November Writing Month ~ Pear Butter with Sherry

November 1st sparked the start of National Novel Writing Month, and I am back to it this year.  Last year I didn't get to participate, but this year I am fired up. 

Of course it helps to know that I need to submit a contest short story piece, but that will only entail 8,000 words.  NaNoWriMo requires 50,000 words in 30 days.

Baking continues . . . 

English muffins for some breakfast sandwiches.  A sausage/potato/kale frittata as well.

All of my regular chores are still in action too, so I'm hoping to keep a balance somehow.   And of course our Staywell health insurance program has a bonus day on Nov.1st to obtain 15,000 steps (to earn 50 points).  So exercise was not left out either.

Garden work continues, although cold.  I'm yanking green bean plants, weeds, and a few last tomato plants/stakes.  If there is a will, there is a way. . . and I call it quits when I can't feel my fingers any more.  The days are getting colder. 

Although rain arrived again, so that put a delay on it (again).  But the rain brought us a 64°F day too (smiling).  The wind was wicked, so I hope it dried up the garden.  It was pretty wet out there yesterday.  It's very dark out still, so I can't see yet if what I heard at midnight was rain or not.

Speaking of green beans.  I left some pods on the table before taking Youngest Daughter to the doctor the other day.  Even though the older daughter was here, the dogs got into those beans.  I found chewed up seeds at the doorway.  I picked them up and reached my hand out to see who was the culprit.  Zuri licked my hand, and King went around the table and hid behind Zuri.  Hm.  I pretty sure King swiped my seeds.  

When we picked the pears, I placed a few into a brown paper bag to speed up the ripening time.  Pears ripen after they are picked, so every one we picked directly from the tree was rock hard.  Those from the ground were halfway ripe.
  

Pear butter was made.  Although I love the pear butter with star anise, I made a new recipe this time. Because I have sherry to use up.

The chickens loved their sweet treat of peelings too.

3 lbs. pears, peeled, diced
1 cup dry sherry
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Place all ingredients, but the cinnamon, in large pot, bring to a boil, reduce heat 1 hour or until liquid evaporates.  Find something to do near the kitchen - deep clean a drawer, wash a window, as for me?  I wrote. I put towels on the line, I made herbal tea for my sick daughter, and made myself lunch.

Process in a food processor until smooth.  Stir in cinnamon.  Don't forget the cinnamon.  I did, ha ha!  Darn multi-tasking failure!  I had to stir it in after I had the jars filled.


I'm not sure if you can freeze this.  Does anyone know?  I know you can make it with pectin and freeze it. Hm.  I put mine in the fridge to enjoy right now.

I love my homemade calendula cream.  It's a nice spreadable lotion that soaks in after a minute or so. Probably the best combination of ingredients I've tried for a lotion.  I'm using it on my varicose veins too, as winter is arriving and my legs are getting dry skin. The site has a ton of adds, but if you want the recipe it is online with Natural Living Ideas.  It's basically made with calendula infused oil, beeswax, water, and essential oil.  I purchased a hand blender just for making these lotions too.  I have labeled the box it's stored in, so no one uses it with a food recipe.  I have another one I have stored that I use only for soap making too (with lye).  Just some info.

I love the make up remover wipes I made.  They work great, but you have to use a cleanser afterwards, or a bar of goat's milk soap (thankful to still have some). 

I have to buy more vitamin E oil now, as my bottle is down to the bottom.  Does anyone have a resource to purchase it (a good quality of oil)?  This last bottle came from Mountain Rose Herbs, and was rather expensive.

Have a good weekend.

Storing Sweet Potatoes without a Root Cellar/Basement

I have found several ways to store up my sweet potatoes this winter.  Aside from the potato bin indoors, and the burlap bags in another cool/dark room, I am stocking them up in other recipes.

Ginger-Brown Sugar Sweet Potato Butter.

This is a Better Homes and Gardens canning recipe, but it is not boil canned. It goes in the freezer.  Recipe is not online, but is in their magazine (Canning, preserving, freezing and drying) and book I believe.

Frozen Mashed Sweet Potatoes.  I had been told by so many people "you can't freeze potatoes."  I beg to differ.  You can, but you bake and mash them first.  I add nothing to them.

I have been very successful with this process (this works well with white potatoes as well).  I bake the sweet potatoes, mash them, and freeze them on a baking sheet in 1/2 cup servings.  I take them out, and place them in container or freezer bags and simply heat in the oven when needed for meals.  I used foil the last time to line my sheets and the foil stuck to the potatoes.  I used parchment paper this year, and it worked perfect.

Aside from enjoying these with a meal, I can also thaw them to use for sweet potato breads, muffins, and even brownies.

Also, freeze the white mashed potatoes (or red), in 1/2 cup servings.  I utilize this for making rolls too vs. using "potato flakes" in the recipe I use.

You can always dehydrate sweet potatoes as well.  This will be my first year and test tasting them this way.  I have dehydrated (and canned) white potatoes in the past, but the texture after dehydrating is not the best tasting.

And for the first time, I will wrap a few up in newspaper and attempt at growing my own slips without a root cellar/basement.  I'll be storing them in the refrigerator or in a burlap bag of their own.   According to my research, the larger the sweet potato, the longer it will keep in a cool/dark location.


As for storing white/red potatoes?  Canning (pressure canning) has been the best option for me, along with freezing them mashed in single servings.  The taste is much better than dehydrating. 

You can pressure can sweet potatoes too, but I have yet to purchase a pressure canner. I borrowed one to can the white potatoes (to give it a try and check out one of the brands).

You can read my post on our experience canning the white potatoes: here.