Nativities for Jars

Man it has been busy this holiday season!  

These nativity jars are just one of the many, many custom orders that have dominated my time lately.

These guys turned out so cute I had to share!

It took a bit to get things just right for the mason jars.  These ones are pint sized.

That tapered curve at the bottom make things tricky, but I finally worked out the strip pieces to fit just right if they are raised up about 1/2".

Now I just need to find jars that are smooth on the back.  Like used mayo jars or something.  That will be the next thing I hunt for.

Anyway, I figure these would be the perfect centerpiece for our next Christmas dinner or for the girls at church to make at their next activity.  The jars are less than $.50 each, the vinyl from $.50-$2, candles between $.25 and $.50, these guys fit the budget!

You can message me here or on my Etsy if you need some vinyl stickers, otherwise show me jars you made!  I would LOVE to see them!

Now back to work!  Just another day or two and I get to close my shop for my OWN family happy holidays.  Merry Christmas!

Madison's Cutie Pies

Last week was totally crazy.  I thought that when I finished Super Saturday I would have a nice easy couple of weeks to get caught up on a couple projects.  Man was I wrong!  I canned far too many jars of tomatoes, peaches, and peach jam to count.

(this picture only shows one morning’s work)

I assembled many ingredients for hairbows, but failed to finish a single one.

My etsy order for school days charms spiraled out of control!  What started out as 7 different sets of 8 turned into 20 sets of 8.  Here are the new designs I came up with.  I also did a couple more for myself, but they aren't picture-ready yet: Hello Kitty, a Princess Castle, a Rainbow, Minnie Mouse, Birthday Cake, Cupcakes, and the cutest Ice Cream Cone EVER!!!

Wanting desperately to show you something finished, here are Madison’s Cutie Pies!

  My crazy, darling daughter just decided out of the blue that she wanted to make apple pie.  Last year, yes over 12 months ago, I canned several jars of apple pie filling.  Really, I was just missing Grandma (what usually brings me to canning fruit), and that is why I made the apple pie filling.  Grandma and I always canned it together.

  My family does not like pie.  Those jars of pie filling sat on the shelf an entire year and we did not use a single one!  Madison saw some ramekins at Target, 4 in a pack for $2.50.  They worked perfectly for the mini pies she had in her mind.  I can't believe she made the pie crust completely by herself!  To bad she can't pick the clothes up of her bedroom floor!  *mom moment*   

 She made these pies first, and had filling left over so we went for a second design. 

We saw a blog post many moons ago were someone had baked pies in canning jars for her friends or something (for the life of me I can't find the post-I know I saved it somewhere!)  With that suggestion, away Madison went.   She started out by making pie crust, smooshing a bit in the bottom and smoothing it out with this weird Pampered Chef tool.  Then she added small amounts to the sides and squished it around till it lined the jar. 

In the last jar we tried to roll out the dough and then slide it in for the sides.  That worked rather well.  If you decide to give it a try, start out with the rolling method.  It might work better for you and you won't end up with such a thick crust.  I bet you could even buy store-bought pie crust, cut it into strips the height of the canning jars, and just press it into the jar.  Whatever way you go, it will be delicious!

The pie crusts were baked in the oven first, just to be certain they were fully cooked.  We preheated the oven to the temp specified on the recipe, placed the jars on a cookie sheet, and slid the sheet in the oven.  We baked them for 10 minutes, I think.  Whatever your recipe recommends.

Next, we filled them with filling, topped with a cute top crust, then baked again for 30 min.  WoW!  How cute is that!?!

I absolutely LOVED IT!!! 

Madison got to take a couple to special people in her life.  I got one of my very own!!!  What a treat.  My very own pie.  I didn't even have to share!  Best thing about a pie in a jar, you can take a couple bites, then screw the lid on and save the rest for later! 

As for this week, I think I need to impose a mandatory "MY Project Day"  Then no matter what orders I have out or craziness in my week, I can still get something of my own done!  I am thinking Thursday.  We will see how that goes.  I am thinking sewing, also!  My poor machine has been crying over there in the corner, simply begging to come out and play :0)  Wish me luck!

Canning Chicken-Raw Pack!!!

I am sure you were just sitting there at home wondering how to keep chicken on your pantry shelf for years at a time and still be able to eat it at a second's notice, right?  It is your lucky day!  I have been so busy getting ready for Super Saturday, and will be for the next two weeks, I thought I would get my mind off things with a little canning lesson.

I realize it takes a special person to even think about, let alone actually can their own meat.  I was one of those people not too long ago.  I will tell you that I stared blankly into my friend Jodi's face when she went on and on about how yummy the meat is and how easy it is to do.  Love ya, Jodi!  I learned my lesson and have been canning all my meat for almost two years now.  Every bite is tender and so full of flavor, not to mention quick and easy to use.  I will never buy canned chicken from the store again!

I found this cartoon and thought it fitting for our lesson :0)

http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2113717

So when old Henrietta stops finding egg money and it is time for her to go...I better not even go there...

Start with clean, sterilized jars.  Like with the ground beef, I sterilize the jars, but since my chicken is cold when I can it, I don't keep the jars hot.  My own personal belief is that it leads to broken jars in the canner when you mix hot and cold.

You wanted to see gross things to get you in the mood for Halloween right?  I do apologize for the visuals on this post.  It makes me want to scrub everything with Clorox Kitchen Cleaner.  Anyway, I usually buy 14-16lbs of chicken.  That much chicken will fill 7 wide-mouth quart jars and that is how many jars my canner holds. I wait for the chicken to be on sale for around $1.70lb or so, then buy up a bunch and can it all. 

You can cut the chicken into chunks like this, but you don't really have to cut it at all.  It is only for the ease of getting it out of the jar.  Really, the chicken shreds as you pull it out.  I do like to cut it into chunks so it is already an edible size when it comes out of the jar.  Then I don't have to cut it later, just throw it into whatever I am cooking. 

I load the jar with the chunks, with the aid of my handy dandy wide-mouthed funnel.  Normally I fill the jars about half-way, then squish everything around until all the holes are filled.  I think I was so worried about taking the picture that I filled this jar, took the picture, then realized I hadn't squished.  I took half back out, squished, filled it back in a ways, squished some more, then topped it off.  I have learned not to fill the jars exactly 1" from the top.  I stop at maybe 1 1/2" or so.  I noticed that some of the juices come out of the jar during processing.  If you under-pack the jar just a smidge it takes care of that problem.

Other than salt, don't add anything to the chicken.  When it cooks, it makes it's own liquid-real, fresh chicken broth!  As for the salt, add 1 tsp salt per quart of chicken, or any meat really.  If you are using pints, put in 1/2 tsp salt.  If you are watching your salt, skip it.  It doesn't hurt anything, just adds flavor.

Process for 75 minutes @ 15lbs pressure for Pints

90 minutes @ 15lbs pressure for Quarts.

Due to my painfully cheep tendencies, I use Quarts.  I don't want to use two jars, two lids, and twice the processing time to make two jars of meat.  I pack my meat into quart jars, then just plan two nights of chicken recipes in a row, or two nights of hamburger meals in a row.  The meat, once opened, stays good for 3-4 days in the fridge.  I won't tell you we have stretched that a little, but according to the food safety websites, 3-4 days is acceptable. 

The canned chicken is stored on the shelf in the pantry, and for up to 2-5 years.  No fridge or freezer needed.  You don't have to heat it up to eat it either.  You can open it and eat it out of the jar if you wanted to, like tuna.  Perfect for a cold chicken salad, or throw it in a casserole. 

My friend buys bone-in chicken, cooks it in the crockpot all day, peals it off the bones, then cans it.  The thought exhausts me.  You can do it that way, but I really think the raw pack method is the way to go.  The chicken ends up cheaper when you aren't paying for bones and the whole process is so fast when you skip the extra cooking.  Also, I took a nutrition class in college where we were beaten over the head with the idea that the more you cook something, the more nutrients you take away from it.  I love that when you put the chicken in the can raw, it is cooked in it's own juices and most of the vitamins that are released are kept right there in the can.  If you use the broth from the jar, you are still getting most of those vitamins :0)  Again, it is all theory according to Vanessa and I really can't vouch for my mind these days.  All I can say is that my family really loves the meals I make with my canned chicken :0)  You should try it!  I am open for any questions you might have along the way!!!

Need a little more chicken humor?  Check out this link for some chicken chuckles.  They were worth mentioning, but not worth the money they charged to post the pictures :0)

Canning Hamburger

I promised you heart-stoppingly disgusting pictures of my hamburger canning process a few days back.  Today is your lucky day!

A friend of mine is having a Food Storage Canning Event and needed the hamburger canned.  I offered to do half of it.  She dropped off 30lbs of raw hamburger for me to play with :0)  I am just warning you now, this is going to be gross.

If you are familiar with canning, you sterilize your jars, lids and wash the screw bands.  I do not keep the jars hot.  The hamburger I put in them is cold and I have broken a few bottles along the way putting cold food in hot jars.  After I sterilize the jars, I let them cool on the counter.  I was doing 30 jars so I just sterilized them all, and by the time I got them all done, the first jars were cool enough to fill.

I really like the 93% fat free beef.  Last time I grabbed the 85% on accident, and there was double the fat in the jar at the end-So Totally GROSS!  In planning for how much meat to buy, you can fit one pound in a pint jar, 2 lbs in a quart jar.  It is pretty much exact, probably why the jars are the sizes they are :0)

Squish that meat in the jar.  I fill it about 2/3 of the way, then I stick my hand in there and moosh through it all to make sure there are no air bubbles.  *Note* I really prefer wide-mouth jars for canning meat-it is easier to get your hand in to moosh, and it is easier to get the cooked meat out later, but either size works.

After that, I fill the jar the rest of the way.  I fill all the jars I am going to process, then add 1/2tsp sea salt to each pint, 1tsp sea salt to each quart.  I was told by my local kitchen store that there is actually less sodium in sea salt than regular table salt, adding one more reason to why it is the only kind of salt I use. 

When all the jars are filled, wipe the brim with a wet rag to get rid of any mess that would keep the lid from forming a seal, and top the jars with the sterilized lids and firmly screw on the screw band.  Process pints for 75 minutes @ 15lbs of pressure.  Process Quarts for 90 minutes @ the same.

Here is my finished product.  One friend of mine says it looks like an ugly science experiment.  The front jar is not meat, but black beans-that is why it looks different.  You process beans the same amount of time.  I had an extra space in the pressure canner and didn't want to waste it so I threw together one jar of beans.

If you are a fan of beans, you wash 2/3c. of dried beans for pint jars, 1 1/3c for quart, throw them in a jar (no pre-soaking needed!), add the same amount of salt in the jars as you do for the meat, then fill the jars the rest of the way with water.  Same processing times as the meat.

One really gross thing about canning your beef is the ring of fat that accumulates at the top.  It might be gross, but that much fat is in the meat whether you can it or cook it on the stove.  It is actually nice this way because I can reach in there with a spoon and scoop it out easily.  I just hate to look at it...or to scoop it for that matter.  I have also been known to rinse the meat after taking it out of the jar to get the rest of the fat off.  Sounds even grosser, doesn't it?  I know, but then we aren't eating it!

Why can your meat?  I don't know why I do it.  I wanted to learn, for some strange, unexplainable reason. 

Bonus points-

More freezer space

 Meat already cooked, just waiting for you to create something yummy

No pan mess/dish washing night after night

You know what is in there

Intense flavor-I will throw taco seasoning in a batch every now and then, also spaghetti seasoning

The pride of knowing that you totally made that, all by yourself

Lastly, it is one small sense of connection to all those fabulous women ancestors of centuries past that worked and slaved, resulting in you and I here to craft today!

Jammen' With My Ladies

I got together with my gals a few days ago to make STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM!  Yumm.  On dear soul had never made freezer jam, or any other kind for that matter.  She asked, "What do you do?  Buy Smuckers and strawberries, stir them together and freeze it?"  If you are in the same boat, let me tell you, it is just about that easy, but CHEEPA!

 

I am lazy, I don't mush my berries by hand.  I thought I would just throw that out there to take the pressure off.  I throw them in the blender and blend just until the berries start to swirl-so they are mushy, but might still have a chunk or two. 

If you are wanting to make some jam too, you will probably want to buy some pectin.  I bought the good-old stand by, SureJell, from the canning area at Walmart.  My grandma has a simply fabulous recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb jam that doesn't use pectin, it uses Jello.  Since I live in Arizona and don't have a relative that loves me enough to mail me some rhubarb (won't name names MOM), I can't make that kind. 

Follow the directions on the box.  #### 1 rule- read the directions before you start!!!  I, of course, did not and ended up making my first batch the processed kind cause I added the pectin too to the fruit and sugar.  Don't do that.  Most brands of pectin tell you to boil the pectin with water for a minute, while the sugar and berries are sitting together in another bowl.  Ooops!

Now, my friend Nicole

Don't you just love the apron?  She bought, what I kindly termed, the idiot's pectin.  It ended up the kind the rest of us wished we had bought.  There is the purple box in the picture, in fact.  The low-down: Freezer jam you don't have to turn the stove on to make.  It cost $2.95, there are two envelopes in the box.  You mush your berries, mix with sugar, mix with pectin and water, then ladle into your plastic containers.  Ta-Dah!  All done.  Yes, MOM, even Katrina could do it!  Try it.  I dare ya.  By the way, they don't carry that kind at Walmart.  You will have to go to the supermarket to find it.  Here is the official name and a picture, although this one looks different than Nicole's

Ball Fruit Jell Freezer Jam Pectin

We were even there long enough to taste it.  It set up well and was so, so, so yummy.  It is really so easy you could make it with your 2yr old.
Did I forget to mention,
IT USED LESS SUGAR TOO!!!

Have you grabbed your car keys yet?

Send me pictures!  I want to see your yummy jam.  Better yet, send me some.  My kids have eaten all that I made.  Guess I better grab the car keys too.

These are my home-school cuties. Since they love a chance to get out of doing their school work, they jumped at the chance to help can tomatoes. Something about pulling off the squishy, slippery skins and mooshing the tomatoes into the jars even seems like playing!
Thanks to the fabulous program Bountiful Baskets, families in Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington can get produce for their families for waaaaay cheep! We pay $15 for a basket of fruits and veggies that would normally cost us $50! If you are in the area, check out their website and start eating healthier for less!!! I got a 40# box of tomatoes for like $12.

https://02b8ce3.netsolstores.com/login.aspx

January 2010