We are the Kirklands and we are winners....

This a beautiful drawing by Madigan Kirkand. She is in Kindergarten, and she is my niece. Mrs. Cravey, the art teacher, had all the Kindergarten students draw pictures of hot air balloons. Then a panel of teachers looked at the drawings, and help decide whose was best to enter in the fair. Then once the drawings are entered a panel of judges pick from all the Pre-K through Kindergarten classes for the winners. Isn't this a great drawing for someone who is in Kindergarten? Guess what place she won in the fair?

1st place, and a check for $5.00! I am so happy for her.
Bethany's class didn't have enough time to create stuff to enter. So, at home Bethany created this Picasso inspired pastel. What you can't tell from the picture, or maybe you can, she didn't draw on the hair she engraved it with her fingernail. She has become such a good artist. We entered her in the 12 & under amateur artist division. Guess what she won?
3rd place, and a $10.00 check! Go Bethie!!

I also entered some stuff in the fair this year. I entered 3 canned items. In the fruit section I entered my sliced peaches in medium syrup. I won 2 place ribbon, and a check for $7.00!

Then I entered the 'Kirkland Family Sweet Relish'. I called it just plain sweet relish because they said I couldn't have a name on the jar..LOL

Anyway, it won a 1st place blue ribbon, and a $10.00 check!!

Last but not least. I entered my 'Carrot Cake Jam'. It has pecans in it, and it is YUMMY! Anyway I won a 1st place blue ribbon, and a $10.00 check!!

I did enter the Blueberry Blackberry Jam with Amanda's name on it. It was the only unopened jar of jam I had from her. It didn't place. Next time I will enter her Muscadine Grape Jelly, now that stuff will be a contender I'm sure!!LOL Or maybe she can pick something an enter it. Now, that would make my day...LOL

All in all I think we Kirklands really racked up this year at the fair. I love that you can enter, and go and see it, and possibly win. It's showy in a low key kind of way. Well, it won't be that low key with me running around saying things like 'this is our blue ribbon winning sweet relish', or 'have you tried my blue ribbon 'carrot cake jam' it is awesome....LOL

Maybe you would like to enter something in your local fair next year? Or maybe you have entered before? Either way leave me a comment.....

Me and my friends be Jammin'

We be Jammin' on Monday

On August 9, 2010 Courtney, and I went to Amanda's house to make blueberry/blackberry jam. Look how pretty these blackberries are. I think they are the biggest ones I've ever seen.

Amanda, and I bought the blackberries from the Farmers Market, up by Atlanta.

I let the kids take some pictures of me since the adults were busy.

From afar the blueberries looked really good too, but now so much up close...LOL
Amanda and Courtney went over to Nanny's and got the blueberries. While they were there she put her order in for some jars...LOL

All in all it was a really good time with them. I can't wait to find out what the next project is going to be. It just seems like we have to really schedule something productive for us to get together, because we are always so busy. Can you believe we got like 3 and a half dozen jars of jam...WOW that's alot of jammin'

We be jammin' on Thursday...

On August 12, 2010 I invited my Karin over to teach her how to make peach jam. I don't think I taught very well. I don't think she will ever be making jam on her own, but she did say she had a good time.

Since Lysey thinks that from up above is the best angle for her it must be the best angle for everyone.....LOL

We made 16 pints of peach jam....that's alot for her very first session. The only reason we stopped is that we ran out of sure jell....

I was really worried about Karin coming to my house to make jam. I have never really had her over. Well she did stop over one time for like a minute, but I had never had her over for a visit, or anything like that. I wouldn't have a problem with her coming another time. Maybe she will want to make tomato sauce...LOL
Jam on yall!

Tomato, Tomato, Tomato, Tomato

I wish I looked this good when I was canning my tomatoes. I will admit I felt pretty great doing all this work, and I may have reached this kind of excitement on the inside....LOL BUT I didn't look this good, and I don't think I could ever allow myself to be this messy...I mean I would be the one cleaning it all up....LOL

You know I went to the Farmer's market, and I bought a boat load of tomatoes. They had heirloom tomatoes, which I'd never seen one before. If you haven't you won't see one here either, because I forgot to take a picture of them. Anyway, I got a 20 lbs. box for $10.00. We ate a few, and gave a few away. Everyone said they were good. Last night I made tomato sauce with just this kind. I can't wait to try it in my food to see if I can tell the difference.

We also bought 100 lbs of other tomatoes. Yes folks I said 100 lbs. It came as four 25 lbs boxes. They were $14.00 a piece. I really only wanted 3 but Chris said we needed 4. He was right. Out of all of those I have 16 left, and they are beautiful. We made 30 quarts of sauce, 10 quarts of stewed tomato/okra, and 16 pints of salsa....YUMMY!

Tonight I am going to clean the box of cherry tomatoes we bought. The big box was $10.00. I think it is like 15-20 lbs. After I wash them all, I am going to lay them out to dry, then bag them, and freeze them. Then when I'm cooking my yummy sauce, or chili, or soup I can just pop however many I want into some hot water, slip the skins off and pop them in my dishes. That way I'll have fresh yummy sunshine cherry tomatoes in the dead, dark winter. Yeah baby, that's what I'm talking about.

I thought after I canned, and froze all my tomatoes I would start to feel like the title of this children's book:

But I don't. I have really loved this whole thing. Really. Chris and I have been having a wonderful time doing this together. That's right folks, he rolls his sleeves up and just get busy with me. I think he really likes it to. He says he has really enjoyed this time with me. That makes is all worth it to me.

I haven't got tired of doing tomatoes yet, and I feel like I need some more. I need more sauce, and I need to can some crushed.....Oh and I need some plain stewed with veggie...LOL

I will admit I think when I looked down at the lonely 16 left, I swear the one farthest to the left looked just like this:Maybe I do need a break!! LOL

Here is what I did with the left over tomato sauce from the batches I did. I took those wonderful looking green peppers I got, that were the size of coffee mugs, and made the most wonderful stuffed peppers....Yummy!!

Stuffed Peppers

5 large green peppers (or as many as will fit in your crock pot or roaster)

1 lb of hamburger

1 lb of pork sausage

1 vidalia onion

1 green pepper

1 1/2 cups to 2 cups bread crumbs

2 to 4 eggs

seasonings (salt, oregano, A1, or whatever your tastes are that day)

Tomato sauce (homade or from a can...LOL)

Cut the tops off your peppers, and clean them out, but leave them whole. Then chop up your onion, 1 green pepper. Mix that with your meat, bread crumbs, eggs, and seasoning. Stuff that mixture into your peppers. Fill them up, and just alittle over. Place stuffed peppers in crock pot or roaster. Make meatballs with the remaining mixture and place around the peppers. Pour tomato sauce over everything. I put these on High in my crock pot. I didn't time how long they took. When they were done we ate them. I would say maybe 2-3 hours on high. My guess for the oven would be 350 for that amount of time.

I served fresh corn on the cob with this. Growing up my mom used to use rice instead of bread crumbs. You could serve rice on the side with this. My mom used to serve mashed potatoes, and we used the sauce as gravy. The sauce with thicken, and it is some kind of good.

Salsa

This past weekend I made my very first homemade salsa. The day I made it I was also doing peaches, and bread, and jam....it was a busy day. Amanda told me that Nanny wanted to know if I wanted to put up some tomatoes. I never did it before, but I really wanted to do it. So I went over to Nanny's and she told me I could have tomatoes from the second table. Chris and I got 2 walmart bags full. Yum! I was afraid to take anymore because sometimes when I don't know what I'm doing I just make a mess out of it, and then I have to throw it to the hog. Anyway, I was alittle overwhelmed by the project, but know that it is done I can't wait to do it again on a larger scale.
I used the recipe from my Blue Ball Canning Book. It's called Zesty Salsa. The day I made it I thought it would be really spicy, and it was just alittle mild. Then we ate it again a couple of nights later, and it wasn't really spicy at all. It was kid friendly I think. This recipe made 8 pints. I want to wait about a month to make more. Someone in the family said they made salsa and like a month later when they opened it the vinegar had taken over. I'm really afraid of that. Also Harmony had another recipe for salsa I want to try...LOL We will see....
Zesty Salsa
10 c. chopped, seeded, peeled, cored tomatoes (about 6 lbs) ( I didn't seed)
5 c. chopped & seeded long green peppers (about 2 lbs)
5 c. chopped onions (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 1/2 c. chopped & seeded hot peppers (about 1 lb)
1 1/4 c. cider vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp. cilantro, minced
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce (opt)(I didn't use this)
3 jalapeno peppers
1 sebenero pepper
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large sauce pot, adding hot pepper sauce, if desired. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer 10 minutes. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Yield: about 6 pints. (mine made 8 pints)
When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to prevent hands from being burned.

How much salsa can a family eat? I don't know but I'm going to keep track...LOL

Kirkland Sweet Cucumber Relish

This stuff is so good...no really I'm not kidding. This stuff is so yummy! You might be asking yourself, how much relish can one person eat? The answer is alot! You can use is on hot dogs, hamburgers, any kind of sandwich that you would put pickles, tuna fish, chicken salad, potato salad, egg salad, or if you just want alittle get yourself a spoon and have just alittle. Which sounds gross, but with the lap band pickles are a no go, and sometimes I just want a pickle...LOL

I called my mother-in-law and asked her where did this recipe come from? In a nut shell she told me she was tired of making pickles because they took 14 days, and she was chopping them up anyway to put in her stuff. So, she thought she would just do what was easier...LOL I do love easier.

Since the cucumbers have been coming in so well this year we have been getting together to do relish. Josh and Amanda were so smart to grow them on this fence. Next year Chris and I are going to help with the planting process.

We get together once a week to do the relish. How much relish have we done? 276 quarts! Yeah US! We are going to stop now. Not because we think we have enough, not because the cucumbers quit growing, not because we are totally sick of each other....LOL

No seriously we are going to stop now because we are not producing enough of the other ingredients to be cost efficient.....LOL
I am going to miss our little relish making nights. I have really loved, and looked forward to spending time with Amanda, and Courtney. I mean I love the rest of yall too...LOL! But the three of us together working on a project was really nice. I don't think nice is the right word....more awesome then nice...but awesome is such a cheap word...anyway you get the picture.

A couple of little things I learned about making relish is this. You can't use the cucumbers from the store. They have been waxed. Unless you get the organic ones for pickling. I really saw some at Winn Dixie, they were $1.59 a pound. You can never seem to have enough jars on hand...LOL A food chopper is your very best friend...LOL Last but not least the food chopping measurements are not an exact science. What I mean is close is good enough...LOL

Now for the recipe:

Kirkland Sweet Cucumber Relish
4 quarts of chopped cucumbers
4 quarts of chopped onions
2 quarts of peppers (mix of red, green, yellow, and orange)
3oz. Pickling spice
Cheese cloth
4 cups Apple cider vinegar (store brand)
7 cups Sugar


Chop veggies with a food processor. Use the cheese cloth to make a spice bag with the pickling spices. After you chop everything mix it together, and squeeze the juice out with your hands before you put in the pan to cook. (We call this making cucumber meatball) You bring the vinegar, and sugar to a boil, then add the cucumber meatballs, and spice ball. You bring that to a boil, and cook for 30 minutes. Stir a lot, so it doesn’t stick, or burn.
Get your jars ready, and the lids on. Fill hot jars; wipe the rims, and put hot lids and rings on. Cover. They will seal themselves.

***Some like their relish with a lot of broth, some like it with more relish and just a smidgen of broth. It doesn’t matter. When we do it whoever does the filling of the jars does it however they want. We use a strainer scoop, a ladle, and a funnel to fill the jars.

Note to self: take pictures of the process, and of ourselves making it...DUH!! I swear I'll never learn.

Potatoes Vs. The Village....canning potatoes round 2

You have already seen pictures of the potatoes, now for pictures of the village...LOL

We have Papa Farrell...he is a cutter, washer, and 'the funny man'....well some don't find him funny, but I do. Only because his 'funniness' isn't directed at me.... My 'King' Chris...He is a hauler, washer, cutter, chicken baker, jack of all trades so to speak....He was also very cranky. He didn't find Papa's 'funniness' funny....LOL
This is Amanda she is a filler in of all trades. She refers to this as moving laterally....I call her the food Nazi, or the inspector....She checks everyones work, lets us know what we need to do to improve, and then follows it up with your doin' a great job don't quit. All while smiling her bless your heart smile.....I just love her...

This is Courtney....She is best at washing jars, filling jars, changing pots,...I think she just likes all the jobs that require clean hands....(she's lucky, but we all can't be jar people...LOL)
This is Josh....He thinks of himself as our fearless leader...we think of him as the guy who gives orders alot....LOL Just kidding while he is giving orders and checking on progress he fills in where needed. He is really great at moving us along at the fastest pace possible...At any given random time you can hear him say 'shake n bake people'....every time he says it I think 'boy I do love shake n bake'....LOL Yes, sometimes it's distracting...LOL

NOBODY took any pictures of me. I guess they were all to busy or something....LOL I did want to share one thing...my hands have never looked grosser a day in my life then they do right now. They are so potato stained, it's disgusting.....I also didn't get any pictures of Pat with her wrapped arm...

All in all it was a great couple of days...the potatoes put up a really great fight, but in the end the village won. I have some fun potato facts I learned on the Internet: Every quart jar holds 2.5-3 lbs of potatoes. With that being said I will give some facts on how we beat the potatoes.....
We had 428 quart jars filled with potatoes.
That is 1070-1284 lbs of potatoes which is half a ton of potatoes.
It took almost 36 cases of jars, 3 lbs. of salt, alot of water, and a whole small village.
P.S. If I have forgot anything I'm sorry! I am so tired, and up really early. Just leave me a comment. I'll edit...LOL