Thinking out loud

Carrots are February's can jam thingie!! At least it's not something else that will rot my teeth out. And I'm hoping for some spicy pickle with cauliflower thing. If DD doesn't do one like that I may be forced to do one myself. I'm really looking forward to about half a dozen jars filled with hot spicy vegatables.... must be too much marmalade in my system right now.

I have been so excited about the can jam that it has thrown me into a whirlwind of activity.  I have been canning up a storm lately!  While it may seem a boring choice I decided on a marmalade, I have only tried marmalade once or twice and really didn't like it.  Of course I was trying the little retangular packets you find in your local breakfast place so I reasoned, if I make my own, surely I will like it better.  Wow, the difference was amazing.  While I will always be a "berry" jam kind of gal, I can definitely say I like marmalade.  I wanted to try something different so Woodman suggested an Orange Lime Marmalade, I had tons of citrus so I tried the Orange Lime as well as a Citrus Marmalade which included Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grapefruit and Clementines - it was great!  Woodman liked the Orange Lime better so that is what we are posting. Orange Lime Marmalade 3 lbs oranges 3 Limes 6 cups water Peel the oranges and l...

Someone says "I make my own yogurt and granola, and can fruits and vegetables from my own garden" and most of the people I know are expecting someone who has a liberal political leaning. I've read quite a few blogs lately that can't imagine someone wanting to do these things without being motivated by "liberal" causes. I can't say that I've ever thought of myself as a liberal. Or a democrat, or a Greenie, or whatever you want to call it. I'm pretty conservative, in an old school small government kind of way. Libertarian if it wasn't just throwing my vote away, and if they'd stop coming up with ideas like privately owned and operated highways. The appeal of living out in the middle of nowhere and producing 90% of what I consume is extremely appealing, but I have no idea why this appears to be a "liberal's" dream. I think by forcing people to choose one camp or another we end up creating enemies out of friends.

It is another weekend and I have been very busy. Sometimes I think I need to go to work on Monday just to relax! Of course I really love this kind of work. This weekend I worked on my can jam entry. I have never done anything with citrus so this has been an adventure but I will save most of that for next week for my "official" entry. Right now I am going to talk about all the other things I have done and hopefully I can get Woodman to post some picture. I have sliced, peeled and chopped my way into a blissful coma this weekend. Yesterday I started with the marmalades. I tried two different types and am not sure which one we will use for the can jam. I had never made a marmalade so the sitting time gave me a long rest. So, did I rest? Really, you obviously don't know me yet. When I was done with the first boil and prep, I moved on to the Thai pears I talked about before - they were very yummy but I think I will use more lemon next time and maybe a little les...

Don't eat the marmalade before the sugar goes in.

This morning, at about 6:55 AM I awoke to a scream and a door slam. Looking for my wife in bed I realized two things... one; if I have to look around in the bed to see if someone is there I'm still not awake, and two; DD wasn't there. I run my butt downstairs half dressed to see if she was ok. I see canning supplies out on the counters and citrus debris Ok, time out. My daughter just ran up when I was typing this and was jumping up and down yelling " I gotta go poopie!!". So, as parents we tell her to go poopie, since if we don't she just keeps standing there telling us she has to go. The bathroom is about 5 feet from me and she's in there doing her thing and singing to herself when all of a sudden she yell's "I'm done poopie!!" (Another tradition) then passes gas... Which causes the most evil chuckle to come from her and she says "I just farted!".... That's my daughter. Ok, so the kitchen is in full canning mode, my wife is...

Ok, it's things like this that made me pick the name for the blog.... I have a desk that is not right by a window, but if I lean back a bit I have a clear view of one about 15 feet away right by the copier. All day yesterday I saw people go up to pick up something from the copier and get stuck staring out at the snow falling. A couple of them for several minutes. I did it a couple times myself when I went to go get coffee. I do the same thing with camp fires or fires in our fireplace. I get lost trying to make order out of it, there is just enough order to think that it's organized, but then a swirl of wind comes by and it's all gone. Some people I've talked to have said it's because it's beautiful... I think there is something to be said about the chaos and order and patternless patterns. But, maybe that's just the way my head works. I agree that it's beautiful; I'm just not sure if that explains the almost hypnotic qualities of snowfalls and ...

I was a domestic goddess this weekend. No really, it is true. The can jam has gotten me in the mood to create. This weekend (remember, it was a long weekend) I made onions pickled pink which I already blogged about, dill pickles, sauerkraut which will take a few more days and then I turned to our other passion. Cooking and freezing meals. Woodman and I found some great deals at the grocery store Saturday morning so it was time to restock the freezer. Not a huge restocking but definitely filling in the gaps. Our local grocery store has great manager's specials which we like to take advantage of. Saturday seems to be the morning. This week we bought 9 pounds of ground beef which became sloppy joes for two meals and 156 precooked meatballs - yes I did say 156! These will last us quite a while and are great for popping in sauce for pasta, meatball sandwiches, meatball stew and many other items. We also bought two whole pork tenderloins - had one sliced for grilling and divid...

The can jam has begun!!!! I am so darn excited I can hardly stand myself - and Woodman is probably tired of hearing about it already. I can't tell you how many times in the past week I have wondered aloud what it will be. I was prepped and ready to go and now the day has arrived. What pray tell am I so excited about - CITRUS! Yes, citrus is the name of the game and so many various recipes are floating through my head. I have oranges, tangerines, lemons, and limes in my house - dare I put them all together, surely not but we will see what I decide. I will be keeping you posted. To get my domestic vibe going, I decided to make a couple other items this weekend. I have started with the Onions Pickled Pink found here - these are the greatest onions ever. Seriously, I think Tigress may be my new hero. I thought I would really like these onions, but no, I LOVE these things!!!! Woodman has provided pics below but let me tell you, these babies are delicious. (Woodman here, ...