Canning Sugar Free Peach Butter

To contact us Click HERE



This is a sponsored post. Over the years I have learned thatI really enjoy fruit butters because of their intense fruit flavor, but I donot enjoy the large quantities of sugar that usually go into make fruitbutters, so I decided this year to make a peach butter with a little honey as asweetener. I have found that I am a better judge of how much honey I need if Ialready reduce the peach puree down by 50%. I add just enough honey to takeaway the harsh tartness of the peach butter. This leaves me with a mildly sweetpeach butter with a very intense peach flavor.
I usually do not have peaches this late in the season, but theWashington State Fruit Commission and Sweet Preservation were kind enough tosend me a box of fruit that included peaches. The peaches came in blemish free and slightly firm, but I prefer my peaches a little softer and riper. If you buy peaches that are not to your desired level of ripeness, then storethe peaches at room temperature. The peaches will ripen within a few days. Oncethe peaches are to your desired level of ripeness, you need to eat or can themquickly because they can turn into a pile of mold quickly. My peaches took 3days to ripen to my desired level of ripeness. 
To get your hands on beautiful Washington fruit go to yourlocal grocery store. Washington peaches are becoming more popular in grocerystores especially in areas where peaches are already out of season locally. Ifyour store does not carry Washington peaches, then talk to your store managerabout getting Washington peaches on the shelves at your local grocery store.
When buying peaches at the grocery store, there are severalthings to keep in mind. Look for a store with a well maintained producedepartment that carries no bruised or over ripe fruit and is equipped with airconditioning. Always buy peaches that are slightly firm so they do not bruisewhile transporting them to your house. Once they are home you can allow them toripen to your desired level.
For more peach canning recipes, check out Sweet Preservation. Sweet Preservation also has some really great canning labels that you can print from your computer. My favorite labels are called Hippie Chic. They are beautiful bright orange labels that would be perfect for this sugar free peach butter.

Ingredients (makes about 3 pints)              
20 peaches4 tbsp honey
Directions
1.      Peel the peaches. You can peel the peaches witha vegetable peeler or you can dip the peaches in hot water for 30 seconds (makesure to turn the peaches in the water so all sides of the peaches get hot) andthen dunk them in an ice water bath for 2 minutes. The peels will slip rightoff.2.       Puree thepeaches in a blender.3.      Gently simmer the peach puree in a large potuntil the puree is reduced 50%, about 3 hours.4.      Add honey to taste. I used 4 tbsp of honey. 5.      Reduce further until desired thickness, about 30minutes.6.      Ladle the hot peach butter into hot sterilejars.7.      Remove any air bubbles with a plastic utensilsuch as a spatula.8.      Leave ¼” headspace.9.      Adjust two piece lids and process in a boilingwater canner for 10 minutes.Posted on Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday

Canning Plum Juice

To contact us Click HERE



This is a sponsored post. Growing up my grandmother had twoplum trees. Unfortunately, plums were one of my least favorite fruits. Now thatI am older I recognize it was never the flavor of plums that I disliked.Instead I disliked the texture of plums. I did not care for their rubbery skinwith a soft inside. I found the skin too tuff for the interior of the plum.This made me avoid plums for years.
In the past few years I have learned to appreciate plumsagain. I really enjoy deep dark purple plum juice. I get all the flavor of the plumthat I enjoy without the unpleasant texture. This plum juice is very concentratedso you can dilute the juice upon serving. I usually dilute the juice by 50%.This makes the juice about the same consistency as store bought juice.
These wonderful plums were provided by The Washington Fruit Commissionand Sweet Preservation. Sweet Preservation is a canning website with lots offun extras like how to plan a canning party and canning labels. They eveninclude information on the health benefits of canning your produce. They alsohave more plum canning recipes, if you are looking for more ways to can yourplums.

Ingredients makes about 3 pints
6 cups purple plums, pits removed and sliced in half4 cups water
Directions
1.      Add the plums and water to a pot. The plumsshould be completely submerged in the water. If the plums are not submerged inthe water then add more water.2.      Simmer the plums for 2 hours or until the plumsare completely mushy and the water has turned a deep dark purple color.3.      Filter the juice with a strainer double linedwith a cheese cloth.4.      Add the filtered juice back to a pot and bringto a boil.5.      Ladle the hot juice into jars leaving ¼ inchhead space. If your last jar does not have enough juice in it to fill the jar,then add some hot water.6.      Adjust the two piece caps.7.      Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutesin a boiling water bath.8.      To serve, dilute with water by 50%.
Posted on Simple Lives Thursday, Full Plate Thursday

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Triple Chocolate Cookie Mix in a Jar

To contact us Click HERE

This year I have decided to participate in a 12 weeks ofChristmas Treats hosted by the blog Meal Planning Magic. Every Thursday I willbe posting a new Christmas treat that would belong on a dessert table or asweet homemade gift to give someone. If you would like to see more Christmas treatsfrom other bloggers, then check out Meal Planning Magic every Thursday untilChristmas.
For my first Christmas treat I decided to make a cookie mixin a jar that you can give a hostess gift at a party with a batch of freshcookies to put on the dessert table. This simple gift is easy enough for kidsto make on their own as a teacher’s gift. Some of my mom’s favorite gifts that shereceived as a teacher were mixes in a jar because they did not need to be eatenright away.
The mix makes 2 ½ dozen cookies. The cookies are very richand delicious. The cookies have a nice chewy texture to them. This gift isperfect for the chocolate lover. The brown sugar layer has be compacted down andit can be tricky to get all the chocolate chips in the jar depending upon thesize of the chips. I shook my jar around a few times to let the chocolate chipssettle so I could fit all the chocolate chips inside the jar. I used a regularmouth 1 quart jar, but a wide mouth 1 quart jar might be a better option forthis recipe because you can fit more chocolate chips in the jar and there wouldbe less packing issues.

Ingredients for Triple Chocolate Cookie Mix modified fromTaste of Home

• 1 quart canning jar
• 1 ½ c all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ c cocoa
• ¾ c sugar
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 1/2 c semi sweet chocolate chips
• ½ c white chocolate chips

Directions
1.      Add the flour, baking soda, and salt to the jar.2.      Add the cocoa to the jar on top of the flour.3.      Add the sugar on top of the cocoa.4.      Add the brown sugar on top of the sugar. You mayneed to pack this layer down.5.      In a small bowl, mix the chocolate chips and whitechocolate chips together.6.      Add the chocolate chips to the jar. You may needto shake the jar a few times for all of the chocolate chips to fit inside thejar.7.      Add a tag with the recipe below.
Ingredients for Tag Recipe makes 2 ½ dozen cookies

• ¾ cup butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

1.      Preheat to 350 degrees F.2.      Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchmentpaper and set aside.3.      Beat the butter, egg, and vanilla until wellmixed.4.      Slowly add the jar mixture to the butter mixtureand mix well.5.      Scoop 1 tbsp of dough onto the cookie sheet about2 inches apart.6.      Bake for 10-12 minutes.

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Slightly Sweet Cinnamon Sugar Almonds

To contact us Click HERE

I wanted to make at least one recipe for the 12 weeks ofChristmas Treats hosted on Meal Planning Magic to be a little less indulgent for the health food crowd. It iseasy to over indulge during the Christmas season, but these cinnamon sugaralmonds are excellent. They do not contain the heavy coating that my spiced almonds on my chocolate marquis contain. These nuts contain a smaller amount of sugarmaking the coating light.
I used light coconut sugar on these cinnamon sugar almondsbecause coconut sugar has an amazing complex taste that is similar to brownsugar without the being heavy. I also soaked the almonds over night to removethe Phytic acid from the nuts. I did bake the nuts at 350 degrees F, so I didkill any beneficial enzymes that we left on the nuts which was probably notmuch because my “raw” almonds were already steam pasteurized. One random sideeffect that I really like about soaked nuts is that they do not make the roofof my mouth itch. When I eat unsoaked nuts the roof of my mouth itches afterthem. With soaked nuts, I no longer have this reaction.
These almonds are slightly sweet with hints of cinnamonsprinkled throughout. These nuts are excellent on their own as a healthieralternative on a dessert table or they are excellent on top of salads. You canalso package these nuts up and give them out as gifts.


Ingredients

• 1 large egg white
• ¼ cup light coconut sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup almonds, soaked over night in cold water

Directions
1.      Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.2.      Beat the egg in a small bowl until slightlyfrothy.3.      Mix the coconut sugar and cinnamon with the egg.4.      Coat the almonds in the egg mixture.5.      Bake the almonds for 30 minutes or until crispyon the outside and crunchy on the inside.



Posted on Melt in Your Mouth Monday, Mangia Monday, My Meatless Monday, Just Another Meatless Monday, Made By You Monday, Market Yourself Monday

12 Weeks of Christmas Treats: Candied Orange Peels

To contact us Click HERE

This week I wanted to do something frugal for my 12 weeks ofChristmas treats hosted by Meal Planning Magic. I decided to do candied orange peels. Most peoplethrow away the peels of oranges, but they are delicious candied. The candiedorange peels can be eaten plain or they can be added to recipes like my German Stollen, a Christmas bread.
These candied orange peels really go over well with kidsbecause they are sweet and have an intense orange flavor. My kids fight overwho gets to eat the candied orange peels. To remove the bitterness from theorange peels you want to boil the orange peels several times, but there is atrade off with boiling the orange peels because the orange flavor will alsodiminish as you boil the peels. The trick is to try and find your perfectboiling time that balances the bitterness and the orange flavor. Our familylikes to boil our orange peels three times. I find that after three times theorange peels are no longer bitter but the orange flavor is still nice.



Ingredients for Candied OrangePeel modified from an about video

Peel of 3 oranges
4 quarts of water (more or less maybe used depending upon the size of your pot)
¼ cup of water per 1 cup of peel
½ cup sugar per 1 cup of peel
1 cup sugar for coating the peel (more or less maybe used)

Directions

1. Cut the orange peel into thin strips.

2. Add the orange peel to a pot and add enough cold water on top to fully coverthe orange peel.

3. Bring the water to a simmer for 10 minutes. Drain the water.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 three more times.

5. Add ½ cup sugar and ¼ cup water per 1 cup of orange peel to a pot. Let thesolution come to a boil. Stir frequently to help the sugar dissolve.

6. Place the orange peels in the sugar solution and let boil for 30 minutes.*

7. Drain the orange peels on a wire rack for 2 minutes.

8. Roll the orange peel in sugar.

9. Allow the orange peels to dry on a wire rack. Once dry put the peels in anair tight container or use in a recipe. The peels will keep in an air tightcontainer for 1 week.·                   * The sugar solution can be used more than once.Store the sugar solution in an air tight container in the refrigerator for upto three days.

      Posted on Simple Lives Thursday

Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap

To contact us Click HERE
It's really hard to believe we are on the last day of the Dare to Get Dirty Challenges! I have been having a blast and learning all sorts of new things, and I hope you've had a chance to play along.
My first challenge for the week was a very clean challenge, so I decided we'd get dirtier and dirtier as the week went on. 
Now I can't tell you what my challenge is - you can find it here if you're a Fan Club member- but I can tell you what technique I used. 
I've heard about this technique for many years but never tried it until now, and I am HOOKED. 
It's a very cool way to make stunning backgrounds, and to recycle. And I know you're all... "Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but two videos in one week, maybe?"
And to that I say yes! I have a video for you!
Can you guess what these pretty strips of paper are made out of? I'll give you three guesses while you peruse....
Paper: Whisper White, National GeographicStamps: Full of blessingsInk: Early EspressoAccessories: Linen Thread, Citra Solv, Foam Paintbrush, Tombow Multi Glue




It's a National Geographic magazine! I bought mine for $1 at Half Price books, found the Citra Solv at Central Market and I went to work!
To see my other card with this technique - head over to Project Reanimate!
To learn to do it yourself, watch the following Citra Solv Magic video!



And then go get your share of our amazing prizes for Dare to Get Dirty!

You're Nekkid Already - You're Just a Different Color!

To contact us Click HERE
There's been a profusion of inappropriate nekkidness lately.

First, I went to Starbucks one morning and had my eyes assaulted by a 65-ish year old male cyclist who had his bike outfit on - and, I have to say, this already qualified him as nekkid pretty much - just a different color than his birthday suit, but otherwise pretty much nekkid. But that wasn't the issue.

The issue was that he had the dang thing completely unzipped in the front, practically clear down to his nether regions.

I was completely appalled. I can honestly tell you that it has NEVER, in the history of the WORLD, been hot enough anywhere on earth to justify this behavior. Never.

Also, I believe it was a health department violation. If not, it should be.

But THEN - then the Olympics started. And sand volleyball. Which, according to one player who actually kept a straight face while answering John McEnroe's question about why they were playing practically nekkid, said that the sport was SO advanced that it required the highly specialized "equipment" of a tiny string in everyone's butt and little else.

It's been the source of many hilarious observations in social media, and for that I am grateful.

But it has also led to an invention  by me.

As you know, I don't sew. It's a genetic disability. Well I can cross stitch and embroider - does that count as sewing? I can also stamp sewing images, as you can see here.

Stamps: Click to see and buy Hoop La LaPaper: Real Red Polka Dot DSP, Early Espresso, Whisper WhiteInk: Early EspressoAccessories: Real Red & Early Espresso markers, Large Scallop Edgelit, 2.5" circle punch

So here's my idea for a little sewing first aid for our volleyball players and our exhibitionist men at Starbucks. A cover up! Most women own a bathing suit cover up already because it's a generally accepted norm that you should only be in your bathing suit when you're actually in or quite near a significant body of water. The mall, for example, is not a place where you should appear in a bikini, regardless of whether or not you are an Olympian. So I have made the following modifications to inappropriate use of athletic outfits.


Or for my biking friend, he'd just have to adjust the position of the wrap.


Better, don't you think?

The Unexpected Tie That Binds Us All Together...

To contact us Click HERE
You know - at the end of the day, we're not all that different. Social media will definitely teach you that we have more in common with our fellow man than the news media would like us to believe.

Last week, on my walk, where all my best, slightly unorthodox thinking is done, I finally figured out the one thread that runs through all of us and unites us as a species.

Republican or Democrat, vegan or carnivore, Christian or Muslim, tastes great or less filling, National League or American League, Aggie or Longhorn, there is this ONE THING that we all come together around.

One unargued truth.

One thing no one denies.

We ALL, every one of us, when it's hot outside and we exercise and our fingers swell up - we ALL call those fingers snausage fingers.

I realized this while talking to a friend from the Northeast who couldn't possibly have known that that was MY word for this condition. I was stunned to hear her say it - how could she know?

It's THAT universal an idea.

And I don't understand it at all. I mean, Snausages are a dog snack that looks like a pig in a blanket. We don't call our swollen paws pigs in a blanket - but race, creed, color aside, we ALL call them snausages.

I'm fascinated by this.

What do you think Europeans call their swollen up fingers?

At least at the end of the day we can meet each other on the common snausage ground and call each other friends. Thank goodness for that.

I had fun on Thursday with the Splitcoast Ways To Use It challenge. I decided to try this week's tutorial from my beloved, beloved friend Bev Gerard for the background and I REALLY like it! I've never done this tutorial before, or if I have, I've forgotten about it, which is one of the best things about getting older - it's like a new world every day :).




Stamps: Sage Advice (Retired), Hello DoilyInk: Tempting Turquoise, Lucky Limeade, Basic BlackPaper: Whisper WhiteAccessories: Want2Scrap bling
Now that we've achieved world peace through snausage fingers, let's move on to the important news of the day - banana bread.

I ADORE my ladies that come to my class every month, and I love to bring them presents whenever I can. This month I decided to bake something for them, but I wanted it to be really, really special. So instead of regular banana bread, I made banana bread with my FAVORITE food item in the world - it's the normal person's answer to Nutella, which I despise.

And not only is this amazing spread like CRACK, but in banana bread, it makes the angels sing. So as promised, here is the recipe. Please only make it for people you really, really love. I can assure you - no one else is worth it! I got this recipe here. (If your grocery store doesn't carry it - I have links where you can buy the spread and the cookies together. And yes, you heard me right - this banana bread has COOKIES in it.)

Biscoff Crunch Banana Bread

 INGREDIENTS:3 ripened bananas, peeled and mashed1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt ( I used Fage 2%)1/2 cup Biscoff spread3 tbsp. butter, melted2 eggs1/2 cup granulated sugar1 3/4 cup all purpose flour3/4 tsp. baking soda1/2 tsp. salt1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon18 Biscoff cookies, crushed

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan and set aside.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the first 5 ingredients and mix until well blended.
3. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Then slowly pour it in the stand mixer, beating on low until batter forms and is mixed well.
4. Gently fold in 3/4 of the crushed Biscoff cookies with a spatula.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and then top with the remaining 1/4 crushed Biscoff cookies.
6. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
7. Let cool completely before removing from pan and slicing.

Go forth and make banana bread with your unifying snausage fingers!!

Loveyameanitbye

If You're Unorganized Enough, You Can Do Anything

To contact us Click HERE
Seriously.

I was trying to go through my 91 draft blog posts to see if there was anything fun to post and I found a card from LAST YEAR.

I'm so organized like that. It's okay to be jealous.

I like it though, so we're going to pretend I was saving it for a special occasion. Like Tuesday, August 21st.

Yeah, that.

This card was actually a sample I did for last year's Hope You Can Cling To event, which is near and dear to my heart. This year will be our third year, and I can't wait - I really hope you can join us. It's  a great cause, and the most fun you can have without getting arrested!

Stamps: From the Heart (retired)Paper: Whisper White, Silver GlimmerInk: Memento Tuxedo BlackAccessories: ShinHan Touch Markers: RP196, RP17, SU Oval dies, SU dotted ribbon

This weekend I also did a little project with some of my leftover paper from my fun CitraSolv experiment.

You can see the results on this post on Project Reanimate.

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm Angry... At a Candle

To contact us Click HERE
Well, not really. I'm really mad at my camera. Or maybe my eye. I don't know. I'm just angry.

I challenge you to make today's project and then go outside to try to photograph it and just SEE if you can get your SLR to focus in the right place!

I couldn't do manual focus because I actually hold my projects to take photos of them. I don't have a little outdoor photobooth set up and I really do prefer natural light.

So 300 blurry photos later, I finally got ONE pic I could use. *Growls*

I was on YNN again last week, doing handmade fall projects. We painted a pumpkin like a candy corn, did fall tealights, a little bat that held a Hershey nugget and this candle.

Now if you haven't gotten the new Stampin' Up! two stage heat gun, this project is a great reason to do so. We've all made disastrous, lumpy decorated candles by over-melting them when we were attaching the tissue paper, but the new gun has a lower heat setting that makes this MUCH easier.

To make the leaf, I just folded up tissue paper so that I was making about 8 leaves at once, and I cut them with my Autumn Accents die. These are all the shapes it cuts


It matches this stamp set:



I didn't use the stamps this time - I used Direct to Paper with More Mustard and Pumpkin Pie ink pads randomly all over the leaves.

Then just hold it on your candle and gently heat until you see the wax melt through the tissue paper and you're all done! I move my heat gun around a lot so I don't melt it too much in any one spot.

I thought about adding more leaves, but I ended up liking how clean and bright this looked, so I think I'll leaf it alone. Heh.


Can you be-leaf how simple and quick that is? It took much longer just to type about it!

Are you ready for fall? Our first cool temperatures have snuck in while I wasn't looking and it's a nice break!

Makes me less angry when I run outside to curse at a candle!

Loveyameanitbye.

When You Are Allowed to Use The Word "Real"

To contact us Click HERE
I saw something very disturbing yesterday when I was grocery shopping. Well, actually, I saw lots of disturbing things - like the guy crawling all up in my business in line, as per usual. I also saw a child having a fit that was like something out of Alien. Actually, I'm nearly positive the child was inhabited by another life form.

Anyway, this next thing was MORE disturbing.

I saw a product which boasted "Made with REAL cream" on its label.

Let me tell you people something.

Cream is a word. It means something. It does not require the use of the word "real" as a qualifier, if that is, in fact, what you are using in your product.

As a matter of fact, we should not allow the use of the word "cream" if the actual ingredient is made out of coconut oil and partially hydrogenated extract of donkey tail.

Some other things that should never require the use of the word "real" include:

Cheese - If it's vegetable oil dyed orange, injected with plastic and formed into a rectangle, it's not cheese.
Butter - This is the definition of a holy food. Don't use the word if you don't mean it.
Fruit - What in the world drives people to qualify FRUIT? It's either fruit or it's not.

I suggest that the makers of fake products come up with their own words for their fake products, like the people who make KRAB. KRAB is not the same as crab, which is real. So maybe if you're making something other than cheese, instead of cheese makers having to describe their product as "real", you have to call your product. CHIZE. Fake donkey tail butter could be called "GROSS" and fake fruit could be called FROUTH.

I'm sure we could come up with something.

I'd be ever so grateful.



Stamps: Stippled Blossoms, Pursuit of HappinessPaper: Whisper WhiteInk: Melon Mambo, Basic Grey, Peach Parfait, Tangerine TangoAccessories: Framelits - Labels Collection, Daffodil Delight Striped Ribbon, Fancy Fan embossing folderTechniques: Dry Embossing
I made this pretty card for Joanne Basile's Dare to Get Dirty Challenge on Splitcoast and I LOVE it - I LOVE this stamp set! Look how pretty the grey is as the dark note on my Melon Mambo flower? SQUEE! Nothing fake about that!!

Now that we have sorted all that "real" nonsense out, here's a little stop motion video I made of my walk, for all my friends who always say they want to walk with me. :) Enjoy.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to This Post

To contact us Click HERE
Some days are just more "Lucy" than others.

August has been a crazy month and getting crazier.

I had two challenges I wanted to do for today - the Touch Twin challenge and the Splitcoast Sketch challenge.

So why not combine them, right? Smart, efficient. I got all smirky about that.

The sketch is adorable,




and the Touch Twin challenge was a shadowing technique.

So I came up with this CUTE idea with Animal Talk where I was going to have my dog's shadow go through the greeting and make a super bright and happy card, since it was the first time I'd ever inked this little dude.

I got done and I really liked it!

Stamps: Animal TalkInk: Memento Tuxedo BlackPaper: Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade, Birds of a FeatherAccessories: ShinHan Touch Twin Markers: BR103, YR133, BR92, BG179, B65, dimensionals, Square Punch
So I go to upload it and I see....

The Touch Twin challenge is actually FOOD and shadowing.

Oops.

This card wouldn't really send the right message there, eh?

I did laugh for quite a while, and then I made another card, which you can see here. :)

Come play along with us in both - but if you do, it's a great idea to read the instructions FIRST.

If You're Unorganized Enough, You Can Do Anything

To contact us Click HERE
Seriously.

I was trying to go through my 91 draft blog posts to see if there was anything fun to post and I found a card from LAST YEAR.

I'm so organized like that. It's okay to be jealous.

I like it though, so we're going to pretend I was saving it for a special occasion. Like Tuesday, August 21st.

Yeah, that.

This card was actually a sample I did for last year's Hope You Can Cling To event, which is near and dear to my heart. This year will be our third year, and I can't wait - I really hope you can join us. It's  a great cause, and the most fun you can have without getting arrested!

Stamps: From the Heart (retired)Paper: Whisper White, Silver GlimmerInk: Memento Tuxedo BlackAccessories: ShinHan Touch Markers: RP196, RP17, SU Oval dies, SU dotted ribbon

This weekend I also did a little project with some of my leftover paper from my fun CitraSolv experiment.

You can see the results on this post on Project Reanimate.

Thanks for stopping by!