Apple Pie Filling

I wanted to share this recipe for making apple pie filling. I have made pie filling before and canned it and was not super pleased with the results. It seems my recipe was a little too runny and the pie didn’t set up well. This recipe is new to me but it is definitely a keeper. I got the recipe from the Mennonite Country Style Recipes and Kitchen-Secrets. This is one of my all time favorite cookbooks and if you ever have to opportunity to buy it, I highly recommend it. Anyway, here is the recipe!

9 1/2 cups water, 4 1/2 cups sugar, 1 1/2 cups cornstarch, 1 tsp. salt, 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ground allspice. Combine in large saucepan. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add 3 tbsp. lemon juice. Slice apples directly into jar adding layers of syrup as you fill (otherwise there will be too many air pockets). Leave at least 1 in. headspace. If jars are filled too full, syrup will spew out during processing. Tighten lids and process in boiling water bath for 25 min. Yields approx. 7 qts.

Well, we better get busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 26, 2013 6

Rainbow

Hello everyone! I thought I would share a few pictures of a beautiful rainbow God gave us the other evening.

It was very pretty. Today we went to Pastor Tom’s to pick apples. We ended up picking about 11 bushels. I think you all can guess what we will be doing for a while. I also wanted to share with you all a great post I found this morning on making coffee creamer. This sounds delicious and I can’t wait to try them out. You can check out all the flavors here http://www.mrshappyhomemaker.com/2013/03/homemade-coffee-creamer-over-20-flavor-varieties.

Well, I better get off here. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

September 23, 2013 4

Table and Chairs

I wanted to show you all the table and chairs we have been working on. Hubby made us the table years ago. We just painted it to match the new chairs. I think they look very nice!

This chair used to sit on my mom’s porch.

Then just a few flower pictures Grace took the other day.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 20, 2013 3

A Little Decorating

As our morning low was 37 degrees, the girls and I decided it was time for a little fall decoration. Now at this time in my life I am not a lot on seasonal decorating. I have no idea why. I love to look at other people decorating and I think it makes the home look so good. I guess I’ve just gotten lazy about it.

On our enclosed front porch, we have two tables. They are now ready for fall.

Inside we did the mantle. That’s it-that is the extent of our fall decorating. Not too much. Easy to take down but enough to make it look a little different.

Hubby is working on the other two chairs today. Hopefully, they will soon be finished and we can get it all painted. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

September 17, 2013 5

Applesauce Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup of softened butter
1 large egg
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups of applesauce
1 t of pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, first blend together the butter, egg, & sugar.
Then add the flour, baking soda, spices, & salt.
After it starts to from a crumbly dough, pour in the applesauce and mix together.

I got this recipe from facebook.

September 11, 2013 1

Update on Chairs

Yes, I know this makes me two posts in one day but I couldn’t wait to show you all the chairs. Hubby got another one made and we decided to paint those two today. I really like them.

I will show you more pictures when we get the other two made and the table painted to match. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 11, 2013 6

A New Chair

I thought I would show you all a new chair design Hubby is working on. I have requested 4 of these to use with an outside table we have. After years of use, the bench chairs we used with this table finally gave out. I think these will look very nice.

Just a few flower pictures. It won’t be long until these will be all gone. I have a fall flag hanging under the goldenrod but the wind was blowing it too much for me to get a good picture of it. You can see Shadow sitting at the stoop in the background.

As you can tell, this little arrangement is in the green swing area.

I almost pulled these up earlier in the summer because they are right in the doorway. Every time I would go out the kitchen door, I had to walk around them. Now I am so glad I didn’t. I think they are very pretty and they have decided to behave and fall over in the other direction.

We went over to a friend of ours yesterday to collect some wood pieces he had that he didn’t want. Some of it will be for burning, some will be for making toys. Hubby usually finds all kinds of things to do with scrap wood.

That’s about it. Not a lot going on here. I hope you have a great day and God bless.

September 11, 2013 3

Salsa

http://theelliotthomestead.com/2013/09/fresh-roasted-tomato-salsa/

September 10, 2013 0

Tweetsie Trip

Hello everyone! I am sorry that it has been a while since I made a post. Seems like we have been super busy here. Last Tuesday, the girls and I went to Sam’s Club. Wednesday, we went to the Pastor’s. They gave us 2 bushels of grapes and I have no idea how much corn-enough to make 31 qts in the freezer. So, I guess you know what we did Thursday. Friday we finished up the grapes and corn, cleaned the church and started revival. Saturday, we decided it was time to play. We met Dave, Jess and kids at Tweetsie for a fun day. We left about 9:00 A.M. and got back home about 9:00 P.M. It was a long day but SO much fun. Sunday finished up our revival. Today we are making peach and grape jelly.

They have these horses all around Tweetsie. The boys climbed up on them as soon as we got there. They really enjoyed seeing MawMaw climb on one. My mother was such a fun person. She loved doing things out of the box. She always wore a hat. One of her favorites was a bright silver one. As soon as I climbed up on the horse, Jess said all I needed was a silver hat. I think that is how I want my children and grandchildren to remember me. I want to be a person who is fun to be with.

Some of you mentioned that you were interested in knowing how to cook the dried beans. I’m sure there are lots of ways to cook them but the way we always do is just put them in a kettle, cover with water, add some bacon grease, salt and pepper. Mom always added a some navy beans to cook with them. It takes a while for them to cook and you will have to add water as needed. In my opinion, these are best with corn bread, but then most things are.

Well, I better get busy. I have so many blogs to get caught up on reading. Enjoy your day and God bless.

September 9, 2013 4