Turtles & Ground Hogs

So the other day we found this turtle in our yard. 

I think one of our favorite things about living in the woods is seeing all of God's creatures up close and personal.  Except maybe the ground hog.  I don't really like seeing him up close.  Nor do I like him in my garden.  But first back to the turtle.  We followed him around for awhile.  He was actually very quick.  The kids and Andy looked him up on the internet, but I forget what kind of turtle they said he was.  We let him run free into the woods. 

But as for the ground hog... He was eating down my sunflowers one by one and then we caught him in the sugar snaps. I read online that they don't like the smell of other animals urine, so I gave the boys a one time pass to pee on my sunflowers.  That got rid of the pest for about 2 weeks.  

Angry Birds Party

So all our birthdays fall in the winter-- big bummer--  because then we can't ever have a big picnic and I love a big picnic.  So we told all the family to hold off on gifts and we would have one big party in the summer.

Angry Birds Shirts

Now, we don't really play video games.  We just aren't into them.  We have a big backyard and lots of toys, so we normally don't do much gaming.  But we do have Angry Birds on our Roku.  So we play this game as a family cheering each other on and passing around the remote to play.  It's fun to watch the kids play.   So when it came time to pick our "UnBirthday" theme I suggested Angry Birds to the screaming delight of all the kiddo's.

So we planned out lots of games, bought lots of decorations, made cakes & celebrated these 4 little gifts that God gave us.  Here are some of our "Angry Birds" games:

Water Balloon Toss

Knock down the Pigs

We made the pigs from templates we found online.

My favorite bakery closed, so I had to make the cakes.  I don't mind baking.  I actually  really enjoy it, but icing is not my favorite medium.  First I had to find out what kind of cake each kids wanted.  We settled on Strawberry, Chocolate, & Yellow.  I love the Cake Doctor recipes, so we adapted them for cupcakes. We spent a morning making all the cakes.  My gift to myself was getting store bought icing and coloring it myself.  So I spent another day coloring all the icing.  The red was by far the hardest.  S was a great helper.  She kept washing the dishes so I could keep tinting.

Then to ice the cakes.  It wasn't too hard. They are basic shapes and easy enough to figure out.  The hard part was remembering which kind of cake each kid asked for.

Yellow cake with Yellow icing

chocolate cake with red icing

yellow and strawberry cake with blue icing

Strawberry Cake with Chocolate icing

We made angry bird favors to give out to all their friends.  I cut out the faces and they put them on the bags.  I got the template from online. (We also used this site for the pigs for our knock down the pigs game.) We had lots of fun filling the bags up with all our goodies- angry birds tattoo's and such.

So they all had a fun time and they enjoyed their cakes and time with friends!

Blueberry Syrup

So I have been busy canning. I got a 20lb box of blueberries and had to do something with them!  So first I did blueberry syrup.  That morning we had blueberry pancakes with blueberry syrup.  That was yummy.   My mom loves blueberries and she hasn't been eating sweets for the past year.  She always watches the kids without complaint, so I made sure to give her some.

The syrup is so easy.  Cook down the berries, add lemon zest, juice & sugar. Done.

simmer, simmer

Yum

Yesterday we recieved my hubbies Fruit of the Month package-- MANGO's.  I love mango and we cut them up and ate some for supper, but alas, I also wondered what treat I could make with these yummy fruits.  So again, I searched the internet for something close to what I wanted and what I had on hand.  I found this recipe http://www.freshpreserving.com/recipe.aspx?r=174.  Now the only problem is while I like freezer jam, I really never have the freezer space, so I will have to tinker it to can it.

Harry and David Mango's

frozen strawberries

frozen peaches

I love my ninja for frozen berries.  It makes small chunks, which I am not really a big fan of, but I chopped my mango by hand so my jam will have Mango chunks.  It's a fair compromise.  I put all my chopped fruit into my pan with my pectin and bring it to a boil.

Once it comes to a boil I add my 6 cups of sugar- all at once.  Once that's incorporated I added 1/2 a Tbsp of butter to help with the foam.  Bring it to a hard boil for 1 minute and then it looks like this: 

Ladle into jars that just got washed in the dishwasher so they are hot and sterile: 

Put lids that have been soaking in simmering hot water ontop, screw on the ring, and then Invert for 5 minutes: 

Flip them back over and wait for them to "pop".  It's my favorite sound of the summer.  This recipe made 7 1/2 pints for me.  They all sealed pretty quick.  A Yummy way to use the delicious mango's.

Here is a copy of the recipe with my changes: 

Mango Strawberry Peach Jam

Makes about 7 (8 oz) half pints

You will need:

6 cups sugar 

1 package Instant Pectin  

2 cups finely chopped peaches

1 ½ cups finely chopped strawberries

2 cup chopped mango 

7- 8oz jars washed and hot

Directions:

1.       Chop peaches, strawberries, and mango

2.       Put fruit into saucepan with instant pectin.  Bring to a boil.

3.       Add all sugar and return to a boil.

4.       Add ½ TBSP butter to reduce foam

5.       Hard Boil for 1 minute- stirring continuously

6.       LADLE jam into clean jars to fill line. Twist on lids. Invert for 5 minutes.

Triple Berry Syrup

So I got some raspberries the other day.  I also happened to stop a local farm for 1 more box of strawberries.  I got the jam berries because they are about $9 cheaper.  So I was stemming the strawberries to put in the freezer when I thought I remembered seeing a strawberries syrup recipe that I wanted to try.  I scoured the internet and found one: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/canning/strawberry-syrup/  Because I can never follow the directions I tinkered it to my liking.  I decided to add some rapberries and black berries that needed to get used up in my fridge too.

I measured out 6 cups of strawberries. That was about all I was willing to spare, because I need to do my triple berry jam, which is my hubby's favorite.  I cooked down the berries with a little bit of water.

Then I put them in cheese cloth and strained the juice to get 1 cup.  (mush and mush and mush)

I put the juice, the strawberries, 1 cup of water into my pot and bring it to a boil.  Since I like my things chunky I didn't chop up my berries too much.  Once it's boiling I added 2 cups of sugar all at once.  I let it cook for half an hour.  While it's cooking I got my jars, lids & tools for canning.  I boiled the jars in the canner and put the lids in hot water. Once my time was up I filled my jars and put them back in the canner for 10 minutes. 

Then-- ta da! Triple berry syrup.  We had some of the left overs the next day over waffles.  It was a yummy treat.  The kids loved it too!   I don't know if they will stay sealed or not.  There is always a chance, so I will keep my eyes on the jars and see if they come unsealed.  If so I may just put them in the freezer next year. Here is the actual recipe I used (my alterations):

Triple Berry Syrup

·Ingredients

·         6 cups strawberries chopped into smaller pieces

·         4 pints raspberries (any variety) Makes about 1 cup liquid

·         2 cups liquid (the raspberry juice + water)

·         2 cups sugar

directions

1.Wash raspberries; Put the berries in a saucepan. Use a potato masher to crush berries.

2.Add water. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.Line a strainer or colander with a double layer of 100-percent-cotton cheesecloth; set over a bowl. Pour berry mixture into strainer. Press to drain all juice. Measure 6 cups juice

4.In saucepan heat the juice & strawberries to rolling boil; stir in the sugar. Continue boiling until mixture is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.

5.Pour syrup into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids. Process in boiling-water canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars from canner; cool on racks.

*** In other news, I finished Catching Fire.  Now I am looking for Mockingjay.  In the meantime I started C.S.Lewis' The Screwtape Letters

GREAT WOLF LODGE

We spent the weekend at Great Wolf Lodge with the kiddos.  As always it had it's ups and downs, but for the most part we had LOTS of fun.  S & M are old enough to go on the big rides without us, although S is almost always to fearful to do it.  M did a couple on his own.  I was really proud of him.  Unfortunately E and G were too little to do most of the rides.  So we spent a good bit of time on the Lazy River.  

Which is a funny story: At one point my hubby was on the lazy river with all the kids. They were giving me some time to read (Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simpson- good read).  Any way they go around and then go around again and then they come past and A motions that he can't find E.  Now, we'd been having a problem with this one.  He's the one that ran away from us at Disney World when he was 3 years old- quite a fright.  So I stand and look up and down the river.  I spot him.  The little squirt decided that "moseying" down the river was too slow for him.  He took to running around in it.  Which would have been okay, but not when you can't keep up with him.  Finally we found him, repremanded him and came up with a new plan.  I would sit in the back of a 2 person tube with G in my lap and we harnessed E's energy in the front "seat".  We told him he was our horse.  He told me that if I said "HeeYa!" he would go faster.   Poor thing has bloody toe knuckles from going round and round the river. But never once did he fuss. 


G's favorite ride was a slide you go down without a tube.  We found it funny because E wouldn't even attempt it.  For all his (harnessed) energy, he was fearful of this ride. G would go down and run to the top for another.  It's funny what these little people like and don't like. 


Now I am home.  I finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand (B+) and picked up The Hunger Games (A-)  As the children were all in a tired stupor from our busy trip I read half the book last night and finished it today.  Now I need to find Catching Fire- I am in love with Peeta and wondering how Katniss could be so blind (and angry, distrusting?).  


Oh, and I also need to devise a way to deter the Ground Hog that is consuming my sunflowers and sugar snap peas.  Eating my sunflowers pissed me off, but today when I discovered he was eatting my peas I declared WAR!   

It's CANNING season!

It's CANNING season!  My favorite time of the year.  We've made 4 different kinds of jam so far: Strawberry Pineapple, Strawberry Rhubarb, Strawberry Banana, & Strawberry Raspberry. The Strawberry Raspberry was delicious and made with a friends home grown Strawberries.  (Sadly we didn't get any from S's patch.  They didn't move from the old house very well-- next year!)  I had to search online to find a recipe that fit what I wanted and then I adapted it. 


Strawberry Raspberry Jam
5 cups strawberries & raspberries (some red, a few black)
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 box pectin
1 Tbsp. Butter
7 cups sugar


1. Mash up 1/2 of the berries and top off with whole berries. (i like my jam CHUNKY). 
2. Put berries in a pan along with water, lemon juice, & pectin. Bring to a boil.
3. Add sugar all at once, stirring continuously to dissolve.
4. Add butter
5. Bring berries to a full rolling boil.  Stir continuously for 1 min. 
6. Pull off heat skim foam if necessary 
7. Put in jars- either invert to seal or can for 10 minutes in a hot water bath.  
8. Toast up some yummy bread and taste your product.