Pumpkin Butter

I've made this twice this year now!  It is good on bagels with cream cheese, toast, warmed on vanilla ice cream and my sister said it's great just on spoon.  I also had a friend tell me that they used it to glaze Pork Chops and it was amazing!  Enjoy if you decided to make it!




I got the recipe out of a book called Bernardin Guide to Home Preserving.  I thought it sounded interesting so I decided to try it!

4 cups prepared pumpkin pulp, about one 8 inch pie pumpkin
2 cups of brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 ts salt
1/2 cup liquid honey
1/2 orange juice

Prepare your jars, I keep a pot of boiling water on the stove and boil the jars in there.  I keep a smaller pot with the rings and seals boiling as well.
Wash your pumpkin, cut it into large pieces and take the seeds and and stringy stuff out.
Boil your pumpkin until it's cooked, it will feel like cooked potatoes when done
I then put it into cold water to make it cooler to peel the skin.
Use  your food processor and puree the pumpkin.  It says in the recipe to put it all in and puree it, but I just did the pumpkin
Pour it all into a bowl and bring to a boil, reduce the heat and boil gently until thick.  I turned it right down to low and it still spit and spattered at me...stir lots!
Ladle it into the prepared jars leaving 1/4 inch of headroom at the top and then put the lids on.
Place the jars into a canning pot ( I used the same on for boiling the jars) and bring the water back to a boil.  Once it is boiled leave the jars in for 10 minutes.  Remove, cool and store.

The recipe says it makes 4 250ml jars.  The first single batch I made only made 3.

Pumpkin ready to boil

Ready for the food processor

Ready for the pot

In the pot bubbling

My set up

The finished amount of 4 batches!

The Cake!! I made a Dragonfly Cake

On Saturday my child turned 7!  I still can't believe that she is 7..Wow..


I had no idea what kind of cake to buy this year and a friend joked that I should make one.  This is the first time in 7 birthdays that the child didn't get a store bought cake.  I've always ordered a theme cake from the grocery store and this year I didn't!
I started by searching online to see what kind of ideas were out there andand found this website.  I had first decided on a Lady Bug and then the thought of making and using Fondant scared me so I kept looking  and after browsing decided to try a dragonfly. 

I then had to figure out how many cakes and what sizes to bake.  I started out with 2 bowls to make the head and a rectangle pan for the body and 3 round pans for the wings.  I think I f I was going to do it again I would use all rectangle pans and 2 bowls. I used Pyrex bowls and lined them with parchment paper to be sure that the pieces would come out without breaking. I made part of the cake chocolate and the rest was regular white cake which I added pink food coloring to the pan I used for the body.  I had a great time doing it and it was loved by all!!

In the oven

Starting to build

I used tinfoil that I had torn too short to cover the board as my template

In progress

Parchment paper to cut the wings

The larger wings

Ready for icing

The leftovers

Wings are done

Cake is done!!

I used 2 different colors of icing and purchased sparkles and some black licorice strings to make the antenna's and outlined everything else with a tube of black decorating gel.

The cake was a hit and loved by all...especially the birthday girl!!

Where to start today...

I had a good cry last night and although I'm still feeling a little down today I will make myself get things done.  All in all yesterday was a productive day...

I started by blanching and peeling about 30 red tomatoes and then I spent another 8 hours boiling it all down to make Tomato Jam.  It is excellent on meat and can almost be used like ketchup.  This is another recipe from my grandmother and so far everyone who has tried it, like it.  I think it might be good in meatloaf.  I normally use either tomato soup or salsa, but maybe I'll go and get some hamburger today and try it in a meatloaf.

Beautiful Red Tomatoes

In the pot with sugar added

After cooking for 8 hours and adding spices this is how it looks!

I made another batch of the green tomato relish and then I tried something completely different.  Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce.

At the beginning!

I should have wiped the jar before the photo!  I ran it through the food processor and I think the next time I make it, I will chop all the ingredients that way.

I like peaches and thought I would try it.  It is delicious.  I found the recipe in this book.  I made a double batch and with the little bit of left over that didn't go into a jar, hubby put it on the pork chops last night while he cooked them on the BBQ.  I made a small mistake and instead of adding the hot pepper flakes using a teaspoon like the recipe said, I used a tablespoon.  I scooped a bunch of it out and it has just enough bite to make it zesty, but not the bite that has you looking for a glass of water.  I was really happy with the way it turned out!  I am just about out of jars and I still want to make some more Lady Eaton Relish and try a Pumpkin Butter too.  The small jars are going to be perfect to put into baskets for Christmas.  I plan to put tags on them listing the ingredients and maybe some ideas on how to use them with your meals.  Home made Christmas is coming along nicely!

The hat that I had on the needles is finished!  Unfortunately it didn't fit the intended recipient so I have cast another one on and hope to have it finished tonight or tomorrow!

I still have enough of the orange yarn left to make the bigger one and the smaller one just might get mailed my cousin!

I am hoping for another productive day.  I think I will take a break from the canning and will clean the kitchen and get some laundry done.

It's a wet cold rainy day that feels like November...maybe I'll just turn on the fireplace and sit and knit....hhmmmm

Pop, Pop, Pop

It's been a very long time since I have done any summer jam or fall canning.  Before parenthood I would spend forever making all kinds of jam, pickles and relish.  I even made jars of dilled garlic for the guys in the hunt camp.  They used to fight over the garlic in the jars of dills, so I used the same recipe and made the pickled garlic.  It has been a long time since I have done any of this and I LOVE the sound of the jars popping as they seal.  While on vacation this summer my aunt gave me a jar of green relish.  It's a recipe that my grandmother found in her house when she and my grandfather married.  I can remember being a kid and her making the relish, she teased me once that the leftover half jar of relish with no lid was the one I would have to hold all the way home.  I was more than ready to hold it for the 6 hour drive.  She of course was teasing and I got a mason jar with a lid to bring home!  After getting some from my aunt and then making tartar sauce with it for a fish fry I remembered how much I loved the taste of it and decided to make some.  I figured, why stop there.  I made Lady Eaton Relish and the Tomato Jam.
14 tomatoes with sugar, vinegar and some spices got me 2 jars of jam, so I think I'll have to get a few more baskets of tomatoes and some smaller jars.

While I was making this stuff today I had one of my bright ideas!  Homemade Christmas.  I have a little over 3 months and numerous gifts to make so I am thinking that everyone just might get something homemade this year.  I can knit, make jewelery, wine charms and preserves.  So seeing as how my blog is relatively new and very few people actually know who I am and that I am blogging I am thinking that I'll share the things that I am making as I go along, provide recipes, photos and patterns....

Wonder if I can do it!  A few years ago this blogger did it, Here is some of what she did one year...I think it's a great idea!! And if you know who I am....keep my secret..OK?

Green Tomato Relish, Lady Eaton Relish and Tomato Jam!