Random thoughts...

Apparently I am not a consistent blogger. I think about it but other parts of life seem to have priority.  I received a response to a blog post I made three years ago encouraging me to keep writing.  My last post was about Lassie at 4 1/2 months old.  The little girl is seven months old today.  Here is a list of thoughts I have about our little Diva:

1. Having a puppy is like having a two year old 
2. No barrier can keep this puppy contained
3. She is curious.  It is best to keep the dining room chairs tucked in or moved far away from the table
4. If #3 doesn't work, don't leave anything unattended on the table
5. Socks are toys, at least in her little mind
6. No matter how many dog toys I buy, cat toys are more fun. 
7. Empty oatmeal containers rank high in the list with socks and cat toys
8. Ice cubes are terrific treats
9. Going for walks in January only work if we have time for a bath after the walk.

The little girl has obedience class today, an appointment at the groomer Tuesday and is scheduled for surgery Wednesday.  Time to get snipped so we don't have any more puppies running this house.

Making a t-shirt Quilt

The first T-Shirt memory quilt I made was for my daughter.  I measured the designs on the front and backs of her shirts saved from elementary, middle and high school then cut graph paper to make a model of the quilt. It all fit nicely and the 4+ pages of graph paper taped together hung on the back of my bedroom door for years.  When I finally got the nerve to cut the shirts, I was amazed at how quickly the shirts went together.  I started the procrastination when she was a freshman in college (2003) and gave her the finished quilt her senior year, last semester (2006). All of the work, except design, was completed in 2006 and probably took a couple of weeks.

I am now in possession of a friend's t-shirts.  The designs, front and back have been cut out and measured.  Little rectangles of graph paper have been cut to scale, fabric has been purchased.  I have been playing with the layout.  As soon as the little rectangles fit together I will submit the design for final approval.  Then, the real fun begins.

Lassie at 4 1/2 months old

I have had many pets but I have to say our girl Lassie is so different from all the rest.  I don't know if it because she is so small or if it is her personality but, in my humble opinion, she is wonderful. I am thankful da hubs wanted another dog.

This Saturday will be the 6th puppy obedience class.  Lassie will graduate and advance to intermediate class.  She has learned to sit, lay down and is working on stay and leave it.  She can also walk with the leash loose between us if she has walked off some energy and she knows I have a treat in my left hand AND there are no distractions..

On her own she has also learned to shake hands and will roll over if she is in the mood.  She loves to bark, something I would love to train her NOT to do.  Piddle pad training is going quite well, as long as she is confined to the family room area.  If she has free range of the house she either forgets where she is supposed to go or can't make the distance.

Happy New Year!  The last two days have been busy days for me.  I have cleaned and organized my sewing cave and cleaned part of the laundry room by moving the pantry out and moving a deacons bench in.  I was surprised at the amount of expired door crammed in the pantry.

I also spent a little time cutting up t-shirts, the first step to making a memory quilt for a friend.  Once her quilt is finished, I have t-shirts from the kids.  Maybe they will get new quilts before the end of the year.

All in all, it's been a good year thus far

Last Dog.....

Our beloved Duke went to the Rainbow Bridge in September.  It was very difficult for us to say goodbye.  A week after his death I came home to find my husband sulking in his chair.  When I asked what was wrong he blurted out "I want another dog!"

My immediate response was absolutely not!  We are too old to start a new family.  Dogs are too dependent and it is so difficult to say goodbye.  It did not take long for me to change my mind.  I counter offered with a deal.  I would agree to adopting a puppy if 1) it is a small dog, 2) it is not another English Setter or any full breed, 3) it must be a non-shedder and 4) it must be a female.

At first da hubs said no but the idea of no wagging tail to greet us every day changed his mind.  I began trolling the internet and the same little picture kept popping up, a little Teddy Bear born in August.  I made contact with the breeder and immediately named the puppy Laswan, a Bislama word which means "last one".  On October 23, 2013 we officially adopted the puppy, her fur mama is a Llapso Apso and her fur papa is a Maltese/Poodle (Multi-poo).  Although officially named Laswan, we call ether Lassie.

At her first vet appointment, Lassie weighed 4.2 pounds.  Three weeks later she weighed 5.6 pounds. We made the decision to piddle pad train her.  It was an excellent decision.  She already trots into the bathroom to us the piddle pad and proudly makes sure we notice so she can get her reward.  We have had very few accidents for a couple of weeks!  She is so smart.

We attended Puppy Orientation at PetSmart and were happy to learn we are on the right track in our training.  Lassie is enrolled in Puppy School which will start the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  In the meantime, we will continue with potty training, teaching her to come when her name is called and learning to sit with hand and voice commands.

She is so smart, I am confident she will be a pro by the time school begins.

Summer 2012, part one

I cannot believe it has been almost a year since I last posted. Well, time to update... We ordered a load of black dirt today. It has already been delivered. I ordered too much so da hubs will build a new raised bed to add dirt to. That will make 5 raised beds. One will be the salsa garden, tomatoes and peppers. Another will be the pickle garden, cucumbers and onions. The third bed will have strawberries, more tomatoes in the 4th bed and zucchini, summer squash, and pumpkins in the fifth bed. Maybe I'll add some radishes and carrots too. Anyway, my body hurts from the hauling, shoveling, raking and squatting. It's almost summer, bring on the good times For now, I'm going to my sewing cave to sew.

Prayers

A friend just posted a story about the prayers her kids said when they were little.  It sparked a memory of the family prayer we used when I was little -

"Come oh Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let this food to us be blessed. Amen"

For many years I thought Come oh Lord Jesus was one word: comeohlordjesus - go figure.  The mind of kids.

Of course, I also thought there were 23 letters in the alphabet:

A-B-C-D-E-F-G-H-I-J-K-LMNO-P-Q-R-S-T-U-V-W-X-Y-Z

Yes, LMNO was one letter for years!

Pickle Relish - recipe #2

I made two different recipes for pickle relish this year.  This was the 2nd recipe I tried - it is very sweet, tangy and yummy.  I canner for the hot water bath started when I drained the vegetables.  It takes a while to get all of that water hot and boiling!

4 cups chopped cucumber
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup Kosher salt

3 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups cider vinegar
1 T Celery Seeds
1 T Mustard Seeds

1) Mix vegetables and kosher salt together in large bowl, pan or crock.  Cover and let sit for 3 hours
2) After three hours, rinse and drain vegetables well.  I allowed them to sit for 45 minutes
3)  In a large pan mix the sugar, vinegar, celery seeds and mustard seeds together, bring to a boil
4)  Once the liquids have  begun a full boil, add the rinsed and well drained vegetables
5)  Bring back to a boil, turn heat down and allow to simmer 10 minutes

Carefully ladle relish into hot sterilized jars, add lids and rings and process in a hot water bath for 10-15 minutes.

Baking and canning

It's been a busy week in the kitchen.  The reason is probably because the farmer's markets are overflowing the beautiful fruits and vegetables.  I with fresh fruits and vegetables were available year round.  Oh, I know some people will tell me they are available but having a watermelon that is trucked across the country is not the same as cutting into a watermelon that was picked yesterday (or this morning) and in my tummy this afternoon!  Fresh fruit tastes so much better.

Even better is getting to know the farmers and knowing what goes into my food.  Better yet, knowing what does NOT go into my food - like pesticides or other nasty chemicals.

As of this post I have made jars of jam - cherry, strawberry and blueberry.  All of the jams were made without adding extra pectin.  I've also canned countless jars of salsa, hot & mild, stewed tomatoes, applesauce, bread and butter pickles and pickle relish.

Funny thing about the pickle relish.  The recipe calls for 5 cups of sugar so I purchased a new 5 pound bag.  I moved the bag around on the counter while I was preparing the pickle relish.  It wasn't until all the jars were filled and sealed that I sat down to write the recipes in the book of recipes I'm keeping.  It was then - very late at night that I realized the bag of sugar had not been opened!  Yikes!!!  The following morning I opened all the jars, dumped the contents back into the kettle with the 5 cups of sugar and bought everything to a boil & simmered for 20 minutes again.  Early taste tests show the relish, although perhaps a bit overcooked, tastes delicious.  Da Hubbs had some on his sandwich the other night and he gave it his seal of approval.


I'm actually looking forward to this winter when we can open the jars and enjoy the fruits (and vegetables) of my labor.

Side note, I canned several jars of tomatoes yesterday - all of the tomatoes in the jars came from my garden - yeah!!!

Baked Beans & Childhood Memories

My weekly trip to the farmer's markets yesterday were educational.  One of the farmers was holding a "demonstration" of pressure cooker canning.  I use the term "demonstration" loosely since he had no heat source, did not demonstrate how the pressure canner was used and had several jars of food that were pressure cooker canned that did not turn out very well.

After watching his so called demo with another shopper I turned to the next booth and discussed water-bath canning (the method I currently use) with another farmer.  At that booth I purchased a pound of beans and received a recipe for making baked beans --- and also instructions for canning the beans.  I wandered through the rest of the market and picked up garlic, maple syrup, and onions - the rest of the ingredients I needed to make the recipe I received from Shady Side Farms.

Last night I covered the beans with cold water.  This morning I drained and rinsed and drained the beans and then covered them with cold water.  The pot of beans is now on the stove simmering - a process that, according to recipe directions, should take two hours.

A few minutes ago the beans started fill the air with childhood memories.  As a child we spent a considerable amount of time visiting my grandpa.  He was a widower who lived alone in a home he owned that was converted years before into two apartments.  Grandpa lived in the two bedroom aprtment on the 2nd floor.  When we pulled into the driveway at Grandpa's home we could often smell the food he was cooking.  Sometimes the smells permeated the neighborhood - or could it be the smells were embedded in our nostrils so we carried them with us wherever we went?  Grandpa never settled for opening a can - he always made his beans the right way!  The smells filling my home today are the smells that greeted us on our wonderful visits to see the most wonderful Grandpa.  His other passion was making homemade bread. 

Hmmmm, perhaps I should up put a loaf of bread .....

Here's the recipe for the beans I am making today:

Maple Baked Beans

(recipe from ShadySide Farms)

1 pound Pinto or Jacob's Cattle beans

1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 bay leaf

2 glugs of maple syrup (about 1/2 cup)

3/4 pound chunk bacon ------I'm leaving this out of my beans, personal preference

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons dry mustard

1. The night before, pick over beans, cover generously with cold water, and set aside.
2. The next morning, put the beans on the stove and simmer until tender -- about 2 hours.
3. Drain beans; put in slow cooker on low.
4. Add onion, garlic, bay leaf and chopped bacon.  
5. Add maple syrup and enough cold water to cover the beans
6. Stir beans from time to time and add a bit of hot water if necessary to keep the top layer just nicely submerged.  Around noon, stir in salt and dry mustard.
7. Remove the lid for the last hour of cooking so the beans thicken.

Things not included in the recipe but learned from the farmer.  The beans swell about three times the size so make sure you use a large crock pot.  This recipe makes enough to feed a small crowd so, if you are making this for your family, cut it in thirds or plan on canning the rest.

To can the beans,

• follow the recipe as written.  
• Wash and sterilize jars and fill the hot dry jars with the beans. 
• Make sure you leave 1/2 inche head space.  
• Put the lids on the jars and immediately process the jars for 10-15 minutes in a water bath canner.