Beginners Canning Class... Taught By Me

Afternoon all! I have decided to teach my first canning class. I am so excited! If you live in this area and are truly interested in learning how to can this summer I would love to show you how and hand out tips, recipes and basically instruct "hands on."

In my first class you will learn how to make strawberry preserves or strawberry jam. On Thursday, before the class on Saturday, I am going to Crossplains, TN to pick the strawberries that will be used in class. I will show you each step of the jam making and preserving process from chopping the strawberries to the lids popping, which is music to my ears!

If you would like to sign up, or know someone else interested please email me or call. This is my first class ever to teach outside of teaching a friend or two, one on one. I can't wait and am enjoying my lesson planning and preparing.  Home canned produce is just part of our pantry and with a lesson or two on how it's all done your very own jam could be part of your pantry too!

LLLLUCKY MEEEE!

I am so excitedly tore up!  After several attempts and help from others, I have finally found my own Morel Mushrooms!!!!!!!  I have combed these woods on our farm for weeks, not constantly.. geez I have to work, looking for mushrooms and finally today it paid off in a big way!

Last Sunday, we went down to our friend's farm to mushroom hunt.  They already knew of a couple of patches of mushrooms and so nicely showed them to me so that I would know what exactly I was looking for and what type of environment you can find them in.  I think it's sort of luck of the draw on the area to find them because one of the patches that they had was by a creek and the other on a hill.  I had heard and read already that they can most likely be found in the woods (of course), close to water, around rotten stumps, poking up through the leaves. 

Today, I got off work early and totally meant to spend at least an hour on the Christmas Corner of our attic, but when I got home and heard the attic fans on which come on automatically when the temp in the attic reaches 100 degrees, I decided to find something else to do.  I woke Miss Pepper up from her nap, got my rain boots on (cause I can tromp anywhere in them), put my bug spray on and headed into the woods.  For a long time we didn't find much except for a box turtle that Pepper tried to become friends with.  Then after a while Pepper headed back up to the house and I kept traipsing down a different path. 

I was mid talking-to-the-woods, pleading for it to show me where they were hiding.  "Just one!"  I said out loud.  Then to the right of my path I spotted a mushroom.  I thought I was imagining.  I blinked my eyes real fast like it was going to run or disappear. I seriously could not believe my eyes.  I reached down, after snapping a few camera shots, gently broke the stem and put the mushroom in my bag.  This was a hot spot because right after I found that one I looked around the same area and wound up finding eight Morel mushrooms.  One of them was right on the trail by a big tree.  Nothing hiding it at all.

After Shaun came down to check out the mushroom hot spot, we hunted mushrooms for about another hour in different areas but wound up coming out of the woods with the eight mushrooms that I had found there. 

Another lucky thing for me was that Sally's Mom had shown me how to fry the mushrooms on Sunday so after soaking and rinsing them for a while I fried them up like a pro.  They were wonderful and I got to share them with Shaun, Jody and Stevie.  It's always nice to get to share something special.  It makes for an extra lucky day!

Easter Eggs... Hollow Style

I love colored Easter Eggs as everyone should but for some reason hate to waste the inside of the egg.  Something about just what that hen went through to create it.  Anyway, instead of hard boiling my eggs to color I poke holes and blow out the insides into a bowl and make omelets, use them in cake batter, make a quiche for cryin out loud... I just don't like to waste them. 

I saw a documentary of a single lady once that said you can freeze eggs.  Not while still in their shells, but as yolk and white.  She also said that you could half an egg.  By cracking the egg into a bowl, mixing it up and dividing it in two.  There's a good hint for the single cook when the recipe calls for one egg. 

So to get the insides out of the egg, you gently and I mean gently poke a hole in the top of the egg using a straight pin.  Just push the pin into the shell ever so slightly and it will go. 

Next put your fore finger over that hole and turn the egg over to have bottoms up and poke three small holes like a triangle and then break out the center.  This hole needs to be bigger than the top hole and poking three right together makes it a lot easier to get this one the right size. 

Put your thumb and finger over both hole and give it a good shake to break the yolk.

Stop laughing right now so you can do this step!
Over a bowl, put your lips on the top of the egg and blow the insides out into the bowl.  If they don't come out very easily, take your pin and either make the bottom hole a little bit bigger or use the pin to mix up the egg.  Shake it some more and blow again.  Come on... puff those cheeks up! 

Run water into the bigger hole to wash any excess yolk out of the egg.  We don't want no stankin eggs!

When you color these eggs you have to hold them under the color water obviously because they are empty and not heavy like boiled eggs.  They will also retain a little water so drain them well.

To color my eggs I used a coffee cup half full of boiling water, 1 Tablespoon of white vinegar and 5 or 6 drops of food coloring.  You don't have to have that store bought stuff. 

Waalaa... empty Easter Eggs and no egg guts wasted!

Oh No It broke... Paint it!

Saturday, while potting flowers and making a dirt mess of my potting station which is what it's for, I discovered that one of my small clay pots was broken.  I admit I don't use clay pots much for planting.  They are beautiful and have wonderful qualities but if I use them for plants that need to be watered often, I have to water even more often because the clay obsorbes so much of the water.  My aloe veras love clay pots.  They don't even require water hardly ever. 

I didn't let the loss of a pot slow me down.  I picked up the pieces and thought... chalk board paint!  Then I could write messages on the pieces and place them on top of the dirt in my potted plants.  I felt brill!  Plus it was yet another use for the paint that I feel like I have a ton of when in fact I only have a quart because that is the only size the hardware store had so I think I'll be using it for a very long time.

I ran upstairs, got the paint brushes and paint and headed back down and amidst the pots, dirt, mulch and plants I started painting pieces.  It was super duper easy and looks cute in the pots with messages written in chalk like Smile :) , Pink Petunia, and Hens & Chicks.  Plus I didn't have to throw away my teeny broken pot.  I wound up painting the other two small clay pots and putting seperated hens and chickens in them.  Fun on top of fun :)!  I almost couldn't handle it all by myself.

Now, if I could only find chalk that you can sharpen!  I always have trouble writing small with a regular piece of chalk.