Grape Juice The Old Fashion Way

I couldn't resist making grape juice concentrate from the Mustang vines on my back yard fence.

• Just pick, stem, rinse several times, let sit in water over night.
•  Next morning bring to a rolling boil while crushing.
•  Strain all thru cheese cloth while cooling. 
• Squeeze remain juice by twisting in cloth.
•  Bring juice to boil, add about 1/2 cup lemon juice, stir. 
• Add at least one bag of sugar while stirring. At this point taste.
•  Add more sugar, one cup at a time until "you" are comfortable with the sweetness. 
• Pour hot liquid into storage jars and refrigerate. It lasts for months this way but if you love grape juice, it will not last very long at all!!

When serving add a few tablespoons to a glass of water or to Ginger Ale.

Enjoy!!

Grape Jelly

Whew!
 Here's a quick recap of my Mustang grape canning escapades ....

After fermenting over night. The smell is wonderful.

After boiling & simmering for an hour or so.

Here's how the grapes look after I pulverized them a couple of times.

Final results - 4qts, 8pts, 4 half pts.

There are loads more grapes on the vine but do I have the energy to pick and process them. Only time will tell but this old girl is tiring!!!!!!!

While I was canning my Cowboy came in from golfing with his buddies & had changed into his work boots to begin cutting in the hay fields. He decided to leave the golfing attire on. I just had to snap this photo.

Goodness in a Jar

Can you believe it's already July....OMG!

These are peaches from our local farmers market. They are sweet & I can't stay away from them. 

I decided to pickle this batch because my Cowboy said he remembered is mom's pickled peaches from childhood. That melted my heart so off to the old Internet to find a good recipe, I went. There were several to choose from and it took me a couple of days to gather the necessary ingredients before diving in. The following are what I used. There are tons of recipes out there, you just have to choose for yourself.

• White vinegar
• Sugar
• Pickling spices in a bag
• Cinnamon sticks
• Whole Cloves
• Fruit Fresh
• Mason Jars

I placed a cinnamon stick & a few cloves in each jar before processing them. Let me just say that I save everything I can because you never know what you'll need or can use in another recipe.

The syrup leftover from the canning is divine. I can't tell you how delicious it taste, so of course it went in the frig to be use in a meat dish.....AKA.....pour a cup of it over a ham before baking or over a pork roast and bake or a fourth cup in a cobbler before baking.....I need to stop cause I'm getting hungry.

I hope everyone has a great Fourth of July. I'm already planning for ribs, roasted corn on the cob, potato salad and apple pie (with some of that peach syrup baked in)....oh, and cracker pie. Yes you read it correctly.

Take care!!!

Mug Rug Thursday

I can't believe that June is almost gone. We're having unusual rain here in central Texas. Yesterday, in a matter of three hours we got 2 1/2 inches of rain. My garden loved it.

Speaking of gardens, I've already picked my first batch of cukes (AKA - cucumbers) & made 9 pints & 2 quarts of sweet pickles.

Now for drawing for the birdhouse. 

The winner is

Chantal!!

Congratulations to you. Just leave a comment so we can talk.

The next mug rug in the give away is "froggy".

Leave a comment to be counted.

I'll announce a winner July 10th.

Me-Huntress

No, not that kind of "huntress"......hehehehehehe, but I have been known to go a-hunting for snakes in the yard.

I'm talking about hunting in the garden, of course.....hehehehe

I have a very small garden this year, so much so that all the cucumber vines are entangled as they run together. Believe it or not, I love poking through all those vines looking for cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers every day. It's rather cathartic.

 Those cucumbers grow quickly and tend to hide out under the shade of the leafy foliage.

I have a fence around my little garden to keep the rabbits out. Every morning, we go

 through the same routine.....I walk out the back door, spot two rabbits nibbling around the fence

 and start the chase. Around and around and around we go until I get dizzy and the rabbits

 make a break for the bird feeder to harass the poor birdies and eat their seeds

 that has fallen to the dirt.....sigh

It take me a few minutes to catch my breath before I start picking veggies. You'd think

 I'd be able to stop myself from chasing them but, alas, I've not broken myself

 from this habit.

These days I'm into canning the cucumbers into sweet pickles which take about 3 days

 but it's well worth the effort.

There are many recipes on the Internet that are inspiring and I have tried a couple. 

Mom and Cowboy love the pickles and so do all my neighbors.

Well, I'm off to rinse the cucumbers and begin the next step in the process.

On another note: I'd like to thank everyone who participated in my "big give-away." I didn't get to respond to all the comments yesterday so this is a great big THANK YOU ALL.

I'll be doing another give away in the fall, so stay tuned for that. 

Jelly

I've been canning watermelon jelly. I'm really excited because this is a new one for me. I love canning but have never thought about making jelly from the meat of a melon.

The jelly only took 4 ingredients: sugar, pectin, melon meat and lemon juice.

 I'm also canning the rind of the melon. I've done this before. It is way more time consuming than making jelly but just as much fun. When finished the rind will be sweet perfection in a jar. I'll share photos when it's finished.

Yummy Cookies

I've been drooling over making some cookies for a month. I found one of my favorite recipes on the back of a Ghirardelli White Chocolate Chips package. I added some Ocean Spray Craisins to mix and OMG, the cookies turned out great. It made 6 dozen but I tested several so I wound up with around 5 1/2 dozen. Did I mention that the cookies go great with a hot cup of tea or coffee. 

I took Mom some and she really loved them. I'll have to make another batch very soon.

Hog Killing Weather

Disclaimer: This post may be distasteful to some but is told from my memory of long ago.

It's bitterly cold here in central-ish Texas.....around 27 degrees with a wind chill factor of 10 to 15 so that brings things down to 17-ish degrees........what we Texans call "hog killing" weather.
I remember those cold, blue northers sweeping in, blotting out the sun, chilling us to the bone.  On one of those times all the brothers and brothers-in-law, old and wise in their years gathered in our back yard in their long-john covered overalls, wool caps, coats of varied lengths, thick socks.......all in old mud cracked and caked boots. 
Granddad would load his double barrel shotgun in preparation for the "event."  My brother and I dawned our overcoats as grandma cautioned us to stay back and out of the way. Our eyes clear and shining, so excited to get to see this now forgotten experience.
Uncle Kenchion sharpened his ax as a large hog was moved from one pen to the next.  This prize hog would have been fed corn and other grains for a couple of months.  A large tree where a series of ropes hung behind the pen in readiness.
A shot rang out, the hog is dispatched instantly. Uncle K moves in to rope the hind legs of the hog and the other men hoist the 200 pound hog off the ground. A vein is opened with a sharp knife, draining the blood.  My brother and I move closer to see all the action. Gory but back then, a way of life.
Granddad places a large trough under the hog as Uncle K. uses is ax to open the underside of the hog.  The men move in and start to cut away the precious portions of the hog to be shared by many families.
Grandma helps to salt down the pork and rinses the intestines many times to clean them for use later.  Very little is wasted as the men work.
My brother and I are freezing but don't want to go inside and miss anything.  The men carry our portion of pork to the meat-house or smoke-house to be stored.  Salted meats could last quite a while during winter months. The other men wrapped they portions in bits of cloth to take home to their wives and families. This pork would feed several families for weeks to come.
The day is nearly over.  Grandma soaks the intestines in salty water to leave over night.  It's almost time for dinner.  My brother and I warm by the heater as Grandma begins to prepare the evening meal, Granddad gets cleaned up and Mom is home from school.
Those are the memories I had when it's so cold like it is now.

In Full Swing

Well, it's day 2 and we have actually graduated from our computers to "sewing".....LOL

Most of these projects are developed from a scrap bag mania project we're working on this year.