Apple Thyme Jam and Jelly

I cannot resist buying from our local apple cider producers. I have several to choose from. Need to gather up some half pint jars, sugar, pectin, and thyme from the garden. Away we go! 

Sometime later.....it tastes as good as it looks......

 This is what the apple thyme jelly looks like.           

I'm also going to make the jam which uses chopped apples. Honeycrisp are the apples recommended.

Next week looks like jam making time.

Much to do in the Etsy shop...........sewing like crazy

The Apple Jelly recipe:

Apple Thyme Jelly with Cider

To make an easy apple thyme jelly, follow these simple steps:

• Gather ingredients: 4 cups apple juice, ¼ cup tablespoon fresh thyme, 1 package pectin, and sugar.
• In a pot, combine apple juice and thyme; bring to a boil.
• Stir in pectin and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
• Add sugar (about 5 cups) and boil for another 1-2 minutes until dissolved.
• Remove from heat and strain to remove thyme leaves.
• Pour into sterilized jars and seal; process in a water bath if desired. 10 minutes

Apple Celebration

Apples need to be considered for “out-of-the-box” dishes, say, chili! Yup, I said chili. I’m going to use the slow cooker on Low for 6 hours. 

 You must eat your apple chili with some sweet Yankee cornbread, right?

I will gladly share the recipe, It’s vegan and dairy free. You know you can customize this to your likes. 

My dessert for Sunday’s apple supper will apple pie filling in puff pastry. I’m on that kind of roll!

Garden Bust

 I’m always excited planning, executing and nurturing my garden each year. Seeds were planting and did great in the greenhouse. Don’t know why, but growth slowed a lot..,, when planting time came, I conditioned wee little leaves to plant in my prepared beds. 

Eventually plants grew, yet, our growing season is getting shorter. We’ll see ….tomatoes have quite a few green ones.

It’ll be officially fall this coming Monday! Why is September flying by?  Much sewing to do in my shop, carrot seeds to plant, willow to weave, not to mention gift jam making. Following a French recipe for pumpkin jam. Apple cider and lemon juice plus brown sugar added makes it either water bath or pressure cooker processable. Not sure that’s a word!!Will test the temp right after canning. 

Fall came with a lot of rain!

 Last Friday I enjoyed a warm summer day--just right temp in the 70ºs. During that night, the sky opened and it's been raining ever since. We've picked all our tomatoes and have pumpkins and squash drying. 

Cute, huh?

There are a few more, pie size. Also picked 8 Jack Be Little pumpkins. Love to decorate with them, so, netting this many from one vine is exciting to me.

The other squash I grew is the mini spaghetti squash. Wanted the smaller size as I am the one who eats this squash. Next year, I'm growing the Four Sisters garden by including sunflowers to the group I did now. I am leaving the Glass Gem corn and the Mandan corn on their plants to dry. The other corn known as Sweet Corn has been harvested for eating. Love the taste of this corn.

Do I love fall, harvesting and preserving? Yes, yes, yes. The colors of this season are my favorites.

Fire and this time it's not the Goddess of Fire, Pele

 I grew up on the island of Oahu. Once you live anywhere in Hawaii, it doesn't matter where you're from. Hawaii is in your heart, your soul, every cell in your body. You come from a culture that is unique and no one else understands.

To watch the fire that engulfed Lahaina the other night broke me. I was so shocked and horrified for the people, the horror they endured just to save their lives. And, to now know so many are still unaccounted for. I need to help  I just feel that something inside of me is aching and I must do something. 

In the past I have often gone to other quilters for quilt tops or completed quilt for hurricane and tornado events which left people homeless. Some donated. Most ignored me. This time I just don't know how to get help as I feel this is my family that I must help, fellow Hawaiians. I see so many giving money and I have too. This lifts my heart.

Summer Musings

 Garden surprises keep coming. We built 7 raised garden beds, filled with commercial organic dirt, composted, fertilized, watered well. Plants are slowly growing. Meanwhile......

We dugged up some plants, weeded and put in some corn seeds. Bingo! Sprouts, super growth, then beans near the corn, and finally squash seeds, They sprouted within days and are rolling along showing growth daily. This is just dirt, folks. Nothing more! It's my 3 Sisters garden. I have so much joy looking at it everyday. I'm baffled. Most seeds planted elsewhere in the garden, either never came up or it took them over a month. We have the watering system on a timer, so everybody is getting the same amount of water, same soaking hoses.

The Mandan corn plants grew the fastest and have tassels. The glass gem corn is doing really well. The sweet corn is very high and I'm sure we'll see tassels soon.

I hope all of you are going to get a good harvest year......I love Mother Nature. Just need to learn more about her....

Dehydrating the Walla Wallas

These sweet onions grown in eastern Washington are my favorite onion. Every July I buy pounds and pounds of them. Pull out the dehydrator, fill the trays and the next day-heaven. I will warn you, put the dehydrator on your covered patio as the aroma created by these onions can be overwhelming! I vacuum pack them into mason jars and toss them into stews and soup during the winter. Well, that's the plan. Reality is: they are my best snacks. You can eat just one slice, or tidbit, or crumb.

This year I'm going to also preserve them in a Garlic-Onion Jelly. The batch makes 4 half-pint jars. Perfect size recipe for the Jam Maker. I figure I'm into making several batches. You're supposed to serve this jelly over cream cheese. Dang, more temptation. Hope some jars make it to at least Halloween......maybe Thanksgiving.....

I also pickle them. My grandmother made pickled onions and went to her grave with some important facts about her recipe despite aunts, uncles pleading with her to share. She never said she used the Maui onion which is a super sweet onion like the Walla Wallas. I discovered this by doing a recipe I found on a blog. Bingo, there was that fantastic taste. I have since shared this with family members knowing that everyone in the family was desperate to have Nana's good stuff.

Hope weather is good where ever you are. Keep well.