Sweet Ninja

A Pickle A Day

It all started with this..

In a desire to live more simply I bought more stuff...doesn't make sense right? Anyway with big dreams of a small farm, or at least big garden, somewhere in my hopefully not too distant future I decided to give home canning a try.

Since my little potted deck garden isn't about to yield what I need I hit up the farmer's market and scored some cukes which I sliced into spears.

Next step wash the mason jars and heat them to 180 degrees. Since I don't have a thermometer at the moment it was a bit of a crap shoot but seems to have worked out fine.

While the jars were heating in the canning pot (I read you can also warm them in the dishwasher which I may try next time) I cooked up the pickling liquid:

1 quart white vinegar

1 quart water

3/4 cups sugar (next time I'll cut this in half because the pickles were a little sweet for my taste)

1/2 cup canning salt (I used Kosher)

3 T pickling spices

Basically just cook it on the stove until the sugar and salt are dissolved.

While Tinkerbell kept me company and gnawed on the box that the canning kit came in I packed the jars. This is where it got a little tricky and I had to call in reinforcements. You need to take the hot jar out of the pot and empty it of it's water. Then stuff it with the sliced cukes. I also added 1 garlic clove, 1 bay leaf and a bunch of fresh dill. Then fill the jar with the hot pickling liquid up to 1/4 inch of the top of the jar. Get the metal lid on the jar and get it back on the canning pot with out letting the jar cool down. This is where Bill had to step in and assist with the rotation of the hot jars. You then bring the water to a boil and keep it there for 15 minutes. Then turn the burner off and let the jars sit for 5 minutes in the hots water.

You then take the jars out of the water and set on a dish towel with at least 2 inches of room between them. Let them cool for 12-24 hours then take the metal ring off to test the seal. If it's secure you're good, if not you're screwed! Not really, but you do have to go through the canning process again with new jars if that happens. 

All-in-all this whole thing took about 45 minuted and I ended up with five tasty jars of pickles! There are, however two more tests for these pickles to pass though. Next week I plan on giving a jar to my pickle expert nephew. I'll let you know his review. The other test is to open a jar in a month or two and feed them to friends without anyone getting sick. The metal tops are really vacuumed down tight so I think I'm good but since this is the first time I'v done this I'm the tiniest bit skeptical. Regardless..next stop...jelly!

I've Got Summer Tummy

Warm weather perfection!
Grilled veggies...
with assorted toasts: 1-goat cheese, pesto and Parmesan 2- munch with honey 3- red pepper tapenade with goat cheese
 and the perfect dessert of raspberries, Newman's Ginger Os ans sun tea

Lookin' Good Teak Wood

I had an action packed Memorial Day weekend which resulted in me getting a mother of a cold. I think my demise was when I first got a scratchy throat I continued on with my plans as though nothing was wrong. Then on Sunday I went camping and although it was quite lovely around the campfire as soon as you stepped away it was pretty darn chilly. Not good for a girl with a cold coming on. And now here we are two days later and I'm still feeling pretty crappy.

Any way here is a project Bill and I took on before the cold set in.
When we got engaged his family gave us a cute Pottery Barn table and chairs for our deck. After two summers....ok...and one winter outside (ooops) here is how they looked.



Ok. This might not be the best photo to show it, but after sanding, restaining, then oiling the set looks brand new and I couldn't be happier.












So to celebrate we ate homemade cherry almond oat scones outside Sunday morning.

On this Eve of Super Tuesday

Well, tomorrow we vote here in NJ and as of right now I'm not sure what I'm doing. SO.... I'm currently watching last weeks Democratic Debate that we DVRed. Hopefully by the time it's over I'll feel completely informed and ready to cast my ballot! I'm not big on talking politics though so onto more important things...

Gocco! I'm working on my second print and I'm pretty please with the what's happening. Here's a sneak peak of some note cards that will be popping up in the shop real soon.


(Spoiler Alert) Also if you are part of 62cherry's mix swap you may see something similar on the cover of my mix.

I'm really enjoying experimenting with the Gocco. I also mentioned before that I enrolled in a silk screen class at School of Visual Arts. I've only had two classes before but it's pretty safe to say I'm already hooked. Stay tuned for some larger silk screened prints and items in the shop in the near future.

Also, let me share with you a delish little dip I made yesterday for Superbowl Sunday.

Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip

Here's close-up looksy before it's coated with shredded mozzarella and baked. The recipe is a little more specific, especially in the order to mix things, but here's a quicky slap it together run down of what to do.

mix together:
2 softened sticks of low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup Parmesan
1 pack chopped frozen spinach (thawed and strained)
2 cans artichoke hearts chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbs garlic powder
2 Tbs dried basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

spread it in a pan and cover with shredded mozzarella
bake at 350 for 25 min (or microwave until cheese is melted if you are in a hurry)
sprinkle on chopped tomatoes and serve with tortilla chips, crackers, or bread (I went with chips)

Tastes awesome! Enjoy!

Visions of Sugar Plums...

I had a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all did too! It was full of way too much food, some awesome gifts and much fun time spent with family!




Thanks Jessica for baking with me and thanks to my family for decorating the gingerbread houses with me! 'Till next year.

S'mores Bars

We're going to our first holiday party of the season so I decided to make some S'mores Bars to bring. I like S'mores but I think these bars are even better. Something magical happens when you add additional butter and sugar to grahm crackers. Here's what they look like.

in the pan

and cut up into bars.

Here's how you make them:

1-Mix
    2 cups grahm cracker crumbs
    1/3 cup sugar
    1/4 tsp salt
    1 stick of unsalted butter, melted
2-press the mixture (saving 1 cup for topping) firmly into a 13 x 9 x 2" baking dish and bake for twelve minutes in a 350 degree oven
3-melt one pound of chocolate over a double boiler and spread over baked grahm cracker crust
4-sprinkle four cups of mini marshmallows over the melted chocolate and press them in slightly,  then sprinkle the remaining one cup of grahm cracker mixture on top
5-place pan under the broiler for about 30 seconds to puff and brown the marshmallows

Let cool completely before cutting bars