Pineapple Rhubarb Jam

  Every summer, I chop & freeze vast amounts of rhubarb in preparation for my annual batch of Pineapple Rhubarb Jam. (We have 5 huge rhubarb plants in our back yard.) I blogged about the rhubarb back in August, thinking I would get to the jam pretty soon thereafter. I was wrong.

  We've had such a beautiful, warm fall here in Saskatchewan (and I, for one, am not complaining) that I kept putting off the jam making for a cooler day. The cooler days just didn't come until October! Last week, I finally got it made. It's done for another year.

  I love sharing jars of this with my family & friends & of course enjoying it throughout the year. Actually, we just finished the last jar of last year's batch the week I made this. Good timing. :)

  I present to you the jam recipe that has been adapted from my husband's grandma's recipe.

  I started out with 56(!) cups of rhubarb. Fifty. Six.

  Thankfully, after rhubarb has been frozen & then thawed, it reduces it's volume by about half. Okay, now I was working with only 28 cups. So, I multiplied this recipe x5.

Pineapple Rhubarb Jam

5 cups rhubarb (if you have frozen rhubarb that you have thawed, make sure you drain it. If you don't, you'll get runny jam)

1 cup crushed pineapple

2 1/2 cups white sugar

1 pkg. strawberry jello

Mix rhubarb & sugar, bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Boil for about 10 minutes. Stir often so it doesn't burn.

While it's boiling, start preparing your jars. With lids removed, soak the jars, lids, & seals in hot tap water in the sink. Leave them in the hot water until you're ready to use them.

Add Pineapple & boil for another 10 minutes. Stir often so it doesn't burn.

Remove from heat. Add jello powder & mix well until dissolved.

Pour jam into jars & seal. 

Tips: I fill my jars almost to the top, then wipe around the lip of the jar to get any spilled drops. Apply the lid. Cool on the counter until the jars have "popped". You will hear the seals popping as they seal. Test the tops by pushing down on them, if they don't move, they are sealed. If they pop down & then up again, you will have to store your jam in the fridge or reseal. To help with the sealing process, always use new seals. 

  Thanks to those of you who joined me on the jam journey on Facebook last week. It made it fun for me to interact with you while I was cooking & preserving.

Enjoy your day!

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Let Birds Fly

Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

Christmas Cards

  You know last week I was talking about blasting my Christmas music & creating with my little girl? Well, I'm pleased to say I got to do just that this weekend. We were singing carols & crafting our hearts out. My little girl was happy with just a bunch of paper & punches. She punched flowers & shapes to her heart's content.

  Here's what I created:

  I'm almost ready for my fall festival booth. Just a few more birthday cards to make. I'm looking forward to it so much!

  What have you been creating lately?

Enjoy your day!

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Mommy by day... Crafter by night

Tuesday Talent Show

Craft-o-Maniac

Skip To My Lou

Today's Creative Blog

Thrifty Treasures

  On Friday, I was so blessed to be able to spend the day with my friend, Sarah. After hearing about my day thrifting this summer, she has been excited to go treasure hunting with me. I was her guide for the day. No pressure, right? :)

  We started off at the local thrift stores & we each scored some goodies. I almost bought this coffee table, but it was too long for our space. It would be so lovely all redone.

  Check out this FAB-U-LOUS glass set Sarah snagged: 

Yes, those are silver dots on the glasses. Perfection!

  Yup, she's a quick learner. 

  After getting our feet wet, we moved on to the antique stores. Here are some gems that we loved, but didn't buy. 

Large wooden spools

Vintage looking (but new!) table & chair sets

Row upon row of 3-footed tea cups

A well set from an old soda shoppe.

Most of the wells even had the original labels on them. 

My dear friend, Sarah, in a fabulous blue chair that we found.

Neat sewing chair...

The seat opened up for storage!

Look at this beauty!

Massive dictionary

  Days like these are a feast for the eyes. It's so much fun.

  Here's what I came home with:

1. Milk glass - 3 pieces total. Goblet, candy dish, & bowl.
2. Vintage shot glass that I'll use as a candle holder since I don't drink.
3. A bag of vintage Christmas decorations. Don't they look pretty in the milk glass bowl I bought too?
4. Vintage spools. I have plans to use these to make some Christmas ornaments. 
5. The poison dart froggy sponge holder. I've been looking for one of these for a long time. When my kids saw it they were kind of scared & had to inform me of it's proper name. I see some glossy spray paint in this chap's future.
6. Two maps. The major score of the day for me - and they were only .50 each! I've been looking for some maps to start a project that involves a lamp. 

Stay tuned for the above makeovers! (Hopefully) Coming Soon.

Enjoy your day!

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Sumo's Sweet Stuff

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Gift Card Holders

  All the Christmas paper crafts I've been doing are getting me in the mood for Christmas! I'm itching to start playing my Christmas music & start other Christmas crafts. Have you started listening to your Christmas tunes yet? My hubby is going hunting with my son on Saturday so maybe I'll crank some Bing Crosby or Ella Fitzgerald (I lo-oo-ove the classics!) & do some more crafting with my little girl.

  A little public opinion poll here: When you start listening to Christmas music, is there one album that you put on first? What's your go-to Christmas album?

  One of the things I've been working on is gift card holders for Christmas. More people are giving gift cards than ever before. Including me. My nieces & nephew are getting older & wanting to pick their own gear. I get that. So, if you're going to give a gift card, make your gift a bit more personal by giving it in a handmade holder. Perhaps something like this??

Lovin' the bird & the music on this paper.

The snowflakes on this paper are flocked a.k.a. fuzzy! I'm in love!

  I'll be spending more time in my craft room this weekend, working on birthday cards. One week until the Fall Festival! Eeeek! 

Enjoy your weekend, my friends!

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Just A Girl

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Tatertots & Jello

Meal Planning via Pinterest

  Every two weeks, I do a big grocery shopping trip. The day before I go, I sit down & plan my menu for the coming two weeks. I look in my freezer & fridge to see what I have on hand & try to incorporate those things into my meals to save on costs. Why buy extra ingredients when you already have some on hand?

  Since discovering Pinterest, I've come across a whole new world of delicious looking recipes. This week, I've decided to put some of those yummy looking dishes onto my meal plan. I told myself to stop dreaming of cooking & baking those fabulous recipes & start DOING it! I love to try new recipes. Love, love, LOVE! But I have stipulations for the recipes I pick.

• I have to know what all the ingredients are. Or at least be able to easily find out what they are. See, I'm willing to learn new things.
• The ingredients have to be easy to find. I don't want to have to run into 5 stores to do my shopping.
• They have to be somewhat easy to make. I don't do incredibly detailed recipes.
• They have to be ready in 1 hour tops! (Excluding crock pot recipes, of course.) I have a few exceptions to this rule, but they're pretty few & far between. I start cooking supper between 4:00 - 4:30 p.m. & we eat between 5:00 - 5:30. 

  So, when I look at a recipe with those conditions in mind, I can easily decide whether to make it or not. 

  As I said, this week I turned to Pinterest for inspiration. Wanna see what made my list? Here's my plan:

1) Hamburger soup (a recipe from one of my cookbooks) with Red Lobster biscuits

2) Cajun Chicken Pasta

3) Mini Frittatas & salad 

4) Lemon Chicken Breasts with roasted potatoes & salad

5) Bean & sausage soup (my own recipe) with homemade Crescent Rolls

6) Pizza (cuz a girl's gotta have one night off, right? *wink*)

7) Lentil Tacos

8) Greek Pasta Salad (my mom's recipe - I'll post it soon.)

Goodies / Extras for the lunch box, snacks, or desserts:

Best Ever Blueberry Muffins (a favourite recipe I've been making for years)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Chewy Granola Bars

  That's my plan & we'll see if I stick to it! ;) Most weeks I do, but there's the odd one that I veer from the path that I've laid out. I'll be sure to let you know how the recipes turn out. I usually divide new recipes into a few different categories:

• Make again
• Make often
• Don't bother making again

  You should see my cookbooks. Full of notes, they are. 

"So & so liked this one". 

"Blah. Don't bother with this one again." 

The favourite note that still makes me smile is on a soup recipe that my mom made when I still lived at home. It says, "This soup ROCKS MY WORLD!" Truly. I still make it & it's a family favourite. :)

  Have you tried any recipes you've found on Pinterest lately? What were they? How did they turn out - would you make them again?

Enjoy your day!

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Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

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Tatertots & Jello