Day 194 Summer Canning Adventures!

I do have to say that half the fun I am having with canning is researching new recipes.  Since I really started doing this more just last year, I don't have an arsenal of tried and true recipes (at least until pear season!  I DO have a plan for when they come in)  Somehow the challenge that comes with receiving more than I can eat of a given vegetable... turns on my creativity and sends me hunting for something that sounds interesting.

Again I will share my notes and links and I admit freely that while I am exact in my liquid measurements for safe canning... I have a free hand with my spices.  I use fresh when possible and store bought when it's at hand.... I also use a little more rather than less because for the most part I like things a little more flavorful than most.

First focus this week... carrots.   I like carrots... raw.  Sometimes cooked WITH something else.  Not a real fan of a main dish of carrots... though I may have to start looking in that direction soon with the abundance I have.

But for this week...Pickled Dilly Carrots.    I have NO dill product left from last summer and I made at least a case each of Dilly Beans and Giardiniera {mixed vegetable pickle).  So my plan (LOOSE PLAN :-) is to make at least 6 jars each of dill whatever this summer.  Just to try.

One batch got me 3 jars so I needed to make more!

Also because you really can't buy many dill vegetables in the store - like Dilly Beans or, in this case, Pickled Dilly Carrots.  Eleven big fat carrots got me 7 half pint jars of dilled carrot sticks.. and some ends and bits and pieces to toss in with some roasted veggies this week.  [8 more carrots came in my box this week.. so more hunting is on my agenda!]

BLUEBERRIES!  Okay I picked TWO GALLONS last week when I picked them so I really need to keep jamming!  Or something!  I packed 2 ziptop bags and tossed them in the freezer because I AM getting tired of making jam for now.  BUT I have MORE!  I found this recipe:  Blueberry Mojito Jam    And, since I have limes and a good crop of mint in my backyard, it seemed like a good pick.  And it IS yummy.... but only made 3 half-pints and a quarter-pint jar.  Plenty enough for me - but not enough for my Christmas gift closet.  I will make another batch somewhere in the week ahead on a day I am home.


So I made  Pickled Beets with Dill and Mustard   with the LAST baby beets (described in a previous post from 6/23).... until this past Saturday.  Turns out there's more beets..... so off I go to hunt down another recipe.

Most of my canning takes place early in the morning... first thing with that first cup of coffee.  And I am usually finished by 8am so I can start my day.  It's been a full week of running for me and I need a day at home to catch up!

That's it til next week!  Happy canning!

Day 193 Wednesday Works In Progress!

This has been a piecemeal kind of week.


I have been working on smaller projects this year in the hopes of completing some wall hangings.  Last week I showed you a Valentine quilt top that was written as a wall hanging.  I finished the top and put it in the closet with other pieces that need to be sandwiched (basted together with the back and batting in the middle).  While I was originally cutting it out however, I recognized that it was not at all what I envisioned on my wall.  It is too big!  It will be a great lap quilt or draped over the back of a chair but not for my wall.  So I made an extra pieced heart to work with in creating something smaller.  I've been working on that this week

Still a long way from completion, this is more the size I want for a seasonal wall hanging.

I started the actual quilting on the sandcastle top I completed last year.

The initial quilting stitches around the 5 printed panels went quickly!  I havent decided how to quilt the wave-looking blocks yet - or the inside of the printed panels - but will probably do that by hand.  Maybe.  Haven't decided, can you tell?  For now though, I need to finish the machine quilting and put on a binding so you will probably see it again on a WIP Wednesday

A special request for a rice neck pillow thing (?) came in from my pregnant daughter so I looked it up and made one.  Okay two - but the filling of rice is more challenging than I anticipated (and the cleaning up afterwards was entertaining!)

Once she okays it - or tells what she would like different, I will probably be back here making more.  Supposedly you heat it up in a microwave and use it as a heating/cooling pad.  When I get it right, I can see me making more for gifts!


Speaking of my girl and her upcoming baby - I started planning the back of the baby quilt.  We got autographed squares at her baby shower and I am working with how to place them.  I am still waiting on one square and will be able to put the back - and the quilt together!

Have I shown you the FRONT?  If not, let me know and I'll include it in next week's WIP post :-)

And.... working on an ancient project.... squares unearthed from '08... I put the top together earlier this year.... and added the blue borders this week.  I don't think I'm quite happy with it yet though.... I am thinking up more borders to make it a little bigger.

A narrow black border next and then I need to add one more color border depending on what I find in the quilt shop when I pop in tomorrow!  I don't have what I need in my stash... poor me....

My handwork hexies... I am still having fun with them!  I really need to put them down and work on other handwork projects!

I finished ONE!  This is how they all will go until one day (in the far distant future) I will have a quilt top!

It sure is fun choosing that second round for each flower.  I am making sandwich bags for the flowers in the different stages... one bag for the center +6 petals... and then bags for the small flower + 12 of the second round color and then 12 each cream and green scraps for the last round.  Add the thread, needle and small scissors and the bags are portable craft projects- just exactly the kind I need!


I worked on the lap robe for the Vets while I worked at the library the other day.  (It's a project for the needlework club at the library so that's fair, don't you think?)

Coming along slowly but surely.  I haven't been doing much crocheting lately.



And then..... because I couldn't help myself..... this new fabric came into the shop and I needed to work with it!

I looked up the company online and am using their suggested pattern to make a quilt top.  I bought the fabrics that the shop had and improvised on the ones they didn't.  I don't want everything to match anyway... what else is new?

Can't wait to add this to my next week's lineup!  What are YOU up to?