Plum Jelly

Good morning! Are you ready to make jelly? Are you Sure (Jell) ?????
(disclaimer: I'm doing this the way my mamaw taught me - if it's not by the book or doesn't meet GOVT standards, I could care less - I ain't sellin' it)

I used the 8 oz jars cuz they're a good size to give away, and the jelly doesn't turn to sugar before you eat the whole jar. I run all my jars and bands through the hot dishwasher before the canning process and take them hot right out of the DW and set them in a big jelly roll pan so the juice won't get all over the cabinet. Also, put your bands and lids into another pan covered with water and keep them just under boiling.

Ok get your stuff ready - the biggest stock pot you have, a canning strainer or a colander with little bitty holes, your magnetic lid & band picker-upper (if you don't have one, you can use tongs), cheesecloth, your ingredients.... oh, about 5 lbs or so of fruit (plums), lotsa sugar, a few boxes of Sure-Jell, lemon juice, butter... I think that's all.

1. Wash your plums and get all the junk off of 'em. Put them in your stock pot and add about 2 cups of water, just enough so's you can see the water in the bottom of the pot. 2. On medium heat, cook your plums about 15 minutes or until all the peelings come off and the fruit is cooked. Stir around a few times so they don't stick to the bottom - you don't want burnt-tastin' jelly.

3. I didn't get a picture of this next part cuz I needed both hands to do what I needed to do. Ok, squish your plums around just a little with a potato masher or something to loosen up the pulp. Then get you a big bowl or another big stockpot and place your canning strainer over the pot and put 2-3 cups at a time into the strainer and let it drain through into the pot. If you have a canning squisher (seen in the above photo - wooden), roll it around in the pulp and get a little bit of that into the juice in the pan. Not too much, you don't want your jelly to be pulpy, you want it to be clear and red - it's pretty that way. Also, you can use cheesecloth inside your strainer if you want to get more pulp out, especially if you don't have a canning strainer.

4. Discard all the pulp, peelings, and seeds in the trash. You should have quite a bit of juice left now. Wash your big stockpot out a little or use another one (you WILL make a big mess making jelly, so just get ready for it).

5. Now, cuz my Mamaw taught me this way, I put 5 and 1/2 to 6 cups of the juice back into the pot. I add 6 & 1/2 C. of sugar, sometimes 7. I don't measure very well. Then, add 1 T of lemon juice, one box of Sure-Jell and 1 big pat of butter (keeps it from sticking so bad). On medium high heat, cook this mixture and stir until everything is dissolved. Keep cooking, say for 10-15 minutes, at a soft rolling boil, stirring occasionally - don't let it stick.

6. Get you a plate and set it beside your stove while you're cookin' and every once in awhile put a drop or two of the jelly mixture onto the plate and let it cool. When the little dabs start getting thick and gooy-er or setting up (it's still going to be liquid-y, but gooey), then it's done. Turn off the stove, and get a scooper - a glass measuring cup works well. I use a 2 cup glass.

7. Scoop up jelly mixture out of the pot and carefully pour into your jars one at a time up to about 1/8" to 1/4" from the top. Make sure that you clean off the top rims of the jars. Then get your magnetic lid picker-up or your tongs and take lids out of the steaming pan and place carefully on top of the jars, and then place the bands on top.

8. I then have two damp washcloths, and keeping the jars level, screw the bands down real tight and turn the jars upside down on the cabinet. Be careful, the jars will be hot! I usually have a little jelly juice left over that won't make an entire sealed jar. I keep an extra jar to the side to pour the leftover jelly into and keep adding to it with each batch. Then I can put a lid on and place in the fridge and that'll be the first jar we'll use.

Inverting the jars while they're hot helps the lids to seal better. Turn them over after awhile and you can sometimes hear them pop. If the lids are not sucked down kinda concave, then it didn't seal good, and you'll need to put in the fridge to eat first. I got eight 8 oz jars with leftover juice. I will be making some more probably tonight or tomorrow night. I gotta pick some more plums. If you don't have time to do the whole thing, you can cook your fruit and get the juice out and freeze it, and then do your jelly later.

Now, the directions on the Sure-Jell package are just as easy, only you cook your juice for just a few minutes and jar and seal and then you have to put them in a canning bath. I do that for other things, but for jelly, this way worked for Mamaw for 50 years, and it's worked for me for 15 years and I'm stayin' with it. If it ain't broke...

Sorry this is so long, but there you go. I've made this recipe with peaches and left more pulp in them to make more of a preserve and they turned out great. Also, with some of dad's concord and muscadine grapes - I love muscadine jelly and it was the prettiest pale pink color!!! I'd like to make some jalapeno jelly this summer, too.

Ok time to sign off. I've wasted (enjoyed) this last hour here at work, and I need to get busy!

Happy Jelling! NOW GO CLEAN UP YOUR BIG MESS!!!

Goat Milk Soap, Farm Bounty

I'm doing a little advertising here for Annie (she doesn't know) at www.anniesgoathill.com and her blog is http://anniesgoathill.blogspot.com/. I've been wanting to try the goatmilk soap and lotion, and ran across her blog. SO, awhile back, I ordered some! I've already about used up one of the soaps even tho they do last longer than a regular bar of soap. I ordered some honeysuckle scented soap and lotion and some lavender scented. She also sent me a sample of plumeria.

Let me tell you, I love them! The soap lathers well and smells wonderful, and you feel squeaky-clean, not dried out. I have to hide it from my husband so he won't use it. The lotion is one of the best I've used. It slips on easily, feels smooth and satiny, and I've started wearing it under my make-up. It doesn't make me oily and feels better than my regular face lotion. When you're 52, you need all the moisterizer you can get. This is good stuff, people! Just wanted to give you the heads up. (sorry I took this picture on my un-made bed as I was running late out the door this morning!)

New topic - can you stand another post about my garden? Well, you're gunna haf to ennyway. I am having so much fun (and work) in my garden and I have been bringin home produce the last few days. Here's a pic of what I got yesterday:

I put up 5 quarts of green beans, there's onions of course, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, I dug a few new potatoes to cook with some beans, and two big Walmart bags of plums! Guess who is making plum jelly tonight!!! I do this every year. I have a little plum tree but Dad has a huge one and I make it nearly every year. Gardening and putting up stuff is a project that my Dad and I do together. I've also got plans to make my Mamaw's Spicy Pickles. I'm saving up my cucumbers AND I grew some dill this year for that little project. I also have some garlic growing and I'll add the peppers to the mix for spice!

This isn't all the bounty. I've gots lots more beans, peppers, broccoli, onions, etc., in the garden. The okra is doing well, but I didn't buy enough plants. Same for the eggplant. I'll do more next year.

I don't know if I'm at the point that I'm saving any money yet on produce. I bought alot of started seedlings and small plants this year because I don't have a place to start them. Tony says that he's going to build me a greenhouse at some point. We had lots of rain awhile back, but it's beginning to taper off and we're having to water. And when you add in all the work, I don't know if it's been very cost effective this year. We'll have to see how we can cut corners in the future, but for now, we can enjoy our home grown veggies and know where they came from and how they've been taken care of.

My plans are to photograph the jelly and pickling process and share with you. They are both great recipes that I've had much success with!Look how purty these plums are! I had to pop several in my mouth as I was washing them last night. Yum. Love em! I gotta get my jars washed and I bought Sure-Jell and new lids yesterday. I still gotta get sugar. I've got my pickling salt, dill, peppers, garlic, celery for the pickles, but will need apple cider vinegar, too.

I absolutely LOVE doing all this. I feel so old-fashioned, but I'm afraid that the younger generation is going to lose all these old skills. I hope there's enough of them out there still to keep up the old ways and keep passing them down. My daughter is not interested, but perhaps in the years to come, she'll come around. She'll feel more domestic after she marries and settles down.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Random stuff....

I promised a picture of the new young lady in Adam's life that is bringing him home to Texas more often. I think she's a doll!I ran across this photo the other day. Thought I'd share it with you. This is my daughter wearing my wedding gown & holding the veil. She found it in the closet and wanted to try it on. It's a perfect fit! Just don't notice the other kids laying on the couches, the fan in the floor and the half of a dog in the foreground. Oh yeah, the TV.This is a random shot of the side of what was once an old sand floor garage. We're using it for storage right now. We plan to pour a concrete floor in. We started to take it down and build a new metal building for a garage, but couldn't bring ourselves to do it. I'm planning a flower bed along this side with daylilies, roses and blue plumbago. I love perennials. I think the oranges of the lilies will look good with the rusty old roof. That roof still doesn't leak...A few shots of my garden (again- ya'll gettin' tired of it?) Shed in the background, sunflowers on the back right, potatoes on back left against the picket fence, corn in front of potatoes, zucchini in the foreground and peppers just the right of those.

CAn you see the tomatoes peeking out from under the leaves? So far so good this year. Last year, I found ONE of those huge light green caterpillars eating his way through one of my plants. Squashed him good! So far, none this year. Below are some green beans about ready for picking. I am trying something new to me this year. I'm staggering planting times for the green beans and peas. That way, they won't all be ready at once and I can harvest and put away in the freezer at 2 different times.

Ok, here's something I thought I'd try - I thought it'd be too hot here in Texas, but so far the broccoli is alive and kicking. I've got several plants and they all have some big heads of broccoli in them almost ready for picking. This is an older picture where they're still kinda small. Also, I had a problem with something eating the leaves, but fortunately sevin dust has taken care of that.

I'll leave you all with a couple of shots of the afternoon sky last week while I was weeding. I was hoping for rain, but we didn't get any at my particular location until a few days later. There were storms blowing up all around us - to the north, to the east and to the west. It was beautiful, it was windy, it was cooler, it was humid, there was lightning and thunder, but not a drop at our farm that day. I sure enjoyed watching the sky tho.

There's nothing like a stormy, cloudy sky to make one feel so insignificant on this big ole earth. And when the sun is trying to peak through amidst all that wonderment, it makes me think that heaven is coming down and the light of the Lord is shining on my face!

Til next time, take care my lovelies!

I Won a Giveaway!

Sorry I've been MIA the last couple of weeks - it's been crazy busy around here. Every spare minute I have (which is not many) is going to the garden. It's so relaxing and enjoyable tho! I don't know how I got to be so sweet and tasty to all the stinging critters this year - chiggers, mosquitos, little biting flies, no see-ums - you name it - it finds me! I don't think I used to be this way. I guess they're just worse. Even my husband is getting more than his usual share.

Here's one of my two wagons at the farm. Just a little bright spot. I have a red wagon, too. They both already had little rotted edges in the wagon just enough for water to drain out and not the dirt. I love 'em with flowers planted in them.

Do you see this beautiful candlestand on the dresser and the vanity? The one with the crystal on top and the pearls, the flowers, and ribbon? Aren't you envious??? Well, I am the new owner of this lovely piece of candle artistry! Sher over at Old Time Me Artist recently had a giveaway and she pulled my name from the hat! She had made a blue one, I think, and then when I won, she asked me what colors I would like - of course, it had to be pink! She's so sweet, AND so creative! I would never have thought to make something like this! It's so unique - now I gotta get over to Hobby Lobby and buy a little pillar candle to put in it - pink, I think!We had a wonderful time over the Memorial Day weekend. Adam showed up and surprised us all. It's usually several months that we go inbetween visits from him from Nashville. I wonder if a particular young lady from our town has anything to do with it??? I'll show you a picture later when I get them loaded!

Another little bright spot by the garden shed...

Meanwhile, update on the garden - I'm gonna have to pick green beans this afternoon. They are about ready. Squash will be ready by this weekend I'm sure. We'll probably have squash coming out our ears! You can only eat so much squash at one time ya know.

Here's our beans - I put up an old rotting picket fence for the beans to climb on. I think I bought pole beans. If they're bush, then so what. I still like the fence up there. It looks real 'gardeny'. (is that a word??)
Taters are doing well, corn's up about 2 feet or so, peppers are growing and I've got tomatoes, too, about to ripen. Things are going well. I sure am enjoying all ya'll's blogs and seeing what ya'll are doing this almost summer!!!

The Garden, etc.

My garden is coming along. I am posting a picture here of it not quite finished. I've since planted corn and green beans and the corn is coming up nicely. I'll get some updated photos for you soon. I've spent the last few days weeding. We had alot of rain until this week and the weeds have really loved it! You won't see my tomatoes here as I moved them over to a more sunny spot. They are in the "orchard" area, as Tony calls it. That's where his pecans, peach and plum tree are. May have to move the entire garden over there if it doesn't do well here this year!


That old fence you see in this picture is coming down soon. We are having pipe fences put up instead. I kinda like that "old timey" fence - looks real "farmy". But we're moving it out about 10 feet on that side of the house to enlarge the front yard and to give us more garden room. I still will probably have to put up some kinda wire fence, too, to keep the critters out. I'm still dealing with moles, however. They like to pull things down from underneath the garden! My dad says we have to share a little with the critters. Well, my garden is not big enough to share! I found 8 different runs yesterday weeding. We've put out traps but so far, they've eluded them and managed to spring 'em without getting caught. Another trait of sandy soil - moles...

This year I planted onions, yukon gold potatoes, some little red potatoes, purple hull peas, cucumbers, yellow & zucchini squash, a few okra just to see if they would flourish in my sandy soil, different kinds of peppers, eggplant, corn, green beans, corn, and a few broccoli (probably got em in the ground too late this year). I really didn't get to enjoy my garden much last year because of being so sick, but am really having fun with it this year.
One of our dear friends, Jay, brought Tony an oak tree to plant in honor of his dad who passed away 3 weeks ago. Some of Tony's office folks brought us a Japanese Red Maple. They wanted to give us something that would last. Tony's dad left us the farm. I really thought that was especially thoughtful to receive these trees. I'm going to have a couple of plaques made for both trees.
We're moving Princess home from college this weekend. I really dread it - the moving part - not having her back home. Her "stuff" has grown and maybe doubled since she left in August last year. We're renting a UHaul truck with her roommate's family and are going to get it all at once and bring it home. Plus we have to clean her apartment real good. Saturday's going to be a long day...

Help - I'm covered with chigger bites! Working at the farm my legs and a couple of places on my arms have unbearably itchy chigger bites that are driving me crazy. I've been using Camphophenique, but it's not helping much. I went to the CVS and they don't carry Chigger-rid anymore. I wonder if Walmart does... I couldn't hardly sleep last night for scratching! I'm using insect repellant while out there, but probably should have re-applied it. Think I'll run to Walmart at lunch...

New topic... I came across this mama donkey and baby the other day down the road from us. They actually let me get this close for a picture - didn't run away at all...

Well, I guess that's all for now. Have to scratch my chigger bites...*$*#(&@#$(*&@$^@$#