A Little This, A Little That...

Wow!  It feels like it's been forever since I've been on here!

And it's now Fall time.

Time flies when you're having fun, I guess...

Let's see where to start....

September was a blur!

We had so many things going on.

We finally got around to having a 

Graduation Party for my son.

That was so much fun and so much work!

Then October rolled around and

it's been pretty busy too...

We got around to purchasing and 

freezing green chilies for the year.

I just LOVE their bright green color!

We've been busy canning...

We made salsa!

We also canned homemade fruit syrup

 and cherry syrup!

We made strawberry freezer jam!

One of our favorites besides Plum Jelly...

(I'll be canning that here soon)

We've seen some AMAZING sunsets!

And last but certainly not least...

If you follow me on Instagram,

you know we went camping this last weekend

and woke up to snow

and these AMAZINGLY beautiful frozen Aspen leaves....

I have a ton more pictures from

 our trip that I'll post next time.

Well, I've run out of things to say,

so I'll close for now...

Thanks so much for stopping by...

HUGS!!

Amy

It's Canning Time...

Can you guess what I have been up too?

I've been canning...

Above, I made up 3 batches of Strawberry Freezer Jam

This is the recipe we used:

strawberry freezer jam recipe

We made up a couple batches of Plum Jelly

This is our most favorite flavor!

Then I made up a batch of Pear Butter.

This is very tasty and it's even good just by the spoonful!

Pear Jelly...

Finally we canned several batches of tomatoes!

We still need to make and can salsa,

so hopefully we can get that done before the end of the month.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

News from the homestead:

We are getting things cleaned and ready for our 

Home School Harvest Party.

Been cleaning out drawers in the kitchen

Got our wood stove cleaned 

and lit first fire...

it's been getting rather chilly at night here!

Cleaned and rearranged living room 

with help from my youngest son.

Harvesting whats left in our greenhouse.

Studying David with my oldest for his Bible time

My two younger boys got baptized this past Sunday!!

God is Good!

What are you plans this week?

Thank you so much for stopping by...

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce...

I love PASTA!

And what goes with Pasta?  Homemade Spaghetti Sauce!

Earlier this summer, I got the thought in my head

 to can some homemade Spaghetti Sauce.

So, I pulled out all the frozen tomatoes

 I had and gave it a try.

My house smelled so good while cooking the sauce down.

All I could think about was fresh sauce 

on a great big bowl of pasta!

I wonder if I have any Italian in me?!

I only got 6 quarts, 

but I will be making more this fall.

Here is the recipe I used:

60-65 tomatoes

2 onions, chopped

2 green or red bell peppers

4 cloves of garlic

2 (12oz.) cans of tomato paste

2 Tbsp. Oregano

2 Tbsp. Basil

1 Tbsp. Rosemary

1 Tbsp. Thyme

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire

Lemon Juice

Prepare your water canner and get the water boiling.  

Sterilize your canning jars and

 have them warming in the oven.

Begin by adding your tomatoes

 to a pot with about a 1/2 c. water. 

Boil over low heat, reduce and simmer

 for about 20 minutes.

Add in the tomato paste. Stirring well.

Strain sauce to remove all the tomato peels. 

 Add back to pot and add in the onion, bell peppers and garlic.

Simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir constantly.

Now add in the oregano, rosemary, thyme, 

basil and Worcestershire. 

Still until combined.

Simmer for about 10 minutes.

Grab your quart jars and add in 

2 Tbsp. lemon juice to each jar.

Using your canning funnel,

 fill each warm jar with the sauce. 

Wipe jars and place on the lids.

Place your jars into the water bath canner 

and boil for 45 minutes.

Remove from canner and let rest overnight

 to ensure proper sealing.

I guarantee you won't want 

store bought spaghetti sauce again!

Happy Canning!

Cherries, Cherries and More Cherries...

Do you all love cherries?

We do!

And, boy howdy have we been picking Cherries!

And Cherries!

And more Cherries!

We picked about a total of 50 some cups of Cherries!

Wow, right?!

It was a fun and sticky mess...

So, I got out my ol' water bath canner, my supplies for canning

and I canned some Cherry Syrup and Cherry Jelly!

Have any of you canned syrups or jellies before?

It is so much fun!!!

I LOVE CANNING!!!!!!!

Cherry Syrup

(This is my hubby and oldest sons favorite!)

First, you will have to boil down the cherries with about 3 c. water,

continue to boil until there isn't much of a cherry left

(it will look like mush with seeds)

strain your fruit in a mesh strainer or a cheese cloth to get all the juices out

I used about 8-10 cups of washed cherries.

3 c. prepared juice

3 c. sugar

1/2 c. corn syrup

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Bring your water bath canner to a boil. 

*Do this step first, because it takes forever to come to a boil.*

Wash your jars and place them on a cookie sheet

 in a warm oven to keep till you are ready to start your canning.

Combine in a large pot and bring to a rolling boil for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and skim off the foam.  

Pour your syrup into sterilized hot jars. 

Wipe around the rim of your jars with a damp cloth.

Place on your lid and ring and lightly turn it.

Place in your boiling water bath canner.

Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Makes 5-6 pint jars.

Never put a cool jar into a boiling hot water canner, 

the jars will break!

Now for the Cherry Jelly Recipe

click on the link below:

Cherry Jelly Recipe Directions

Thanks for stopping by

and please stop by again soon...

Happy Canning!

Blessings & Hugs,