Pioneer Woman at Heart

  The process to make homemade vanilla requires vodka.   Here is how I make ours. 1 cup vodka (I use a good quality brand, organic) 5 organic vanilla beans, cut in half and sliced open Place the ingredients into a glass jar, and shake.  Keep in a dark, cool location, and shake often, letting the jars infuse for several weeks.  Strain and store in amber bottles to use for baking. I buy my vanilla beans online, but they have gone up in price like everything else.  Some stores offer organic vodka, while others do not. I use good quality vodka for the making of our vanilla extract. Homemade vanilla extract makes a nice homemade gift. You can buy amber bottles online, or at some health stores, and add a homemade label. Homemade Vanilla Extract  ©  March 2025 by  Kristina  at  Pioneer  Woman at Heart

Sharing another blog draft.  I guess I had plans to make another batch of this jelly, but never did.  I used to make it for gifting family and friends.  The first time making this jelly, was back in August of 2013.  There used to be a link to a free online recipe for this, and since then, the link no longer works. It's actually called Balsamic Vinegar-Ruby Port Jelly , from Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest Publications (2013). I did not do a lot of searching online, but I did see this magazine for sale on ebay and other locations, including an ebook option.   The same magazine also contains a recipe for strawberry margarita jam, that is so good!  It's not reduced sugar, but it is also great for gifting (or for yourself). It is a magazine, but I cannot remember where I picked it up either.  If you search on Bing for the jelly recipe it comes up, but not on Google Chrome (as of this post anyway). The jelly is great for snacking, as in an ap...

I watched a group of 3 deer cross the road yesterday morning, but they turned back and went back across to the river that runs behind us. Later another group of two crossed. Early morning (which brought us home at noon) one daughter and I took Momma cat and her 2 kittens on a road trip.  We found a Humane Society open that would take them.  I gave them a bag of cat food and wrote out a check.  I'm so glad they took them, as our temps will reach up to 96°F this weekend.  It does anger me that I have to pay to have them get a new home, when they were not our cats and 99% sure dumped here.  I believe in karma for people like that.  Kitty's will have a nice place to stay now until they are adopted. I have a friend who is the wife to a co-worker of my husband, who is so stressed over the possibility of another lockdown (and the recent loss of their long time dog).  I decided to make up a basket of goodies to lift her spirits - 4 pack of KY Bourbon ...

Rhubarb is in season now.  Guess what concoction I made?  Well, the title of this blog sort of gave it away, ha ha!  I created rhubarb vodka. You can find the recipe online just about anywhere.  I used the recipe from BBC recipes online, adapted with homegrown and organic ingredients.   Rhubarb Vodka ·          1¾ pints (3 1/2 cups) organic vodka ·          2 stalks of homegrown rhubarb           3 Tbsp sugar ·          Lemon zest from half of one organic lemon or homegrown ·          3 organic whole cloves ·          1 organic cinnamon stick ·           (right after adding the sugar - shake it up when you sprinkle it on the rhubarb) 1.  I used my food processor to chop...

Thursday we had another gorgeous start to the day - sunshine and up to the 70's again.  I weeded the front flower beds. Indoor cleaning always suffers, but I had to take advantage of a good day outdoors.  It needed done badly. I still can't get into the veggie garden. Evening however, brought on major thunderstorms, wind and possible hail.  I was pretty thankful I had not planted the tomato plants or anything for that matter. (wasn't cheap and I still need more, and will add color with zinnia seeds and glady bulbs) This is one small section that edges sidewalk off front porch.  It's a small start.  Needs a few more touches, my rooster planter and then mulch for all the beds.  We lost a few mums over winter, so come fall I'll add a few if I can.  We also lost the granny apple tree, the plum tree died and our large peach tree looks terrible.  The two red apple trees are looking good so far.  Elderberry trees look terrible, but g...

The process of this spring jelly is so intriguing.  It starts out the color of this (above). Wild Violet Jelly 2 cups freshly picked wild violets 2 cups of water, boiled Place violets in a quart canning jar and pour boiling water over it.  Seal with the canning lid, allow to cool, and refrigerate overnight. Day 2 Strain the violets from the liquid and add juice of one lemon or 3 Tbsp. of organic/non-gmo lemon juice.  Pour liquid into a steel pan and add 1 pkg. powdered pectin and bring to a boil. Add:  4 cups of sugar, bring to a boil and boil 1 minute. Power into sterilized jars, wipe rims, add lids and rims and place in canner pot to boil for 15 minutes.  (1/2 inch head space) Cool for 24 hours. Yield:  approx. 4 - 1/2 pint jars or 8 4oz. jars. (3rd time I made this, I squeezed the liquid from the violets, getting 1 more 1/2 pint jar of jelly. Note:  I break this up into 2 days, since it takes a bit of time to pick all those vio...