Let It Snow

We had a white Christmas.  I spent the holidays at the beach, but was blessed with another snow fall a few days later.  These pictures were taken from my rear deck and front porch. 

There's nothing more beautiful than fresh snow, as long as I don't have to drive in it.  I was able to enjoy the snow fall without having to move the car, so I enjoyed it.  I put on a pot of chili using my frozen peppers from the garden and just enjoyed the day.  There's something about this fluffy, white stuff that's just relaxing.  A pot of coffee, a fire and hours looking out the window while it falls makes great memories.  .

How was your holidays?  Did you have a white Christmas?  Please leave me a comment, would love to know how you spent your holidays.

 

Happy New Year

Wishing each of you a Happy and Blessed New Year!  I hope each of you had a great holiday season. 

Pumpkin Carving

 

The garden is closed for the season, lots of salsa made, apples canned for cobbler, tomatoes put away for chili and soup, oh what to do.  Cold weather will be approaching soon.  I have a list which includes cleaning out my computer room, redecorating my bedroom, painting my hallway and guest room, making a headboard for the guest room, complete at least 3 scrapbooks, make Christmas gifts, and plan my garden for next season. 

This week-end my grandson and I made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.  We picked out pumkins and enjoyed great carnival food.  We consumed pizza, popcorn, fried fish, and funnel cake.  This is our 5th year, I'm hoping to keep the tradition going for a few more years.  We always have a great time. 

Mawmaw doesn't have the greatest carving skills, but we had a great time.  I need to head to Michaels to pick out a few scarecrows to go with my  pumpkins and mums and carve a few more pumpkins to go with my grandson's ghosts, cobwebs, and spiders.     

Do you decorate for fall or halloween?  Please share your decorating ideas.  How do you spend your time during the winter?  Are you planning your garden for next season?  If so, what do you plan to plant next year that you didn't plant this season?

Last of the Garden

I'm trying to clean up the garden and close it for the season.  I have plenty of green tomatoes, dill which came back from the dead, peppers and maybe a handful of green beans left after this harvest.  I love having fresh dill in the freezer and dried.  I use the dried dill in a potato chip dip recipe, which I'm addicted to and eat by the gallon.  Why do all the bad foods taste so good?  Here's my Creamy Dill potato chip recipe:

Ingredients:   2 cups of Mayo 2 cups of Sour Cream 1 tbsp Parsley 3 tbsp Dill Weed 3 tbsp onion  (I use yellow) Seasoning salt to taste Mix well, chill before serving.

. 

I was able to do 8 pints of pickled peppers from this bunch and blanch and freeze a quart of green beans from this batch.  Next season, I need to double the amount of green bean plants to ensure I have enough to share and for soups and casseroles.  I'm already planning my garden for next season.

I'm freezing this batch of dill.  I'll dry what's left in the garden for my dip. 

I snapped these pictures of a groundhog and cat out my bedroom window this morning.  The cat is curious and wants to be friends, but the groundhog is only interested in eating. 

From the looks of him, he hasn't missed any meals.  I trapped 7 this season and my neighbor trapped 7.  This one is in neighbor's yard, I hope he stays there.  Looks like he's been eating well.  He is huge.  I had a few that managed to dig under the garden fence, but not much damage was done.  They love the green bean leaves and tomatoes.  Havahart live traps are great! 

Well I need to have another cup of coffee, take a nap and than go down to the garden and harvest the remaining tomatoes.  I have a 3 day week-end, so I'll be scrap booking, clearing out the garden and just enjoying this beautiful fall weather that we're having.  What's happening in your garden?  What's your plans for the Columbus Day week-end?  Leave me a comment, I love them!


                                                                                              

Fresh Salsa

 

I made 5 pints of fresh salsa this week-end and it was delicious.  I couldn't stop eating it while I was trying to get it into the jars.  I didn't water bath this batch.  I keep a jar for myself and gave the others to family.  I modified a recipe that I found on the net.  If you have tomatoes and fresh peppers and onions that you want to use, I urge you to try it.  It's great if you're having company or if your children are salsa lovers.  For this batch I used:  

• 15 - 20 tomatoes, chopped (I used a mix of yellow, purple and red tomatoes) 
• 2 large red onions finely diced 
• 15-20 chiles, remove the veins & seeds, finely chopped
• 5 chiles with the seeds if you like spicy
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons lime juice

 

*I didn't include the salt or lime juice

 

Directions

1. In a large bowl, stir together tomatoes, onion, chili peppers, cilantro, salt, and lime juice. Chill for one hour in the refrigerator before serving.

New Fencing and Canning the Garden Harvest

 

 

My fence is finally up!  I took this picture from the deck this morning.  We ended up building the fence board by board rather than panels because the ground is uneven, which made for more work, but I'm loving it.  It makes a great backdrop for the garden and for future flower beds.

My garden thrived this season for the most part.  Didn't produce as many cukes as I wanted, but all and all it was a good year. 

This is my second batch of pickled peppers.  My daughter called yesterday, and asked for a quart size jar.  She said she knocked out the jelly jar in one setting.  I was able to make 2 quarts, 2 pints and 3 jelly jars from the batch I picked yesterday.  I gave away 2 gallon baggies full to the guys who helped build my garden fence. 

I'm drying chili peppers in this bowl.  Initially, I put them in the oven at 170 degrees for the day to get them started.  The oven drying technique calls for a temperature of 150 degrees or less, but my oven doesn't go that low.  I'll let them sit for a few more days and than I'll throw them in the chopper to make dry pepper flakes.  I put them on everything!

I plucked this batch of tomatoes from the garden for fresh salsa.  I love that I have a variety of colors.  There's nothing better than colorful and flavorful foods.  I'll be canning the salsa for Christmas gifts again this year.  I made baskets last year with salsa, chips and homemade cookies for family and friends.  It was a big hit, homemade and cheap.  Can't get any better than that.   

This was my attempt at making Spicy Dill refrigerator pickles from my cukes.  I have a few yellow cukes in there, but they were yummy!  Unfortunately, my vines didn't produce many.  I called numerous farmer's markets in the area, and they didn't have much luck with the cuke crop either.  Walmart has a pretty good deal on their pickling cukes, so I may resort to store brought cucumbers to make more. 

Well I'm off to blanch tomatoes for the salsa.  Need to go to the garden and pick a few jalapenos for the salsa.  We like it hot in my household.  I wonder if this heat is a contributor to my hot flashes!  How did your garden do this season?  Have you brought out the canner yet?  Leave me a comment and I'll stop and visit your garden endeavors. 

Ladybugs, Clowns and Bounce Houses, I'm Exhausted!

Good morning, it's been awhile since I've posted.  I've spent the last month or two planning my grandchildren's birthday party, my granddaughter's Christening, building a 250 foot privacy fence, and canning.  More on my garden, fence & canning endeavors in later posts.  I decided to take a break from blogging to accomplish all of the above.  It is good to be back on the scene, and hope that everyone had a great gardening season.  I wanted to share the last few months of what's been happening at my home. 

I'll start with the grandchildren's party and Christening.  We decided to do a carnival theme and combine both the kids party since their birthdays are only 30 days apart.  Pictured is my granddaughter's birthday cakes.  My daughter just had to have ladybugs incorporated into the carnival theme, which took some thought.  We decorated one of the ride on cars with ladybugs, had the ladybug cakes made, and I put together ladybug crackers.  I thought the cakes turned out adorable.   

Pictured is my grandson enjoying one of the carnival cupcakes pictured below.  We did 24 cupcakes in various colors.  I think the adults eat them, lol.  I actually had people fighting over the purple cupcakes. 

We had Bubbles B the clown do facepainting and balloon hats.  We rented popcorn and sno-cone machines, a Bounce House and put together all kinds of games.  I think the adults had more fun than the kids.  Afterall, we are young at heart.  My granddaughter is studying Bubbles B the clown.  We were wondering if she was going to cry, but she actually like her. 

Here's a picture of the ladybug crackers.  The base is a creamy chicken salad.  I sliced cherry tomatoes from a co-worker's garden and used a tooth pick to hold a black olive, which is suppose to be the ladybug head. 

 

Here's a picture of my daughter and granddaughter on Christening day.  It's a blessing to know that both of my grandchildren have been lifted to the Lord.  We had about 20 people return to my home for the Christening celebration.  Had a wonderful time, but it took a lot of time and energy to put everything together.  Oh, did I mention that we made a trip to the ER before the party.  Yep, Zarriah took a fall off the bed.  I have to remind my daughter again and again, you can't take your eyes off her for a second at that age.  Thankfully, she was okay.  More scared than anything else.