Author: Amy

Cooking · Home

Water Bath Canning Equipment

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Before I post about my awesome strawberry jam from last weekend, here's another pre-post on canning equipment.  Essential Equipment for Water Bath Canning 1. Water bath canner.  I have a 7 quart jar Water-Bath Canner  that I bought on sale at Westlake last summer for about $17.  A water bath canner is basically a giant pot… Continue reading Water Bath Canning Equipment

Garden

Transplanting

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Tonight was all about transplanting.  No not organs - plants! Remember the little seedlings I cared for all spring indoors?  Well this week I've been moving them to their more permanent homes in the garden.  Finally the timing is right.  I'm not out of town, it's not threatening a light frost at night, the ground… Continue reading Transplanting

Garden

Funny Things I Learned When I Started Gardening

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I still need to get my canning pictures from last weekend organized into a post.  Last night I was too busy in the garden.  I picked two more huge bowls of strawberries!  I posted on Facebook that I might have to set up a strawberry stand at the end of my driveway or start peddling them… Continue reading Funny Things I Learned When I Started Gardening

Food

“Putting Up” Food

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This past Saturday night I had a late night jam session.  If I were Benzo that would mean playing guitar with a bunch of my buddies.  But for me that actually means staying up late to make homemade jam. I was going to post the whole jam-making and canning process in one post, but I feel… Continue reading “Putting Up” Food

Garden

Strawberry Protection

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The other day, David commented on strawberries and how the birds beat him to his first crop of red strawberries.  It's so frustrating to go out to the garden and find this: Ugh!  A perfect berry is ruined!  The birds love all kinds of berries and will eat your strawberries faster than you can imagine if… Continue reading Strawberry Protection

Garden

First Bunch of Collards

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Last night's harvest included my very first bunch of collard greens! They have been looking pretty good for awhile now but I didn't want to pick them until I knew I would eat them immediately.  After all the hard work in the garden last night, I came inside and had to shower right away.  Since the… Continue reading First Bunch of Collards

Garden

Zucchini Sprouts

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Tonight I went out to the garden after my run and was pleasantly surprised to find that the zucchini seeds I planted a couple weeks ago are sprouting.  This is what a zucchini sprout looks like: There's one sprout coming up on each of the two hills I planted.  I'm happy that I have at… Continue reading Zucchini Sprouts

Baking

Maple Butter Pecan Cupcakes

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I could tell you what I made for dinner tonight, but I think this is a lot more exciting: I've had these cake mixes in the back of my pantry for at least a year, maybe longer.  I've known in the back of my mind that they were going to expire soon and that I… Continue reading Maple Butter Pecan Cupcakes

Cooking

Freezing and Fonduing Strawberries, But Not Necessarily In That Order

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Last night I washed and beheaded that big bowl of strawberries I picked on Sunday.  With the tops it ended up being 5 pounds 12 ounces of strawberries!  This is my first significant strawberry harvest.  I'm so pumped! I wanted to get the majority of the berries in the freezer right away because I know… Continue reading Freezing and Fonduing Strawberries, But Not Necessarily In That Order

Garden

Bush Bean Sprouts

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The bush beans have sprouted!  Benzo took these pictures on Sunday night while I was in the midst of my marathon strawberry-picking session.  I planted these bush beans two weeks ago today. Bush bean sprouts are pretty big.  Lettuce and carrots sprouts are fairly tiny and could easily be mistaken for weeds.  But you'd have… Continue reading Bush Bean Sprouts