I'm going for it...finally

Another fabulous find for my $25.00 fantastic garage sale haul was canning supplies!! For the last couple of years, I have been meaning to get my own canning supplies so that I can take advantage of all of the great farm markets we have here all summer in Northern Michigan. I have canned before, but never made the investment to buy my own supplies and can on my own.

So I have the momentum and now I have the supplies ( I have to get jars this weekend ) and there are no excuses. I think I may start with asparagus and some strawberry jam. I am a little late for the REALLY good asparagus, but in the winter it'll be better ( and cheaper ) than what will be available to me then. Canning is actually a very easy and rewarding process, so if you have never tried it, just Google canning and you will get all of he information you need to get started !

I thought I'd share with you a canning recipe that I have on my to-do list. Hopefully it will inspire you to jump on in and catch up on the canning trend, like I am! ( I swear I was a farmer's wife in a past life...lol )

Strawberry Lemon Marmalade

Makes 7 (8oz.) half pints

1/4 C. thinly sliced lemon peel

4 C. fresh crushed strawberries

1 T. lemon juice

1 (1.75 oz) pkg. pectin

6 C. sugar

7 half pint jars with lids and bands

Prepare water canner. Heat jars and lids and set bands aside. Combine lemon peel and water to cover in an 8 qt. saucepan. bring to a boil for 5 min, til peel is softened. drain and discard liquid. return peel to pan.

Add strawberries and lemon juice to peel and mix well. bring mix to a full boil that can not be stirred down over high heat stirring constantly. Add entire measure of sugar stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 min. stirring consantly. Remove from heat and skim off foam.

Ladle hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Wipe rim and center lid on jar. Screw on bands til fingertip tight. Process in a water canner for 10 min. remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours.

Yum of the Irish!!

Just popping in to share a great St. Patty's day recipe with you!! Every March 17th, I serve the usual Corned beef and cabbage dinner.. I look forward to it each year, but another great irish recipe that I love to serve is Shepherds Pie!! I vary it depending on what I have on hand, but it is a great comfort food on a cold night! This recipe is particularly good with the Guiness.. mmmmm!! Hope you get a chance to try it. You won't be disappointed!! Following the recipe I have some pictures of decorating your home with touches of green. Hope they inspire you to getin touch with your irish side!! Happy St. Patricks day!!

Guiness Shepherd's Pie

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef

1/2 c. onion

1/2 c. diced carrots

2 t. minced garlic
1/4 c. Guiness stout

1/4 c. cabernet wine

3/4 c. beef broth

1 T. worcestershire sauce

1/4 t. each.. dried Basil, oregano, sage, marjoram

1 c. peas ( fresh or frozen )

2 T. butter

2 T. Flour

1/2 t. salt 1/2 t.pepper

Potato Topping ( Mashed Potatoes )

In a dutch oven, brown beef. Add onion ,carrot, garlic, wine, broth ,Guiness, w. sauce, and all of the dried herbs. Simmer until carrots are fork tender and then add peas. In another saucepan, melt butter and add flour to make a roux. Add roux tobeef mixture slowly to thicken sauce. continue to cook for 5-10 min. Add salt and pepper. Put mixture in large casserole dish. For the potato topping, make mashed potatoes to your liking. Many shepherd pie recipes vary this topping from simple mashed potatoes to mashed potatoes with white cheddar mixed in, herbs, cream cheese.. whatever tickles your fancy. I use just a simple mashed potato. Top your meat mixture with the mashed potatoes. If you are serving this to guests, you can pipe these on with a piping bag. Bake at 350 for 20- 30 min til potatoes are golden. Serve!!

The Amish Cook

Today I thought I'd share one of my favorite cookbooks with you, The Amish Cook At Home By: Lovina Eicher ( you can order it through Amazon, here ). I love this cookbook because it is simple recipes that I tend to cook for my Family as well as it is neatly organized into seasons, so I find I tend to take out this cook book and browse through it as the seasons change.

It is sitting beside me right now on my kitchen table as I look at the spring section and see all of the beautiful pictures and recipes utilizing my favorite spring vegtables! Lovina Eicher writes a coloumn that our local paper carries in the food section and I can't wait to read it each week. It contains a small snippet of amish life as well as a recipe. I sometimes think I could live like the amish, then I get real and realize I would be miserable with out my internet, TiVo, and telephone.... so I cook the recipes and look at pictures and admire the Amish lifestyle from afar!! Here are some pics and a recent article from the Amish cook, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Amish Cook: Spring goodies are everywhere

BY LOVINA EICHER Special to the Record-Eagle

This column will wrap up my writing for April already. Time seems to slip away too fast. There are only five more weeks of school for the children before the term ends. Right now they are outside waiting for the bus. It is a nice, breezy Monday morning and everyone wants to be outside. It sure is easier when I don't have to pack their coats along.
We have been having 80-degree weather the last few days. My husband Joe put our porch swing back up again for the summer. He also put up some swings on some of our big trees for the children. They have had their share of use this weekend. It is surprising how a few boards and a few ropes have made hours of entertainment for them. The children say they like these swings better because they can swing so much higher.
Joe is leaving for work at 3 a.m. this week, 45 minutes earlier than usual. Because one of the drivers is on vacation, Joe is one of the first men picked up on the vanload of Amish men that go to the factory. Being 45 minutes early sure makes a big difference in the morning hours.
I have so many things on my to-do list today that I am not sure where to start. I'll probably start with doing the laundry and then it will be onto the garden. We were ready to plant corn on Saturday but it started raining. I think I'll try to get some corn planted today. Silver queen, Bodacious, Seneca and Candy Corn are a few of the varieties that we will have in our garden this summer.
I want to make quite a few batches of rhubarb jam. We are out of rhubarb jam and this is one of our favorite jams. We like to spread butter and rhubarb jam on our toast or homemade bread in the morning. My rhubarb is really spreading out and growing this year so I will try to put it to good use. Besides rhubarb jam, we'll also be making rhubarb juice, shortcakes, pies, cakes and other desserts. Also Joe came in last night and told me our asparagus is ready to use. I got the hint, so I will try to fix his favorite asparagus recipe tonight, which is asparagus-potato soup.
Our radishes, peas and green onions are up in the garden. We have had a few winter onions already but it looks like it will be another week before they really start.
We have had our share of dandelion greens. The yellow flowers are really popping up so it will not be long before they are over with for another year. Once the blossom is on the greens they taste too bitter to eat. The young tender ones are the best although my daughters don't really like washing them because they are so tiny.

Here is the recipe for my husband's favorite asparagus dish:

Asparagus-Potato Soup

1&3/4 c. chicken broth
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1/2 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 c. chopped onion
1 t. salt
1&1/2 c. milk
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 c. Velveeta or Colby cheese (cubed or sliced)
Combine the broth, potatoes, asparagus, onion and salt in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Whisk the milk and flour together well in a small bowl and whisk into the broth mixture. Stir in the cheese until melted. Pour into warmed soup bowls and serve immediately.

Lovina Eicher is Old Order Amish. She hand-writes this column from her home in southern Michigan. Anyone with cultural or cooking questions can send them to: Lovina Eicher, The Amish Cook, P.O. Box 2144, Middletown, OH 45042. Read all of her columns online at www.record-eagle.com/amishcook.

Found my Memory..

Well, I have been MIA the last couple of days because my 4 year old decided to hide my memory card in her red vinyl spiderman wallet.... I have been searching high and low so that I could take some pics and post on my blog!! Thank Goodness she remembered ( finally) where the wallet was!! The girls and I painted some wood easter eggs this weekend and had a blast, so now I have to hit the stores this weekend to get more for them to paint. I did the chick and ladybug egg, and I have to admit it was a lot of fun! I did get some work done this weekend, some scrapbooking and sewing and now today I will be working on cleaning the toy room... heaven help me!! I did finish this good will find for my scrapbook room. I haven't put anything in it, but I got this mail holder for .99 and her is the before and after..
Before...

And after....

I love how it turned out... helps me feel so creative!! I made some tuna noodle casserole this morning for dinner tonight and for thoae of you who enjoy tuna noodle casserole, I thought I'd share my recipe for it. The recipe was one my mom always made, so the exact measurements are long gone, so I am going to give you an approximation and you can change it to suit your taste!! I have tried many recipes ( this has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid ) and so far I believe nothing beats this simple recipe!!

Mom's Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 bag egg noodles, 1/4 c. Mayo, 2 C. Cheddar Cheese, 1 can cream of celery soup, Milk, Celery, onion, 1 can or envelope of tuna

Cook noodles until al dente.. in a large casserole mix the cooked noodles, 1 can of tuna, and your veggies with a large scoop or about 1/4 c. Mayo. I use celery and onion, but you can also add peas, chopped pimento.. whatever suits your taste. In a small saucepan, combine your can of soup and 1 can of milk. heat this up until combined and then add your cheese to make a cheese sauce. once the cheese has melted, pour over your noodles and mix well. Heat on a 350 degree oven for about 30 min or until heated through. Casserole can be topped with crushed potato chips, bread crumbs, french fried can onions... I leave mine plain but it turnes out well with topping as well!! Enjoy!!