Thursday, August 30, 2012

Newest Grand baby

May I introduce you to our newest family member...
Miss Evie Burgess
Joining the family on August 29, 2012
6 lbs 3 oz and 18 inches long.

It was awesome to get to bring Miss C into meet her new sister.

Aunt Kira and Miss H were so excited to join Josh and Miss C
to check out the sweet little girl.

When Miss C touched Evie's little hand, Evie quickly grabbed her finger and gave her big sister a smile.
So touching and wonderful.

So, again...
Let me introduce you to my newest little
Grand daughter...
Evie
Mommy and baby are doing great...
better yet,
PERFECT!

Saturday, August 4, 2012

Ready or Not Canning Time is Here...Starting with Chokecherries

Kirk planted Chokecherry trees a few years ago.
This year the trees were loaded with fruit.
I am not real sure how to describe what the fruit taste like.
They are not bitter, sweet or even sour. They taste like
CHOKECHERRIES.
http://ecoplexity.org/node/933
But, they do make wonderful jam and syrup.
So, guess what I was doing today.
Because they are a little tiny berry, I use my steamer/juicer.
Steaming for about 2 hours.
After steaming the berries I had 7 1/2 cups of juice!
Enough to make a batch of Jam (Sure-Jel recipe)
and Syrup.
I found a very yummy syrup recipe at 
MAKE IT DO IT.
Here is the link to her recipe.

It is so simple... ready:

Chokecherry Syrup
from Cali at Make It Do It.

To make the syrup. Add 6 cups of sugar to 3 cups of juice. (Yes I know, it’s a lot of sugar… but it is syrup after all!) Stirring constantly, bring syrup to a rolling boil and let it boil for 1 full minute. This will thicken your syrup… too long and it will be very thick…. not long enough and it’s too runny
Remove the syrup from the stove and add 1/2 tsp. almond extract. 
Using a slotted spoon, skim off the foam from the syrup. Don’t ask me why, but I find this job oddly satisfying. I love how the foam kind of sticks together.
pour the hot syrup into hot and sterilized canning jars. This recipe make 7 half pint jelly jars. I sterilize the jars in my dishwasher and leave them in there to keep warm until I need them. You also want to get your lids ready by simmering them in hot water for a few minutes, but be careful not to boil them. When filling the jars I love to use my wide mouth funnel made for canning. Also be sure to leave at least a 1/4 inch space at the top of the jar.

AT THIS POINT I DID THINGS A LITTLE DIFFERENT
You DO NEED TO PROCESS your jelly and syrup.
I put my jars in my pressure cooker and cooked them without the pressure tab on for 25 mins.
(I process 10 mins longer because we are at a little higher altitude.) 
Pull your jars from the pressure cooker and place on a towel to cool for about 12 hours.

We had waffles for dinner and they syrup was delish!