Strawberry Fields Forever

The pie is delicious, the margaritas were non-existent, so the strawberries became JAM! I followed the directions on the package (and consulted some cooking sites on the web)

1.  Clean and hull the strawberries.  Mash them up, add sugar, and lemon juice.  Bring to a boil then add the pectin.  Bring back to a rolling boil. (Check.) 

2.  Sterilize jars and lids.  (Check.)

3.  Cook and skim off the "foam" (Check.)  I might've let my strawberries cook to long.  There was more "juice" than chunks of berries by the time I was ready to put it in jars.

4.  Ladle into jars, top with lids and give them a hot water bath for 10 minutes and wait for the seals to "pop. "  (Check.) My batch was 4 for 4 in the popping category which means, even if it doesn't taste that all that good, it will be safe to eat!.  I hope it firms up as it cools, or else it will be delicious topping for ice cream!  Strawberry Soup Forever??!!

My Mom and Grandmothers made jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, and canned all sorts of garden vegetables (tomatoes and green beans, mostly)  Why didn't I pay attention when I had the chance?  I kindest thing and most helpful things we could've done as kids was stay out of the kitchen when it was canning time!  I did that gladly!

I have every intention of canning from my garden this summer.  Mom used to make jars of banana pepper that John loved.  My goal is to replicate her recipe with peppers from our garden.  Today's attempt at canning something was just a test run.  Fingers crossed that it actually becomes jam.

Let Summer Begin!

Just a few days of school left, and I have to be honest, I'm not quite ready to say good-bye to these lovely children.  We had two wonderful performances on Friday for Grandparent's Day.  Believe me, there is NO MORE APPRECIATIVE audience than Grandma and Grandpa listening to their beloved grandchildren singing.  Each grade level sang a song from class (connected to the curriculum and in most cases integrated with classroom studies) then we asked the audience to sing along with us.  They sang happily and proudly!!  Although we sang several different types of songs, the three that stand out in my mind (and heart) are the 1st graders and Grandparents singing "You are My Sunshine, " the 3rd Grade Class and Grandparents singing "Take me out to the Ballgame", and the final song from our 5th graders "Seize the Day"  It's hard to say good-bye to students you've known since first grade.  My, how they've grown!

But, my mind does shift into summer mode.  Today, we purchased hanging plants for the backyard and marigolds to plant by the driveway.  Also, we couldn't resist the locally grown strawberries.  My only problem is, should these be turned into strawberry pie or strawberry margaritas?  Hmmm...stay tuned!

And the winner is....PIE (of course!)

The Mother of All Flowers?

This little peony plant doesn't look like much right now, bit it is a SURVIVOR!

This transplant came from my parent's condo in Westfield.  I took a sample of the bush just before the house sold after she died (almost two years ago),  but this peony started it's plant life much before that. It came from my childhood home, which had been transplanted from my grandparent's farm.  Mom took a bit of the peony each time she moved.  The plant's  roots are almost as deep in Hamilton County as my Mother's were.  She lived all but the first years of her life within a 5 mile radius.  I grew up about 2 miles west of where she grew up (we even gratulated from the same high school and shared one teacher at the beginning and ends of her career!).  She and Dad built two homes during their lives, and then bought a condo in the twilight of their lives, just two miles to the east of her family farm.

The peony plant was always there.  It gave us cuttings for Mother's Day, and we decorated graves with flowers from it on Memorial Day. (Of course I'll be taking some to Mom and Dad's graves this year, too)  It's still my favorite flower and now, although a little scrawny, I have a plant of my own.  Plus, it's the state flower of Indiana!  What a Hoosier, huh?

UPDATE on MAY 24:

Lju is NOT supposed to be up on the counter, but he likes the peonies, too

Lost My Mojo?

I've had one kitchen cooking catastrophe after another in the past few weeks.  I'm not even sure I could successfully boil water these days.  I've eaten a bad egg (after Easter), cooked with curdled creme, under -cooked (but served it anyway) fish, left out ingredients, and burned a batch of rhubarb jam.  My, oh my!  From here on out the only thing I'll be making is dinner reservations!  Hopefully this bad cooking curse leaves me soon!

On the other hand, I've been sewing and crafting like crazy.  Several things are still in the "secret" stage because they are for end-of-the-year thank you gifts, or for the July wedding.  Still, I can share two photos of recently completed lunch bags with "educational" themes:  school days and the wise old owl!

The school days bag has a yellow lining with a blue insert under the zipper to expand the lunch bag.  The owl has a green zipper and lining with an (unseen in this photo) cream colored inset behind the zipper.

PS)  The lettuce is up ever-so-slightly in the garden!

A Long Term Project for Summer

For the first time in many, many years, we're planting a garden!  John put together a raised bed near the daffodils in the back yard.  Lots of good soil (to replace the mess of clay and sand we have!) and a few healthy plants and we're ready to grow!

 Nothing elaborate or exotic, just tomatoes (2 kinds) and cherry tomatoes, red and green peppers plus some banana peppers for canning and some zucchini.  Flowers will come next on the border, but for today...it's a beautiful start.

PS  Basil and kitchen herbs are already planted near the patio.