Cart Garden Update

Second week of July 2011

Cart is still in the front yard takes two people to move it around now very heavy. We move it back & forth from the front walk to the grass. As you can see some of the tomatoes are starting to ripen. 

My first ever Burpee Long Keepers. Can't wait to taste them. 

~~ pelenaka ~~

50¢ Kindle Cover

 Few months ago Hubby & my oldest daughter pitched in together to get me a kindle. Apprently I had mentioned a few times how a friend had one. Hadn't really realized that I had but Woodsrunner is really good @ picking out a gift for people because he listens & observes. Yeah I know unique & a bit scary.

He was right of course because I love my Kindle.
I can sit in my kitchen or on my couch, or out on the patio and wander through the biggest book store in the world. Granted not every title is in Kindle format but enough to keep me busy. I can use the extremely helpful sample feature to actually read sample portion of the book.

Another great thing about Kindle is Amazon's free Kindle section on their website. I had to look around but one of the free books I found pretty appropriate in our current economic times.  Ever feel like your doing battle when it comes to cooking on a budget ?

Here's my no sew, re-purposed, stylish suede combination Kindle/notepad/pen holder bought @ a tag sale for 50¢ but I used my soda can $ which make it's free.

Don't under estimate the power of empty soda cans & bottles paired up with second hand sales. 

.

The leather shoe lace & beige beads I had scavenged off of other items found in my sewing stash. I think that both came from my son's day as a Boy Scout. I was hoping to find a closure from an old purse but no luck for now this works.

Hard to see but since I wasn't in a sewing mood I just attached the leather lace with a tiny gold toned safety pin, scavenged off of who knows what and tossed into my sewing box.

Self adhesive hook & loop squares came in to the home in a box of stuffs passed on by an acquaintance.
The note pad came from my insurance agent who was moving her office from one downtown building to another and had a box of office supplies she wanted gone.
Pen is a gift from our gun smith.



~~ pelenaka ~~

Nice Rack

I was gonna work up a few pics of DIY canning racks but I came accross these two blogs with similar posts. Both are excellent so here's the links

Canning rack made from canning jar rings - project small 

Alternative method canning rack along with jar tongs and funnel - thekitchn 


No need expensive equipment to put food up ...


~~ pelenaka ~~

Swagbucks - Free Coffee Creamer

The coffee creamer I ordered off of Amazon came this morning none too soon as I was starting what would be my second day without coffee. No creamer no coffee for this Senora. I had such a big smile on my face the UPS guy told me it must not be work related when he handed me my delivery.
What's not to love I told him you bring me free groceries!

Expiration date on the Coffee Mate Creamers is April 2013 so I'm not really gonna bother with marking on each one the extended expiration date (4/2015) from the website StillTasty.com  because I use it so quickly.
Now of course I wish I had ordered another 12 containers the Amazon deal worked out to $1.07 each with a subscribe & save (free shipping) and a promo code that has since expired.
I have a while before I've scheduled my next delivery in February to search for another promotional code (think coupon).
Gotta say that I'm loving Amazon shopping. No paper coupons to clip, no biking to the store, no reworking my schedule to have the car for the day just to go grocery shopping. No hanging out @ the service desk to get a rain check because the shelf was empty because EVERYONE got that great deal on creamer or peanut butter.

First cup of the day, my morning coffee with my free creamer & Stevia that I grew myself.
And yes my cup is one of those big coffee house mugs which in reality holds a bit over two fill cups.
And yes, after this cup I have one more = almost 5 cups for me.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Pot to Can in

The following blog post is 5th in a series of fugal home food preservation for the novice.

So you went got a bushel or two of something that needs to be put up like yesterday which you have been doing but it's going slow. Real slow because the pot you found or borrowed only holds 6 or 8 quart canning jars. Meanwhile the produce you bought is starting to show it's age and your tired of tripping over the ice chest that holds those damn xxx, is leaking all over the kitchen floor.

Here's one solution that I've personally tried  with good results and a few minor adjustments.

A galvanized laundry tub 11.5 gallon capacity. 

Holds 15 quart jars & 1 pint.

You'll have to build a rack for the jars to sit on while you water bath can. Easy real easy let me build one snap a pic & I'll post it. 

A lid which can be anything from a piece of sheet metal with a drawer handle bolted on, or a sturdy thick piece of cardboard covered with aluminium foil. 

The times that I have canned using my wash tub I've built a simple fire pit with cinder block & used an oven rack for the grate to hold the tub above the fire.

When the ice chest is empty wipe down the lid and use as a table top to pay out the hot dogs & smores that you can cook on the fire after your done canning. 

Years ago when my three children were young they would come out with an old plastic kiddie pool and place it near the fire, filling it with a few blankets & pillows. Then they would try to rig up an umbrella to make a tent while they waited for the canning to be done.  Excited to be camping out in the back yard with a campfire. Over the din of the water rolling to a boil I could hear them talking to each other about making their tent or sleeping in the garden. 

"Now Mom, now"?

"No soon, put down the hot dog stick before someone eye ends rolling into a canning jar".

Deep belly laughs followed by a chorus of eyeball eyeball eyeball ...

"Can I have a graham cracker Mom"?

"No there won't be enough for dessert ... put down the stick and the hot dog".

"Now Mom"?

"No soon, go find the mustard and bring out a pillow for me please. I want to go camping".

~~ pelenaka ~~

who never would have thought that she would one day miss those days of canning & kids in August in the our city backyard 

Canning Party

Jarden Home Brands & Canning Across America are hosting a National Can-It-Forward Day on August 13.
A canning party for who ever you want to invite. 


Click on the links, sign up and get some pretty nice free goodies including a printable intro to canning download, recipes, templates for canning labels, and coupons (delivered to your email).




~~ pelenaka ~~