Monday Monday and Linky Love

It's been a busy few days around here!  Saturday, we went to my Father-in-Law's house for Thanksgiving with my husband's side of the family.  Had a good time catching up with folks we don't see very often and ate lots of good food.  The rest of the weekend, we just kind of hung around the house and tinkered.  Today, I'm trying to catch up on laundry so we'll be prepared to visit my parents for Thanksgiving.  We're still planning on going to Homestead Heritage on Saturday (11/29) and maybe also on Sunday (11/30), so if you're planning on being there on that day, leave me a comment and let me know and we'll try to have a sort of informal meet-up.  

So, it's a pretty normal Monday around here...basically catching up from the weekend on laundry and that sort of thing.  I'm not going to do any canning this week...it's just too hectic with all the travel and back and forth.  BUT, the Blueberry-Pomegranate Jelly I made last week has been a big hit with everyone who's tried it.  We've all decided that it's perfection and now our family's favorite =)

Well, it's lunch time and I need to feed the kids, so I need to get off here, but here are some links I ran across today that I thought I'd share!  Most of them are yummy recipes, I guess it's just that time of year to post recipes!

Linky Love:

• Creamy Cranberry Salad (With a Dairy Free Version) (NT Friendly)
• Butternut Squash Pie
• Double Chocolate Pecan Pie
• How To Make Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner
• Apple Spice Simmering Potpourri
• Project: Family Rules Canvas
• Concequences Pyramid
• Concequences Pyramid Update
• Cranberry-Apple Casserole
• Tangy & Savory Mexican Soup
  

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Canning Frenzy

Want to know what I've been doing this week??  I've been canning!  I've canned 32 jars of pickles and jelly over the past 3 days:

2 quarts  & 4 pints Spicy Dill Pickled Green Beans
3 quarts & 5 pints Lime-Cumin Pickled Green Beans
5 half-pints Cinnamon Spice Apple Jelly
5 half-pints Pineapple-Mango Jelly
5 half-pints Blueberry-Pomegranate Jelly
1 pint Lime-Cumin Pickled Garlic
1 pint Lime-Cumin Pickled Jalapeno Slices

A total of 31 jars of food put up!  We're looking forward to some yummy additions to our meals in the future!

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Lime-Cumin Pickled Jalapeno Slices

 

Lime-Cumin Pickled Jalapeno Slices

Makes six 1-pint jars.

4 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon canning salt
2 limes, juiced
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Jalapeno Peppers,sliced, enough to feel 6 pint jars


Sterilize six 1-pint canning jars. Simmer lids for 10 minutes. In a medium pot, mix together the water, vinegar, salt, lime juice & cumin. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Mix well to make sure salt dissolves and cumin is distributed evenly. Fill the jars tightly with the Jalapeno Peppers, leaving enough room to remove with ease. Bring the brine back to a boil and then pour into the jars until Jalapeno Peppers are fully covered. Put the lids and rings on the jars and tighten (don't over-tighten). Place the jars into the boiling water canner, which should boiling. Make sure the water in the canner covers the top of the jars by 1-inch. Once water begins boiling again, heat the jars for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and place on a wire rack to cool. Let cool 12-24 hours. Store 4-6 weeks before serving.

NOTE:  I didn't make 6 jars, but I had left over brine from pickling green beans and used that to pickle my extra Jalapeno Peppers in.  I also just added the brine, so this recipe reflects that.  You can see the complete recipe for the Lime-Cumin Pickles here.

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Lime-Cumin Pickled Garlic

 

Lime-Cumin Pickled Garlic

Makes six 1-pint jars.

4 cups white vinegar
2 tablespoons plus 1/2 teaspoon canning salt
2 limes, juiced
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cumin
Garlic cloves, peeled, enough to feel 6 pint jars


Sterilize six 1-pint canning jars. Simmer lids for 10 minutes. In a medium pot, mix together the water, vinegar, salt, lime juice & cumin. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Mix well to make sure salt dissolves and cumin is distributed evenly. Fill the jars tightly with the garlic, leaving enough room to remove \with ease. Bring the brine back to a boil and then pour into the jars until garlic ais fully covered. Put the lids and rings on the jars and tighten (don't over-tighten). Place the jars into the boiling water canner, which should boiling. Make sure the water in the canner covers the top of the jars by 1-inch. Once water begins boiling again, heat the jars for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and place on a wire rack to cool. Let cool 12-24 hours. Store 4-6 weeks before serving.

NOTE:  I didn't make 6 jars, but I had left over brine from pickling green beans and used that to pickle my extra garlic in.  I also just added the brine, so this recipe reflects that.  You can see the complete recipe for the Lime-Cumin Pickles here.

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Blueberry-Pomegranate Jelly

 

Blueberry-Pomegranate Jelly

1 cup apple juice
4 cups blueberry-pomegranate juice
1 cup sugar
1 to 1 ¼ boxes no sugar needed powdered pectin.

In a stockpot, bring the juices and sugar to a boil. Add the powdered pectin and stir to mix well. Return mixture to a full rolling boil, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a metal spoon. Quickly pour jelly into hot, sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top; wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 pints & 1 half-pint or 5 half-pints.

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Pineapple-Mango Jelly

 

Pineapple-Mango Jelly

1 cup apple juice
4 cups pineapple-mango juice
1 cup sugar
1 to 1 ¼ boxes no sugar needed powdered pectin.

In a stockpot, bring the juices and sugar to a boil. Add the powdered pectin and stir to mix well. Return mixture to a full rolling boil, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim off foam with a metal spoon. Quickly pour jelly into hot, sterilized jars, filling to 1/4 inch from top; wipe jar rims. Cover immediately with metal lids, and screw on bands. Process jars in boiling water bath 5 minutes. Cool on wire racks. Makes 2 pints & 1 half-pint or 5 half-pints.

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Our Weekend and Pictures

This weekend we went to visit my brother-in-law, Ben, and his family on their farm...Sand Creek Farm. We had a great time! Marty and Colt helped Ben do some farm chores. Riley played with their girls and Alysha and I kept pretty busy in the kitchen. She had a ton of jalapenos, bell peppers, tomatoes, green beans and onions that needed processessing. Golly, their kitchen was full to bursting with all sorts of fresh veggies! We got all the peppers (jalapenos & bell) cut up and were going to make Jalapeno Jelly, but the liquid pectin was old and it didn't set up right...tasted yummy though! So she decided she'd make Candied Jalapenos instead. We also got all the green beans snapped and cleaned. But we really didn't have time to do any real canning. She did let me borrow one of her pressure canners so I could can several jars of the green beans. I also brought home quite a few fresh green beans which the boys and I are going to make into green bean pickles (and here), which they love. Next year, I'm going to have to plant a WHOLE bunch of green beans, I've discovered that they are my family's favorite, them along with Broccoli and Cabbage...so I need lots of those in the garden this next year. I had a great visit with everyone and enjoyed seeing all my nieces. We'll be seeing them again this coming weekend when we go to my Father-in-Law's house for Thanksgiving. We got home about 4 yesterday afternoon and then I had to run to the grocery store and get groceries for the week, plus the stuff I needed for canning. This evening, I'm going to can the green beans in the pressure cooker, this will be a first for me. I've never actually canned using a pressure canner, but I grew up watching my Mom and Grandmother's do it, so I'm just going to jump feet first into it and give it a try...but I'll wait until Marty's home with us...just in case...lol! I'm also going to make the green bean pickles today and MAY, if I have time, make some jars of Apple Jelly. I'm ready to get back into canning now that the temerature has cooled off around here. I need to start getting it done, because I'd like to give some out as Christmas gifts, plus I have a huge standing order for Dr. Pepper Jelly that I need to get out to friends and family. Marty's having the boys start cleaing up our garden area so he can till it up this weekend. We're going to start planing some winter crops, like we did last year. Cabbage, broccoli, onions and some other things like that. It was so nice to have fresh veggies all winter last year! Well that' about all that's going on here. But here are some pictures I took over the weekend:

The Godfrey Cousins Front Row: Grace, Lily (baby), and Rebecca Back Row: Riley, Emily, Abby, and Colt Yes, there was a houseful of silly monkeys this weekend! My nieces, Abby and Lily Colt and Riley picking green beans. Colt, Riley and Marty picking green beans
I wonder if they ordered chicken nuggets?? Eat Mor Chikin! I took this when we stopped for lunch on the way home Sunday in Waco. We were eating at the Long John Silver's across the street and when I saw the Chick-Fil-A van pull up at the McDonald's across the street, I had to run out and take a picture...too funny!

Well, that's about all that's going on around here. Today is my Mom's birthday, so happy birthday Mom!!! We love you! I'll give you a call tonight. Have a blessed and happy day everyone!

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