Raspberry Jam

What is one to do when the raspberries come in faster than the squirrels, birds and a ravenous toddler can eat off the cane?  Make jam is the option I like best!

One batch:

4 cups of berries
4 c. sugar
1/4 c. lemon juice
A jar of your homemade pectin [or 1 pouch store bought pectin]



You can use half sugar but it will take longer to reach a jam set.  The longer you cook this the more the nutrients will be reduced.

Boil the mixture until you reach your desired set.  Then pack into canning jars and hot bath them for 10 minutes. I just love hearing that reassuring 'tink' of the vacuum seal!  If any lids do not seal you can either redo the hot bath or store them in the refrigerator.

Fruits of the Field

I am very pleased to see the lushness of the garden and look forward to even more vegetables to come.  It looks like this will be the year of tomatoes!

This is Lamb's Quarter, also known as goosefoot, pigweed and wild spinach, is a welcome volunteer in my garden as I get far more greens than cultivated spinach as it is so slow to bolt.  I have used it fresh, steamed, sauteed and even dried, it tastes similar to spinach.

I have a grape vine that I am sure would produce more if I properly pruned it.  But here is a rare sight, a bunch ripening at the same time.
 
This year I am excited that, with the help of companion planted radishes to scared away the squash bugs, I have once again kept vines long enough to grow this personal sized "Moon and Stars" watermelon. 

I am waiting for pumpkin, pepper and eggplants to show some growth they are so small that I don't even see blossoms yet.

Homemade Spray Starch

I don't often iron, I prefer to purchase clothes that do not require it.  However, hubby had unfortunately purchased a few shirts that he would not wear because they don't look good just being line dried.  I did try to iron them but they would not hold that crisp look.  The fix for that is to use starch when ironing.

I came across an idea to make spray starch at home.  It is easy enough to do!

I used an empty spray bottle, mixed together 2 tablespoons of corn starch with a cup of water to begin dissolving.  I placed the mixture into the spray bottle then filled the rest of the bottle with water.

Now I can spray the starchy water right onto the area that I am ironing.  The steam generated helps the fibers relax, then the starch stiffens and keeps them crisply in place.

One thing to note is that the starch will settle, so you'll need to swirl you mixture from time to time.

Pita Bread

 I am currently on an eating plan that every few days tells me to stuff a pita with veggies for one of my snacks.  If I bought 8 pitas from the store it would cost $ 5.58, so I decided to make up a batch of my own.

Ingredients:  3 cups all purpose flour, 1.5 cups water and 1.5 Tbsp each of; yeast and salt.

Allow dough to rise for two hours.  Place your baking stone in the oven and heat to 500 degrees. 

When the oven is to temperature, take half of the raw dough and form it into one ball, then quarter that.  Roll out two pieces to 1/8 inch thickness.

Quickly transfer to the baking stone and close the oven, bake for 5 or 6 minutes depending on how much browning you like. While they are baking, roll out your other two quarters to get them ready.  Remove the finished pitas and bake the other pieces. 

Repeat with the other half of the raw dough to give you 8 pitas.

Approximate cost: Flour 26 cents; yeast 50; salt 4 = 80 cents for 8 pitas.
That is a savings of $ 4.78!