Grape Jelly!

It's that time of the year...when the concord grapes ripen up and the intoxicating aroma at the market entices me to want to make grape jelly.  I haven't made homemade grape jelly in many years.  I remember the crazy mess that my sister and I made with the huge pile of grapes she bought to make jelly with.  Neither one of us had ever done it before so it was quite an experience.  This year, I was determined to make homemade jelly again.  And like my sister did years ago, I got carried away with buying grapes.  Really, a half bushel didn't seem like a huge amount - until I started weighing them out and cooking them.  After weighing a batch and picking out all the stems and stuff - into the pot they go - then get smooshed up and cooked down.

 Looks kind of weird at this point, but as they cook the house starts to smell awfully good.  The next fun part is straining out the juice from the pulp and seeds and skins.  I just lined a sieve with cheesecloth for this.  Amazing how difficult it is to find cheesecloth too.  It's a bit tricky here - don't want any of the seeds and stuff to get into the juice and this stuff is boiling hot.  After squeezing out the cheesecloth (beware, you WILL have bluish purple hands after this!) it's on to the next batch.

This is where you question the wisdom of buying a half bushel of concord grapes.  After all the grapes are cooked - it's time to make jelly!  This required lots of jars, sugar, Sure-Jell and another decent sized mess.  After about 4 or 5 batches I got really tired of the mess and decided to freeze the leftover grape juice.  However, I did end up with at least 3 dozen jars of awesomely tasty grape jelly.  It's so much better than the store bought stuff that it's worth it in the long run.

Oh, and if you're going to do a lot of this - get yourself a nice canning pot and supplies - it makes canning jars of jelly much easier.  Everyone's getting homemade goodies this year for Christmas!

The All New HodgePodgery!

At last - the all new HodgePodgery is now open in Midtown Harrisburg. Right down the street from it's original location, the new address is 1320 N. Third Street. Stop by and check it out if you're local (or just visiting) - buy handmade and support local artist and craftpersons. And don't forget to put February 17th on your calendar - it's the Grand Re-Opening celebration - also 3rd in the 'Burg - from 6-9pm.

Pin Cushions

Oh, long time no blog...huh? I'm bad at this stuff, I'm going to try and blog more this new year - really. Just a short post - our latest fascination using scraps of fabric is pin cushions. Handy little things to have in the sewing room, but way more fun when they're cute and decorative too. Here's a little pouf styled one we made last week:
Fabric scraps, stuffing, some old buttons and embroidery floss is all you need to stitch these up. Would make a cute gift for someone that sews. The second crazy idea we got was to make one of these mannequin pin cushions. Found the idea at the DIY Dish - nice video tutorial there. Here's our finished pin cushion:
We need to find some old candlesticks for a couple more of these - this was what we came up with from the Dollar Tree. I think thrift stores would be a good place for some. Another really cute gift idea!

Granny Cake

Thanks to Pat, a lovely elderly woman that I went to church with years ago - I've got this fantastic Granny Cake recipe. She used to bring it to every potluck dinner and bake sale and it was SO good. She's long gone now but I hope everyone shares her recipe so it lives on.

Granny Cake

1 1/2 Cups sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 Cups flour
1 20oz can crushed pineapple (in it's own juice)

Mix and pour into greased and floured 9x13 cake pan.
Sprinkle on top: 3/4 Cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup chopped walnuts.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.

10 minutes before cake is done, boil the following:

1 stick butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 can evaporated milk
1/2 cup sugar

Pour over top of cake and cool.

Free Shipping!

Just an FYI...from Black Friday thru Cyber Monday - free shipping at avocado! Happy Holidays!

More projects...

Not like I need any more projects, but Chelsea has been after me for a bit to try this one out. Coiled fabric bowls. Makes sense, as it uses up a bunch of fabric scraps that we have lying around. And we're all about the recycling (not to mention, I just can't throw away any fabric scraps...just in case, you know). So we picked up some cotton clothesline rope, cut up some of the fabric strips that were too large and started sewing. The most time consuming part is wrapping the fabric strips around the clothesline. Probably would be easier if you used longer strips but as we wanted to recycle our scraps we made do with what we had. And it really doesn't look bad - kind of cute in fact. I think some people will be getting these for Christmas this year. : )

Brussels Sprouts?

So...just the very thought of 'brussels sprouts' kind of gives me the heebie jeebies - memories of having to try them in my childhood and the nasty taste involved. And here we were, with a bag of them from the farm with our last CSA pickup of the season. I do hate to waste anything and as I've gotten older I'm more willing to give stuff a try. As luck would have it, Chelsea got her latest issue of Cooking Light magazine in the mail and lo and behold - there was a recipe for brussels sprouts. Being that it included bacon, we figured it was worth a try - bacon makes everything good, right? And it WAS good - I actually had seconds. My mom would be so proud. : ) If you'd like to try it out - here's a link to the recipe: Brussels Sprouts Gratin Enjoy!

and...Pumpkin Roll!

Keeping up with family recipes here - I'm posting this for my niece Andrea who wants to make her mom's pumpkin roll recipe. It's pretty yummy too. I can't decide whether I like this to go with Thanksgiving dinner more than pumpkin pie or not. Why not have both? :D

Pumpkin Roll

3/4 Cup sifted all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 Cup sugar
2/3 Cup canned solid pack pumpkin
1 Cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 15x10x1 jelly roll pan. Line with wax paper. Grease and flour the wax paper. (0r be lazy and just use parchment paper and spray like I do)

Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice onto a piece of wax paper. Beat eggs and sugar in large bowl until thick and fluffy; beat in pumpkin. Stir in sifted dry ingredients all at once. Pour into prepared pan - spread evenly with rubber spatula. Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until center springs back when touched lightly with fingertip. Loosen cake around edges with a knife. Invert onto clean damp towel dusted with sugar - peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake and towel. Place seam down on wire rack. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Filling

Beat together 1 Cup 10x sugar, 1 80z package of cream cheese (softened), 6 Tablespoons butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla until smooth.

Unroll cake, spread with cream cheese filling. Re-roll cake. Refrigerate.

Zucchini Bread!

As the weather is cooling off, baking seems like a good idea. And since there's still zucchini available locally I like to bake zucchini bread. Not to mention, grating up zucchini and freezing it for the winter baking. I've gone through a pile of recipes - none seemed quite right. I remembered a darker, richer tasting bread but none quite measured up. And then, after cleaning out some of Mom's old stuff in the kitchen I found it - my sister Theresa's zucchini bread recipe. THIS is the one! So I thought I'd share it so everyone can enjoy it : )

Zucchini Bread

Preheat oven to 350 degrees - Grate up enough zucchini to make 2 cups. Drain off excess water. In a large bowl beat:
3 eggs
1 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup unsulphured molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat until thick and foamy. Combine in a separate bowl:
2 Cups all purpose flour
1/2 Cup whole wheat flour (or use all reg. flour)
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Add to egg mixture and stir just until blended. Gently stir in zucchini, 1 Cup raisins and 1 Cup chopped walnuts. Divide batter into 2 greased and floured 5"X9" loaf pans. *I used the 3 small pans above, plus 1 reg. loaf pan*

Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (less for small loaf pans, approx. 35mins.) Cool in pans 10 minutes then remove to racks to cool completely.

1 Million Pillowcase Challenge

So...I came across this 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge page online last week...and thought, hey...what a good idea! I've got a ton of fabric here - I can use some of it and do something nice for someone else. (for info, click on the link above) There are all kinds of charities that collect pillowcases for donating to hospitals, shelters, etc. I found a local charity - ConKerr - that collects pillowcases for sick children. As soon as I get my collection done, I shall be mailing my pillowcases off to them. They do have a lot of participating stores and such that will collect them - you can check to see what's in your area. And the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge website is a wealth of information - patterns, videos and ideas. I like the 'burrito' method of sewing the pillowcases - easy peasy! And finishing them with a french seam leaves no raw edges and should enable them to hold up through lots of use and washing. I started out thinking I'd make a few pillowcases...then found more material that I thought was cute and cut out a couple more...and then I went to the fabric store and hey! really cute flannel was on sale so I had to buy a few more pillowcases worth. It's sort of addicting : ) So...if you can do basic sewing, that's all it takes...think about making some pillowcases to donate to a worthy cause!

In the yard...

I will be the first to admit, I have a brown thumb. I bring plants in, they look at me...and they die. So whenever I have something growing that lasts more than a month, I'm thrilled. My fig tree is above and beyond the usual for me because I've had it for a couple years now. Let me give you some background first. My grandmother had a fig tree growing outside her back door. Not something you see a lot of in Central PA. The story, as far as I was told, was that she brought this cutting of a fig tree with her when she came over from Italy as a young woman - in the early 1900's. That may or may not be totally accurate, but that fig tree was there as long as anyone remembers (and must have had more than one location). My grandmother is long gone, but my aunt still owns the property where the fig tree is still going strong. Another aunt took some cuttings and started trees for some family members. I managed to keep this thing alive in a pot in the living room for a year, and last spring I planted it out in the yard. Wonder of wonders...it didn't die. It even managed to survive over the winter and this year it is growing fantastic! And the best part of all - there are tiny figs on it!!! I don't know if anyone, anywhere has ever gotten so excited at seeing tiny figs begin to sprout. I can't wait for them to grow and ripen - there probably won't be a lot on it's first year of producing figs but we shall savor every one of them (and probably fight over them too).

Long time no blog...

Ok...I do officially suck at blogging. Trying to keep up with stuff, sewing, working on a website...it gets crazy. So I'm trying to get back to it though. For your amusement today - my Easter dessert that I made. Wanted to try something new and different. A type of tiramisu, but with fruit flavors instead of coffee. Of course, the ingredients weren't going to be cheap. And it was a bit time consuming. Really, I CAN bake and cook fairly decent - but something just didn't come out quite right with this.It doesn't taste quite as bad as it looks - but it isn't great either. There were muttered comments in the kitchen saying that it looked like vomit...I sort of had to agree with them. Next Easter, I think I'm sticking to good old carrot cake - I make an awesome carrot cake, if I do say so myself : )

New Items - Tea Wallets

With all these scraps of fabric here, had to find something useful to make with them. And some are such cute prints too so we came up with tea wallets! Great to carry your teabags and sugar/sweetener with you so they stay clean and nice in your purse. They'd make great gifts for your favorite tea lover too. And now through Cyber Monday, shipping is free to anywhere in the world!

Recycled, repurposed, etc...

So we've been madly working to get some stuff together for The HodgePodgery - a new shop opening up in downtown Harrisburg. All kinds of ideas - just need to see what works and what doesn't. One thing is some reusable coffee sleeves - made from odds and ends of old clothing, decorator fabric samples, scraps and vintage buttons. I think they're coming out kind of interesting looking - quite a variety. Hopefully they'll sell : ) I've stopped by a couple times at the shop now - it's looking very nice - the paint colors are great - love the odds and ends of vintage pieces for display and stuff. Ok...back to the sewing machine...

More on the critter...

So...the little critter continues to keep me busy. We've had a couple trips to the vet - once for a check up and another to check on some intestinal issues. Some antibiotics and we seem good to go. She's getting much better on her feet - scampering around the floor when we let her loose to play - she can move pretty fast these days. Got a giant box that gives her plenty of room to play but keeps her safe since she's still so small. Going on six weeks old now. I'm proud to say she's using the litter box all on her own, but solid food isn't quite all that appealing yet. We're working on that one. She's got this tube-y toy thing to crawl in and play in and the neighbor gave her this little stuffed yellow monkey that she bats around. And my niece got her this green floppy stuffed dog when she was here visiting - she loves to curl up next to it, and even under it if she can. She frequently sticks her head underneath it and all you can see is her little backside sticking out. Hopefully in a few more weeks she'll be weaned and ready to find a good home.

Kitty Update

So far the baby kitten raising is going well. She's growing and getting feisty - it's getting to be a challenge when trying to feed her. We have a battle over the bottle - she claws and gets all fussy periodically...trying to get her to calm down and nurse quietly is not that easy sometimes. Cripes. She's a bit more active now but she still sleeps quite a bit - she creeps around on the floor and she tries to nibble fingers and even faces but she doesn't really have teeth yet. Guess we'll have to come up with some kind of containment larger than the carrier - it will be soon time to set her up with a little pan of litter to get used to, and some food/milk mush so she gets the idea of eating other than just out of a bottle. Boy, is this going to get messy - just like a human infant. At least human babies don't have claws! The little critter is starting to remind me of the plant from Little Shop of Horrors...the meow version of "Feed Me"! Might have to call her Audrey 3.

Baby Mama

Well, I'm a mom again it seems. Sort of. One of these goofy wild cats decided to abandon her baby kitten on my doorstep. She comes back once in a while but refuses to have anything to do with the little thing. I just didn't have the heart to leave it out there to die, mewing loudly as it was, and wandering blindly around. So I brought it in and made it a nice little nest in a cat carrier. Then I went online and scrounged up what information I could find on taking care of a tiny kitten. This one must not have been more than a day or two old. Went out and bought a bottle and kitten formula. Now keep in mind, this is a lot like having an infant again - bottle feedings every couple hours or so, cleaning it's little bottom and holding it. Criminey. It does sort of grow on you though, the funny looking little critter. It's eyes aren't open yet, hardly any ears yet either...but it's soft and fuzzy and it makes tiny little purring noises. Hopefully this fostering thing goes well and it grows up to be a cute little kitten - which will need a home since I'm already up to my backside in cats it seems. Funny, this is pretty much how I ended up with the cats I have now...uh oh!

Toaster Oven Giveaway

I found this giveaway thru Twitter - it's hosted by @mommieswithcent. They're giving away the cutest toaster oven - I like having appliances that look pretty too. And snacks from Tyson too - I've got to try some of them, they sound yummy. Check it out on the the blog here - Mommies With Cents - good luck!

My lawn is taking over...

The grass is growing like crazy these days. I'm certain it knew that the riding mower quit working and thought it could go run wild and free. We did manage to get the mower serviced and all but I really wanted a bagging attachment so all that long grass didn't clump up all over. Went to Home Depot and bought what I was told was the correct item. Major pain putting the thing together...only to find out it didn't fit. Aagghh! Called the store - they said I needed an adapter. Called the company that makes the mower - they said no, it's the wrong bagger entirely. Oh nuts. Took the darn thing back to the store and went to the dealer where we bought the mower. Got a different bagger. Guess what? I can't get this one to fit right either. I can't stand it - the shop said they'd see about sending someone over to help figure out why this one doesn't fit - that works for me. Gotta love the independent stores - they're very nice and helpful. I did have to end up just mowing the yard - it now looks like a field. Might have to try raking the piles of grass clippings if it doesn't rain. Hopefully we can get this yard looking a bit better than it does - I am so not the "Lawn Ranger" : ) And by the way - Happy Earth Day! Go plant something, recycle or reuse something, get some earth friendly cleaning products...or just something to help the environment today - and keep it up!

Spring JavaCupcake Collaboration Giveaway!

Spring JavaCupcake Collaboration Giveaway!

Fantastic giveaway with some yummy prizes - go to Java Cupcake's Blog for details! I'll post more info here later - got to get the furniture moved - carpet people coming tomorrow!