February's Can Jam...... CARROTS!

The chosen veggie for this month is CARROTS....  new friends at 'Doris & Jilly Cook' have given us some important information at  http://www.dorisandjillycook.com/ and I am starting my search this afternoon for a few good recipes using carrots! Stayed tuned for the results of canned wonders!

Healthy Bread...

Continuing with my own personal challange I was hoping to find a bread recipe using more grains but still incorporating this awesome 5 minutes a day plan!! Lo and behold, my husband got his first issue of Mother Earth News (a subscription as a Christmas gift)!! The front cover shows beautiful loaves of bread with the words 'Recipes For Healthy No-Knead Bread' across the top!

Evidently, the authors of the cookbook that I have, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, have come out with another cookbook; Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetable and Gluten-Free Ingredients. Thomas Dunne Books, 2009) Check this out.... These are the authors/bakers who wrote the book! Click on the link below.... (I still haven't figured out how to add a Youtube video).

Jeff Hertzberg & Zoe Frencois demonstrating their bread....

Shortly after discovering this book, I visited Amazon "just to check it out!"
One thing lead to another and, uuuumm, ahhhh, hmmm, well....
                   it arrived yesterday in the mail!  YIPPEEEE!!!  

Check out these breads.... don't they look yummy?!

The recipes seem easy enough and the finished breads

look amazing! I'll keep you posted so you can make some of these in your kitchen too! Are you excited yet?!

The Challenge? Citrus.... My Answer? Clementine Marmalade!!

Who can resist one of these juicy clementines especially in the cold weather of January?! I've made plenty of jellies & jams, but I've never tried to make marmalade. Originally I was hoping to try something with grapefruit or lemons....  and I still may, but marmalade piqued my curiousity!

After looking through many recipes, I decided to try one

 that I found at

Recipe Gold Mine, it goes as follows:

Peel 8-10 clementines. Remove seeds & white membrane

 from the peeled fruit.

Dice the fruit and slice the peel into thin strips.

CLEMENTINE MARMALADE

2 cups thin strips of clementine peel

4 cups cold water

8-10 clementines (pulp & juice)

1/3 cup lemon juice (1 lge. lemon)

2 cups boiling water

3 cups granulated sugar

In a heavy saucepan, combine clementine peel & cold water. Bring to a simmer, covered & over moderate heat. Continue to simmer until peel is tender, approx. 30-45 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

     

Combine the cooked peel, diced fruit, lemon juice and boiling water.

Add sugar and mix thoroughly.

Quickly bring to a boil and cook until mixture is thick and reaches 220 degrees F on a

candy thermometer. The recipe said it should take 20 minutes, but it took much longer than that!

Remove from heat, skim off any foam and ladle into hot sterilized 1/2 pint jars, filling to within 1/2 inch from the top. Seal & process in a boiling bath for 5 minutes.

Voila! 4 jelly jars of Clementine Marmalade!

Not too sure that this will ever become my favorite

 thing to have on an English muffin, but I'll keep trying!

One thing I would do differently; instead of boiling the peelings for 30-45 minutes and then starting the rest of the recipe, I would drain and repeat this procedure another two times. I read a bit on how 'candied' grapefruits & oranges are made. Part of the directions are to boil, drain & boil again the peelings to soften the peel & flavor. I wonder if this would soften the flavor of marmalade which may make it more appealing to me. I can't wait for my dad to try my new creation... he loves marmalade!

 In his opinion, the old English marmalades are the best!

Honduras Departure Date Coming Right Up...

It's that special time of year again when Pete, Audrey & Austin all dream of warmer weather and not because they can't wait till spring (although that is certainly true!)

It is time for their mission's trip to Honduras!! This is their third trip to this Central American country and they can't wait! Last night Audrey went to the packing meeting...  they bring pot luck dinner and pack up bag after bag of medicines, vitamins, clothes & supplies to take with them to give to the people who come to the clinics! She said so far they have thirteen 50 pound bags!

This is one of the clinics from a previous trip.... as you can see, this church had no walls or partial walls made from tarps! The people are geniunely thankful and for most of them, this is the only time in the year where they will see a doctor or dentist. I know that wouldn't break some of our hearts, but if it wasn't by choice it would be different I'm sure!

 They leave on the 21st of January for Boston and fly out around 5PM to Houston, TX. They will have fun sleeping at the airport (NOT) and leave there in morning for

San Pedro Sula, Honduras and then have about a 2 hour ride by vehicle into the village that they use as 'home base'. Needless to say, they'll be excited and exhausted when they arrive!

PLEASE keep them all in prayer.... they have a team of eight people going this year!

(Pete, Audrey, Austin, Roger, Sue, John, Debbie & Ron)