Hi, I have just made some Christmas mincemeat, which basically uses currants, raisins, apples, other fruits and brandy and have already packed the mixture into mason type jars.  I need to probably use the hot water bath method for canning but dont know what to do.  I will be using a tall saucepan which can only take three jars at a time.  To sterilise the jars I put a tea towel in the bottom of the pan and will probably need to keep the tea towel in pan for hot water bath.

What do I do for this method and any ideas on recommended time for canning please??

In our kitchen, I have a couple of lamb shanks cooking in the crockpot in a red wine and rosemary sauce.  I have also made little pocekts in the lamb shanks and put in tiny sprigs of rosemary and slithers of garlic.  We are having these with boiled potatoes and mixed vegetables.  I can't wait.

****Changing the subject****

Does anyone have any ideas for home-made Christmas gifts (by the way I do not sew as yet but need to start using the sewing machine fairly soon) but any edible gifts or any other easy gift ideas would be brilliant.  We really need to cut down costs this year so hence any ideas would be great.

Have a blessed day

When I went downstairs this morning there was a package for Andrew & myself from America.  My dear friends Gloria & Bill sent us 12 packets of different herbal teas, a pen for Andrew (with his name on), a small window plaque which is lovely plus a wedding card.  We were both so blessed by all the different teas we received and are looking forward to trying them.  This dear couple have been friends of mine for around 3 years now and we keep in contact by email, telephone calls and Glorai & I belong to a women's internet ministry site called Esther. 

Here is the gift we received:

Andrew had a wonderful birthday. We went out for breakfast and then we went onto a place called Wisley Gardens which is beautiful - the gardens are just exquisite with a large glass house where there are all kinds of tropical & forest plants etc.  Lots of woodland, lake, sculptures and so on. The weather was perfect all day.  We then went out for a meal in the evening to a local Restaurant/Pub where the food was excellent along with the atmosphere too. The staff kept making a fuss of Andrew and I had made a cake so when this was bought out, everyone in the restaurant sang Happy Birthday to Andrew.  It was a perfect end to a perfect day.  Andrew thoroughly enjoyed the day too.

Birthday Pics:

Have a blessed day

I am sitting here wrapped up like a cocoon :lol. It is cold here in my office and I am wearing a skirt, teashirt, jumper (not that thick), fleece jacket and a pair of socks and it is 20th September........I do feel the cold quite easily but there is no way we are going to put the heating on yet.  I love this time of year but not sure about the cold weather :lol!

Tomorrow is DH birthday so I have just finished wrapping a couple of gifts for him, one of which is from Bizkit our cat.  I have booked a table at a restaurant in a village just down the road.  We are going out for breakfast in the morning and then we may go for a drive/walk in the afternoon.

I am going to need to make some more bread on Monday - this is not my baking day but we have practically run out so needs must.  I dont need to make any more cakes this week as there is still a fair amount in the freezer and besides which, I am trying to run the freezer down now so that come November, I can start thinking about stocking up for Christmas.

Christmas, hmm I am already starting to think about this and I will start to make cards soon plus draw up a gift list.  I am planning on making a couple of Christmas puddings, one of which will be for my mother-in-law & her husband. I will also be making a cake this year but it won't be the traditional Christmas Fruit cake. I am not sure what I will make yet but later on I will give this some thought.

As this is our first Christmas together, it will just be DH, myself & our cat Biz, which will be lovely.  I will start to put together a menu within the next couple of months. I may also make some edible gifts this year too.

DH will be home from work soon, I am working until 6pm. We will be having breaded fish for dinner with potatoes & peas I think - the menu this month has totally gone to pot!

Have a wonderful blessed weekend

Yesterday has been a real eye opener in regards to the above as I had no idea that canning (or bottling) as we call it in the U.K. is so popular over here.  I came across a fantastic forum which has been set up by River Cottage and I can't believe how informative it is.  The forum covers everything from pig farming to canning/bottling, making soap to craft questions etc and is brilliant. I would highly recommend anyone from Homestead Blogger to check it out - here

I have also found a local cookware store in my town that sells mason jars but they are expensive. They range in price from $5.50 - $11.00 per jar.  I have also found out that you can purchase canning utensils in a store here called Lakeland (there are only a small number of stores in the U.K.).  I am not sure if you can purchase a hot water kettle over here.  A lot of people tend to use a good quality large pan with a solid bottom.  They recommend putting a tea cloth in the bottom of the pan so that the glassware does not come into contact with the actual pan.

We also have other jars that are used called Kilner Jars and these are again, around the same price as the Mason Jars.  Though, you can purchase these slightly cheaper at the Lakeland store (which is a brilliant cookware/craftware store).

Here are pics of the Mason & Kilner Jars I now have:

Any canning recipies would be so much appreciated please if possible, along with any tips etc that you have.  I am so pleased to have found the Mason Jars though I have to say and for the fact that canning over here is more popular that I first thought - way to go!

The last couple of days havent been too busy but I did do some baking over Thursday & Friday. I made some pound cake cupcakes and these turned out really well plus I used my new Food Mixer for the first time woo hoo. Yesteray I used the mixer for Crystal's bread that I made again - this time the dough turned out much lighter and the bread is so yummy. I must admit that using the mixer to knead the dough is much better than doing this by hand and easier too! I also made another pineapple upside down cake which we will eat over the next few days.

For dinner last night, I did Hungarian Goulash which was supposed to be a vegetarian version but I added some sausage to it and this too was lovely, we had this with rice.

I went to the market this morning for our weekly vegetables plus I bought eating & cooking apples. I picked some runner beans and swede from the garden this morning too.

Other News:

Yesterday, the third largest travel agency in the UK collapsed leaving 67,000 stranded worldwide so provision is being made to return people home.....things are just going crazy and I guess a lot of this is due to fuel prices going sky high (no pun intended!) but this is not good.  I really pray that these people get reimbursed.  I think we read on the news that insurance is going to cover these thousands who are stranded. It is awful for the staff too as they now need to find new jobs.............................

and finally:

I received a letter from Damaris' adoptive parents and I would just like to share this. I am so so so proud of my daughter, for 13 years old she is one very gifted child.

"Dear page,

Damaris has just returned from a 4 day Summer camp with her church youth group and is soon going on her Scout camp where she will be orienteering, hiking, abseiling, rifle shooting,s wimming, practising archery as well as the usual task of their patrol of six cooking their own dinners on wood fires that they have made themselves. Last Summer she won the 'Rookie of Summer camp' shield for the best scout attending the camp for the first time.

She has passed several ballroom and Latin exams this year and had to wear shoes with heels fo rthe first time in the test.  She got highly commended for her cha cha cha and rumba. She was also in a school production of Grease as an angel and san 'beauty school drop out' and It's raining on Prom night'.  She was really pleased she was one of only 20 children out of 120 to be picked to attend 'Art Studio' weekly with an accomplished artist.  She painted on canvas to great effect and her work was put on display entitled - Distant Savannah and another abstract piece of 3D work as well.

Damaris went on a school trip to France for a week to improve her French and visit the Bayeaux tapestry, a medieval castle, an oyster farm, Mont St Michel, and the cemetery at Omaha beach. She had a great tiem with her friends!

She had fun in Jamaica and enjoyed water sports and her favourite thing was swimming with dolphins and dancing to reggae music! She has decided to enter the hiking competition again this year and we are all going to the Lake District to get some practice in.  She has worked really hard this year at school and is OK healthwise although she had 2 months of bad arthritis again in the winter making her miss P.E. lessons."

I am one very proud Mom

I just can't believe where the years have gone and the fact now that my darling baby (or not so baby)daughter is now a teenager.  This is somewhat scary, and I am praying that my daughter does not go through all the typical "teenage" garbage that can come along at this time.  I also pray that my daughter doesn't  even start thinking about boyfriends, that she doesn't go down the road of getting into the wrong crowd, doesn't or hasn't started using inappropriate language or any other habits etc that teenagers get into especially through school.

I miss her so much and there is not a day that goes by that I don't think about her, I pray for her and I should pray I have to admit every day especially for her protection & her salvation. I love her so much and I am waiting for my yearly letter from the post-adoptive agency which should arrive any day now.  As much as I love receiving letters & hearing what my daughter has/is doing, I still find this painful which I guess I would do. 

I have said this before, the fact that my daughter is not with me, does not change the fact that I am & will always be her mom - nothing & no-one will ever change this fact full stop.............

I have a beautiful & very talented daughter  & I do know that she is part of a brilliant & very loving family. They are very active in their church which is Church of England but I don't know if they or Damaris are Committed Christians.  More than anything I so desire for Damaris to come to know the Lord & for Him to be her Saviour, her Father, Her Best Friend............................

This afternoon I thought I would take a photo of our sunflowers as they are already starting to keel over.  Then I noticed some wild flowers from seeds that I didn't think would come up but they did. So far there is Love in the mist and red poppies - just a few but these looked awesome & so colourful. I then picked some more runner beans and I would say the last of the tomatoes as these have now had it.

Yesterday I went to the local market and picked up 13lbs of tomatoes for around $9 and tomorrow or Tuesday I will turn these into both sauce plus make Tomato & Basil soup for the freezer.

DH is making a three course meal this evening. He is making Baked Camembert with hot Ciabatta followed by fillet of beef wrapped in parma ham served with mushrooms, mashed potatoes, baby carrots, mange tout and baby corn. For dessert, a quick rich chocolate mousse.  We are also having Californian Sparking Zinfandel Rose Wine - am I being spoiled or am I being spoiled - woo hoo

The overflow of tomatoes purchased are also in the pot:

I forgot that I also picked a small squash and the only two apples from one of our trees (This is a new tree so next year should hopefully be better)!

Have a wonderfull blessed SONday

Outside my Window...the weather is looking uncertain inbetween possible sunshine and/or rain. It is quite windy also

I am thinking...I should have started "The Simple Woman's Daybook" sooner

I am thankful for...to have all my children around me with much silly laughter and horseplay

From the kitchen...tuna & rice fishcakes, cous cous & salad (change of plan)

I am wearing...a navy skirt  with light blue flowwers plus t.shirt

I am reading...More Hours In My Day by Emilie Barnes & Sheri Torreli

I am hoping...to finish sorting kitchen cupboards tomorrow (Thursday)

I am creating...Nothing yet

I am hearing...the wind in the trees

Around the house... it is very quiet

One of my favorite things... is sitting in the armchair in my office and looking out onto the back garden

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... sort kitchen cupboards, clean fridge Freezer and do some much needed baking

Yesterday afternoon I decided to re-arrange a couple of the kitchen food cubpoards around, this was after we came home from shopping but I just wasnt happy with the way I had re-arranged them.  So in the evening about 8pm I decided to re-arrange them again of which I didn't think I would be very long.  So there I was with kitchen equipment, storage boxes, and various other bits and pieces all over the floor, the kitchen counters full of food items.  We then had a visitor around 9pm and as we don't use the front door, visitors come in through the back door, so I was a little embarrased at the state of the kitchen but not a lot I could do. 

Anyways, 2 hours later, I havent finished but I have managed to get a couple of cupboards the way I wanted them.  What started this, was the shelf I had in our tall food cupboard was not big enough for all the baking items I had, and it was a mess.  I needed more space, so I moved the baking cupboard (not literally :lol)  to the top shelf of a  much larger cupboard.On the bottom shelf of the same cupboard I have put all the tinned goods, bottled goods and excess food items for overflow.

I will try and post some photos tomorrow or Thursday.  By the time I had finished this evening it was around 10pm and my poor DH had gone up to play a game on the computer and didn't realise (a) what the time was or (b) that I could be that mad to start sorting out cupboards at such a late time.  I have to say that at times, when I get a "bee in my bonnet" to do something then I need to get it done and quite often asap but this doesn't always work out :lol

This morning we went to Marks & Spencers and Tescos (two stores in a local town) so that I could purchase some more storage jars/containers for the kitchen.  I have various packets of flour, different varieties of rice and other items that I have decided need to be in containers. I will either sort this out tonight otherwise perhaps tomorrow evening.

I think DH gets a little exasperated with me as he can never find anything in the kitchen as I do move things around & Sunday should be interesting as he is cooking a special meal for us.  He is not exactly going to be able to find anything.  I will try not to move the cupboards around after I have finished but at leas the kitchen will be nicely & properly organised

This morning we went shopping & after yesterday's email we did end up just under our budget but that was without purchasing any meats or fresh produce for this month.  I guess the overall shopping bill for this month will be nearer $300.  I really do need to try and go shopping without my DH :lol as we did pick up a few extra items.

This is a photo of the main bulk of shopping we purchased:

and then I bought a bottle of Kombucha from the Organic food store. I am going to try and make my own Scoby for this but I do need to get the recipe again from Candy over at Keeping The Home. I have heard so many benefits regarding Kombucha that I am eager to give this a try.

I have kind of reorganised the baking part of my pantry and moved everything across to another double cupboard (much to my DH's consternation).  I am not totally happy and I think I am going to have to reorganise some of the cupboards again.  The top shelf of the pantry is very difficult to reach anything so I may store itmes that we are not using very often that are just sitting around in another kitchen cupboard.  I could make use of this space for my baking area but I will see.

Friday I made Green Tomato Chutney and I made around 9 jars of various sizes.  This has to be left to mature for six weeks.  Considering this was the first time I have made this, I am not totally happy with it but we will see what it tastes like in six weeks.

This morning I didn't go to church as I wasn't feeling very well so after I had finished work I went back to sleep and slept until mid-day which I must have needed.  This afternoon I feel a little brighter but not 100%.  I basically lounged around with DH and I put together this week's menu plan.  Including breakfasts, lunches (mostly for DH) and main meals with snacks, I am aiming on a food budget of around $200 this month or less. We need to do a food shop tomorrow or Tuesday morning so I will know then how much we have spent. I do try and visit the market on a Saturday for fresh produce and try to get away with spending no more than around $14 for the week.  This week will be a extra as I want to purchase a whole box of tomatoes to make tomato sauce for the freezer and the boxes are around $10.

Below is this week's menu plan:

Menu Planner

1^st – 7^th September

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
M O N	Cold cereal & milk	I make Andrew lunches which will be a variation of sandwiches/rolls/wraps or filled pita breads.  He also has home-made cake or muffins & fruit added to his lunchbox   I don’t often eat lunch & if I do it may be a cup a soup or a salad	Dover Sole Potatoes Salad
T U E	Yoghurt Bananas Maple Syrup		Baked chicken legs Vegetable Cous Cous Green salad
W E D	Quick Oatmeal		Lentil Chili over rice
T H U	Home-made Granola Yoghurt		Pork chops & pintos Mashed potatoes Green Salad
F R I	Quick Oatmeal		Smorgasbord
S A T	Andrew special breakfast		Tuna & Rice fishcakes Baked Potatoes Green Salad
S U N	Home-made Granola Yoghurt		DH is cooking a special meal

Life around here has been a little bit busy over the last couple of days. Yesterday I was so blessed to receive an early Christmas present from my Mother in Law which was a Kenwood Food Mixer - in fact this machine does everything and includes a food processor, liquidiser plus accessories - so I was so so blessed.  This will make bread baking especially so much easier (not that I mind the hard work of kneading but with the food mixer this will be so much quicker and easier).

Also yesterday I picked around 10lbs of green tomatoes, we have noticed over the last few days that these are starting to rot so we thought we would leave them for another couple of days, as the weather was supposed to be really warm & sunny yesterday ha ha, this never really happened. I guess the sun came out about 6pm for around an hour but now from about 7.30pm onwards the nights start to draw in. 

Ok, back to tomatoes, there are still loads to be picked and several more are starting to rot and the tomato plants themselves have just about had it as the leaves are quite yellow now.  I also a few toms that were starting to turn red on the kitchen windowsill but some of these are starting to rot too.

I have possibly found a couple of English recipies for green tomato chutney but if you have any other recipies then please let me know asap as I need to really make the chutney either this afternoon or tomorrow morning

Wednesday was quite busy as I managed to clear two large bin liners full of rubbish (mostly mine). I emptied out my bureau, filing trays & bags with papers that I had not gone through in awhile and as yesterday was blue bin day (recycling bin) I decided that I may as well have a clear out.  I also had to wait in for a computer chair to be delivered so I made use of the time.  I also went through tons of papers downstairs so I was quite pleased with the amount I managed to clear and I have tons more space now woo hoo.

We are having a filing cabinet delivered a week on Monday which will go in my office.  I need to move things around a little but we are desperately in need of a decent filing cabinet.  We were blessed with monies for our wedding so hence have used some monies towards the filing cabinet.  We managed to purchase one on e-bay, scandinavian pine which is near enough the same wood as our computer cabinet.  We also purchased the office chair from e-bay too.  I had been using a dining room chair for years but sitting on this for long periods of time especially for work wasn't exactly comfortable. Andrew became so fed up with this chair that he decided to order the office one for me and it is so comfortable!

This morning Andrew had to be up around 5.15am so after he went to work I managed to put out two lots of washing (2 loads were washed yesterday evening and one around 5.45am this morning). I did my morning quick tidy up of the bathroom and cleaned the kitchen sink area and kitchen worktops before starting work.

Today is my ironing day so this afternoon when I have finished cleaning the kitchen I will be spending a couple of hours at least ironing which is fine.  I also need to start doing my menu plan for the next month this afternoon.

If I do make some chutney I will let you know how it goes - as I have never done this before.

I have also been having major problems with my desktop computer a lot lately & especially when I was working Tuesday evening, it must have crashed & at times re-started itself around 14 times.  The son of the lady whom I am working for took the desktop yesterday afternoon and is very  kindly re-building this for me.

Due to the above,  I am using my laptop (of which there are a couple of issues on here *sigh*). There are some email addresses etc that I don't have (Bren please can you email me your email addy ) and anyone else that I don't have.  Jacque & Jocelyn I don't have yours on here either - so please can you re-send when you can.

Does anyone have any good recipies for the above please.  We are starting to lose our tomatoes (a lot seem to be rotting) and hence need to make use of all the good ones we have left.

Thank you

p.s. is anyone else having problems with homestead blogger.  There have been various times lately that I have had difficulty either logging in, or entries won't be added.  I keep getting a blank page with two small horizontal boxes at the top with a faint blue line around the edges.  I have to keep repeat either getting into HB or re-sending entries.  This has become really frustrating as it keeps happening ???????

Below are the routines that I have changed.  The ones I had before were for use when I was single but now I am now married I have changed them quite a bit.  The Daily Schedule has been taken a bit of work due to our never knowing which days he is working as he only gets schedule weekly.  I had trouble with putting this up yesterday as this was way to big so I decided to take a photo of this one instead.

The routines below I have not started yet and plan on doing so I hope from Wednesday.  Andrew is home tomorrow and we are going out in the morning. 

Below are the routines:

Daily Routine

Morning routine:

v     Make bed

v     Take  meds and vitamins

v     Check calendar

v     Thaw something for dinner if I need too

v     Exercise

v     Shower

v     Fix hair and fix bathroom whilst there

v     Make coffee with breakfast

v     Check any emails

Early afternoon routine:

v     Eat lunch (I don’t always do this)

v     Meal Prep

v     Make any phone calls I need too

v     Check emails

v     Get bread/rolls out of freezer to thaw

v     Check/calendar/planner for next day appointments – if any

v     Write in Journal

Late afternoon routine:

v     Tidy up rooms, pick up & put away things,  magazines, papers etc

v     Clear dining table (often books, papers etc are left on here during the day)

v     Set dinner table

v     Start dinner (except Saturdays when done in morning)

v     Light candles (if dark enough of course)

v     Put on some relaxing music

Before bed routine:

v     Kitchen clean it up, shine sink, lay out clean dishcloths as needed

v     Review checklist to make sure nothing is forgotten

v     Think about tomorrow

v     Write a “to do list” for next day in journal

v     Gather up items I don’t want to forget for next day & put by back door

v     Prepare & pack Andrew’s lunch box for next morning

v     Set table for breakfast for the morning

v     Decide on clothes for next day

v     Cool down time & get ready for bed:

v     Read for fun or listen to music, watch dvd/tv with hubby

v     Relax in a hot bubble bath

v     Brush teeth, clean & moisturise face, brush hair

v     Take meds

v     Reflection on Today

v     Spend time in God’s Word & pray

v     Go to bed at a reasonable time! Preferably at the same time each day (unless going out)

v     Fall asleep with a smile on my face & in my heart J