Such a quiet day

Today has been so quiet so far and I imagine I am setting myself up ny saying so. I had some fruit macenating in the fridge for a day or two so I decided to make jam. That is after we planted cucumbers, jalapeños, radishes and more tomatoes. We also transplanted the strawberries into a larger container. We trying to figure out how to keep the birds from eating all our fruit and veggies,

Jam and pectin

Here is an image of what I’ve done so far. First I made Nectarine Pineapple with vanilla bean, cinnamon and a hint of spiced rum. Next I made Apricot Pineapple jam with vanilla bean, nutmeg and spiced rum. Do you see a trend? My son left a bottle of spiced rum so it is the new flavor to play with. Last I made a pint of Pear Jam with ginger and spiced rum, it is delicious. The other jar is a pint of homemade apple pectin. I love this new way of making jam, it uses barely any sugar and tastes amazing. Here is a link to the blog I got the recipe from. http://www.nwedible.com/2012/08/how-to-make-pectin-free-jam.html I hope you like it as much as I do. It is delicious and the lower amount of sugar makes it one of my favorites but you do have to watch ph levels, she explains everything. You don’t want to get yourself or anyone else sick. I have only been canning for a year and I love it. Now that its just the two of us at home alot would be thrown out if not repurposed by canning.

We participate in Bountiful Baskets and most times I end up canning the fruits because we get so much. If any of you are interested we pay 15.00 for the basket which consists of two round laundry baskets, one with fruit and one with veggies. Go to their website, check and see if there is a site near you. http://www.bountifulbaskets.org A friend of mine bought me a basket last year and we were hooked, Now we run a site. I love volunteering with this organization. It is great helping people put fruits and veggies on their table for less. Next contribution I will take a picture and poat what we got. This week we got a cantaloupe, a watermelon, 7 limes, 4 nectarines, 6 apricots, a pineapple, 4 onions, leaf lettuce, grape tomatoes, daikon root, and a bag of carrots. Thats quite alot for the price. When you got to their website read all about it, I think you will like yhem too. This week I didn’t order extras thank goodness.

Well I am gonna go for now thanks for stopping by. Happy Saturday!