happy plants!

i was pretty relieved to get some rain these past few weeks, but i'm sure my plants were even happier. my flower & vegetable gardens were looking a little weak, but now they seem to be much happier. i'm sure soon i'll have more tomatoes and peppers than i know what to do with, and that's fine with me. here's a little peak at some of my favorite outdoor plants from this year.

wildflowers!

over the past week, sam & i managed to get out in the woods a few times. first we went to linn run state park & hiked. next we went to raccoon state park's wildflower reserve. we saw lots of little critters & interesting plants. i have decided to start taking pictures of as many wildflowers as i can & keep track of them. they're all so pretty, and it's fun looking for and finding new ones.

         

fresh tomato sauce.

it seems like every time i look out my window, i notice more and more red tomatoes in my garden. the past few days i have been picking 4 or 5 almost ripe tomatoes & sitting them on the window ripen up. so, i decided it was time to make a first batch of tomato sauce for the year. 

i pulled the rest of the ripe tomatoes, as well as an onion & a small green pepper & got started. here's a really simple recipe for really fresh tasting garden tomato sauce. you can definitely substitute and adjust according to which ingredients you have on hand. it's pretty hard to screw up tomato sauce.

 

INGREDIENTS.

fresh tomatoes.

green pepper.

olive oil.

onion.

fresh garlic.

herbs/spices.

start by sauteing a small chopped onion in some olive oil until onion softens. next, add any dried herbs/spices you'd like. i added salt, pepper, oregano, and some red pepper flakes to give it some spice. once spices become fragrant, begin adding fresh veggies. i added a small, finely chopped green pepper first. then i chopped about half of my tomatoes, and pureed the rest. the pureed tomatoes give the sauce a strange, pale color, but it will become more red as it cooks. if you have any fresh herbs, such as basil, add them now. bring sauce to a light boil, then reduce heat, cover & simmer for about 20 minutes. enjoy!

before & after.

i found this strange little cart at construction junction for $4.00 about a year ago. i really liked it & thought it could be useful, but it was in really bad shape & i hated the top of it. it had weird french looking dogs all dressed up and acting like people on it. so weird. so i had been planning to paint it for a while, and decided today was the day. 

in a way i'm glad the top had the weird imagery on it, because it inspired me to replace the top with more images that i liked. otherwise, i probably would have just painted the whole thing one color. 

so here it is before...

...and after!

i just painted it with some paint i found discounted because it wasn't the proper tint someone wanted it, and then cut a sheet of bird wrapping paper & mod podged it to the top. really easy! i'm pretty happy with the results & glad i finally got around to fixing it up.

banana vanilla rum butter.

i've had my eye on this recipe from my favorite canning cook book (tart & sweet) for quite some time. it's really simple & easy to make. bananas are super cheap too, so i only spent a few bucks on the ingredients. i tasted it along the way, and it's really good. i can't wait to use it on cinnamon toast or muffins.

INGREDIENTS.

1 vanilla bean.

4 lbs peeled & chopped bananans.

1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed. 

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice.

1/2 cup dark rum (i used kraken).

split the vanilla bean & scrape out the seeds. add all ingredients (including vanilla bean pod & seeds) to a large pot & cook over medium-high heat for about 30 minutes. stir frequently. once the bananas are well broken down, remove from heat & take out vanilla bean pod. transfer to a food processor & blend until smooth, then return to pot & continue to cook to desired consistency. 

ladle butter into sterilized jars & process for 10 minutes. enjoy!

canning time!

sam and i canned some pickles yesterday, and i had the canning bug tonight. so i made 2 small batch (really small) recipes of jam with my gooseberries & red currants. jams & jellies are so quick and simple. i think i spent more time pulling stems than i did actually making the jams. both recipes are really simple & pretty similar. i didn't have the amounts the recipes called for, so i just adjusted accordingly.







RED CURRANT JAM.

7 cups stemmed red currants.
1/3 cup honey.
1 cup sugar.

place all ingredients in a sauce pan & bring to a boil. reduce heat & boil gently for 20 minutes. an easy way to tell when the jam is ready is to chill a plate in the freezer for a few minutes, then spoon a tiny bit out onto the cold plate. if the liquid of the jam runs in a large puddle, it's not quite ready. but if the liquid spreads just a little then quickly firms up, it's ready.


GOOSEBERRY SAUCE.
 
10 cups stemmed gooseberries.
2 cups sugar.

put all ingredients in a sauce pan & bring to a boil. reduce to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes, gently stirring periodically. 

both can be ladled into hot, sterile jars with 1/4 inch headspace & processed for 10 minutes. 

i've had the currant jam before, and it's very tart. this is my first time making the gooseberry sauce, but i tried it when i did the chill test, and it was really good. not quite as tart. i think it will be really good over home made waffles or ice cream. can't wait to try these!

 


i have more canning plans for tomorrow morning, so hopefully there will be more successful canning stories & delicious recipes on the way soon.

i also hung out with my cat friend tonight who has been coming around a lot lately. she's really sweet. her owners moved out & abandoned her : (. if anyone is looking for a really cute & friendly cat, let me know & i'll grab her for ya!