Where are the eggs and canning pear chutney

The other day Dude request I buy eggs from the store. He felt our hens were lacking. I said there should be eggs out there but okay.  Yesterday I bought eggs... gasp. 

Today I went out to go for my walk when the lambs called for me to come over. Molly said she had a secret and Prudence (the small one) said Molly was just a tattle-tail. 

Prudence aka Dolly (Dude refuses to call her Prudence) is below.

Molly said, "come ere"  Sometimes she says that just to get a head rub. 

But this is what she showed me.  Thank you Molly! 

Yep, they were right there she told me. 

A little over a half dozen from the barn. 

Then I checked the henhouse.... 

OH Dude. 

So.... I took the store bought eggs and made hard boiled eggs. 

Most of the day was spent taking down Christmas decorations and 

Canning pear chutney.

I love chutney  I love it with lamb (not one of ours any more but I do like lamb), cheese, oatmeal, rice, over cream cheese, on sandwiches, over tators or with squash. 

Again, I used what was left from the holidays.

Cast of characters:

1 cup of cherry flavored craisins

1 cup of boiling water

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion chopped

1 teaspoon of sea salt

3 tablespoons of grated ginger

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1/2 red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons of cherry brandy

4 cups roughly chopped pears  ( it was 6 small pears)

1 cup of sugar 

My jars were sterilizing. 

1. Place craisins in a bowl and pour water over them. Set aside.

2. In a large pot heat oil, onions and salt until onions are soften. Add ginger and mustard seed. Seeds will soon begin to pop.

3.  Add vinegar and brandy, stir while gathering the bits on the bottom of the pot.

4. Add craisins with their liquid

5. Add pears (on the second batch I did add an apple since I was short a pear) and sugar. Stir.

6. Put heat on low and cook for 30minutes or until the pears soften. 

7. The chutney should be syrupy not watery and rich in color.  Taste before you ladle into jars. Do you need to add salt? sugar? vinegar?

Are your jars ready? Wipe rims. Ladle into sterilize jars, add lids and water bath for 20 mins or 15 if at sea level. 

Remove from the bath. Listen for the pop or ping of your lids. Make sure all seal . I do not move mine until the next morning, labeling them before putting in the pantry.

Batch 2 

Second batch with apples.

Next time I may try it with brown sugar ...or pepper flakes... or apple cider vinegar...regular raisins... the ideas are endless.

Of course, I left a sampling out for me! Yum!

peace 

Canning Day and Finding a Treasure in Storage.

With an abundance of apples and cranberries on sale I knew it would be a canning day. 

I made a big batch of strawberry lime tea to get me through the day. 

I decided to make cranberry apple jam.

Apples were peeled , cored and chopped. Then it was cranberries turn. 

Everything into the pot along with 2 cups of water. 

Then cooked until tender. 

I did mash mine.  Then pectin was added to a fourth of a cup of sugar, mixed and set aside. Cook again until a rolling boil then add 4.5 cups of sugar.  Cook until a rolling boil plus one minute.  

It jelled up very well.  Water bath for 25 minutes. 

So pretty and very festive for Christmas. 

This morning it was cold but comfortable.  By the afternoon we could see the snow coming in over the mountains.  

Next up I wanted to finish up those yellow tomatoes. 

Someone gave me a canning pouch of spices for pizza sauce. I thought I would never use but I thought I'd give it a try.  It cooked down and tasted so good I could see using it for many things!

I got 4 1/2 pint jars made. 

In between I love doing word searches.  Smile. 

Dude was busy going to the feed store, feeding the lambs and chickens, getting their water filled so we would not need to go out tomorrow in case it snows, bringing in firewood and Christmas boxes from storage and he found his old cast iron pans!

He got so excited , he cleaned them up . 

And is making dinner for us!

Oh, and I did get my paperback tree finished. 

Simple, it won't win any prize  but I like it.  Monday I hope to get pictures of the others who created this year. 

peace 

Canning relish, oven roasted chicken legs, dessert and another square made

Our cucumbers are doing very well this year. I already canned 24 jars of dill pickles, so today I canned relish. 

I used one of our onions and about 7 medium cucumbers. 

Deseeded them. 

Put through the processor but not too long , I didn't want mush or juice. Do the same with the onion, add to the cucumbers,  mix with 3 tablespoons of  canning salt.  Let stand for two hours.  Turn on the timer and go do something else. 

Each Wednesday I go see one of my sons and make them dinner. Dessert was super simple and I saw it on Pioneer Woman. I had leftover graham crackers from last week's full moon night outside with  s'mores. She used an 8x13 pan and I just wanted to see how this recipe works so I used an 8x8pan. I mean, this recipe is so easy … would it really taste good? 

So line the pan with the graham crackers, I used the honey ones, she used the chocolate ones. 

Melt a package of almond bark. Mine only used 1/2 package. She used a double boiler. I used the microwave.

Pour the melted bark over the crackers and spread. Top with what you like. I like sweet and salty so I used M&M and crushed pretzels.  Put it in the freezer to let it set. 

It comes out of the pan easily. 

It was a great success. I will make more tomorrow since my son and my family ate all the bark and loved it.

I did make the wrong block for week 5 on the Ultimate Beginner Quilt so I made that one today and cut out week 6 to finish tomorrow. I follow it HERE .

Okay, back to the relish... squeeze the cucumber and onion in a colander to get out all the excess water.  Leave it there and start with the vinegar mixture. 

In a nonreactive metal pan heat 3 cups of white vinegar, I added 3/4 cup sugar, a teaspoon of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of dill weed (we grow our own), 2 teaspoons mustard seeds, and 2 teaspoons of celery seed.  Heat to a boil.   Add the cucumber and onion mixture, return to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 10 mins. 

Add to hot prepared jars. Process in water bath for 15minutes (I'm high altitude).

The taste was delightful. I can't wait to use it. 

I roasted a pan of chicken legs, red potatoes and sweet potatoes to take to my son's family for dinner. I did it like I do when I roast vegetables.  Spray the pan, add chicken and potatoes, drizzle with oil add herbs (I used rosemary I grew last year and dried thyme from this year's garden), kosher salt and pepper. Toss well.  I put in at 450* F for 20 minutes, turn and went in for 20 more minutes. I do use a meat thermometer to see if it reaches 180* in the chicken to make sure it is finished. My family loved it. Here it is going into the oven. 

Made this little one in the past to take to my grandson today. 

I am a lucky mom. 

peace