Check This Out ... PURPLE BEANS!

We've grown them before and they are alot of fun! I wish they'd can or freeze purple... but that just isn't gonna happen! These beans grow dark purple... they are picked, washed & eaten raw as purple, but as soon as you add them to hot water.... shazzam, they become green! :) I took pictures to show you...  it is true!!

Here they are freshly picked, cut & washed! We have two varieties; yellow 'wax' beans and then the purple 'green' bean!

Here is the pot of hot water....  I just put them in!

Now, it is only a couple of minutes later.... check this out!

OK, now it has been maybe 8+ minutes......

Voila.... ready to eat!!   (And yes, they are scrumptious! Salt & butter are NOT needed!)

Here's a Rather Funny Sounding Word.... "Cucurbits"

Here's a rather funny sounding word; "cucurbits"! This word refers to cucurbitaceae, which is the plant family  more widely known as melons & gourds!! (Including cucumbers, zuchinni, watermelons, pumpkins etc.) Who knew that?? I sure didn't! This month's 'Can-Jam' was chosen by 'Laudry Etc' .... thanks for the vocabulary lesson!

What a hard choice.... but, it is WAY TOO EARLY for pumpkins (that would have been fun) so that gets crossed off the list. I did find a delicious looking watermelon jelly recipe that I hope to try later in the summer, but for now I have to stick with cucumbers or zuchinni and the hard choice between 'Dill Pickles" (an annual event in our home!), zuchinni relish (also VERY yummy!) or the pickles that we have dubbed "Audrey Pickles"!! The boys' favorite are the dills but Audrey's favorite is the "Crisp Sweet Pickle"!! By default, since we don't have alot of cucumbers yet, the zuchinni wins!

In 1991, we traveled down to Charleston, SC and my mother's wise advice was; "Be sure to always buy a cookbook from the areas that you visit....." While we were checking out the area I found this delightful cookbook called, "Caterin' To Charleston"! It has lots of fun recipes but this one caught my eye and has been a family treasure ever since!

As with EVERY good cook, I make my own changes! The basic change that I've made to this recipe is that instead of slicing the cucumbers or zuchinnis, I use rinds. This way, I use the smaller cucs for dill pickles and the ones that get away from me, I use to make these pickles!! (Rind: peel the cuc or zuc then slice it in half, scoop out the seeds and cut the rest into bite sized chunks) BRAINSTORM: I'd LOVE to try this with recipe watermelon rinds.... I bet that would be amazing!!  **NOTE** The lime the recipe calls for is a pickling lime...  I've found the "Mrs.Wages" brand in the local feed & seed stores and in larger chains of dept. stores that carry canning supplies!

The second change I made is water bathing!!  This recipe doesn't call for water bathing, but from what I've been learning this year.... I now waterbath my pickles for 10 minutes!! 

The best thing about these pickles is that they don't need the curing time as dill pickles do!! They are ready to eat immediately! Delicious on your plate or cut up even smaller and added to potato salad!! :)

The Adventures of Tweak....

Tweak loves going outside! Today he learned about rabbits & chickens....

The rabbits was nibbling grass & clover and Tweak wanted to play!

I wish I snapped the camera quicker then I did, he had his paw

in the cage and was trying to engage this guy to play!

Poor Tweak... after a while, I'm sure he was thinking.... BORING!

On to the next adventure....   wait, what was that? A BIRD... a BIG BIRD!!

Hmmm, i'm just gonna watch for a minute or two!

Oh No... she saw me! Maybe I can still catch her!

This was hysterical!! The hen ran and Tweak ran right after her...

She was squawking for all she was worth and alarming the others

and Tweak was rather bewildered at the noise and her

being so fast for only having two feet!!

FUNNY, FUNNY DAYS ON

THIS LITTLE FARM!

Berry Medley Jam "June Can Jam"

                                                   

I wanted to do more then strawberry jam and

therefore, since that is the only fruit in season,

I opted to buy frozen berries...

I KNOW, I KNOW...

BUT WAIT, ALL THESE BERRIES ARE

                                     NATIVE TO MY AREA!

Here we have the lucious whole strawberries, blueberries,

black raspberries and red raspberries!!  They

truly look (and taste) devine for having been frozen!

RECIPE:

4 cups of mixed berries (crushed, but not pureed)

7 cups sugar

Bring this to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly.

Quickly stir in 1 pouch of Certo pectin

and bring back to a boil for 1 minute.

Ladle into hot sterilized jars (approx. 8 1/2 pints).

Seal and water bath for 10 minutes.

(Recipe taken from the Certo insert.)

As keeping with my tradition, I put the last bit of

jam or jelly in a coffee mug to be used

right away! VeRy BeRrY yUmMy!