Summer's end....

You can just feel it in the air that the season is changing even if it's hot again.  The early mornings are beautiful with a nice breeze to make it a pleasure to water and take care of the garden.  Veggies that quit producing or slow-downed during the 100 degree days, have started producing again and look like they have a new lease on life.

I ended up with only small varieties of tomatoes this year (I think some were mismarked) but they have so much flavor.  The kind of dark ones are a heirloom variety that Allison started from seed and they are just starting to ripen.  The round white vegetable is a lemon cucumber and are so good.  They taste nothing like lemon -- it's just the color & shape.  Also, my arugula has come back.  I cut them down & now they're big enough to eat again.  It's my favorite salad green.

This is one of the little pie pumpkins I planted.  I'm going to cook a couple and see how they do in pumpkin bread.  I picked a little of my bittersweet but it isn't ready yet -- it hasn't popped open.  I have so much grapevine growing around that I think I'll make some wreaths.  The only thing I have to watch out for is sometimes poison ivy sneaks in the grapevine.

I also made peach and strawberry jelly.  I used a new product for my 2nd batch of peach and it turned out a little darker then normal.  It was an all-natural product so maybe it didn't have what ever it is that's in Surejel that keeps peaches from turning.  Just hope the taste is good.  Also, made some homemade bread that is so yummy with strawberry jelly. 

I've got lots of projects I need to get done before Leola's fall open house so it will be a busy couple of weeks. 

Have a great weekend.

Strawberry jam & a great giveaway.....

First of all I have to tell you about a great giveaway.  Urban Farm Girl is giving away a gift certificate to Pottery Barn.  You will love her great blog.  I'm really wanting these great pillows.  So go on over and check it out.

The berries are coming into the farmer's market.  This week I bought raspberries, blueberries & strawberries and they were so good.  The strawberries were not large but were bright red all the way through.  That is so perfect for jelly.  These jars came from an auction and had never been used.  They make such a cute gift with a batch of muffins.

Hope you're having a good week.  Mine promises to be a busy one but guess that's my life.  Still haven't set down with a book in the afternoon but soon......

Jellymaking......

Judy made this black bean certerpiece for her birthday party on my backporch.

What a treat this winter to open this up and spread on french toast or a biscuit.

The last few weeks I've been checking out recipes for jelly. I've always just used the old standard Sure jell which is really good but only makes about 3 pints at a time. My thoughts were always that you couldn't mess with a jelly/jam recipe -- it was one that had to be exact. Apparently, not so.

After studying the way Annaliese http://mennonitegirlscancook.blogspot.com/ made her jelly and jams, I contacted her and she sent me very helpful advice. She just says put in this much fruit, this much sugar & this much pectin and see how you like it. She also makes large batches and keeps them in the freezer. Apparently, it stays so much fresher. I've always left mine out because it's sealed and it looks good. Her sealing method is to sanitize the bottles in the oven while you're mixing it up & then just pour the hot liquid into the hot jars, put the lid on and listen for that lovely little "pop".

I ended up with 6 jars and they look beautiful and the consistency looks perfect. Thanks Annaliese for your help. Can't wait for the peaches to come in.

Don't forget Leola's tag sale on Saturday morning if you're anywhere near Ozark. There will be lots of treasures. We're opening at 8:oo on the parking lot before it gets hot.