Strawberry Jam

After finding strawberries on sale for $1.44/lb, we decided it was time to try my hand at canning some jam. It turned out beautifully. I did learn a few things along the way, and thought I would pass on some words of wisdom:

When canning jam with 12.5 quarts of strawberries........

• Make sure you have PLENTY of sugar. I started with 5 pounds and told my husband to take the car for the day and therefore ended up riding my bike back to the store to pick up 10 more pounds. Let me tell you, hills are not any easier with an extra 10 pounds on your back.
• Give your self plenty of time and schedule in a nap for the day.
• Everything will be sticky.......even Buzz (my dog) had a pink spot on him earlier. Not sure how yet, he wasn't in the kitchen.
• Make sure you have fresh made bread to "try" it out on.
  
• Exercise the day before and probably after - you will eat a gazillion slices of bread with this new love of yours. Yes, the bike ride will help:).

It's quite sweet because this homemade jam reminds Brian of his grandma who used to make it and for me, there is nothing better than enjoying summer's freshest in the middle of a blizzard:).


Enjoy what others are up to at Homemaker's Monday.

P.S. I must brag a little, did you see in the first picture the waterbath pot I got for $2 last year at goodwill. Perfect for canning when a pressure cooker isn't needed.

You scream......

I scream, we all scream for ice cream! It's that season! Last fall on a ridiculous clearance buy we purchased the ice cream maker attachment for my kitchen aid mixer.

We absolutely love it. The attachment came with a recipe book that has been great, but some of our favorite flavors have been pure experimental. Among of favorite is Banana Chocolate Chip. Lately, I've been experimenting with kefir ice cream. Today I made a strawberry-kefir ice cream that turned out fabulous! For all you kefir chugging families here it is:

Strawberry-Kefir Ice Cream

2 cups Kefir
1 1/2 cup strawberry puree
1 cup simple syrup (I make mine from turbinado)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours. Once well chilled follow your ice cream makers manual and start churning.

This recipe has been a great way to use up extra kefir and to also get into our bodies other than just smoothies. For those who haven't stepped into the wonderful world of kefir and it's health benefits check out Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking and she'll explain it to you.

Bonding with Dad

This Father's Day I was not able to celebrate with my Dad, however, I had the honor to celebrate my Father in Law. He is one of the smartest men I know. He seems to know everything about anything! His knowledge amazes me. What also amazes me is the way he sacrificially gives up his time to help us and teach us the skills we need. And has a happy heart doing it. What better way to bond and celebrate everything he does for us than to learn how to kill and dress three chickens together! Nothing says love like chopping and plucking chickens in 90 degree weather.

Now I don't have any pictures of the day to show you, nor do I think you want to see pictures from Sunday. However, I do want to share one particular way I took advantage of fresh chicken bones, necks and all that other gross stuff you really don't want to eat.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Let me encourage you this was so easy and I am thrilled, this will be preserved and not in my freezer. I save vegetable scraps in a ziplock bag in my freezer until I have enough to make stock so I was ready to roll when they told us we were going be getting some fresh chicken.

In a nutshell, find a stock recipe. It's fairly simple, chicken bones and/or meat, celery, carrots, onions, peppercorns, 2 bay leaves and water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours. Strain and let chill over night. Skim the fat from the top and discard. Bring stock back to a boil and follow basic canning procedure - you know sterilize jars, keep hot, boil lids and rings. Using your pressure cooker, process jars at 10 pounds for 20 minutes for pints and 25 minutes for quarts. Let cool, wipe down jars and store away for that perfect soup day.....or until your dad comes over and you are cooking for him.

Why it pays to cook from scratch.......

Did you see this headline today?

"Nestle recalls Toll House cookie dough products"

Check out the full article here and in the mean time here's the latest list on what is being recalled:

• refrigerated cookie bar dough
  
• refrigerated cookie dough tub
  
• refrigerated cookie dough tubes
  
• refrigerated limited edition cookie dough items
  
• refrigerated seasonal cookie dough
  
• refrigerated Ultimates cookie bar dough

It includes all flavors chocolate chip dough,gingerbread, sugar and peanut butter cookie dough.

It does not affect any other Toll House products, including ice cream that contains Toll House raw cookie dough.

E. coli is lurking again.........