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Archive for August, 2012

Peach Freezer Jam

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on August 11, 2012| 13 Comments »

There is something about jams and jellies made at home with fresh ingredients that just can’t be beat.  I had never tried to make any myself since I wasn’t very knowledgeable and, to be honest, just a little scared of using a pressure canner.  When I found this freezer jam recipe over at Southern Plate, I thought that it might just be doable.

There is a peach tree growing on a farm owned by my in-laws, and for some reason it produced a lot of peaches during this odd growing season.  My FIL mentioned that he would like some “preserves” so I went looking for a recipe and found the one I mentioned above.  This was so easy!  Before I started the process, I sanitized the jars by using the sanitizing cycle on my dishwasher.  So simple!

Peach Freezer Jam

2 lbs. peaches (enough to make about 3 cups mashed peaches)

4 1/2 cups sugar

1 box Sure Jell

2 tbsp. lemon juice

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Peel, pit and dice peaches.  Mash these with a potato masher or fork.  The potato masher is a lot faster and easier.  Leave a few small chunks.  Pour the sugar in the mashed peaches and stir until sugar is dissolved.

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In a medium sauce pot, place 3/4 cup water and add the Sure Jell.  Bring this to a boil while stirring constantly.  Boil for one minute then pour this into the fruit mixture.  Stir well until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Pour into the sanitized jars making sure to leave about 1 inch of empty space at the top.  Clean the edges of the jars so the lids will not stick to them.  Place the lids on the jars and leave at room temperature for 24 hours.  Then put what you are going to use soon in the fridge and freeze the rest.  This jam will keep in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks and in the freezer for 1 year. 

This had the most awesome sweet peach flavor I have ever tasted.  The peaches that I used were white peaches so mine didn’t have that bright vibrant peach color, but the flavor was out of this world.

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Book Beginnings

Posted in Books, tagged , , , , , on August 10, 2012| 7 Comments »

Please join me and other bloggers at Rose City Reader for Book Beginnings where we list a book we are reading/have read/want to read and the first couple of lines.  Then we will give you our opinion on said book. 

This week, my beginning lines come from “The Recipe Club” by Andrea Israel & Nancy Garfinkel.  I received this book as a Christmas present so I had never heard of it before then.  It was good and a pretty easy read.  The neat thing about this book is that is contains the recipes that the two main characters talk about throughout their letters to each other as the only members of their “recipe club”. 

"Dear Lilly,

I’ve started a letter just like this about a thousand times.  "Dear Lilly," I’d write, as if I knew what came next.  But that was as far as I got.  I never knew what to say or how to say it.  And I wasn’t sure you’d ever want to hear my voice again."

Many letters ensue after this one and you will get to know all about the characters past and present.

I also want to thank Rose City Reader for a book giveaway she hosted a couple of weeks ago.  I won!!  Now I have a nice shiny new copy of “Even If I Am. an e-memoir” by Chasity Glass to read.  As soon as I finish the book I am reading now, it is next on my list.  Thanks again, Rose City Reader and Chasity Glass!

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Menu Plan Monday

Posted in Menu Planning, tagged , , on August 6, 2012|

Welcome to the first Monday in August, everyone.  Wow, where did June and July go?  School started back in our county last Thursday, so C is hard at it again making sure all of the computers and other technology work for the teachers and students.  We may not have kids, but we still feel the crunch of back-to-school time just from a different perspective.

Today is a first for me…I work in the judicial branch of government in our local clerk’s office and, like all government agencies, the budget is TIGHT!!  So tight, in fact, that during the last six months of this year, all non-elected judicial employees are being forced to take three unpaid furlough days to help balance the budget and today is my first one.  I don’t mind having the time off, in fact, I love it.  The problem is we don’t get paid for them! It wouldn’t be so bad if waste in government wasn’t so obvious and it seems like it should be easier to find ways to trim the fat without furloughing lowly office workers like me.  Oh, well. 

I plan on spending this furlough day going to the grocery.  Doesn’t that sound like fun?  I haven’t been to Wal.-.mart in two months and we are running dangerously low on some household essentials so today is the day.  Last week, I sat down with a calendar and made a rough menu plan for the whole month, so hopefully I can get most of what I need except for some perishable items.  Here’s what is on the menu for this week…

Grilled pork tenderloin

Grilled steakburgers with oven fries

Baked ham slices with butter roasted potatoes and fresh cucumbers

Italian sausage bake with fresh cucumbers

Hot ham and cheese rolls with quick and easy veggie pasta salad

Pizza night

A-1 Swiss steak

Chocolate chip comfort cookies (new)

Orange fluff Jello salad

Please join me at I’m An Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

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Grilled Steakburgers

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , , on August 4, 2012| 12 Comments »

I guess this title might be a little misleading because these hamburgers are just good ol’ ground beef, but I use steak seasonings and sauce to give them a little kick.  This is my own original recipe so feel free to adjust the flavors to suit yourself.  You could also use taco seasoning with taco sauce for a Mexican flair.  Hmm, I might have to try that one.

The recipe results in 4 quarter pound burgers.   I had made a double batch for a Sunday dinner at my grandmother’s house so the photos show that.

grilled steak burgers

1 lb. ground beef

1 tbsp. olive oil (I use really lean ground beef so this adds some healthy fat for texture and flavor.)

1.5 tbsp. A-1 steak sauce

1/2 tsp. Montreal steak seasoning

4 hamburger buns

butter or butter spread (Oops, the buns and spread didn’t make it in the photo.)

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Mix all of the ingredients together and form into 4 same sized patties.  If you have time, let the patties chill in the fridge for an hour or two.  It makes them easier to work with. 

Preheat your grill to medium heat and lay the patties on the hot grill.  Cover and allow to cook for 5-6 minutes.  Now here is a great tip that I have learned in my limited grilling experience…once the patties are on the grill, DON’T MESS WITH THEM!  Turn them once and only once.  Don’t mash on them because you will just lose all of the good juice and flavor.  Leave them alone!

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Flip after 5-6 minutes have passed and cook for another 4 minutes.  While these are finishing, butter both sides of your buns because they are going on the grill, too.

Once the burgers are done, move them to the cooling shelf of your grill if you have one and put cheese on them if desired.  The cheese will melt with the residual heat.  Place the buns on the grill and cook for a couple of minutes.  Check to see if the butter is melted and you have a few grill marks then flip and cook the other side.

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Assemble your burgers and add your favorite burger toppings.

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Please join me at Miz Helen’s Country Cottage for Full Plate Thursday.

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Thoughtful Thursday-Pet Edition

Posted in My Thoughts, Pets, Pets/Animals, tagged , , on August 2, 2012| 4 Comments »

If you read my blog regularly, you will know that C & I are dog lovers.  Major dog lovers!  We have a Siberian Husky named Ellie that has us wrapped around her paw.  My in-laws have a Border Collie named Roy, that we help out with, too.  He is a ball of energy and loves attention.  I was browsing Pinterest one day (shocker, I know) and found a recipe for a homemade frozen dog treat on Hub Pages.

We had bought some frozen dog treats in the past, but when you check the ingredient label, you will find that most of the things on there are almost unpronounceable.  This homemade treat has only whole, simple ingredients that are good for your pets, especially during this extremely hot weather we have been having. 

All three dogs we have given these to (Ellie, Roy and my aunt’s dog, Maggie) have loved them! 

Frozen Dog Treats

32 oz. plain yogurt

1 mashed ripe banana

2 tablespoons peanut butter

2 tablespoons honey

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Put all of the ingredients in the bowl of your mixer and combine thoroughly.  Fill up two ice cube trays with the mixture and freeze until hard.  I emptied them from the trays and kept them in one container in the freezer.

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