Monday, June 28, 2010

Strawberry Freezer Jam Success

After loading the pictures I realized I didn't take any of the jam-making-process. I blame that on it being about 10:00-10:30 pm. when I was working on this (after a very, very busy day) since we had a wedding the next day that took up the entire day. :)

We have 24 jars of jam in our freezer and the leftovers I kept in the fridge are long gone and enjoyed by my husband and kids. So I'm looking at this process as a BIG success! :)

Now I'm hoping my tomato plants grow nice and big so come August-September I can make some homemade pasta sauce. :)







Saturday, June 26, 2010

View From My Windows

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork." Psalm 19:1


View from our truck window. There were storms coming in this night and we happen to be on our way home after some shopping.






View from our Family Room and Living Room windows.



Tuesday, June 22, 2010

The Hiding Place




I am almost to the middle of the book "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom. This is at least my 5th or 6th time reading this book, and I've decided I need to read this book at least once a year. If you've never heard of this book or heard of it but never read it, I highly recommend it. It's the type of book that can change your life, your thinking, your heart, in a good way!

"The Hiding Place" is about Corrie and her family. There is some history from her childhood but the bulk of the book focuses on their work in the "Underground" hiding Jews during Germany's occupation of Holland during World War II as well as the time Corrie and her sister Betsie spent in concentration camps in Germany after their capture.

Each time I read this book I come away challenged. Betsie has a heart like few people do, her compassion for her captors and those who treated her wrongly is amazing! I'm challenged to be more like her, because my heart is so far from where hers was...mine is so lacking in compassion for my enemies.

I'm trying to decide how to do this. While reading yesterday I came across 3 quotes I want to share and I know there will be more. I'm trying to decide if I want to devote a blog post to each quote as I come across ones I want to share or lump them together a few at a time in a post and share maybe what the Lord is speaking to my heart through those quotes or why they impacted me. So you'll have to bear with me as I figure this out. :)

If I can encourage you again to please read this book! We can do it together and then maybe you could have your own blog post(s) about ways this book is impacting your life? :)

If you do read this book (which I obviously hope you do) please don't feel pressured to blog about it, but I would love for you to let me know you've read it or are reading it and what your thoughts are!

Monday, June 14, 2010

If I Only Had a Brain......

or at least my memory!!

Yesterday, I was sitting on the couch listening to a friend play the piano and sing. She has a beautiful voice and I was just relaxing and enjoying the rare moments...
The kids were outside playing so other then the piano and my friends voice the house was quiet.
While I was sitting I must have thought of at least 3 different blog topics to write about, I didn't write them down anywhere because, of course, I was going to remember them!

Do you think I can remember them now? Any of them? NO!! I have faded ideas (kind of like memories of a dream you think you had) of what I "think" might have been a topic or 2, but I'm not sure.

Seriously, this is sad, so very sad, but unfortunately not uncommon for me. Sigh....

In the days to come if I actually remember 1 or all of the topics I'll be sure to write my idea down.

On a happier note. My strawberry freezer jam was a success!!! We now have 24 jars of jam in our freezer! I'm hoping to ration them so they last into the winter, but part of me is afraid they won't last that long.

I used the recipe I posted, and while it's a tad putzy (mainly mashing the strawberries) it was very easy. It was my very first time making jam of any kind so if I can do it anyone can! :)
I took pictures that once I get off of the camera hope to post.

Thanks for reading my ramblings if you made it this far....sorry that this isn't more interesting. :)

Friday, June 11, 2010

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I'm posting this here because in order to print out the recipe I'd have to print 6 pages and a bunch of other stuff, so I thought
I'd post it here.
Hoping to make some this weekend or next week, provided I go strawberry picking today. :)





Strawberry Freezer Jam
Makes Five - 8 oz. Jars

4 cups mashed strawberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 packet freezer jam pectin

1. In a large bowl, crush st until only small pieces remain and mixture is quite liquid. This may take a few minutes.

2. In a small bowl, mix Pectin and sugar together until incorporated. Add to mashed strawberries. Stir for 3 minutes.

3. Ladle into clean jam jars, leaving 1/2″ space at the top. Cap and let sit for 30 minutes. Store in your freezer until ready to use, or transfer to fridge and eat!

Jam keeps several weeks in the fridge or up to one year in the freezer.


Hoping I get a chance to try this!! :)