Happy Thanksgiving!

May your Thanksgiving be relaxing, peaceful, fun, and safe!

Canning, Bourbon and Crochet ~ Cherry Bourbon BBQ Sauce

Tuesday started out just gorgeous.  Caught these photos after seeing it going out to fetch firewood.  Just makes a person smile.  

BBQ pork chops went into crock pot yesterday.  We had leftover wild rice, and it was a perfect match.  The sauce is home canned, with added fresh onion, green pepper etc.  Yum.  Recipe is in the cookbook, "Fix it and Forget it."  Although I think it's called "Spicy" not BBQ in the book.

Now if you just read the blogpost title and wondered (hiccup) if I indulged (hiccup) in that bourbon or (hiccup) not .  .  . 

 . . . Cherry-Bourbon BBQ Sauce was canned. Recipe is a "pile to file" keeper recipe.  I've had this on my list for over a year now.  It's from "The All New Ball Book of Canning and Preserving @ 2016."   And you bet I tasted it right away.  Yum!    I would recommend it for gift giving for any occasion too.  You can use it on meat, fish, rice or other grain, on burgers, in other recipes...endless ideas.

I couldn't get my towels out on the line until noon, but the high winds dried it spankin' fast.  The sun was out too. 

Yesterday's snack?  Pumpkin hummus.  Mmmm.

It was also a day to blanch and freeze 3 bundles of organic dandelion greens, pick some more kale, and bring in one egg from my free loaders.  The kale is in this morning's breakfast.  I'm thankful it's still producing.

I got up extra early this morning, to make a fresh hot breakfast (not a reheated one Hubby usually takes to work).  Why?  Well, ha ha!  Oh boy.  I watched him walk out the door with pancakes on a plate with syrup and a fork.  There was no stopping him either.  It could have been bad with him driving and eating pancakes to work.  He arrived safely and on time, but today he'll not get away with do that.  

I'm making omelets - onion, red pepper, potatoes, ham and kale.  Gotta get them greens ya' know.

Teabag Tidbits

Well, I knocked Monday off the week with a bang - bills paid, recipes filed back where they need to be, one tossed out, groceries done, library returns done, some wood work cleaned, laundry done (it dried in 20 degree weather because it was very windy), and a crock pot dinner. 

I had plans to can on Monday.  Ha ha ha ha!  Yeah, didn't happen.  Bill paying hasn't been fun lately, so it was either chamomile tea or a shot of whiskey.  Not to alarm the kids, I drank the tea. 

Short post today. Enjoy your Tuesday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

I'm joining Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom, for Happy Homemaker Monday.  How happy is your Monday today?  Well, school break started today.  That makes me happy.  I have company and help.  I used my photo of the flourless brownies to remind myself we are due to have them again.  I have more homemade whiskey butterscotch sauce to use, and it's perfectly paired with them.  It's also good drizzled over a coffee cake too, so that may be on the menu too.



On the breakfast plate. . . 

 Coffee, burrito with egg, potato, sausage, beans and cowboy candy.


Right now I am. . .
Sorting bills.  


The weather outside. . .
Cold but sunny.


Looking around the house. . . 
I see we really need to get the Christmas totes put back in the garage.  That way I can get around the living room much easier, and get back to exercise again.  The house is looking very festive however.


On the to-do list. . .
-laundry
-clean kitchen window woodwork
-clean more woodwork in bedroom
-groceries
-clean up and put away Christmas totes
-scrub the tub
-pay bills
-library returns and pick ups
-crack more walnuts
-scrub dog bowls
-work on barn wood
-bring in firewood



On the menu this week . . .

Sunday: Meatballs with home canned pepper mustard sauce wild rice, and corn
Monday:  Sweet potato Chili
Tuesday:  BBQ pork chops, brown rice or quinoa, green beans
Wednesday:  Chicken Teriyaki
Thursday:  
Friday:  Cod, spinach, garlic mashed potatoes
Saturday:  Leftovers



If I have a minute to myself today I will . . .
Work on the scarves for the upcoming craft sale.


New recipe I want to try or tried. . .
 New roll recipes.  Just need to get some time to try them. Oh, and chocolate marshmallows, and a few others.


Looking forward to this week . . .
Skipping Thanksgiving!!!!!!  No baking, no cooking, no rushing around, no dirty dishes to wash!!!  Woohoo!  I am very much looking forward to getting past the entire week healthy!!!  I'm still in the spirit, and may even be able to visit some family, but so less stressed this year.


Favorite photo from the camera. . .

Devotional, Scripture, Key Verses, Quotes . . .
 

First Snow

As Hubby made my breakfast, I glanced out the window and said, "it's snowing!"  He didn't believe it either, but the kids came downstairs and told me it was actually snowing for three hours Saturday night.   Our first snow.

Our pouring down rain on Saturday turned to snow by late evening.  It snowed most of Sunday, and it was cold.  Nothing on the ground this morning though, but a chilly 28° F here.

The pears are disappearing again.  I rolled out  a pie crust.

Look who was "eye-spying" that pie crust too!  Ha ha!

While the guys (we had help arrive) worked on replacing the two year old wheel bearing, I baked another pear gingersnap pie.  They were drooling over it and couldn't wait to cut a piece.  

While the guys worked outside in the bitter cold, I worked on some crochet work until the pie was done.  Meatballs went in for dinner right after that.

Hubby's nephew had his first piece of pear pie, and he asked if I sold them, ha ha!  I sadly told him no, and that there were no more pears, but a few (aside from what I froze).  I'm sure he enjoyed his piece slathered with homemade whiskey butterscotch sauce.

I would have slept in a bit more this morning, had I known that school break started.  I went to get Youngest up, and she told me in a groggy voice, "on break Mom." 

 Look what we were gifted!  Cute, right?   Well, I may join the Happy Homemaker post today later.  I guess we'll see. I am glad I have helpers today, and the remainder of the week too.
 

Rain, rain, and more rain

I'm posting without any photos for the first time in a long time.  It rained the entire day yesterday.  All day long, dark, dreary, and the type of weather you'd want to curl up with a book or crochet.

We ran errands.  It was miserable driving weather, but we did.  I was upset, only because we were rushed for time, I forgot to grab my crochet work. 

We had a 1 hour drive to get to the bank we needed to get to, and I forgot my stinkin' crochet.  I was beside myself.  Wasted that time, but enjoyed talking with Hubby.  He thought it was funny I was so flabbergasted I had nothing in my hands. 

We accomplished our stops, and I came home without my new circular knitting needles.  I'll have to drive in another direction, on another day to search for them.  I needed a US size 15, and they only had up to 11. I will have to find a Jo-Ann Fabrics to find them I think.  Our store in the "big city" closed years ago.  Nothing is easy to get to when you live in the boonies.

We returned home and had this crazy idea we'd go dancing.  The band Hubby hired for my surprise birthday was in town, but not playing until 9pm.

We crawled in bed and took a nap to prepare.

Or so we though we were preparing, ha ha!  I had ideas for what to wear, and we were both excited. 

Until we lost our excitement and decided to eat dinner in bed, watch netflix and turn in early, ha ha ha ha!

I'll regret not going dancing, but I'm sure they will play again in our area.   

We are now both well rested folks, and I'm feeling much much better, so sleeping in and napping yesterday helped.  It's very wet out, so we are limited to outdoor work, but Hubby has truck repairs that he never got to yesterday.  I am not sure what today will entail, but the fact we are healthy, and rested is a bonus.

Adding to Hubby's to-do list, is fix my Grandma's Christmas tree.  The ceramic one.  The cord needs replaced.  The original cord has been on it since I was a kid.  We'll be taking at least a look at it and deciding if we can even replace it.  I'm not even sure we can still purchase the light bulbs for it anymore.  I guess we'll be finding out. 

Fields are flooded today, and we went from a 58° day to a 37° morning.  I'm sure I'll be sloshing through wetness to get to the barn today.  Or rowing out there in the boat, ha ha!

A Peek at One Christmas Tree

I really need another tree for all the handmade ornaments I have. They are either made by me (80%), my grandmother, or my kids.  This one, I made.  I purchased a pattern from Etsy a few years back, and sold them at the Farmer's market.  They were well loved.  I should make some more if I have time.  Many of these ornaments have been shared on my blog before too.

Candy cane crocheted by my one Grandma.  She also crocheted us tree ornament stockings.  I haven't found mine yet in the box.

Only one of these were made (by me).  Our library closed, and we had to drive to the "big city" to another library.  I went home with a ton of Christmas books, and found the pattern to make this guy.  I have yet to find the same book (should have written it down).  I just love it.  Made from a wooden clothespin.

A drum, created from half of a toilet paper roll.  The drum sticks are toothpicks with tiny pom poms glued to them.  I made enough of these one year for an entire elementary class.

I loved participating in my kids Christmas parties when they were in elementary school.  Each year I tried to rotate the holiday's so each kid was spoiled with the Christmas one.  I would make an handmade ornament (with great detail), and wrap each one for each student.  Of course there were goodie bags and a homemade snack too.  Oh those were the good ol' days.  Some classes had up to 30 students too.

Those are the only ones I took photos of this year, but if I take more I'll share more.  Just for nostalgic reasons, I may drive up to the "big city" some day and check out the Christmas book selection.  I miss that.  I do miss making the ornaments too.

Each Christmas I'd make one for each family member.  When Mom downsized her tree, she gave away all of my ornaments.  Sort of made me sad.  So, I stopped doing it.  I also got the hint that another had enough.  Again, it depressed my Christmas spirit.  However, I now want to make more for the kids that have moved out, and will have a tree of their own (one already does).

Thanks for listening to my Christmas tree ornament ramble.  It brought back a lot of good memories.  I'll leave you with a photo of one of  six snowmen.  My Aunt gifted them to me before she passed away.  They now decorate the house, in various places, leaving smiles along the way.

It's a full blown rainy day here today.  I slept in until almost 9am.  It felt great too.  Breakfast was made yesterday, so I don't have to even do that today - blueberry, wholewheat pancakes, and sausage.  And coffee of course.  I'm feeling better, but guess who has the sniffles?  Hubby.  He is working to hard, so I hope he takes it easy today.   He has repair work to do on the truck, and we can split wood under the barn roof, but it's easy-does-it for him today.