Cranberry Jelly

I found an awesome recipe on Food In Jars  for "Cranberry Jelly"!

I've made cranberry bread, cranberry sauce and I've added cranberries to stuffing... but I've never made cranberry jelly before!

This was a 'had to make' recipe for sure especially now that Thanksgiving is only a few days away!

After cooking the cranberries, sugar and a little apple cider till the cranberries pop and cook down a bit, I put them the sauce through a food mill to remove the skins.

This is the first jelly that I've made that didn't call for 'Sure Jell' or any kind of pectin in the recipe! I was a little skeptical to be honest, but it did solidify quite nicely!

And here they are.... the finished product!! Can't wait to try it on toast in the morning!! I bet it would be a wonderful glaze on a pork roast too! :) 

Mrs. Hacker's Chicken & Noodles.....

I tried something new today....  a friend's special family recipe! It was not too hard to make, a little time consuming, but the outcome is well worth the effort!    These are the noodles drying..... 

Here's the chicken all cooked, cut up and ready to go back into the broth with the noodles!

Broth with noodles cooking & chicken added back in!

One confession...  the recipe does NOT call for peas... but for those of you who know me well, you know I can never make ANY recipe without adjusting something!

Ana Sapphira.... (or, The Boys' First Music Video!)

I wanted to share with you the first music video that Ana-Sapphira has put out there!! Austin is the bass player and Travis is one of the guitar players! It isn't the style of music that I particularly enjoy, but they enjoy it and we support them!! They are all Christian guys and their desire it to play Christian Metal....   

Broccoli Soup (Cheater's Version)

Ok, confession time...  this isn't ALL home made as I bought a 'packaged' soup starter. Over the weekend I was in the grocery store and found 'Broccoli Soup' by Bear Creek. I looked it over and decided it would be ALOT easier to use this as the base and add to it then to start from scratch. I know, I don't often take this road, but I must admit, this time, it was worth it!

Broccoli Soup                   (Cheater's Version)

1 pkg. Bear Creak Broccoli Soup mix.  Follow the directions on the package.....  Keep this warm either in the stew pot you are using or in your crock pot!

1 to 1 1/2 lbs. Broccoli Crowns (I used only the flowerettes cut off into smaller pieces, washed). Put the broccoli into a separate pan with water to cover them. Boil until soft. (OPTIONAL: You can also add a couple of diced potatoes to cook along with the broccoli.)

1 lb. diced ham  Add the ham in with the cooked broccoli to warm through.

I added the broccoli/ham along with the water to the prepared soup starter. This added the extra fluids I felt it needed for the consistancy I prefer but, you can always drained the water out first if you'd like! 

I allowed the soup to sit for a few hours in the crock pot on warm before serving. Because it is nice and thick, this soup does very well in bread bowls! Optional serving suggestion: Add fresh grated cheese to the top of soup! YUMMY!