corn cob jelly and syrup

first my days have been completely in taking care of Sammy in his final days here with us in this world so this got shoved back..again...some more...

Corn cob syrup and jelly...

don't matter which one you are going to make both start the same.

12 corn cobs that have had the corn cut off...I used ones that I cut off the corn for freezing.

6 cups of water to cover corn

bring to a boil and simmer for 30 min.

strain (I don't strain because I like corn particals in my syrup and jelly)

now here is where the difference lies....

FOR JELLY you need to have 3 cups of corn juice so if there is not enough "juice" add water until you have 3 cups. Add 1 pkg of pectin and bring to a rolling boil.Stir in 3 cups of sugar and boil for 2-3 min or it reaches jelly stage.Pour in to clean jelly jars and process in canner according to the same directions as apple jelly.

FOR SYRUP measure what ever corn juice there is...for light syrup add 3/4 cup of sugar, medium syrup would be 1 cup of sugar and heavy syrup would be 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 10 to 15 min until all sugar is dissolved.

process in canner same as apple jelly.

I do use corn cob jelly and syrup on corn bread or Mexican desserts...

I will note here that any time I have a jelly that doesn't set...it gets used as a syrup instead.

OUT LIVE YOUR LIFE by Max Lucado

OUT LIVE YOUR LIFE by Max Lucado...good book, interesting comparsion between people(us) of these times and those in the Bible times. Thought provoking...a little on the dry side for my personal taste. I do think the title does not reflect the writing inside the book...I would have named it something more in line of "We are
st like them" or "Same as you and me".

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

death of loved one

 

He was in the slammer as a vagrant.Unloved and unwanted because he was disabled. I asked him if he wanted to come home with me and he stood up and said yes.He was honest, he was a begger and a theif, disabled and unsure of his age but he would do his best to follow the rules and get along with me and mine.

For five months and two days, he was a blessing beyond what we ever thought he would be.With in days he knew he was home and safe, that we loved him and accepted him as he was.As his lower back disks gave out and caused him to no longer be able to get up on his own or sometimes not even stand, he never stopped showing his love and how grateful he was.At the clinic he laid in my arms, not whimpering from the pain he must have felt but nuzzling to show both hubby and me that he loved us, that it was okay. I held him until his heart beat no more with grief to match the love.

Our only comfort is knowing he is now running on all four legs, playing as he wanted...no as he needed to be and easily picture him sharing bread with our Lord

GOD BLESS YOU SAMMY...Sam I am, I am Sam...Sammy Wammy...Samuel Adams Sheltie.

Book Review Cast of Characters by Max Lucado

CAST OF CHARACTERS Common People in the Hands of an Uncommon GOD by Max Lucado
The Cast of Characters in people from the Bible. Max Lucado does his magic and makes them come alive for us. He places them in our times with our troubles and worries. I not only found myself in this book but several of my friends. Well worth the reading, especially when you need to look at those of faith in the Bible outside their times.
This would be a great book for someone that feels they can’t “measure” up like those that did in the Bible.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

sorry , I got side tracked

I got side tracked wrapping up the food needing canned, froze etc. and then I felt I had to finish up inventorying the dry goods part of my pantry...so I forgot to post pics and recipe for corn cob syrup. I have now placed it on my to do list for the first of next week when I get back into OH.

so speaking of my pantry....I inventoried all of the drygoods...not refrig( never will as it changes way too often)and freezers are still on the to do list. BUT everything else is done. I put it on an excell( yes I broke down and figured out how to do it) and then broke down the categories to each "sheet" in the "workbook" NOW as long as I input what I buy and use daily ( or put what I use daily on a note to do on desk day) I won't ever have to wonder if I have something or need something and actually go look. I even did a need to buy sheet so I can stock up on what is missing with sales BUT NOT BUY what I already have.Each sheet says what the item is, wheither it is box,can good,jar or other container and where it is in the house or garage.

THe reason I spent a week of several hours doing this..to use up what we have instead of buying more and then pitching something down the line because it's too old to eat.So I can actually find where I put that spare bottle of ketchup at LOL. So I NOT buying what we already have and not getting what we actually need AND FINALLY not having to buy anything except basic so the grocery money can actually go to pay on some bills that have popped up that we don't have enough in the budget to cover.

LIKE...a bridge for my teeth because after 50 some yrs of having great teeth, I broke a molar into 4 pieces and had to have it pulled and now need a bridge that the ins will not cover completely.I am gratfeul they will cover part of it but really wonder if I didn't have ins if I could find a cheaper way to get the bridge.

We won't mention that Christmas is a little more than 17 wks away.

Have a great day.

Blessed be

canning tomatoes

Yep it's canning season.This is tomato,homegrown basil and garlic. This is all of the tomatoes I have gotten off 12 plants. They aren't doing very well this year for me so regrettfully I have to chose between buying some from the farmer or buying canned tomatoes through the year...sigh.

Tomorrow I plan to pick up more corn to cut off the cob and freeze.I will make corn cob syrup from the cobs (recipe next post).I hope to also pick up cucumbers to make bread and butter pickles and dill pickles.It's been almost 20 yrs since I have done cucumber pickles.I pickled beets when I overflowed with beets a couple yrs ago.They turned out well.

Got to go clear freezer area to put all this corn LOL

Have a good weekend

Mondays and garden

It's Monday so the clothes are hanging on the line( ok I took the picture BEFORE hanging the unmentionables)I usually try to get the bedding done on Monday but it didn't get done so it's on tomorrow's laundry.

I didn't start the home blessing.Except for Sammy our sheltie, shedding small yorkies the house is in good shape.Cookie,our husky,border collie mix, isn't shedding much since I butched her hair.I think I could have shaved Sammy bald and he would have still shedded yorkies.


I cleared some of the garden up...things no longer growing and producing got pitched and containers cleaned and put away to go to lock up. The pumpkin vine now needs 2 pictures to get all of it. I've picked enough sweet basil to fill the dehydrator.Took a good whack at my finger so had to stop and play doctor with it.Have Thai basil, spicy basil and boxwood basil also but I have finally got it staggered enough to not hit all at once. Chives will need done after this batch of basil. Have tomatoes and hot peppers to can in the next day or so.

Decided to hit the local fair tonight so dinner will be there. Hubby will have to rein me in like always...I definately will eat too much too fast and it won't necessarily be healthy.I mean, come on...it's the fair. Elephant ears,Belgin waffles,lemonades,fries, deep fried veggies(NOT pickles),cotton candy and maybe a caramel apple just for appetizer of course HA HA.Then I'll have to walk 10 miles to burn the calories back off.

have a blessed day

Monday Home Blessings and Laundry

Monday is my favorite day of the week. A fresh start of the week no matter if I am in state or working out of state.

I love washing the laundry and hanging it on the clothes line.Especially the bed linen.Nothing beats that fresh air smell on the bed and night clothes.

Hubby enjoys the lower electric bill.

I also do my homeblessing on Mondays. That is the term from www.flylady.net for house cleaning. It's a hit the middles not a pull out the furniture and sweep behind cleaning.I will admit I was the windows and not just the mirrors. I enjoy clean windows.

I do try to do the decluttering on Sunday. First most of your time cleaning is decluttering and second trash goes Monday morning...it's out of here LOL

Everyone have a good day

dry rub recipes

Sorry D I didn't post the dry rub recipes.

So here they are...

ANY MEAT DRY RUB

By Chef Julia L Owings Personal Chef

4 Tbsp ground cardamom
4 Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp ground turmeric
3 Tbsp ground cumin
3 Tbsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp ground allspice
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
2 Tbsp cayenne
1 tsp ground cloves

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl or jar. Store in an airtight container for up to two months

Bring meat to room temp. Lightly coat meat with a light oil (I use safflower or grape seed oil but canola would be fine) then rub dry rub in to meat. Allow at least 30 min for rub to set before cooking.

Poultry Dry Rub (covers 3 Cornish Hens or 1 chicken, double for a turkey)

By Chef Julia L Owings Personal Chef

1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons chili powder (I add a pinch or so of Ancho chili powder if I want a healthy kick)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine.

If using on the grill or broiler WATCH like a hawk due to sugar burning and turning black.

rubs and marinades

Hubby came in awhile back( read in there that I was getting ready to leave for GA and then got back in time to leave to go to my son's to babysit his cats while he was out of state)and asked that when I got time if I could write down some of the dry rubs and wet sauces I use for us.He had a friend he wanted to share them with.So finally I got around to printing a couple of them off.

The one I forgot to mention because both him and I do it automaticly when we don't want to throw something together is a no brainer.

Zesty Italian Salad Dressing

Yep, that simple. Steaks,beef or pork roasts,chops, poultry, possible lamb.We don't eat much lamb but I would try it in a heart beat. Marinate it or just dump it on say about 30 min before you go to cook it. Seafood I would only marinate it 10 min the longest as the vinegar in it will "cook" it and you could end up with mush.

Meat will absorb flavors better if you allow the meat to be room temp BEFORE applying the rub or marinade.

I do more dry rubs and marinades in the late fall,winter,early spring.I want the kick of spices to get me thru the dreariness of the weather.In the summer time it is all about wet sauce or BBQ sauce.

We like Bobby Flay's Chipotle-Molasses BBQ sauce.If I don't have any made up then we use what ever BBQ sauce I have in the pantry(depends on coupons and sales). I mix it one bottle of BBQ sauce with one bottle of dark beer or one bottle of BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup of Jack Daniels single barrel whiskey.( if I want a strong whiskey taste I use old #7).

My mom made a great BBQ sauce and I plan to get it off her so we can try it in a week or so when I am back from babysitting kittie kitties.

Enjoy the day

Wet Eagle

this is a wet Eagle. I got his pic thru an email forward from a friend.Today this is what I feel like.

Just soaring along, doing what needs to be done and trying to keep food on the table and wham, it's a battle and I end up totally soaked, worn out and exhausted.Like the Eagle there is no vacation in sight. It's a fight everyday to survive.

Someone needs to lend me their GPS so I can find a very tall tree to sun myself and dry off safely.I am sure though if my kids don't find me, my mother will and she will most likely tell me to quit hogging the limb.

EMBRACING YOUR SECOND CALLING book reveiw

EMBRACING YOUR SECOND CALLING BY Dale Hanson Bourke.

When you reach a certain age, life changes wheither or not you are ready for it to. SO what now? is the question most of us ask ourselves.
Dale Hanson Bourke helps find those answers in her book. EMBRACING YOUR SECOND CALLING.

She doesn’t give you pat answers but suggests resources to find the correct answers for yourself. She’s been there and done that. Dale talks about her busyness when the kids were little and she was working fulltime to when everything changed as the kids left home and she dealt with coming out of her career of her youth.

I needed this book when I was 40 and struggled through that year.In my fifties I am glad to see I am not alone in the struggles, glad to see that some of my choices as a young mother and then an elder( try not to use that word OLD) have been on track in comparison to others.

WE ARE NOT ALONE IN OUR STRUGGLES.

May GOD grant me the wisdom, patience and humor today.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

when it rains it pours and floods

the weather suits my mood and emotions at this point. A great sunny day would be wasted for sure.

We thought we were making the turn to see the light at the end of the tunnel in our finances...what we got was a total cave in.Hubby agreed to see a financial lawyer over it. I hate losing everything we have worked for during the last twenty years but I can't handle the stress of bad choices.

SO the grocery budget will take the hit again along with some other things.

Hopefully the internet won't be one the things to take the hit.

I'll keep you updated

menu plan Monday

check out the banner and the blogger I got it from. Her addy is on the banner

Menu for this week is( please note veggies can change by what needs used up in refrigerator or garden. Right now the lettuces are going crazy)

MONDAY
marinated flank steak( hopefully it will be cooked on grill)
mac and cheese
mixed veggies

TUESDAY
ratatouille
butter noodles
smoked sausage

WEDNESDAY
marinated chicken breasts(grilled if possible)
rice
what ever fresh veggie that needs ate

THURSDAY
stuffed shells with red sauce
crab cakes
salad from the garden

FRIDAY
shredded chicken sandwich
mac salad
crudite and dip

SATURDAY
pork chops and gravy
mashed potatoes
okra mixed with tomatoes
spinach

SUNDAY Fathers Day
ribeye
baked potato
salad from garden
AL Lane Cake (Yankie version)

I am back

worn out and frazzled but at least here for a week or so LOL.

Here is a pic of my son's kitties that I was babysitting while moving him while he was out of state. Cuddles in the black cat and he definitely likes to cuddle. Bailey is the gray cat.She is a cat for sure LOL

Now that I am back here I've started the deep cleaning of our own place.Not as bad as I thought it would be since I missed my regular spring cleaning but still in need of a good scrub. In the midst of it all I am also moving the pantry items around and checking out what needs used up. I need to start making desserts before it over runs all the pantry.

Dinners have been what ever needs used up as I go. Last night was chicken satay made with coconut milk, turmeric,cumin and coriander for the marinade along with avocado salad (lettuce in garden is over running us).

Tonight is going to be soft tacos, refried beans and more lettuce.

have a great day, got to go finish scrubbing the kitchen cabinet doors.

away from internet

due to going to my son's while he is out of state I won't have access to internet.

Not only is he depriving me(LOL) of internet since he took his laptop and I can't connect to his provider...I am cleaning his new apt, packing his old apt, moving him, unpacking him and cleaning his old apt all while he is gone.

do you know how tempting makes it to hide things from him????

More to his fear, I will move things in, things that are his that his sister and I have stored for him for over 7 yrs. ...His fear is well founded !!!!!!!

I'll be back on the last weekend of the month.

take care and Blessed Be

Book Review You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be

You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be by Max Lucado

When I opened the package and took out this book, I thought…hummm, small and short, won’t be much here. I totally forgot that good things come in small packages and many times they are packed full. Full of the knowledge of the life God wants each and everyone of us to live.

Max Lucado lets you know that God has a plan that was tailor made just for you and you alone. He doesn’t just ask you “what is your gift” but offers the way of finding out what your gift is if you don’t already know. How many of us do know?

I will read this book several times over, knowing each time I will find another gift that will help me get back to being everything that God wants me to be.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Review You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be

You Can Be Everything God Wants You To Be by Max Lucado

When I opened the package and took out this book, I thought…hummm, small and short, won’t be much here. I totally forgot that good things come in small packages and many times they are packed full. Full of the knowledge of the life God wants each and everyone of us to live.

Max Lucado lets you know that God has a plan that was tailor made just for you and you alone. He doesn’t just ask you “what is your gift” but offers the way of finding out what your gift is if you don’t already know. How many of us do know?

I will read this book several times over, knowing each time I will find another gift that will help me get back to being everything that God wants me to be.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Mothers Day

May your MOTHER'S DAY be BLESSED

wheither you had children or not, if the child is by blood or love

if you teach or preach

BLESSED BE

Plan B By Pete Wilson book reveiw

Plan B What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would?
By Pete Wilson

If you are lost, drifting, or know for sure where you are going, this book is one you NEED to read. Pete Wilson is down to earth in relating every day reality with Christianity.

I felt as if I was sitting around drinking coffee with an old friend with no secrets between us. A friendship with no judgment, no criticism and total acceptance of all my strengths and flaws.

I’ve been off Plan A for years and know for sure I would have made better choices with my reactions and actions when Plan B came along if I would have had this book.
I am sure this book in on my list to buy for others for Christmas.

I just can't say enough about this book except for you to go buy it.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising