Canning Raspberry Jam

This past weekend we went to the local u-pick and scrounged up 4 lbs of raspberries. The bushes were pretty picked over by the time we arrived. Some deep bush diving was necessary and scratches and thorns were endured, but we filled one ice cream bucket. Even Monkey joined in on the fun. I made a batch of raspberry lavender jam from Canning for a New Generation which came out nice and not cloyingly sweet.

As I prepared the jam, my mom received a call from her neighbour who needed someone to come pick her raspberries before they started falling to the ground. Raspberries have been scares this year so I was thrilled to pick more. Within a half hour we filled our buckets and we would have kept going if it wasn't for the rain beating down on us. There were still so many raspberries begging to be picked. Fear not little raspberries I will be back in a few days and then you too will become delicious raspberry jam.

My little raspberry.

I use the neighbor's raspberries for a batch of quick raspberry jam from Put 'em Up!. It was my first time using Pomona's Universal Pectin and I had some fruit floating issues. Maybe I didn't stir the jam off heat long enough. Anybody else have experience using Pomona's pectin?

Seven Quick Takes (no. 5)

Is it Friday already? Actually I thought it was Saturday this morning but when Hubby slipped out of bed for work I realized that it was Friday.

1 - Why are puffed wheat squares so addicting? I could eat a whole tray. I've only ever made the recipe my mom used when we were children. Do you have a special recipe that you use?

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 butter
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
8 cups puffed wheat

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat on medium until butter melts. Bring the mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and then pour over puffed wheat in a large bowl. Mix until all the puffed what are evenly coated. Press into a 9 by 13 inch pan. Let cool and enjoy!

2 - World Youth Days is happening in Madrid, Spain but apparently 1.5 million Catholics gathering to see the Pope isn't as newsworthy as those protesting the Pope's visit.

3 - Canning has been a struggle this summer. The cold rainy weather has significantly affected crops so there hasn't been much locally grown produce to preserve. When we go South for our holidays I plan to bring my canning gear along and have a few canning sessions.

4 - Tomorrow is rabbit butchering day. We have 18 rabbits to butcher and luckily a few extra helping hands.

5 - Borage flowers taste like cucumbers and go very well with this Asian Cucumber Ribbon Salad. Borage plants also get three feet tall and are taking over my very small raised garden bed. Next year, I'll need to plant them elsewhere.

6 - The fruit flies in our home are very annoying. Any suggestions? I've tried a jar with apple cider vinegar and a funnel on top. I caught a few this way but not enough.

7 - I am craving authentic Japanese ramen and Korean BBQ. We don't have restaurants that offer this kind of cuisine around here so I'm making a list of places to check out on our trip.

Homemade Toothpaste

Today we ran out of toothpaste. I had a brief moment of sadness when I ditched the empty bottle of Green Beaver Green Apple Toothpaste. Why? Well, I had finally gotten use to the flavour.

Making my own toothpaste has been on my DIY list for some time. I came across a non-toxic toothpaste recipe over on Crunchy Catholic Momma and picked up the ingredients months ago. Most of the items I already had on hand. Mixing everything together took five minutes, at most, and I was optimistic about my jar of homemade paste. It smelled nice.

I carried the jar to the washroom, took a picture of it, and decided to give it a try. I put a good dollop on my toothbrush and stuck it in my mouth. Have you ever eaten a muffin and unexpectedly got a chunk of baking soda that didn't quite mix in with the rest of the batter. Yes, well, the way your taste buds revolt in that scenario is about a fraction of what they do when you stick a glob of homemade toothpaste in your mouth. For some reason I failed to register that the main ingredient was baking soda and I was over optimistic that xylitol and peppermint would mask the BS flavour.

I got through the brushing session by holding my breath, effectively numbing my tastebuds. Granted after a thorough rinsing my teeth felt very clean and there was no weird aftertaste. I have a cup of this toothpaste to contend with. Should I force myself to use it (it's non-toxic) and hopefully get use to it? Or should I go and pick up another tube of Green Beaver toothpaste?

Seven Quick Takes (no. 4)

1 - Everybody has to suffer. The one thing about reading the news or even reading other blogs that I find difficult is hearing about all the suffering that people are experiencing. Everybody suffers in one way or another. Fr. Stan Fortuna captures this reality in his funky monk rap song Everybody Got To Suffer. Hearing about others' suffering makes my heart ache. Today I read about a lady, Jennie, that recently and suddenly lost her husband to a heart attack. To remember him she has asked that people make her husbands favorite creamy peanut butter pie. I've written down the ingredients and plan on making it this weekend.

2 - Pretty things make me smile. At little while ago Banner Boutique on Etsy had a sale and I splurged on a couple headbands for Sweetpea. They are adorable but I'm not sure how I'll convince my little sweetie to keep them on her head.

3 - My husband enjoys computer games and today he bought a couple for me. He quickly reassured me that he only spent $3 for the two games he purchased. The first one is called Machinarium and the second is Broken Sword 3. I tried the first game tonight. It's a puzzle type of game and quite fun. This is significant for me to say because I don't play computer games, at least not for long, and I'm very picky about what I do play.

4 - Tomorrow I must go to the farmers' market. After saying this for three weeks and not going I must go tomorrow. The problem is we've had so much rain that there really hasn't been much produce at the market.

5 - Washing the floors is my least favorite household task. Everybody has a task they shirk away from doing. For some it's laundry, others can bring themselves to clean the bathroom but for me it's washing the floors.

6 - We lost over 75lbs of frozen pork earlier this week. Monkey turned off the freezer. He must had done it over a week ago. We didn't even realize that you could turn it off using the temperature control gauge. They say not to cry over spilled milk, but rotting pork is a whole other matter. I did cry as I cleaned up the stinky mess and lugged the garbage bag full of pork I had just purchased a few weeks ago to the garbage dump.

7 - It's coming up to a year since my friend Rachael and her boyfriend Jonathan went missing while hiking. Recently Rachael's family set up a memorial for her on the mountain she was hiking. Jonathan's family has organized another search effort for the next couple weeks and hope that they will discover the remains of Rachael and Jonathan. Please keep Rachael and Jonathan and their families in your prayers in the next coming weeks.

Delightfully Sunny

Times flies by when you are having fun! The weather outside has been beautiful and sunny. We've been taking advantage of it as much as we can. We've been spending time at the lake, soaking in the rays, eating Popsicles on the grass and jumping through the sprinkler.

Today I met up with a friend and her little ones at the city's annual exhibition fair. It was Monkey's first time on rides and he loved it. We had such a fun time.

Hello Horsey

This morning we went to visit Mamou while she took her horseback riding lesson. She has been taking riding lessons for half a year but she isn't new to horseback riding. She grew up on a farm and was fierce barrel racer, or so I've heard. I think most of her riding experience was Western, but she seems to be enjoying the challenge of English riding.

Her goal for this morning was to introduce Monkey to the idea of horseback riding in the hopes that one day her grandson might become a high horse jumper. Whoah! Wait a second! That sounds dangerous... and wasn't I was the one that wanted to ride horses when I was young.

Now Monkey is only three and won't be taking horse riding lessons for a while. Mamou hopes that he will visit her at riding lessons once a month to get him used to seeing and being around horses. I think it's pretty cute and honestly I like the idea of horseback riding over many other popular sports.

Today I was surprised that Monkey was eager to climb on top of the huge (and beautiful!) horse. He didn't want to get off. He even helped to brush the horse afterward with little prompting. We'll see what the future holds.

Seven Quick Takes (no. 3)

1 - We've had more sun the last couple days. Enough sun that I was able to hang some clothes to dry... and it actually dried. Imagine that! We're enjoying the sunshine immensely!

2 - Since I've already confessed my enjoyment of Asian dramas I might as well admit that I want to eat the food that I always see on the shows. Maangchi has a good collection of Korean recipes but getting some of the exotic ingredients up here aren't easy. Any Koreans out there that read my blog? Can you send me some ingredients? Just thought I'd ask. Tonight I settled for Japanese food, which was very tasty.

3 - I finished knitting my shirt. Well, almost. It just goes to show how much time I've spent watching Asian dramas lately. No I'm not neglecting my children or husband or home. I just go to bed much too late. I still need to figure out how to attach the I-cord edging on the shirt. I'm a little lost on this one... but I've got two episodes of My Princess left to figure it out.

4 - Tomorrow is farmers' market day. I'm hoping to return with some goodies to can. Some apricots would be great!

5 - Do you ever look at your little one(s) and think "I have the cutest kids in the world!" and really believe it. It's funny how that works.

6 - My husbands vacation time is coming up. There are so many places that would be fun to visit. I'm torn about what we should do. We'll be definitely going South... but how far South that's the question.

7 - I recently came across a line of certified organic makeup called Zuii that our local health food store started to carry. I haven't tried it. I don't wear much makeup these days. But, it sounds interesting. Interesting enough to try?

Addicted to Asian Dramas

I have become proficient at knitting while reading subtitles. Yes, I've had a lot of practice. I don't even notice the subtitles half the time and I've picked up a few Japanese and Korean words along the way. I'll tell about some of the dramas I've watched. You can click on the link to watch the shows for free over on dramacrazy.net.

I started watching Asian dramas while our first Korean student was staying with us. She introduced me to the South Korean drama Boys Over Flowers (꽃보다 남자). This show is based on the Japanese manga Hana Yori Dango. The plot is about a gang of four guys (F4) that attend a yuppie high school. The leader of the pack Joon Pyo has a nasty temper and beats up on kids in the school. One day, Geum Jan-di, a poor girl that gets into with a scholarship, stands up to Joon Pyo and kicks him in the head. There is also a Japanese drama based on the same story called Hana Yori Dango. I've watched both dramas and while the Korean drama is newer (2009) and prettier, it's drawn out in places and has a bit too much crying. The Japanese drama flows better but its less pretty (2005). They both have their great moments and I enjoyed both.

The next drama I watched was Shinning Inheritance. A bit of a Cinderella story. Go Eun Sung's stepmother takes away everything she has, including her brother, and leaves her to fend for herself. One day Eun Sung cares for an elderly lady that has temporary amnesia. The lady is in fact the CEO of a food company and becomes a sort of fairy godmother to Eug Sung, something her grandson is not interested in. It's a cute drama, but it made me want to eat Korean food every time I watched it.

Asian dramas are not like America soap operas where you can't keep straight whos sleeping with who. No, while I'm sure there might be Asian dramas like this, the ones I watch aren't. The dramas I watch usually have a love story or triangle, perhaps a rich guy and a poor girl and some predictable crying and stuff. But, it's usually clean and cute.

One of my favorite dramas so far is City Hunter. It's a story about revenge and love. The main male actor is the same who acts as Joon Pyo in Boys Over Flowers. The story is more complex than most dramas I've watched and there's action! It reminds me of Mission Impossible, Batman, Superman and Robin Hood mixed together, minus the super powers. This is one that guys might even watch. The first few episode are gripping.

There are so many dramas out there. Hubby and  I have have watched the quirky Taiwanese drama Hi My Sweetheart. I recently watched Secret Garden, a popular Korean drama where the main male and female actors swap bodies. And currently, I'm knitting my way through My Princess.

So, if you are looking for something fun to watch start an Asian drama. Or better yet, let me know which ones are your favorites. In the future I might tell you about my favorite Asian music artists :) 

The Rain

While parts of the world are experiencing raging temperatures and droughts, here it is cold and rainy. The rain has caused flooding in some areas. Farmers are worried because their crops are rotting in their fields. Honestly, I cannot remember such a summer. Maybe the calendar is wrong, could it possible be September or October?

When we're brave we put on our rain gear and go outside. It isn't great being stuck inside all the time. But, this week it looks like we may have a little less rain and a little more sun. I hope this will be the case.