Always Learning

I love to learn but it isn't always fun when you learn from your own mistake.

 After Thanksgiving I had an abundance of ham broth so I decided to try my hand at canning beans.

My canning book states adding beans until 1-inch from the top...this turned out to be too many beans. 

I ended up with beans and very little broth! Next time I will put less beans in the jars.

Broth

Making broth is so easy and each year, at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I look forward to making turkey broth.

 This year one of our local stores had celery on sale 3 packages for $1-dollar!

And onions 3-pounds for $1-dollar!

So I bought extra and packaged it up for making soup or stock later in the year.

This year I decided to can my broth instead of freezing it. Now that I am hooked on Tattler lids I find myself wanting to can even more than normal. I just love these lids more and more!

Aside from using broth for soup I like to use it in rice, taco meat or any recipe that calls for water. Broth adds such a wonder flavor and richness to foods.

Giving Unexpected Gifts

 Last week I saw and fell in love with the cutest piggy fabric. 

I thought it would make a fun gift and promptly went to the store for a coordinating kitchen towel. 

 A quick internet search for a printable template (found here); so I didn't have to create my own.

 And quick as a flash I had a towel made and ready to give as a gift.

 I was so happy with the end results.

After the towel was made I began thinking it would go well with a piggy egg beater I had seen earlier this year at a kitchen store.

 Now all that was left was wrapping up the gift. Instead of hunting for a box I decided to use a fabric bag instead.

Not only was the gift completely unexpected but the bag was a big hit as well!

Bread Making

 When I make bread typically I bake it in a traditional glass pan or a long narrow metal pan. The narrow pan makes a loaf similar to store bread which works well when slicing for sandwiches.

However, lately I have been wanting a new pan and thought a traditional pan that was a little longer in length would be nice.

 So today I visited a local kitchen specialty store and found just what I was looking for. It was a whopping $15 bucks but I do bake a lot of bread so I figured $15 would be a good investment.

 My favorite part of the pan are the ends; I love how the metal folds over.

Of course I just had to try out my new pan to make sure I liked it.

And I am very pleased with how it worked.

Assassins Creed

 We love making costumes and over the years we have made a lot of them. But this year Jonathan wanted to make his own.

He plan was to create his own Assassin's Creed costume.

Jonathan did all the sewing with just me guiding him.

 He was very particular about how each piece had to be made.

And I have learned my son is a perfectionist!

All his hard work really paid off.

Pumpkin Harvest

My two pumpkin plant, that I grew in the flower bed, produced 5-pie pumpkins.

 Each one turned out perfect, full of seeds and healthy flesh.

 Again this year I used my pressure cooker when it was time to cook them.

 I really love how the skin just peels off.

Here is my pumpkin puree.

 And the chickens benefited as well.

 All together I ended up with 5 1/2 bags;

Which will be used for pumpkin bread.

Dorothy

  Earlier this year Elizabeth read the book The Wizard of Oz; which was the largest chapter book she has ever read on her own.

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So after reading the book Elizabeth decided to be Dorothy for Halloween.

 

 She already had a Toto dog; thanks to Jonathan bringing her home one after a business trip to Kansas.

We were lucky to find some red shoes at a consignment store.

I'm very happy with the complete set. The fabric for the dress was around $7; the shoes were $3.50 and the basket was $1.50...all in all a nice price for a costume.