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!!!