For Anyone Who Wants to Join In...

For those who know us (Joe, Shaun and myself Susan), then you know how much work has been going on around the store and the house.  I do not know what we would have done if not for the great help we have from our friends in the store (Ginger and Tom). It has been  VERY busy time over the past year for us here at Country Road Antiques, and at home with the new house.  We are trying to remodel the store a little at a time and balance that with our new home which we are still working on. The cost of everything has been a large investment. One of the ways that I try to help balance that is by making home-made items from the kitchen for my family. Knowing what is going into our food is another big bonus. Along the way I have been asked a lot of questions… soooo…

I have decided to do some articles on dehydrating and canning. Several of my friends have asked me to gives instructions and recipes for putting food up. Living in the country gives us a great opportunity to put up a lot of seasonal foods.  If done correctly it can be very economical and fun.  If you live in the city, but want a taste of homemade this is a wonderful way to achieve that goal.

I hope that you enjoy the preserving of food or the making of a great dish as much as I do. Watch for my articles, and if you have a recipe or idea that you would like to share please let me know.  Please subscribe and I am looking forward to hearing from everyone.

 

Dehydrating Pineapple The Easy Way...AND....

Well as I surfed the Web a few days ago I ran across an idea I just had to try out. The result was two fold. Dehydrating pineapple from canned pineapple! The pineapple rings that I dehydrated were packed in their own juice. I drained the pineapple over a pan and saved it. Taking the pineapple slices I put them on my Excalibur dehydrator at 135 degrees for about 12 hours. Times can vary. They became leathery and dry inside. No moisture can show. Placing what was left after my crew here, (Joe and Shaun) did not eat in a jar, I sealed them down for snacking on later. Now for the bonus....Pineapple Jelly from the juice.. Check out the pictures below on the Jelly Making!

 

Pineapple Jelly Cooking...

 

 

Pineapple Jelly In the Canner!

 

 

The Finished Jars..Looks Great to Me...

 

 

A picture of the pineapple drying!!

 

 

 

Some of My Favorite Home Tips!!!

I wanted to post a few tips that I have found along the way. Hope some of them help you.

If you have a picture that wants to fall sideways all the time, you can take a piece of tape and wrap it around the center of the wire where the picture hangs. This when placed on the wall hanger will not slip and slide! 

When planting in pots you can use a coffee filter to line the pot with, and this will help keep the soil in the pot when watering. 

Want to save a little money on potting soil when planting a large pot of flowers. Save those packing peanuts and use them in the bottom of the large pots. This gives good drainage and helps fill up the pots so you do not have to use so much soil and the pot will not weigh so much. 

You can line a flower bed with newspaper, and then lay your mulch on top. This helps keep weeds from coming up through the mulch. 

If you have a set of glasses that are stuck together try putting cold water in the top glass and setting the bottom glass in warm water. This should let them slide apart. 

Painting around a window glass can be made easy if you cut a piece of newspaper to fit the window. Wet the newspaper and stick it to the window before you paint.  Take the newspaper off when finished painting. 

Have a drawer full of appliance cords and have to search through to find the right cord. Save the cardboard rolls from toilet paper. Place a cord in the roll and write on the roll what the cord goes to. 

Be sure to run cold water when using the garbage disposal as this helps keep fats solid and lets them be chopped up instead of re-solidifying  later in the pipes.  

Want to save some money on drying clothes. Try putting a couple of dry wash clothes or a towel in the dryer when you dry your clothes. This can cut the drying time by as much as 20 minutes. This saves time, and money on the electric bill. 

One of my favorite tips is about making tuna salad, chicken salad, or ham salad. I hate to peel eggs for these and while on vacation at a very nice restaurant a chef told me his secret. Don’t use boiled eggs for these. It is too time consuming. Put just a little butter in a non-stick pan and scramble the eggs till just a little dry. Chop a little and use these! It taste the same and takes a fraction of the time to do.  Also on the cans of tuna open the lid all the way around but leave the lid resting in the can on the tuna. Run cold water over the top of the lid and then press the lid down forcing the water out of the tuna. Do this a few times making sure to press all the water out. Your tuna will have a light taste.

 

Monkey Butter!!!!!!

Okay I must be in the mood to do some canning. Being stuck in the house for a few days with all the snow outside will make you a little crazy. I have found this new recipe that I am about to die to try out. Now this is the name it goes by so do not blame me for it! MONKEY BUTTER... Yes you heard right Monkey Butter. I found this site on YouTube and there is a great video on making the fruit butter by Katzcradul. I am always looking for new jams, jellies or butters to make for the store, (Country Road Antiques). You can find us on Facebook. That was my plug for the store LOL. Anyway back to this fruit butter. Below you will find the recipe... Hope you like it!

MONKEY BUTTER
5- perfectly ripe bananas, no bruises
1- 20 ounce can, crushed pineapple in natural juice (do not drain)
3- cups sugar
¼- cup coconut, (I used sweetened shredded), finely chopped
3- tablespoons bottled lemon juice


Put the crushed pineapple with juice in a large pot. Slice bananas directly into the pineapple. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook over low heat until mixture thickens, takes about 30 minutes or so. Fill sterilized jars, and process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Remove from bath and let cool for 24 hours before removing bands and labeling.

This is made like an apple butter so it is cooked down to the thickness that you want. Now where did I put that piece of buttered toast!

 

 

Monkey Butter Cooking... YUMMMM

 

 

Monkey Butter ready to put into hot clean jars!

 

 

Monkey Butter in Canner.

 

Finished Jars of Monkey Butter... Wow did they come out nice!

 

 

 

 

 

Raspberry Orange Walnut Conserves

This is a recipe that I have made several times now and have fallen in love with it. Below are the ingredients that you will need to make them.

4 ½ Cups of Raspberries.(these can be fresh,or thawed out frozen ones.

2 Cups of oranges that have been peeled and put in a blender, food processor, or chopped fine. This is just the meat of the orange with no pith or peel.

8 ½ Cups of white sugar.

1 Box of pectin.

1 Cup of chopped walnuts.

1 Tablespoon of the grated zest from the oranges you just cut up.

1 teaspoon butter.


Place the crushed berries, oranges, butter, and pectin in a large pot. Cook this over medium heat until it reaches a full boil that cannot be stirred down. To this mixture add all the sugar at one time and return to a boil. Add the zest, nuts, and boil at a full rolling boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and ladle into clean sterile jars. Fill the jars to ¼ inch from the top. Wipe the rims clean and place hot lids and bands that have been finger tightened onto the jars. Place in a rack in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars carefully and place on a towel to cool out of all drafts. Cool for 24 hours. Check for seals.

Saving Money on Heating

Saving money in this day and time is important to most of us. There are a few things that anyone can do to help winterise a home and make it more comfortable while saving money at the same time. One of the ways that I have helped my heating bill is to make simple window quilts. A lot of heat goes out the window and so does our hard earned money at the same time. You are asking what is a window quilt, so I will explain. Take an old quilt, (or make a new one if you quilt) and cut it to fit your window. You can then use a sheet to cut a backing and hand stitch or machine sew it to the back of your quilt to finish it off. Below are some better instructions if you want to do this project.

Covering drafty windows can help a long way in saving heat and money heating your home.

Supplies:
An old quilt or blanket (this should be of some thickness so to offer insulation.
A sheet or material to back the quilt with.
A ruler or tape measure to measure your window with
A spool of thread and a needle.
A curtain hanger if you do not already have one with a rod.
A pair of scissors.


Step One:
Measure your window from the top of the window frame to the bottom of the window frame. This is the shortest you should make your window quilt. Then measure side to side of the window frame.
(NOTE) For these window quilts there will be little gathering of the material, but the quilt will lay flat against the window. But you can make it a little wider if you wish to add a little fullness if you would want to. Be sure to add a little extra on the sides for stitching together with the backing. I add around two inches to each side. (An example would be say your window is 30 inches wide and 52 inches long. I would cut my quilt 32 inches wide and 54 inches long.)

Step two:
Once you have your measurements you will need to cut your window quilt out of the material you have chosen (An old quilt or blanket) Use the measurements from your window, and set it aside.

Step three:
Cut your backing material out of the sheet. For this you must add a few inches to the length of the quilt. I add about8 or seven inches in length and and cut the sides the same as the quilt material. This is so you have room to make a simple packet for the rod to go through and to form seams.

Step four:

Mark your fabric backing at the 6 inch line. Next take the backing material after you have cut it and fold over one inch. Hand stitch or sew This down so that it stays folded. Now fold that over another inch and sew that down. You should now have a finished edge on the top of your backing. Fold that over again and measure down to the marked 6 inch line. Sew the finish edge down where you marked the material. This has formed a packet for a rod to go through.

Step 5:

Fold over one inch and and stitch the quilt material across the top to form a finished edge. Lay and pin your backing so that the folded side of the backing faces out and the right sides of the material you used for your quilt faces the right side of your sheet. pin in place all the way around. (Think of this as making a large bag with right sides together. Pin the quilt to the backing all the way up to where the packet starts for your rod to go through. This will be where you have to stop sewing as you will need to hand stitch this into place. Start at the packet and with right sides of the material together and the turned over edges showing sew a seam around the three sides. making the "Bag".

Step 6:

Turn the window quilt inside out now. This will put the seams you just made on the inside and you will now need to hand sew the packet for the rod to the quilt. Slide the rod through the packet and hand on the window.

Garden Curves the Easy Way!

Hello everyone. With gardening now in full swing many people like myself have decided to make a new flower bed. I wanted a bed that had soft flowing curves to it. To mark off my bed and get an idea of how big it would be I used several garden hoses stretched out in the shape I wanted my bed to be. After deciding the shape was what I wanted, I took some sand and ran it beside the hose to leave a line after I moved the hose. Next I took a shovel and dug along side of the sand line to make a more permanent border. After that it was easy to roundup the area I did not want grass in and remove the grass and break up the the soil. A tip on the roundup is to use a brush and paint it on areas where you are afraid of over spray! This helps become very selective and keeps the spray off of tender growth of bushes that may be near by. Have fun with you new curved flower beds!!!