Canning for Beginners... What I've Learned.

Hiya Peeps...
I don't know about you, but when I find something I like, I work hard at it. I am, however, guilty from time to time of skimming over things instead of reading and taking notes. Well, let me tell you something, canning is a science and you NO ONE should can without having access to a Master Canner. It has saved my tuckus more than once I tell you.

You need a couple great canning resources online. Mine are Food in Jars and SB Canning. Yes I like others, but if I have any questions or there is conflicting info in a recipe, I run it by them. Truly pricelss resources. Read through their resources, FAQ's, etc...  

For instance, Marissa from FIJ created posts with Canning 101 Labels - Canning 101 from Food in Jars. Great place to start.  Plus she has a new book out. It is a seasonal, small-batch canning book, all water bath canning - which is so much easier.

I've tossed a couple things. I've made my mistakes. But it's about learning. For instance, I doubled the recipes and added extra pectin in all the jars on the left in the picture below. Neither groups congealed into Jam. DANGIT. Plus, I'm not sure the strawberries sealed correctly.  Additionally, I did a spiced blackberry jam. The nutmeg was overwhelming.... it tasted awful. Soooooooooooo

After I tossed... this is what I had left:

No harm, no foul though. Blueberry-orange marmalade is good. Honey-lemon jelly - pretty decent too. Elizabeth, if you are reading this, I need your address.

Through trial and error, I have figured out that we are a basic kind of family... mango salsa is just not our thing. You know that is an example... but we like good old-fashioned salsa. Ya know? That's what I mean.  I've learned a whole lot - including:

• There are acceptable sugar substitutes. And if you substitute,  you must follow certain guidelines. Look HERE for great info on that.
• You should not double a jam recipe. If you do, it may not congeal and many things can go wrong. Look HERE for great info on that.
• Unless you know how (which beginners like me do not) You should NOT change anything about a recipe as it is a science and you could really mess things up.

...and much more. The best part is, there is a ton more to learn.

Marque has been so helpful to me. He's a great help in the kitchen and I'm truly blessed. And Christopher just loves anything I put up. I got a really bad batch of green beans recently from Bountiful Baskets. I'm not complaining, but I was disappointed. I ordered a case and intended to put up a dozen or so quarts because my family LOVES green beans and freshly canned is so much better than factory processed. RIGHT?! 

One big thing I've learned is Canning is like therapy.. chopping, creating, processing... learning to dry or freeze spices...  I feel so great about what I am doing for my family. Honestly we are really moving away from grocery shopping and that is we set out to do.  I'm still looking for the right meat vendor. I even have fresh eggs delivered.  I don't suspect I'll ever make my own shampoo or paper goods, or even pet foods... but most else I do make... and my family has never been happier.

Marque is on his way back across the country from his mom's funeral services. And I am cleaning like a freak so that our open house will go well tomorrow.

Since Marque will be home, I think we will re-bury our St. Joseph statue and say the Novenas daily:

Procedure for burying a St. Joseph statue when selling a home:
Make a hole in the ground that is large enough to bury the St. Joseph statue (in protective wrap) vertically.

1. Place the statue upside down in the ground.
2. Face the upside down statue TOWARDS the home that is to be sold.
3. For nine consecutive days, pray the St. Joseph Novena included here.
4. Once the home is sold, remove the statue from the ground.
5. Display the statue in a place of honor in the new home.

Opening Prayer

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Come to my aid, O God. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Almighty God, Father of mercies and giver of all good gifts, I come before you to honor you in your saints and ask their help in my many needs.
You promised those who ask, would receive, those who seek, would find, those who knock, would have doors opened to them.
Hear the prayers of your church, grant my requests, and pardon my sins. Amen.
St. Joseph, just and true, with a father's care you raised the child Jesus, and with a husband's love, you shared your life with Mary, his mother.
I entrust myself to your care and place in your hands this request of mine (say request)….
In quiet Nazareth, long ago, the Holy Spirit spoke to your heart and you followed God's will with wonderful faith.
In the quiet of my days, and in the hard choices I must make, help me follow the Spirit's guidance and believe when I cannot see.

Day 1 Oh God, guide of those who listen and helper of those who hear your voice, speak to me, as you did to St. Joseph, and help me accomplish the things you give me to do.
Day 2 O God, you love your people and bless the ordinary lives we quietly live. As you blessed St. Joseph, bless what I do, however hidden and simple it may be, and let all I do be done with love.
Day 3 O God, ever faithful, you remember us always and in time reveal your blessings. Help me trust in you, as St. Joseph faithfully trusted, and never let me lose faith in the wonderful gifts you promise me.
Day 4 God of families, bless the family that's mine. Keep us safe from harm, and never let evil come between us. Let peace remain in our hearts.
Day 5 O God, who loves children, be kind to our children today. Give them eyes of faith for seeing far, a loving heart for welcoming life, and a place always at your side.
Day 6 God of our heavenly home, bless our home on earth. Let the spirit of Mary and Joseph rest at our table, shape our words and actions, and bring blessing to our children.
Day 7 God, our Father, give your fatherly spirit to those who are fathers now. Like Joseph, give them hearts of devoted love for their wives and children and strength for forgiveness and patience.
Day 8 Give shelter, O God, to those who need it, and bring together families divided. Give us enough to eat, and decent work to earn our bread. Care for us, O God.
Day 9 Bless all families, O Lord especially those in need. Remembering the life of your Son, we pray for the poor, for those who lack a good home, for those in exile. Grant them a protector like Joseph, O God.

To conclude this novena, say one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be

Love hugs and blessings.

Em

Pictures and Stories... A little Updating from Dynamicland...

Happy Feast of the Ascension Sunday ALL!

I think it is neat that Christopher made his 1st Holy Communion today.  This is the first time in days, that I am by myself... and what do I do? BLOG! Marque and Christopher are taking Jr. to the airport and they'll be back around 9 or so.

My plans - blog, unload dishwasher, straighten up, sort laundry and  -- um, that's enough! lol  Soooooooo this weekend was AWESOME! Friday night, we won our game. And if you don't mind, I'm going to brag a moment. It's not often.. but I'm going to humble brag about PRAISE my son's baseball talent.  Well, I'm not sure why, but the coach switched people around for the tourney. I'm trying to learn I don't have to understand everything the coach does... even if it doesn't make sense (to anyone). It sure is hard. Anyway -- we were down by five in the last inning and all of a sudden, Christopher Davis came more to life...  he caught two pop ups at catcher. WAY TO HUSTLE BUD!  Then, in our last bat, the bats came alive and our Christopher hit everyone in... We won. It was AWESOME!   It was seriously nerve-wracking. I hadn't been that nervous at a baseball game since I dated a player in College. Lord have mercy!  Saturday, they didn't fare as well. They could have won, but honestly most of the game, they didn't even show up.

Buuuuuuuuuuut... for us, it was a small blessing. Last night we had friends over for dinner to celebrate Christopher. He's so blessed. One of his teachers was there.  Dear friends made it all so wonderful.  Great food and wine. Great company!  The children always have fun together! And big brother Marque was here this weekend. So wonderful to see him and get to visit. He's a great young man.  Afterwards, Christopher stayed up late with big brother Marque and Dad playing the X-Box. I fell asleep. They didn't come up till 12:30am. Guess who was tired and cranky this morning? (thanks Marque) ...moving on!  Anywhoooooooo -- I thought you might like a few pictures...

Nickname: Little Babe (Ruth).

Christopher's Banner.

St. Christopher & Christopher Peg Dolls

(a lady on etsy handpaints them!)

Davis Men!

Christopher & a friend...

Rounding 2nd graders up for a pic is hard. lol

Us... I love this pic!

After Mass we came home, had lunch and took a nap. And now, I've got to get off this computer and get a few things done.

This week's canning projects - blackberries, green beans, (the entire case of gb's were bacteria ridden... BOO)  and I'm not sure what all else.  Tomorrow is laundry for sure.  Later in the week, Marque goes to NY for his mom's funeral. Bless him.  She sure would have loved the pictures of her boys I took today. He comes back Saturday and we have our first Open House on Sunday... And a Broker's Open House the next Wednesday I think.

Ya'll have a great rest of your Sunday and an even better Monday. Be blessed in all you do!

Love, Hugs & Blessings,

Em

Sad News, Good News and a Christopher Story

Hi Friends,

Just wanted to stop by and share our news.  As with life, there is sometimes bad/sad news, sometimes good news, and sometimes it's just the norm. Ups and downs, ebbs and flows - however you like to say it. 

This week, Grandmurray, Grandma Lori, Mama passed away. I'm so happy for her. I know - it sounds odd, but she's not in pain, she's not sick, and most of all she is not lonely any more. She was so lonely for her mother, her husband and her girlfriends. I am sad, but I am at peace. We all are. Yes, it was sad to tell Christopher, because she's really the only Grandmother he has. My nieces called her Grandmurray (their dad is named Murray). Anyway - we have happy and sad moments... We are praying for her soul and know she is in Heaven, happily reunited with her family and friends. How much better could it get? 

Here are a few pictures of her with various people...

This is the first time she saw Christopher.

This is her about to blow out her 75th birthday candles.

This is her with my nieces and Christopher.

Grandma Lori & Christopher in NY

Mama Lori and Marque

She was not Marque's biological mother, but she married Marque's dad and took care of all of Mr. Davis' children. In Marque's case it was more like a rescue. He and his brother Maurice had been in an abusive foster situation for 6 years after their biological mom left them.  I don't like to use the word STEP. To us, she was Mama or Grandma Lori. She loved to talk on the phone and over the past year or two as her health deteriorated, I have missed our long chats that she just didn't have the energy for anymore.

Her life was long, at times hard, but she loved her children and grandchildren.  She had four biological children and five or six others that she raised. To my knowledge, she had something like 13 grandchildren and maybe 9 or so great grandchildren if you count all of Mr. Davis' children that she raised. There are possibly more. But my point is, she had a great life and lots of love to give! We adored her.

Good News -- as promised, here is the listing for our home. We are quite excited and hopeful it will sell quickly!  http://www.texasrealtyone.com/listing/166245467
Christopher Story -- well last night, the whole team's parents got an email from the coach. For a couple weeks now, at least one child, when shaking the other team's hands at the end, has been saying "bad game" to the team we've played and beaten. Christopher told us who it was last week and we spoke to one of the coaches, because that is NOT acceptable. Anyway - apparently it happened again last night and the other coach approached our coach.  So he sent us all an email asking us to speak to our children. Christopher was at the front of the line, so I was pretty sure it wasn't our son. But I asked Christopher if he'd heard it again last night or if it was him taking part in it. He said no. But we responded to the email and said,  "For the record, Christopher said it wasn’t him. If he’d have heard it, he’d have said something like he did when Shawn said it. However, if you find out it was him, please let us know, we don’t tolerate that. At all!" And he replied, "For the record if someone told me Christopher was doing it I would call them a liar. Chris is a great kid it has been a true blessing to have him on the team."  -- I love that. He's a good child. We are so blessed and proud.

This weekend is packed! Tomorrow Marque has the day off. Tomorrow evening, we have a baseball game. Then brother Marque Jr. comes. Saturday we have our produce co-op, two games (we play the 2nd one if we win the 1st).  Then we have about 20 people coming for dinner to celebrate Christopher's 1st Holy Communion. And Sunday is his Communion. We are so excited. 

Pray for us. We have a lot going on.
Love, Hugs & Blessings,
Emily

It's OFFICIAL - House For Sale

Hiya Peeps,

It's finally here. Our house is for sale. Once I get the actual listing, I'll link it here so check back.

But here's a picture with the sign:

Pray for us. We are anxious to get to our smaller house with a bigger yard.  We've got St. Joseph buried... and we are prayerful/hopeful!

Hugs, Love & Blessings,

Em

L'Cajn Farms -GETCHA SOME!

Good Monday Morning to you!
This week is about baseball tournaments, fresh foods and 1st Communions.

About a month ago, Marque and I visited a local Farm to pick up cabbage for our Produce Co-Op. You see, our small Bountiful Baskets Group has grown into the Justin Food Co-Op. We have bulk meat buys, cheese buys, and food swaps. We are trying to get to the point where our grocery visits are about paper goods, cleaning supplies and little else. Fresh Food is KEY! 

HERE is my blog post about our visit. 

This is Cecil!

This is a small part of the 5000

tomato plants Cecil planted.

THIS is L'Cajn Farms (the house and buildings

on the right and all the plowed fields in this arial shot)

We really enjoyed meeting Cecil and listening to his plans. His passion is farming. And if you are local to Fort Worth or DFW (or anywhere near you want to drive from), I am inviting you like L'Cajn Farms on FaceBook HERE and volunteer to work the farm, join the upcoming CSA, and attend classes when they are scheduled so that you can learn how to grow your own garden.   He's a good man, this Cecil and he has a lot of knowledge and wants to share it with us... 

Plus, he gave us extra, and chatted with us. AND the cabbage we got was the biggest cabbage I'd ever seen. Not that I'm a cabbage expert but SERIOUSLY! 

I am not tall in stature, but I couldn't carry more than two.

 They take up my whole arms.

Anyway --
You can't help but like the man. I'm trying to talk him into a produce stand or a REAL Farmer's Market in Fort Worth (like Canino's in Houston).  Yes I am! lol  So I asked Cecil to tell me about his love of farming, and here's what he said --

Background on Cecil, in his own words:  Well I am at least a fourth generation farmer.  It is a tradition on both sides of my family.  My Dad's, father, farmed just like I am doing.  My Dad didn't do it for a living until he retired.  I've been farming for a living for almost 15 years.  I became friends with an old Farmer south of New Orleans in 1999.  He saw that I had a knack about farming, so he took me under his wing and taught me alot.  He was a big, big, vegetable farmer.  He wanted to retire and for me to take up when he did.  So that is really how I got started for good.  So I started off growing okra about 9 acres.  Me and 2 others would spend 8 to 10 hours a day picking okra.  As my old friend began to quit growing certain veggies then I would grow that.  We didn't want any competition between us.

Something that helped me was that my brother and I had a retail and wholesale produce business.  He still grows strawberries and owns 2 markets.  My sister and mother assist with the markets.

In 2009 I was approached by several farmers markets through out the New Orleans area to attend their markets.  I agreed, kicking and screaming, cause I really didn't want to go.  But was glad I did.  I started 2 new markets in the lower 9th and Treme. These areas were tore up pretty bad during Katrina.  I made several TV commercials for the markets and was featured on one of the morning news show.

But my love is to be in the field and working the land. I am still amazed that a tiny seed can produce so much food.  I grow things the old time way but use the modern science to help it grow.  I try not to use chemicals but when I have to it is always something that has a short time between use and harvest.  These type of chemicals cost about twice as much but are worth it to me.

After 3 bad hurricanes and the oil spill I was ready to make a move.  After my divorce, I started talking to an old high school classmate. We fell in love and moved here. Ann and her kids were not use to the farm life but have learned to love it and help out all the time.  I checked around the area before we bought and saw that there was a need for a truck farm, so here we are!

My goal is to farm so that the public can have direct access to produce that has not been sitting in a warehouse for weeks.  I also want to be able to teach classes about growing food.  I know that I will never get rich farming but that's ok.  I love what I do and that's worth more then being rich.  My plans are to start a CSA program, a U-pick program, and wholesaling as well.  I am open to what people want from their food producer and will try to please each person.

Additionally, I can tell you that Cecil worked with LSU's Agriculture Department and was given a grant to teach before the Hurricane/Oil Spill changed lots of people's plans. This man knows what goes in the soil to best help plants grow. He really has a lot of knowledge.  There is a website in the works. And many exciting things on the horizon for him.

If you have ideas, questions, needs in terms of growing/harvesting produce, he's the man to ask. He wants a relationship with folks. It's a rare quality these days. One that me and my friends find endearing and encouraging as we all try to do our best to feed our families non-processed, non-chemical foods.

Have a great rest of your Monday. I'm still readying the house for sale.

Love, hugs & Blessings.

Em

Ahhhhhhhhhh Success

Yep! I did it. Made another batch of strawberry-lemonade concentrate, blueberry jam AND strawberry preserves.  I've finally got the canning bug. Took me long enough.  Anyway - I think the key to getting it right is reading. I've got a few more books coming on the different "how tos".

Today is Field Day at Christopher's school. Then baseball practice tonight. In between I have to run to Wally World and seal grout in the foyer. Then I need to start painting. Yepper. I swear lately it seems like I've been at Wally World. every day. I think I have.

I'll post pics of Field Day later.

Love, Hugs & Blessings,

Em

Round two....

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say.. the strawberry preserves taste REALLY good.... except that I didn't use the right pectin and they are not gelled. Therefore, it will make REALLY good ice cream cover or strawberry sauce, but not such great preserves.

Round two starts tomorrow. It's Emily vs Strawberries (oh and some blueberries too). I will win. I will get this right... Yes people - I'm going to get it right if it is the last thing I do. You're welcome! lol

I will not let ya'll down. Meanwhile if you are local and like strawberry sauce over ice cream or anything.... please let me know. lol
Goodnight!