Happy New Year!!!

I hope that everyone has a safe New Year's Eve and a great New Year!!! Please be careful. We are looking forward to 2011! There are many exciting things that are happening in our neck of the woods!!!

One of my Christmas bargains

I had been needing a good jacket to wear since I will be starting my full internship this spring. M's step-mother found me a jacket at a store and when I tried it on it was tight in the shoulders. I was blessed with my mother's broad shoulders so it can be difficult to find clothes or jackets that fit. I ended up taking the jacket back that I had gotten and looked around to find another one. Being the day after Christmas, I knew that there would be good sales so we looked. I ran to Old Navy and they were down to small and x-small in all their jackets. New York & Co is right across from Old Navy so I ran in there. This is what I saw.

(via)

This was the next thing I saw and just about choked.
I also saw signs that said that it was 70% off so we sat down, did the math and decided it was a good deal. M paid for what was left over so I got a really good after Christmas deal on a Christmas present!

Here is the break down. The jacket was originally $129.95 but I got $77.97 off so it made it $51.98. After tax and all that good stuff it was $56.05.

Don't waste the leftover wine!!!

Don't throw out that leftover wine!!! Or go and buy a cheap bottle to keep around, just for this!

I always seem to have a little bit of wine left over in a bottle and have found a good use for it. Whenever you have food that has stuck in your skillet or pan, pour some of the leftover wine in and let it bubble. Use a spoon and scrape while it is bubbling. You will be surprised what happens. You won't have to scrub, trying to get the scorched food off of your pan!!!
It is basically the idea of deglazing. We put wine in a pan to pull up all the drippings when we cook. This is the same idea. It causes the food to loosen, which means less elbow grease in the end. It even works when you are canning and scorch the strawberries you are cooking. That makes it sound like I should know!!! I will admit, I had the heat up a little high and scorched the strawberries. But it was a very thin layer.
I hope this pulls you out if a bind sometime! It sure has saved me!!!

Hunting season 2010

We have been blessed to be able to hunt quite a bit this year and harvest some nice deer to go in our freezer. Mister's grandpa drew out for an elk hunt and we are lucky enough to get some of that too! Our friends have also had good luck this year and have meat to put in their freezers also. Here are some of the deer and elk from the 2010 hunting season.

Whiteish Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!!! This is what I saw this morning when I got up. It is not a big white Christmas but a little snow is nice!











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Merry Christmas

All I want for Christmas is Photo Credit

I know that I won't be getting one like that. Oklahoma deer just aren't quite that big!

I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas and safe travels.

Thank you for reading my blog and supporting me through my adventures!

Southern OK Elk hunt

In Oklahoma you put in for a hunt in southern Oklahoma to hunt elk. It is estimated that they receive 50,00 entries for the approximately 400 tags they give out. I am one of those that keep putting in, hoping that I will be drawn sometime. M drew out 4 years ago and his grandpa went with him. This year his grandpa drew out and M was luck enough to go with him on his hunt. The second person is only allowed to help carry the elk out. They went a couple days early and looked around and saw some amazing sights. The first full day they were there they came back to see the deer eating on a loaf of bread that a raccoon had gotten into the night before. They took the loaf from the deer and tried to feed them. This is what I got from M a few minutes later.

They said it was amazing. I love to hunt deer but also respect the beauty of the deer. They are some of the most beautiful animals around. I will have more pictures from their trip later!

CSN Stores & Pressure Canner Review Part 2

I said that I would do an update post on my canner and here it is!!! First here is the first post that I did on my Presto Canner. That way you can refresh yourself.
Here is my canner. Please ignore the black around the edges of the burner. I canned all day and spilled some and it seems that the longer it is right next to a hot burner, the blacker it gets. Imagine that! I had that stove going all afternoon and it was pretty nasty by the end of the night but it is clean now!
I need to name my pressure canner, I feel like it is a part of the family now. I had made jellies all day and decided to make stew/soup to can. I am getting ready to be super

busy so I am taking the time now to put up whatever I can that is easy and healthy that we will eat later. So this is the end product: I still love my canner and am actually wanting to get another just like this one. That way I can have one going while the other is letting the pressure drop. I am absolutely in love with mine and would fight you if you tried to take it from me.

CSN has so many things and even show which items they guarantee to be delivered by Christmas. Check them out for all of your holiday shopping needs!

Teaser!!

Aren't they pretty? There is more to this story next week!

Isn't he cute???

More Jellies - Habanero Jelly

This is what I spent my Sunday doing and loved every minute of it!
Pretty green jalapeno jelly

Pretty orange habanero jelly!

I couldn't find a recipe that I like for habanero jelly so I came up with my own, modifying the jalapeno jelly recipe. I did add yellow and red food coloring to make it orange and love the results!

Habanero jelly
3/4 lb habaneros

2 cups apple cider vinegar
6 cups sugar
2 pouches of liquid pectin
Optional: rea and yellow food coloring
Cut the stem tops off the habaneros. I don't slice them anymore than this. I was in a hurry. Add the habaneros, vinegar and sugar to a stainless steel pan. bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Pour into a strainer that is lined with cheese cloth and let it drain. Pour back into pan and bring back to a boil. Stir in liquid pectin. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam and add food coloring if wanted. Ladle in jars and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Makes 5 half-pints.

Jalapeno Jelly

I have spoken about entering items in the fair and when I was putting them away I learned some interesting things. The wonderful women who judged wrote hints on the back. I will know to always leave 1/4 inch and only a 1/4, not 1/2 inch. I also had written on the back of my jalapeno jelly that it shouldn't have any fruit in the jelly. All the recipes that I could find was taking the jalapenos, pureeing them and leaving them in the jelly. So I had to come up with my own recipe for my jalapeno jelly. What a better time than Christmas time so I have others to test it out as well!!!

Jalapeno jelly

3/4 lb jalapenos

2 cups apple cider vinegar

6 cups sugar

2 pouches of liquid pectin

Optional: green food coloring

Cut the jalapenos into slices and then cut the slices in half. Add the jalapeno, vinegar and sugar to a stainless steel pan. bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Pour into a strainer that is lined with cheese cloth and let it drain. Pour back into pan and bring back to a boil. Stir in liquid pectin. Boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam and add food coloring if wanted. Ladle in jars and process in water bath canner for 10 minutes.

Makes 5 half-pints.

Plum Jelly

I made plum jelly this weekend and thought I would share the recipe and then share a tip!

Plum Jelly

5 1/2 cups plum juice

7 1/2 cups sugar

1 pouch powdered pectin

Combine the juice and pectin, bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar, stirring constantly to a hard boil and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim foam off of the top. Pour in jar and process for 10 minutes in a water bath canner.

5 pints or 10 half-pints

I made some earlier in the year that was very thin. I had made it with liquid pectin. It taste good, it was just thin and very liquid. It was wonderful to mix up with peanut butter to put on toast or sandwiches but I was going to try for a firmer jelly. This batch I made with powdered pectin and it gelled up wonderful. If you have issues with jelly that doesn't set up perfect, try this next time!!!

Okie Redneck's Apple Butter Recipe With Red Hots

My husbands great grandmother made apple butter that the whole family loved. I waited too long to get her recipe and she couldn't remember it. It was one of those recipes that she worked with until it tasted right and looked right. This year I decided that I was going to figure it out. I went to the Internet and started trying to find a recipe to no avail. I could find some that might have worked but they had a lot of the vinegar, which was not in Mema's, so I was told. So I planned some time out and decided to figure her recipe out. I took apples from a local orchard and got started. I tweaked it until I came up with this. The family says that it tastes like hers and I was happy to get it right! I have mental hang up with the fact that it has a red tint to it so I add green food coloring to make it a rich, dark brown. There are always changes that you can make to fit your taste buds so don't be afraid to try!

Apple Butter

5 cups mashed apples

5 cups sugar

2 Tbs apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup red hots

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Optional: green food coloring

Peel and core apples. Place in stainless steel pan and fill halfway up with water. Boil until apples are soft and will easily break (approx 30 minutes). Use food mill and mash the apples but don't liquefy. Combine all remaining ingredients and cook for at least 20 minutes. If you want to add food coloring to turn in brown add it now. (It normally takes me 8 drops) Place in jars and process in water bath for 10 minutes.

Makes about 3 pints

1 pound of apples=1 cup of mashed apples

I have seen recipes that call for apple sauce instead the mashed apples and am thinking about trying it next time. If you try that leave me a comment and tell me what you think.

Happy Birthday M!!!

I want to tell my wonderful husband Happy Birthday!!!!
You are my best friend, fishing partner, hunting partner and the best husband I could have ever wished for.
I love you!!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!!

Recipes to follow!!!

Light egg nog

Egg nog always symbolizes the holidays to me and here is a way to make some yourself!!!

8 cups milk
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup sugar or to taste
2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg.

Mix or whisk together well and enjoy!!!

I am thankful for....

I am thankful for gorgeous Oklahoma sunrises.Friends and family, as well as myself who are able to fill their tags and have meat for the next year. (Did I tell y'all I shot an 8 point buck that will be going on the wall. It will be all by its lonesome since it will be the first on the wall!!!)

A family who is healthy.

A husband with whom I am totally in love with

(I think he loves me a little bit too).

Some wonderful friends and family who are friends too.

My girls who will cuddle no matter what.

A family who had adopted me as their own.

A country that is free.

Troops that are willing to fight to keep our freedom.

I am thankful for all of you!!!

I am thankful for this guy too. He keeps us on our toes when we are in the tree stand!

4 point buck

This weekend M and his grandpa went hunting and his grandpa came in with a nice buck. A four-point that was beautiful. He had more black than we are used to seeing so it was nice to see something different.

Shot Placement

This is such a big issue with any kind of hunting and I haven't posted about it yet so I here it is!

M has a spot that he looks for and I am the same way. I always shoot right behind the shoulder. This means that I will get the heart, lungs or possibly both. This will mean (most of the time) a good blood trail and a humane, quick kill. That is one of the points of being a sportsman.

I know that it is hard at times to make a perfect shot, but as good hunters we are always trying to make a good shot. This includes looking at your shooting lanes, deciding how far away things are if you don't have a range finder and knowing your limits as a hunter. I have been lucky that I haven't made a difficult or bad shot yet. YET being the key word. I have friends and my husband who have though and it makes them sick to lose a deer. Our rifle season is starting tomorrow so I thought that we should refresh ourselves on the proper shot placement.

Photo Credit

We all need to also remember that different calibers of guns cause different degrees of damage. Know what your gun (or bow!) will do and make it count.

This is an amazing article to read. http://www.imbmonsterbucks.com/info.php?id=143

Are there any questions or ideas for some upcoming posts? I know that I always have questions and am so thankful for the more seasoned hunters to help me out and allow me to pick their brains. I am willing for y'all to do the same!!!

Shutterfly!!!

The first time I heard about Shutterfly was 4 years ago. I was needing Christmas cards quickly and they delivered. The colors were amazing and they did a wonderful job. I got my cards in a protective envelope and they were in perfect shape. Then I had to do the rest of the work and get them addressed and out to all those people who were waiting!

I have chosen many different designs to go with the pictures that I had and have been happy with all of the cards. People would call me or send a note back in their Christmas cards about how cute mine were and where did I get them? I have always loved Shutterfly and have been impressed with their customer service also.
I am planning on sending these cards out to close friends or family this year. I don’t have a lot of time because of school, so as soon as I get the cards I will start working on getting them addressed and sent out to those I love. I am looking forward to the excited comments that I will be getting from those who are lucky enough to be on my Christmas card mailing list!!!

Right now photo books are 20% off and are an amazing way to document your year. These would be great gifts for those in your family. We are starting this year to make a book of all the deer that are harvested in our hunting group!!!

Their selection of Christmas cards is always amazing and this year is no different.

This is a card that I fell in love with!!! Can't you see a picture of the two girls on the front of this????

Or maybe this one!!! I love the black and white simple elegance of it!

This one is really cute too!! It could be put in your scrapbook and start a new tradition!

I love this one. The chocolate brown makes me think of the holidays!

It is going to take me a while to decide exactly which card I want to do, you know that the pictures just have to match!!! I do know one thing though. They do more than just Christmas cards. I have received birth announcements that were absolutely beautiful and invitations that were witty and whimsical. I will definitely be saving money and ordering graduation announcements and party announcements through Shutterfly. They have everything you can imagine. You can also get address labels, note cards, gift tags and almost anything else you can think of. Go check them out and see what they have. I know that I will be trying to figure out what I want for my 50 FREE cards that I will be getting!!!

Just Thursday!!!

Outside my window.. It is cold (37 but feels like 34) but the sun is shining.
The time is..9:19 am
Today I feel.. scattered
I am thinking.. about Kathy. Her cancer has spread and it isn't looking good. I would love for her to be here at Christmas but don't want her to be in pain like she is now.
At the moment, I am thankful.. for a husband who loves me and understands why I react the way that I do tonight.
I am going.. to see Kathy tonight.
I am wearing.. Dark brown khakis and a navy sweater.
I wish.. that I could not worry about the things that I can't change.
I am reading.. first, I am going to tell you what I have read since my last Just Thursday post!!! Genuine Lies by Nora Roberts, The Anniversary by Amy Gutman, Avenger by Frederick Forsyth and Waterloo Station by Emily Grayson. Now I am trying to find something to read and just haven't found something that looks good yet!!!
I am working on..finishing a couple projects for a baby's room and have decided to do two more for some blog friends.
I am hoping..that I can find out what I am going to do for the next year soon.
I am hearing..the radio, light rock.
I bet you didn't know..my husband killed two doe in a bonus hunt yesterday. I want to get one with my bow and I am done with shooting for the season unless it is a HUGE buck. And I hopefully will have satellite back tomorrow night. My receiver decided to die a couple nights ago...
One of my favorite..foods is pasta. I have to quit eating so much of it!!!
Weekend Plans..
[Thursday] hospital
[Friday] movie night
[Saturday] test and movie night
[Sunday] possibly hunting and watching a movie.
Join the fun!
Copy, paste, & fill it out on your blog!
*Make sure to link up!

Forked horn (Four Point) named Circles

Meet Circles! He is called this because of his tendency to walk in circles! M saw him the week before I shot my big buck and he walked circles in front of him. When we got home we matched him to one of the four points on the trail cam.

He was the deer that my eight point was fighting and ran when I shot. Within 15 minutes he was back out in front of me, walking circles! I can't wait to see him grow up. In a couple years I wouldn't mind harvesting him for the meat and the pretty set that he will have to put on the wall. He is a perfectly matched four point right now, so I can't wait to see what he will grow up to be.

This weekend starts rifle season in Oklahoma. Can't wait to see what I can get then!

Tree Stands - Which is Best?

I have seen a lot of pre-made tree stands that are nice but we tend to build our own. I have nothing against the pre-made stands, we can just made stands for cheaper. I have shown you a picture of one of my stands in the header but I am going to show the inside of my favorite stand today. It is basically a box that I sit in so I can move a little or do things with my hands. Or I can change out the primer that doesn't go off the first time I pull the trigger on a big buck... I was so thankful that I was in this stand when that happened.

This is where I normally sit in this stand. It is the back side that is up against the tree. I set my bag right beside me and lean against the tree. Can anyone guess what kind of camo I am wearing????The picture to the left is the left side of the stand. The picture on the right is the front/right side of the stand. I can sit on either side and face west or the east. It makes this stand very versatile and a wonderful stand to be in.

There is only one thing that can make this stand better-a food plot! We are planning on planting one in front to the east so that I can bow hunt out of this stand easier.

M hunts out of a metal stand on this same property. I have a metal stand at another property we hunt at as does M. Then at our leased land we have basically a tree house with a roof over us so we can hunt easier in the rain.

I am open to trying new stands and new ways to hunt if anyone has any suggestions.

Doe Days of Fall

M drew out for a bonus hunt and his grandpa went with him. Texting back and forth on the way down to tell me where they were and then I get this.

These geese were all over. This would be good if he were hunting snow geese, but his hunt is for two doe!!! That is okay though, they sure are a pretty sight to see! I do know that they have seen a deer already, a buck. I hope he gets a couple doe to put in the freezer though!

I'm BAAAAACK!

I have been on vacation for the pat two weeks and was super busy doing all the stuff that I needed to catch up on. I was wanting to can but didn't get to... Hopefully this weekend.

I am ready to get back to blogging but for now I leave you with this. This was one of my hunting buddies during black powder season. He was there before I shot my deer.

He actually just about made me fall as I was getting up! I didn't really want to get stung and jerked back as I was getting ready to pull myself on up into my stand. Apparently he was good luck this time!

Has anyone else gotten any deer lately?

MY first deer of 2010

This weekend was the opening of black powder in Oklahoma. I was bummed because I had to work opening morning but Mister go to go out. At 5 am I woke up to hear rain beating down on our roof. I will be totally honest, I was somewhat glad that I was working. I just really didn't want to go hunt in the rain. Mister and his grandpa went out and didn't see anything until they were walking to the truck. It quit raining before they got to where they were hunting but the wind was blowing something fierce.

We were planning on going somewhere else that night but it was raining and we all discussed it and decided to not got Saturday evening. The wind was still blowing like crazy and none of us really wanted to fight it. There were gusts of over 30 MPH! We watched the UFC fights and got home about midnight.

Sunday morning they went while I stayed home to do homework and work on the house a little bit. They got home and didn't see a thing again. We decided to meet up at 4ish and go out to one spot where we have different tree stands.

I am going to give you a little background. I shot my first buck last year out of the tree stand that I set in. This was my first buck. I spotted him myself and was so proud of him. I actually thought that he was a she!!! I told Mister's grandfather that I shot big doe. He was a spike and was 115 lbs field dressed. This is why I am picky about who or IF anyone hunts in my stand. It is a perfect location and we are trying to manage the population of the deer in this area.

Now that you know all that let's move forward. Sunday evening as we were getting ready I looked at Mister and said " I am going to shoot a deer tonight". He grinned and said "I hope you do but don't get your hopes up so high that you will be upset". He was trying to prepare me since it was still windy and was 78 degrees outside.

I put on my camo and we headed to the stand. I crawled up into my stand. Made sure everything was ready and waited. I got excited when the cows left the area that I was in. I am in a stand that is a box so I can move around a little bit and take my phone to play with. I saw a coyote run down the fence line, lay down and look around and then get up and start running again. I had a wasp up in the trees stand that was hunting with me. A squirrel runs across the field and jumps into another tree. The nature that you see is amazing but I also had my phone to keep me company. I had been playing Words With Friends and had ran my battery down so I put it in my bag and switched sides of my trees stand to where I was facing west.

I heard something behind me and looked over my shoulder. I saw a forked horn buck (four point) coming up and decided that I would take a shot if it presented itself. I switched to the other side of the stand to where I could face the east. He is a buck that we had pictures of on the trail camera and I had already said that if the opportunity presented itself I was going to shoot him. I pulled up, clicked the safety off and waited for him to turn perfectly broadside so that I could take a shot. Then I noticed something coming up behind him. I looked up over my gun and saw a gorgeous buck. I decided to see how big he was and saw that he was at least a 7 point buck (I thought), so I made my decision that I was changing bucks!

I pulled the gun over and put my cross hairs on him. He was still walking towards me so I just watched him. He was so pretty. The smaller buck walked up to him and the bigger buck stopped and just bristled. The smaller buck smelled the bigger bucks horns and the big buck turned away. The big buck then began walking again and soon turned broadside to me. I had been watching him the whole time through the scope so I was ready. I centered the cross hairs just behind his shoulder, took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. Instead of the BOOM that I was expecting to hear, I heard CLICK. My stomach dropped then.

I think every hunter gets nervous or excited when they see the deer and make the decision that the one particular deer is "the one". Hearing that click was a stressful sound to me though. Like I said, I am basically in a box so I reach over to my bag, grab my extra primers, open them up and grab one. I kept my head still the whole time and really figured that they were going to run when they heard the click, but they didn't. I pull the bolt up and back on my muzzle loader and watch them when it makes the noises that it makes. Again, I thought they were going to run. They were still standing there. I take the primer off the nipple and put a new one on. I push the bolt frontwards and down and it makes a noise again but they stayed.

When I looked up this time I saw a sight that Mister still hasn't gotten to see and I had only hoped that I would see - the two bucks had started fighting with each other. I have seen it on TV but to see the two bucks looking at each other and the hit horns/heads and go at each other is amazing. I watched for a few seconds and got the big buck in my cross hairs again, waiting for a good broadside shot. I took a deep breath to relax, because honestly I was shaking from the stress of all the little accidents that were piling up. When I got my good broadside shot I lined the cross hairs up behind his shoulder and pulled the trigger. His legs kicked up higher than his head and they both took off.

I made a rookie mistake and watched both deer. It is amazing to see what they do when spooked. I immediately called Mister whose first words out of his mouth were "did you get him?". What came out of my mouth was YeahhekickedrealhighandIthinkitisa6pointnoa7pointbutitcouldbean8pointandtheprimerdidn't

gooffandsoIhadtoputanewoneonImadeagoodshottheywerefightingandheisagoodbuckthey

snuckuponmehe'sareallygoodbuck. Which was a run-on sentence that is said in one breath and actually comes out to be - Yeah he kicked real high and I think it is a 6 point no a 7 point but it could be an 8 point and the primer didn't go off and so I had to put a new one on I made a good shot they were fighting and he is a good buck they snuck up on me he's a really good buck.

Keep in mind I was shaking like a leaf from the adrenaline that was pumping at that time. Mister got down out of his stand and came over to mine which is 200 yards from mine. As he was walking over the small buck came back! He walked back and forth in front of us for 10 minutes, never getting spooked. We talked while he was there since Mister was 15 yards behind me and once he left Mister came over to my stand. I got down and we started looking for blood knowing that we didn't have long. I made the shot at 6:28 pm. We couldn't find any blood and I was getting worried. I kept telling him, "I made a good shot and I saw him kick his legs up. I know I hit him". We had his grandfather with us who can be a bit impatient so we went to pick him up and brought him back to help us look. It was dark by this time and I was worried. I crawled back up in my tree stand and told them about where I shot him.

Before I even started to get out of my stand I heard Mister say that he had found blood. We kept looking, putting a flashlight where the last spot of blood was, tracking him. We actually found very little blood. Any blood that we saw was a little bit bigger than the top of a pencil eraser. Grandpa made a big loop around and didn't see anything. He thought that I was too worked up after the primer and hadn't made a good shot. Mister was bound and determined to find him though. He made the same loop that Grandpa did and just about missed my buck also. He was laying up against a tree and looked like a log! Mister called me over and we drug him out of the woods.

He was an 8 point buck that field dressed at 140 lbs. He was beautiful and we decided to get him mounted. This is the first deer that either of us has thought was big enough to be mounted. It is also the largest deer that either of us has shot. We put the time on the tag and took it to show a few people. The rack is around 120 inches, which is not a bad deer at all!

I kept trying to check it in but couldn't. Oklahoma now has a program where you can check your deer in online. We did that with Mister's deer the weekend before and I tried to with mine. I though that maybe I was just having issues with the phone so when we got home Mister got everything together and started to process the deer, while I tried to check him in online. I still was unable to check him in. Mister called one game warden that we know and got his voicemail and we left a message explaining that we couldn't check the deer in. He called another one and got his voicemail, explained the situation again and then we called his home number. No answer on that line either, but we did get a phone call from the 2nd game warden within 2 minutes and I learned all sorts of information. You have 24 hours to check the deer in, the game wardens are very nice and helpful and when you screw it up the next day checking it in they are really nice in OKC.

We got him skinned and cut up at about midnight. We took care getting the cape skinned off of him and throwing it in the fridge to take to the taxidermist tomorrow. The quarters are cooling out in the freezer. I am still on cloud nine from the buck that I worked to get, held myself in check to get and who was fighting to keep his territory. It also isn't a bad thing that I shot a bigger deer than Mister and get to put the first mount on the wall!