back. This is a new product - a small batch Ball canning rack. The nice thing is it fits into most stock pots so you don't need to buy a large canner to try caning out. 3 pints (or half pints) fit in it. The important thing is to use a stock pot that will allow the water to be 2 inches over the top of the jar. Anyway, I used that but since the blueberry jam made 6 jars I had to do it in three batches. Next time I'll use the canner.

And here the jars are, all lined up. When totally cooled I take the twist on part of the lid off, label them and store down stairs.

The next project was Onion Relish with thyme. I chose this because Vidalia Onions were available at the local WalMart for $2. for 4 pounds. This recipe took about 2 pounds along with thyme sprigs from my pots, apple cider vinegar and light corn syrup. After simmering on the stove about 45 minutes to cook the onions, I water bathed them in that handy green small batch canner rack. This made 3 jars.

And here it is in the stock pot being processed. Since we live at 1200 ft above sea level, I have to add 5 minutes to each water bathed batch so this went for 25 minutes.

I enjoyed canning and will be doing another type of blueberry jam today using the larger canner so that all the jars get processed at once.

The new Weber grill is going to be delivered today so depending on how many parts it comes in will depend on when we start to use it! B took the old grill apart and took it over to the Township's appliance dumpster. So we are all ready!!

It rained today

It's 6 o'clock and dinner is in the oven. B is in the living room looking at the Philly news and I'm at the bar in the kitchen facing the kitchen so I can see the stove. While we had a rather gloomy and rainy day, apparently we didn't have nearly the rain South Jersey had - Elmer had 9 inches and Glassboro (where we went to college) had 7 and Philly had over 4. We didn't reach that at all. When we had rain it was a misty drizzle.

I did nothing this morning...well, it's Sunday and that's what Sunday is about! We did go to breakfast. I had a toasted corn muffin and ate the entire thing with 2 cups of coffee. YUM!  We got home and I just puttered around and really can't say what I did. I was on the computer and looked at the ads in the Sunday paper and ....well, I don't know. We at lunch around noon - hot dogs on the grill. Let me talk about that grill... it's a Charm Glow that we got at Home Depot several years ago -maybe three. I use it often - keep it covered with a heavy duty cover and feel I take good care of it. And the grates are kinda shot so when B started talking about a replacement I was all for it. The Webber grills sounded good! We had looked at them last week when we went to Ace Hardware. Went on Amazon and some other web sites and Amazon looked good with no tax and no shipping charge....and we ordered it. YEA. As I cooked the hot dogs I thought - gosh these things are taking forever to get done...and the temperature on the lid (not that it's accurate) said 320 so.. anyway the new grill should get here this week.

So for whatever reason, this afternoon I felt inspired. First I worked downstairs on the lower level. I have books on line to sell for our local library and I reviewed what I had and removed about 12 that were not going to sell since they had been on line for over 2 years. I also straightened things up and made it look neater. I then went up to the loft and did a quick sort of the "stuff" on my desk and filed, shredded or did something with everything. YEA..

And then I went to the kitchen. I've been trying to get back into canning. The other day I did blueberry jam - and it was good. Rather sweet but good. So I canned 7 jars in 3 batches. Today I first baked a cake. Now it was a mix so all I did was mix it up and pop it into the oven. And I still have to make icing. I then started the next canning project Vidalia Onion Thyme Relish which turned out OK. I canned three half pints and have a bit to taste. It's oniony with a sweet tart taste.

I also just finished icing the cake.Icing is REALLY good!  For diner we had roasted chicken using the convection oven...love convection.

And the day was good...and I'm tired. Busy afternoon and it's still kinda soggy out. So we will have some cake and relax..happy Sunday!

A new week ...A new month

I'm posting from the iPad Realized I could do that easily while we sit at the table having coffee, reading the paper and watching the news. Maybe I'll post more as this is easy and convenient. It's 65 out and we had rain overnight. B just brought Honey in from one of her many morning walks.

The news jus reported that there was a tornado touchdown both in Scranton and on Wayne County. Fortunately we only had heavy rain and moderate winds.

Catching up on my pictures

Back in May, Honey and I were spending some quality time in the living room. I had my IPad and find it works better up on the arm of the sofa since she often lands in my lap. When we first got her I was very adamant that she not be on the chairs or sofa. That didn't last very long! I cover the sofa with a sheet and have accepted doggie tracks on the two leather chairs by the front windows that she bounds into to see outside. The sofa still looks OK but it's hairy as she really sheds!

 We got a kiddie pool since our first lab loved to splash in the water. It's up on the deck that runs around the house and with the gates, that is an area that she can run around in. Well, she is interested in the water but looks upon the pool as a VERY large water bowl. Here I am trying to encourage her to "come on in".....

 This is as far as we got... and she still doesn't go in the water!! Thought labs were water dogs???

Maybe some day.

 My day lilies continue to look good. I took a lot of pictures because this is the first year they have done well. Really pretty.

 And it's not all fun and games around here, either!

I did a beer can chicken on the grill last night that turned out very good! Since it was a large 6 pound Purdue chicken it took about 2 hours but was worth the wait. I made potato salad that was exemplary, if I do say so. Along with that fresh green beans that B purchased the other day when he stopped off at the store for me. And he also purchased Kirby pickles so I could make another batch of Ma's pickles.  This time I purchased some dill at the store since my dill is not doing well. I also cut up 3 green peppers and put the vinegar/water mix on them as well. And, to fill up the final jar I added some sweet onions. Never did onions before with this recipe so it remains to be seen how that will taste. The pickles sit out for several hours and then into the refrigerator. Much easier than canning and very good! I think of B's mom and what good things she made whenever I make one of her dishes.