August 2010 – Page 2

Jam

44 Comments / August 12, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Recipes

Hello Boys and Girls. Ha! I was just practicing for all of you here in the states who are busily getting your children ready to go back to school in the next few weeks. I do miss those frantic days.

Last weekend MeMum and I made some Raspberry-Cherry Freezer Jam. When the boys were little, I planted some raspberry bushes at our then-house and that’s when I first started making this jam. It’s from an old recipe that’s quick and easy — if you’ve never made jam, this is a great place to start. We made two batches of 8 jars each in just under 2 hours. It’s reeeeaallllly good if you like raspberries and cherries.

Raspberry-Cherry Freezer Jam

3 cups raspberries
16-oz. can sweet cherries, drained (reserve liquid)
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
5 cups sugar
Reserved liquid plus water to make 3/4 cup
1 3/4 oz. pkg. powdered fruit pectin

Fully crush raspberries; measure 2 cups. Finely chop sweet cherries; measure 1 cup. In 4-quart bowl, combine raspberries, cherries, corn syrup, lemon juice and sugar; mix well. Let stand 10 minutes.

In small saucepan, combine liquid and powdered pectin. Heat to full rolling boil, stirring constantly; boil 1 minute. Pour hot pectin mixture into fruit mixture; stir vigorously 3 minutes. Ladle jam into clean jelly glasses or moisture-vaporproof freezer containers leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Cover with tight-fitting lids; label. Let stand for several hours at room temperature or until set. Store jam in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 3 months. Makes 8 cups. (Free jam labels here.)

I love this stuff. I think I’ll use it in that Raspberry Almond Bar recipe — Yum oh Yummy Yum.

Have a good weekend!
XOXO,
Anna

La.a.a.zy

37 Comments / August 8, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Family

Well, talk about some lazy blogging. I don’t have a clue where the summer is going. And I’m thinking that maybe like Jennifer, I’m suffering from the blahs. The German in-laws have gone home and so have TheFirstChild and SweetiePie, who left on Friday morning. TheManoftheHouse was supposed to be gone until Saturday night and I think I hurt his feelings Friday night when I wasn’t jumping up and down for joy to see that he’d come home a day early. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see him, but darn! I was really looking forward to a nice long bath while reading my new American Patchwork and Quilting and maybe even being able to put my hands on the tv remote control. {Siiiiggghhhh}.

Anyway, when everyone was still here, we all decided to ride bikes downtown one night and go to a baseball game. There were 11 of us on 9 bikes (one tandem and my youngest niece riding on a fender) and I think we created a bit of a spectacle chaining all those bikes together out in front of the stadium. We had a great time and the highlight for me had to be when I crashed into TheFirstChild and fell off of my bike! Too bad we don’t have a picture of me splayed out there on the street LOL.

It was also really fun for me to watch TheFirstChild explaining baseball to the German relatives. Baseball isn’t a European sport and there are a lot of little intricacies in the game that we who watch it all the time don’t even think about. TheFirstChild is rabid about baseball, so he was the perfect tutor and I could tell he loved sharing his passion.

During the seventh inning stretch, CrazyBIL, his brother, my nephew and TheFirstChild all tried their luck in the batting cages. CrazyBIL’s brother did an amazing job for having never played baseball! The night whizzed by and at the end we were treated to fireworks, which was a fun surprise.

So, now we’re all back to normal and I’m having a little trouble being motivated. As I mentioned in my last post, I’d run out of the bee fabric that I’m using to complete my latest UFO. I owe the fabulous Miss Jean (oooh, go check our her pretty new baby) a BIG thank you for finding a place where I could order it. I’d already ordered twice, only to have my orders later canceled. Now I have no excuse not to get back to work!

Oh, and one last thing. I always think it’s funny when someone rants on their blog. Abby ragged on vinyl and fondant this week and totally cracked me up. Check her out for a good laugh!

XOXO,
Anna

Oh! And Thanks for all the twine orders — I hope you all love that stuff as much as I do!

Having a Divine Time

31 Comments / August 1, 2010 February 22, 2011 / Family, Store

Whew! Our boring July has become very busy. We have several visitors here in ThimbleannaLand. MeMum has a longtime friend visiting from Florida, MyDadLovesMeBestSister has her in-laws from Germany, and we have TheFirstChild and SweetiePie for a week. We’ve had lots of fun getting together and I’ve had a great time practicing my long-forgotten German and watching the kids laugh until they cry.

Everyone arrived within 2 days of each other so I made some of our favorite poppyseed bread, wrapped it up in parchment paper, tied it with my new favorite twine and took everyone a little present.

A few years ago I couldn’t find baker’s twine anywhere. Now I’ve found this Divine Twine and I love it. There are so many ways to use this twine. I love it for tying packages of any kind. And when I get some time, I want to make this cute little bunting.

Since I love this twine so much, I’ve added it to the Thimbleanna Store. On my Fun Stuff page. The page where I put special things that really make me happy and inspire me to make pretty projects and gifts.

As is traditional for my favorites, when I add them to the store, I offer them at 20% off. And if you run over there and buy some, I’ll give you my extra special Poppyseed Bread recipe that everyone loves.

Just kidding – you already have my poppyseed bread recipe. Now, I’m off to try and figure out how I’m going to finish my current UFO — I’ve run out of that little bee fabric. Hope you’re having a good weekend!

XOXO,
Anna

Month: August 2010

Raspberry-Cherry Freezer Jam