Peaches

So this morning I asked "Little Pumpkin" what she wanted for breakfast....she didn't want cereal, she didn't want a tuna sandwich (that's what I was having-yes, I know NOT a breakfast food!) what did she want? PEACHES!

Well thankfully I have PLENTY of peaches. I canned peaches on 3 different occassions last summer.

In July the kids and I canned 11.5 pints of donut peaches that I ordered from Bountiful Baskets. Only 11.5 pints from 2 20 lb boxes of peaches! I was so excited to get canning, but donut peaches aren't really worth canning because they are SO HARD to get off the pit. The chickens were happy with the pits and they turned out good to eat, but I won't can this kind again!

Next in early Sept. my friend got me 3-22 lb boxes of peaches. From these beautiful, juicy peaches I made 19.5 quarts of sliced peaches, 12 pints of peach syrup from the juiced skins.....

and 12 pints + 17 1/2 pints of jelly/jam. Plus we roasted 1 pan full for dessert that night...

AND froze some individually for smoothies.

Thought I was done with peaches, but then in early Oct. I got 2 more 25 pound boxes of peaches from bountiful baskets.....these were Utah Peaches. Made 16 quarts of sliced peaches, 2 quarts of sliced peaches in peach syrup (will be great for desserts) and 7.5 pints of peach syrup--this stuff is like heaven.

So now, here we are in the middle of January with delicious peaches anytime we want!

Homemade Graham Crackers

My little pumpkin LOVES crackers and so I decided to make her some homemade graham crackers.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Stir in the vanilla. Combine the all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, stir into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk. Cover and chill dough until firm.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into rectangles. Place 1/2 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
3. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crisp. Edges will be golden brown. Remove from baking sheet to cool on wire racks.

The Making of Tedyada

We have a friend "Ted" and he has a great sense of humor and he and my husband get each other "gag" gifts for their birthdays, so this year my husband decided to make Ted a Pinata. I don't know what was more fund the making of the Tedyada or the breaking of it:

 Make the "frame" out of cardboard.

 Shred newspaper for paper mache.

 Tedyada is formed!

 Paper mache head.

 One side finished!

 Tedyada!

 Cardboard chest with hole for candy/goodies to get them inside!

 Cardboard for Tedyadas face.

Here is Tedyada....just needs paint!

Homemade Granola

Made some yogurt the other day-didn't turn out, was more like Keffer than yogurt in texture but it tasted AMAZING and wanted to make some granola to go with it.

Homemade granola is awesome! And pretty cheap, I used ingredients I had on hand and it turned out great, plus you can control what you put into it.

I used 8 Cups of Regular Oats
1 Cup of flax seed
1 Cup of Oat bran
1/2 Cup of brown sugar
3/4 Cup of oil
1 Cup of honey-if you put the honey into the measuring cup after the oil it slides right out
1/2 cup of chopped almonds
I didn't have any vanilla extract, so I scraped out the seeds from a vanilla bean and used those.

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes stirring half-way thru-put wax paper in your pan or it will stick, then move to your container while it's still warm.

Two large pans

Inside my 25 lb. bag of Regular Oats I bought last year from the bulk store.

Flax seed on top of the oats.

Adding the oat bran

All the dry ingredients.

Mixing it all up-make sure you break up the large clumps.

Vanilla bean.

Ready for the oven.

Turned out great, and was easy. Will definately do this again! Kids loved it.

Whole Egg Mayonnaise

Several months ago we were at my moms house for dinner and she was out of mayo and my brother whipped up a mayo type sauce-he is an amazing cook and just whips stuff up all the time. So we were out of mayo at home and I went to all recipes-I am not a good whipper upper of food- and found this recipe for whole egg mayo.

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 cups vegetable oil

Directions

1. In the container of a food processor or blender, combine the mustard powder, salt, eggs and vinegar. Set the food processor on medium speed and gradually drizzle in the oil while it runs. Transfer to a container with a lid and store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. I used my submersion blender in a wide mouth quart canning jar, and didn't have to add the oil as slowly.

Turned out great! The family loves it and it was so easy and cheap! Not sure I will buy mayo again! Plus this way I know what's in it and can flavor it how I want!

Buying Bulk Spices

Last year I started canning and couponing. I was using more spices and it was hard to find coupon deals on spices and I hated paying so much for them....what's a girl to do? I found bulk spices at http://sfherb.com/

They are so pretty, I ordered a bunch of them. They came in a box in individual bags, so I put them into glass jars with lids and filled up my spice jars.

They are SO pretty, could be decoration!

Just make sure to store them in a cool, dry place to help them not to lose their flavor.

I also got some vanilla beans so I can make my own vanilla extract at a fraction of the price.

A Reason To Get Up On Wednesdays!

Think there is no reason to get up on Wednesdays? Oh contraire mon frair! Check this sign out:

I saw it last night on my way home and laughed so hard, then had to turn around a get a picture!

Toddlers Decorating

So when I got home I found this....apparently the toilet paper works better when it's on the floor instead of the roll! I love this age, little pumpkin makes me laugh!