Flowers of Life, sorry it took me so long to get back here to post the recipe for Redbud Jelly. It is almost too easy to make! Something I have noticed though, is that over time, the lovely rose color fades a bit to a more orange color. Still tastes good.
Place 2 cups ( I have used up to 3 cups) of rinsed redbud flowers in a jar and barely cover with about 2 cups of boiling water. (They will float, so I push them down a couple of times.) Cover, let stand 24 hours. (After they cool off to room temperature, I stick them in the fridge.) Strain and discard blossoms.
To 2 cups of the extract, add 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice, and 3 Tablespoons of Sure Jell powdered pectin. Bring to a boil and add 2 cups sugar and bring back to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute. Pour into jelly glasses and seal.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Redbud Jelly
Saturday, March 20, 2010
I made a pot of coffee this morning and baked this Strawberry and Cream Coffee Cake. Anyone want to come and help me eat it? It is pretty to look at, and tastes good too! I found the recipe Chickens in The Road Blog and just had to try it out! I used some of my own homemade ricotta cheese and mixed it with cream cheese. Oh yummy! 
I didn't know ricotta was so easy to make at home! Now, I'm going to make a Lasagna using my own ricotta.
Betty hurry, we have eaten half of it already!
I didn't know ricotta was so easy to make at home! Now, I'm going to make a Lasagna using my own ricotta.
Betty hurry, we have eaten half of it already!Monday, February 22, 2010
Yesterday I was reading a blog written by a lady in West Virginia. She had been sent by another reader, an old cookbook from the 1930's. In it was a recipe for homemade yeast for baking bread.
She posted it with photos of her instructions and modifications as it was written with the implication that you just knew how to do it. I guess they did back then. Anyway, I just had to try it. And if this works like it is supposed to, I will never have to buy those little packets of yeast again! Woo Hoo! Sounded like a frugal idea to me! So this is how mine played out!
First, the recipe!
Cooked potatoes, sugar, yeast and salt and ground ginger. Ginger? Why? I have no idea, but I added it per the recipe anyway. She explained a bit about yeast in her blog. All yeast whether it comes from a package (Fleishmans) or homemade, comes from wild micro organisms from the air. The original recipe called for 3 cakes of yeast, but then, you use your homemade yeast to make you own new yeast, forever if you want to and never buy it, ever again!
Add warm potato water, (that the potatoes were cooked in) cooled to barely warm.
Cover and set aside to rise till bubbly.
Meanwhile, as the yeast is rising, dry a couple of cups of cornmeal in a warm oven.
When the yeast is ready, start adding the cooled corn meal,
until it is stiff enough that you can roll it out like pie crust, about 1/8 inch thick.
Allow to dry, crumbling it up with your fingers or a fork several times as it dries. I think mine could have used a bit more cornmeal as it was still a little sticky.
When it was dry enough, I put it in the Magic Bullet and blended it into a coarse powder. (this was my own modification). As soon as I had some ready to use, I used her bread recipe that is a heirloom recipe from her grandmother and greatgrandmother,
and my own homemade yeast and this is the beautiful and very tasty result!
Oh, so good and I have almost a full quart of homemade yeast to use anytime I want! It did take longer for it to proof, and longer to rise, but my kitchen was cool too. But even so, I think the longer proofing and rising, made the bread that much tastier!! Oh yum!!
She posted it with photos of her instructions and modifications as it was written with the implication that you just knew how to do it. I guess they did back then. Anyway, I just had to try it. And if this works like it is supposed to, I will never have to buy those little packets of yeast again! Woo Hoo! Sounded like a frugal idea to me! So this is how mine played out!
First, the recipe!
Cooked potatoes, sugar, yeast and salt and ground ginger. Ginger? Why? I have no idea, but I added it per the recipe anyway. She explained a bit about yeast in her blog. All yeast whether it comes from a package (Fleishmans) or homemade, comes from wild micro organisms from the air. The original recipe called for 3 cakes of yeast, but then, you use your homemade yeast to make you own new yeast, forever if you want to and never buy it, ever again! Add warm potato water, (that the potatoes were cooked in) cooled to barely warm.
Cover and set aside to rise till bubbly.
Meanwhile, as the yeast is rising, dry a couple of cups of cornmeal in a warm oven.
When the yeast is ready, start adding the cooled corn meal,
until it is stiff enough that you can roll it out like pie crust, about 1/8 inch thick.
Allow to dry, crumbling it up with your fingers or a fork several times as it dries. I think mine could have used a bit more cornmeal as it was still a little sticky.
When it was dry enough, I put it in the Magic Bullet and blended it into a coarse powder. (this was my own modification). As soon as I had some ready to use, I used her bread recipe that is a heirloom recipe from her grandmother and greatgrandmother,
and my own homemade yeast and this is the beautiful and very tasty result!
Oh, so good and I have almost a full quart of homemade yeast to use anytime I want! It did take longer for it to proof, and longer to rise, but my kitchen was cool too. But even so, I think the longer proofing and rising, made the bread that much tastier!! Oh yum!!Sunday, February 14, 2010
Yesterday the mail carrier left a package on the front porch. And as we weren't expecting anything, I promptly opened it and was I ever surprised to find this! Thank you, thank you, baby sister! What a pleasant surprise! I sat down on the couch and put my feet up and read through the entire book! How to choose what to make first? The photos are beautiful and the recipes sound sooo good!
On Sunday mornings I often cook for breakfast. Sometimes we make waffles, biscuits and gravy, omelets, monkey bread, an egg casserole, bacon and eggs or an egg sandwich. After looking at these scrumptious recipes, this one caught my eye as the perfect one to try for breakfast this morning! Have you ever had Hardee's Breakfast Bowls at their restaurants?
These were sooooo good and easy to make too! Lots of flavor and very filling. We both loved them! If you don't do mornings, you could do the prep work the evening before and just bake them for breakfast! You gotta try these!! Recipe makes 8 servings, but I halved it.
Friday morning I saw these deer digging in the snow, trying to reach the grass underneath for their breakfast. All of this snow makes it hard for the little creatures and the wildlife to keep their bellies full.
This is Sam. He is usually in the house with us when we are home. He is a big dog, 76 pounds, and really too big for our house, but he enjoys being where we are. He is about 10 years old. Not sure exactly as he was adopted from the pound. We are all tired of this cold and snow! We want to go outside and play in the garden, don't we Sam?
On Sunday mornings I often cook for breakfast. Sometimes we make waffles, biscuits and gravy, omelets, monkey bread, an egg casserole, bacon and eggs or an egg sandwich. After looking at these scrumptious recipes, this one caught my eye as the perfect one to try for breakfast this morning! Have you ever had Hardee's Breakfast Bowls at their restaurants?
These were sooooo good and easy to make too! Lots of flavor and very filling. We both loved them! If you don't do mornings, you could do the prep work the evening before and just bake them for breakfast! You gotta try these!! Recipe makes 8 servings, but I halved it.
Friday morning I saw these deer digging in the snow, trying to reach the grass underneath for their breakfast. All of this snow makes it hard for the little creatures and the wildlife to keep their bellies full.
This is Sam. He is usually in the house with us when we are home. He is a big dog, 76 pounds, and really too big for our house, but he enjoys being where we are. He is about 10 years old. Not sure exactly as he was adopted from the pound. We are all tired of this cold and snow! We want to go outside and play in the garden, don't we Sam?
Saturday, January 09, 2010
Go Away Winter!
We moved my bird feeder out into the center of the yard and E. wrapped a sheet of flashing around the post for me. The feeder was a couple of feet from a tree before, and there was smaller shrubbery and weeds growing around the bottom of the tree. The sqirrels would jump from the tree to the feeder and clean it out in a short time! Our three cats were able to hide in there and ambush my birds too! Now, since we have moved it away from the tree and added flashing to the post the feeder is mounted on, the squirrels don't raid the feeder by climbing up the post, the raccoons don't climb the post and eat the suet cakes, then carry the suet feeder away as they have done in the past, and the cats can't hide and sneak up on the birds any more!
It seems that the birds have been eating the sunflower seed and the suet cakes at a much faster rate than in previous years. They suck down the seeds so fast that I have to refill it daily and sometimes twice a day! These are the same feeders that I have had for the last few years. It also seems that there are a lot more birds too. Why is that? Last years birds came back and brought all their 'inlaws' and 'outlaws' back with them!? Hmm-mm. Colder weather?
Thursday, I looked out of my kitchen window and saw this. The horses , Solomon, Katie and Maddie, were all standing out in the snow storm. As cold as it was, they looked pretty comfortable. No one was shivering. (It was 18 degrees!) I have a tendency to want to baby them. If I'm cold and uncomfortable, aren't they too? No? But I left them outside. They do have a run-in shed that they can get in if they want to. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. It took them about 4 or 5 years to use it though. I don't know why. A couple of hours after this photo was taken, after they each had a blanket of snow on them, they did go back to the shed!
Here is a photo of an unusual bird that I spotted at my feeder on December 30. I looked it up in my bird book but didn't see it in there. I emailed this photo to the 'birder' lady that writes a 'bird' column in our Sunday paper every week. She wasn't sure either so emailed the photo to someone else that she said is THE BIRD PERSON of Indiana. He emailed her back and said it is a Pine Warbler and is only the 11th time that people have reported back an overwintering pine warbler in Indiana! He asked for my name and location to put in his database and commended me for the photo as documentation that it was actually seen here! This bird was at my feeder for over a week, until we got all this snow. I haven't seen it since, so I guess it moved on to warmer weather. She also asked permission to use my photo in this Sundays edition of the paper. Said she was going to do her column on 'winter oddities' and wanted to include this bird! I'll have to keep my eyes open for more 'oddities' !
Click photos to view them larger.
It seems that the birds have been eating the sunflower seed and the suet cakes at a much faster rate than in previous years. They suck down the seeds so fast that I have to refill it daily and sometimes twice a day! These are the same feeders that I have had for the last few years. It also seems that there are a lot more birds too. Why is that? Last years birds came back and brought all their 'inlaws' and 'outlaws' back with them!? Hmm-mm. Colder weather?
Thursday, I looked out of my kitchen window and saw this. The horses , Solomon, Katie and Maddie, were all standing out in the snow storm. As cold as it was, they looked pretty comfortable. No one was shivering. (It was 18 degrees!) I have a tendency to want to baby them. If I'm cold and uncomfortable, aren't they too? No? But I left them outside. They do have a run-in shed that they can get in if they want to. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. It took them about 4 or 5 years to use it though. I don't know why. A couple of hours after this photo was taken, after they each had a blanket of snow on them, they did go back to the shed!
Here is a photo of an unusual bird that I spotted at my feeder on December 30. I looked it up in my bird book but didn't see it in there. I emailed this photo to the 'birder' lady that writes a 'bird' column in our Sunday paper every week. She wasn't sure either so emailed the photo to someone else that she said is THE BIRD PERSON of Indiana. He emailed her back and said it is a Pine Warbler and is only the 11th time that people have reported back an overwintering pine warbler in Indiana! He asked for my name and location to put in his database and commended me for the photo as documentation that it was actually seen here! This bird was at my feeder for over a week, until we got all this snow. I haven't seen it since, so I guess it moved on to warmer weather. She also asked permission to use my photo in this Sundays edition of the paper. Said she was going to do her column on 'winter oddities' and wanted to include this bird! I'll have to keep my eyes open for more 'oddities' !
Click photos to view them larger.
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