Tag: canning

Quarantine and Me: Week 8
In the Kitchen · sewing

Quarantine and Me: Week 8

Sewtropolis1 Comment

Hello and welcome to week 8 of the quarantine! Last week the Governor of Washington extended the Stay Home/Stay Safe order till the end of May. I have mixed emotions about it. I want people to be safe and for us to get to the other side of this pandemic with minimal casualties, but I’m also aware of the real consequences of people being out of work and unable to provide for their families. My hope is that once we are on the other side that things will change and the playing field will level out a little more (healthcare for all, living wages etc., etc.)

The highlight of my week was when I picked up my CSA box – the farmers had brought in extra boxes of apples, pears, asparagus and flowers – all for the taking! I grabbed a few extra apples and pears, and my CSA had a bunch of rhubarb, so I spent three days making Apple Butter, Rhubarb/Blueberry/Lemon jam, and Ginger/Pear jam.

Making jam is probably one of my favorite things to do – and having good jam on my toast can set the tone for the whole day!! This was the first time I tried my hand at these recipes, and I’m happy to report that they all turned out great! Especially the Ginger Pear Jam – I couldn’t get it too ‘jell’ up, but it got close enough. I’ve been eating toast with goat cheese and ginger pear jam for breakfast all week!

Onto sewing news: I made this Kimono style robe for my Florida trip. I set out to sew a curated wardrobe for that trip and this piece was part of it. I had the fabric in my stash for at least a year and decided to use it instead of buying more in my aqua/orange/gray theme for my curated pieces.

The pattern is the “Almada” robe from Seamworks Patterns. I made a similar one when I went to Greece last year and it was perfect for a swimsuit cover, or over a t-shirt when going to dinner – it was a very versatile piece for traveling. My sister really liked it and I ended up giving it to her when our trip was over. You can read more about the pants here.

As always – stay safe my friends.

A Powwow and Raspberry Jelly
Athena · Projects

A Powwow and Raspberry Jelly

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Hello!  What a week I’ve had -so far.  As you know I’ve been staying at the KOA for the past few weeks.  The good news is I love it… the bad news is, they are SO PACKED this time of year that I had to leave for 11 days!  Long story, but when I went to extend my stay they had already booked up and had no room at the inn until Aug 10th.  So I will be staying with family and friends for the next 2 weeks.  Yay for family and friends! 

First stop:  Spokane!  I dropped my trailer off at the Spokane Airstream dealer to have them figure out why there is water leakage under the trailer when I hookup to city water.  Hopefully it will be as simple as tightening a few hoses and won’t cost an arm or leg. 

I stayed with my sister for the weekend and while there she, her friend Shirley and I went to a Powwow in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – which was so much fun!!  All I can say was WOW at all the color!!  There were so many people that I could not get close enough to take pictures of all the dancers in main arena.  This is the best I could do – sorry – it does nothing to show off how beautiful and elaborate all the outfits were!

  
But I managed to put my brave pants on (pun intended) and ask a couple of dancers if I could take my picture with them.  The one on the left looks all mean without a smile, but he was super nice and was all smiles before and after the picture.  Same with the hottie on the right.

  
My sister and Shirley were giving me a hard time about missing my chance to grab a husband.  So to get back at them, I asked another dancer, who was dressed up in a gorgeous outfit if he would take a picture with my sister.  We nicknamed this guy “Chief I’m Single” because his friend was trying to set him up!  So many missed opportunities! LOL

  
Now onto the creative stuff – In my last post I teased that I would show you how I make Raspberry jam – well, here it goes:  

 Step 1: go for a long walk along the Green River trail where raspberries grow wild along the river!! 

 step 2:  Pick about a gallon of berries!  You will need the extra for your yogurt parfait or smoothies. 

Step 3: enjoy how beautiful the trail is!  

   

   

 Step4:  get down to jam making business!  I used about 1/2 gallon of berries and the juice of one lemon.  I love experimenting with different flavors and since I am planning on giving these jars of jelly away I though lemon would be a safe and refreshing option.  I washed the berries off real good – (I was more concerned with critters than chemicals spray). I then put them in a pot over medium heat with about 2.5 cups of sugar and let it boil for about 10 min stirring constantly!  

  I did not use pectin in my jelly – instead I boiled the mixture until it had the consistency of a thick syrup and then boiled a few minutes more.  Then I laddeled it into sterilized canning jars, covered with a lid and canning ring then boiled in a canning pot for about 10 min.  I found with Jellies you don’t have to boil very long before you hear the lid seal.  Sometimes it will seal even before I put it in the pot! All good signs! 

   

I did all of this in the comfort of my own trailer!  It makes me happy that so far I haven’t had to give up anything but debt by downsizing to a 27′ trailer.