2012... rollercoaster year

Okay, I feel like I have some explaining to do... I havn't been around much at all this year... like AT ALL. and I'm really sorry about that. It has been a CRAZY year.
I started out the year falling out of love with my live-time love of horses.  This was directly related to my job (working in a horse barn obviously). It wasn't so much that I didn't love horses anymore, (Pretty sure that is even less possible than the world ending next month)... Just that I was getting sick of the drama in the barn, and (having made some pretty good friends at said job), I was having to lie to them and not tell them what was really going on with their horses. I was exhausted from navigating lines of communication between my boss, the barn manager, the clients, the new staff, the old staff, and ALL the drama in the barn (including legal matters, and horses being seized and... just not very pleasant stuff). I dreaded going to work every single day.  Until something snapped, and one morning I woke up and decided i couldn't do it any more. I feel guilty about how I left the job, but I feel more guilty about letting myself feel like that for so long.
I took a mental health month of doing nothing... I played this whole game from start to finish. I went through ALL my tack back at home, and threw out a bunch of stuff, and gave away a bunch of stuff. I spent alot of time cuddling with my dogs and watching movies on Netflix. I cried alot into the manes of my horses when I was visiting my parents. And I baked, and made a list of new things to try and make and do, and learn. I spent alot of time dreaming about a house in the middle of nowhere where I could have a mini-zoo and a garden and wake up to fresh mountain air, and see the stars at night again... and watch the northern lights....
But I needed to pay my rent, so I needed to find a new job. Something having absolutly nothing to do with horses and their crazy owners.... and those owner's crazy trainers. And since I only really have 14 years of work experience in the horse industry... I applied to a bakery in a HUGE store, where I was 90% sure I would get hired, so I wasn't very stressed about it. And I got the job... shitty pay... but it was better than what I was making sitting on my ass at home.
And I learned alot, and I got the chance to learn cake decorating. and while I was disappointed that nothing gets MADE there (everything is brought in frozen- bread dough included) I still gained valuable experience.... and I got to play with icing!
And that I hate kids without manners - or more specifically, kids with parents who don't bother to make sure they have manners.
And I REALLY missed smelling like a barn.
In August, my best friend, came out to visit, and I finally got to meet her baby. It made me REALLY miss the old days when we lived like 100 feet apart and spent all day working our asses of and riding horses all day at one of the best equestrian facilities in the world. It made my uterus hurt too... at least for a little bit... But my wallet hurt a tiny bit less. It made me miss her even more after we had to leave each other, because I know that she finally gets to be a mom like she always wanted, and I'm so happy for her. At least we have facebook... 
In September, my boyfriend was building a huge boulder retaining wall, and a rock he was moving with the excavator got wedged back behind where they needed it. He was trying to shift it (by hand) to where the bucket could pick it up, and the rock slipped, and he crushed his fingers between 2 of the rocks. Luckily it was his left hand... But his index and middler fingers were crushed. The bones didn't break, but MAJOR crush-injury... All the soft tissue in the tip of his index finger, is now in the dirt by that boulder. LOTS of healing... Minimum 6 weeks before he could actually use those fingers. And its still kind of rough now (I think we are 10 weeks in).
In October I got an email about a job at a barn REALLY close to town, asking to send my resume. I had applied there when we first moved here 2 1/2 years ago, but they didn't need anyone at that time. I went for an interview on one of my days off, and really liked the vibe at the place (and the smell of horses). The pay was an extra $6 an hour... and more hours. I went for a trial day to meet everyone, and get a feel for the work, and so we could both make sure it would be a good fit. I went home feeling more like myself than I have felt ALL YEAR.
I tried to think of ways to work at both jobs, But it wouldn't work. Not if I ever wanted to spend time with my boyfriend, and dogs, and recover from the physical labour of barn work, and the mental labour of answering people's stupid questions (I AM not made for retail... I mentally need time to recover from being around people). So, I gave my 2 week notice to the bakery, and I am starting full-time at the barn next Monday. - and helping out on my days off until then.
There has been more... More than I'm willing to plaster all over the internet, But this year has been a definate rollercoaster.

Also, since I am felling a million times more like myself, I have been busy on pinterest! In the last 2 weeks, I have made so many things, it's crazy. I have 3 sock-snowmen starring at me... and If I ever remember to go buy more rice, I will have a few more of them. I made my mom an advent calendar - all of homemade/handmade ornaments.... I'm making a quilt from all of my old jeans... And I feel like I should write something called "an ode to my glue gun"  or start saying "the best thing since the glue-gun" (instead of sliced bread... get it?).


Want to know the biggest thing I learned while working in a bakery? L-cysteine Hydrocloride
The reason I will pretty much only be eating my own home-made bread for the rest of my life.. or bread from Silver Hills Bakery (I'm kind of obsessed with the 20 Grain Train right now... It just tastes good)

So there it is... The cliff-notes version anyway.... I'll try and get back here more often. I have a Ton of pictures of all the crafting I've been doing... and I have a huge list of things to try and make in my kitchen (which I FINALLY cleaned)... Go to my pinterest boards for an idea of what i've been up too... I guess i've been Pin-spired ? lol

...sorry

I promise I will find time to post my thanksgiving recipes... But it will be after thanksgiving

Things are CRAZY again

Been working overtime at work, and trying to winterize my house as fast as i can before the snow flies (and stays on the ground) and working on all the halloween projects that I promised myself I wouldn't forget about!

I have tons of pie pictures, i just need to edit them (and to edit them, i need to be infront of the computer for more than 10 minutes at time)

I also want to talk a little about my new favourite shows at some point too... But I'll get to that... for now, im going to go to bed and watch the last episode of the Walking Dead Season2 while I fall asleep... Working early tomorrow (sucks to work the holiday, except that I get more money for doing it!) Hope everyone is having a great Thanksgiving Weekend!!! I promise Apple Pie recipes, as soon as possible... pinky swear!

Thanksgiving...

This weekend is Thanksgiving!  In Canada anyway.

Can someone explain to me why we have a different thanksgiving date than the USA?

I am working all weekend... so I don't get to be home with my family, But I don't have to work today, and since it snowed here today... the boyfriend is not working either... So today is our Thanksgiving together. And I am working on some posts for the next few days, so I won't be as absent here as I have been for most of this year!

Right now my house smells amazing! I just finished baking an Apple Pie (made with Apples that I picked from my Grandma's Apple Tree)
And the Turkey is in the Oven, along with some extra dressing, that didn't quite fit in the bird.
Next up will be Mashed Potatoes and steaming some Brussels Sprouts, and some Cranberry sauce.

Speaking of Brussels Sprouts... Have you seen how they grow? It is crazy... Here is the Wikipedia link for them.

I'll be back tomorrow with my Pie Crust Recipe!

I haven't looked at the pictures yet, so hopefully I have some decent ones... But my lighting is horrible, especially with the snow outside, there isn't much light coming into the house.

Crab Apple Jelly

So... we kind of.... sort of... (not really) have this Crab Apple Tree.

What I mean is, that this tree isn't actually planted in our yard, but It hangs mostly into our yard... So we sort of have 1/3 of a Crab apple tree.

So I googled and you-tubed a bunch of different things to do with Crab Apples, and I came up with Crab Apple Jelly! (as if you couldn't already guess that from the title!)

I picked about 8 cups of apples (more or less). Then took the blossom ends off with my fingers (and all the leaves too).  Then the tiny Apples were washed, and then dumped into a large pot... I added in 2 Macintosh Apples too (cut up, and seeds removed)  You don't need to do anything fancy like take the stems off (unless you want to). We are going to strain all the pulp out anyway and why make more work for yourself?

So... with the apples in the pot, add enough water to just cover them... maybe about half an inch of water over the apple tops (but remember that they will float to the top, so don't add TOO much.... but also, don't add too little, because we are going to cook this for about 2 hours.

Since I wanted it to feel a little more like Fall, I added in 3 cinamon sticks, and about 1/2 TBSP of whole cloves.

Let this cook for about 2 hours, at a light boil/simmer. Stir often to make sure nothing is scorching to the bottom of the pot (this is more important once the apples start to break down from the cooking)
Your house will smell amazing! You can smoosh the apples more with a potato masher also, to help them release their apple-y goodness... or you can leave them alone to let the boiling water do that.... There is only one technical part to this recipe, and this isn't it.

Once you are happy with your apple pulp... Slowly add it into jelly bags (they have a really fine mesh, so only the juice strains out)  Suspend your full jelly bag(s) above bowls (something to catch the juice). I ended up using fishing line hooked onto the hinges in my cupboards to hold up the bags over the bowls... use your imagination, and you'll figure out a way...
Now, you don't want to squeeze the bags, just let them hang out for at least 2 hours to let all the juice slowly drip out (You can also taste the juice now, but remember that it is going to be really tart since they are crab apples). If you force the juice out, then your jelly will be cloudy and not nice clear juice.

I fully intended to let them sit overnight to get as much juice out as possible, but after about two and a half hours, I got too excited about the next step to wait any longer. So I just went for it.
(also... I left them hanging over the bowls all night to see how much more juice came out in the next 8 hours, and between both bowls, there is MAYBE another tbsp of juice the didn't end up in the jelly)

You need to measure out your juice into a large pot. You want 6 1/2 cups of Juice... Mine worked out perfectly... If you have less, you can add up to 1 1/2 cups of water to make it to the 6 1/2 cups of liquid that you need. BUT be aware that this could affect the pectin level and you may need to add some in from another source... and I am not a expert jam/jelly maker, so I can't offer much help.

With your 6 1/2 cups of Crab Apple Juice in the pot, add in 4 1/2 cups of sugar. Stir constantly over medium high heat. You want this to boil for about 18-20 minutes. BOIL... don't count that has whole cooking time, you need the boiling to help activate the natural pectin in the apples, from what I understand.

Keep your canner hot and simmering with the jars you intend to use - in the hot water. Keep your sealing disks in a separate pan in hot, but not-boiling water. Have a protected area close to the stove where you can fill the jars up... AND keep 2 or 3 small saucers in the freezer (this is so you can test for the gel-stage)

When you think your apple juice is ready, put about 1-2 tsp on the frozen saucer and then put it back in the freezer for a minute... when you take it out again, push it slightly with your finger, and if it wrinkles with a skin on the top, it is ready... if it just looks like liquid still, then keep boiling, and test again in a few minutes.

You want to fill the jars up with 1/4inch of headspace, wipe the rim of the jar clean, and then put a sealing disk on, followed by the screw-ring... Don't super-tighten these or you will never get them off... Fingertip-tight is all you want. When the jars are all full and lid-ed (is that a word?), then put them in your boiling-water canner. (with the water boiling). Space them out evenly and then lower them down with the metal rack thing-y. You want at least an inch of water above the top of the tallest jar. Bring this up to a rolling boil, and then start counting your processing time.  These need to be processed in the boiling water canner for 10 minutes (if your at lower elevations.)  Wikipedia your town, and then find the elevation... Generally, if you live at an Altitude/elevation of 1001-3000 ft then you add 5 minutes onto the processing time; 3001-6000ft - add 10minutes; 6001-8000 ft -add 15 minutes; 8000-10000ft - add 20 minutes)... So since I live at (about) 3573ft above sea-level, then I had to add an extra 10 minutes...

After I reached the roaring boil, I put the timer for 20 minutes, then when that was done, I shut the stove off, took the lid off the canner, and waited 5 more minutes.
Now, carefully (and without tilting or tipping or knocking anything) lift the jars out and put them on your protected work surface (I put 2 tea towels on my counter). Put the jars here to rest - UNDISTURBED... (don't touch them) for 24 hours.  After that is done, Test the seal - if it pops, then you didn't get a good seal, and you should use this jam up right away (and keep it in the fridge). If they are good seals, then wipe the jars clean, and add the screw lids back on (if you choose). Keep your jelly in a cool dark place and use within a year.

Ta-Da... you just made crab-Apple Jelly... (I'm pretty stoked about this, and wondering if I can reach another 8 cups of apples from my sorta-mine-Crab Apple tree.)



Happy Fall Everyone!!!! (It's my favourite time of year!!!)

Dog Cookies!

Mildly inspired by Joy the Baker's Cat Treats... And the dog bone cookie cutter I bought about 2 years ago... and the huge Dog Bone cookie cutter (plus recipe) that my mom bought me for Christmas or my birthday... And the fact that we had bacon drippings left from when the boyfriend made me breakfast for our Anniversary...

I made Dog cookies finally!!

I think that they were on my bucket list? YES! they were... Are?... no.. Were! (#44 on the list)
I put about 2 cups of Flour in a bowl, and about 1/2 cup of Wheat Germ and mixed them all up.
Then I took the bacon drippings (obviously, not still liquid, you want them to be like a butter... we are basically making biscuits... Dog Biscuits... duh) and mushed (speaking in very technical terms) it into the flour and wheat germ... You want to have the same kind of consistency as if you were making biscuits for yourself.
Then crack in an egg and mix it up... if that isn't enough of a binding agent... then use another egg, or some cold water.

I also grated some less-than-humanly-consumable cheese in for them... because a) Ava and Wilson both love cheese,  and b)It wasn't THAT mouldy that if I was really hungry, I wouldnt eat it myself...

Then I rolled them out, cut the dog bone shapes and then baked them for about 20 minutes give or take... The large and the small took about the same time, since I rolled the big ones out a little thinner than the small ones.

Verdict... Ava LOVED them    Wilson didn't really eat his, but he carried it everywhere for about an hour until he got bored of trying to make everyone Jelous that he had a homemade dog bone. And the Boyfriend was jelous that i made cookies for the dogs and not for him.

Ava <3

I call that successful!   And... I may or may not have been feeling guilty about the lack of posting I have been doing here... Its fall... I love fall, I should be back at this blog-ing thing in no-time!

 

 

 

 

We've been trying to catch up on some napping, instead of blogging....

Also... I want to leave you with this little clip of HOW much Ava loved the cookies... AND how good she is at understanding "Speak"  Also... I love her an insane amount (in-case you couldn't tell already)

Butter... I made it!!!

This is probably one of the things that I have meant to add to my bucket list... but havn't... yet.

But when I finally get around to adding it on there (along with a ton of other ideas brewing in my head)... I can check it off as completed! Like a to-do list where you purposely write something you have already done... or something like "write out to-do list" so you can check it off right away...

Also... did you know there is a movie about Butter?  (and that my computer told me that I just spelled "movie" wrong... And that the only spell-check options listed are "move" and "moving"... and that now I am questioning my ability to spell "movie")

Nope... still looks wrong... silly brain... letting the computer spell check get to me...

Anyway.. back to the Butter... (seriously though... there is a movie called "Butter"... it popped up as a search result when I typed "butter" into google.... See.. here is the IMDb)

Did you know that you can make your own butter SUPER EASY?  (and have a little arm-workout at the same time?)

Here is what you need... Heavy Whipping Cream (30% M.F. or higher is better)

M.F. means "Milk Fat" (just in case you were wondering)


A jar... I used a 500 ml Mason Jar... I wouldn't go much bigger, or you will have a hard time holding it to shake it

and arms to shake the cream in the jar with...

And salt.. if you want... completely optional... the other 3 things you definatly need.

So... Step 1:  Pour cream into the jar... DO NOT fill it up... or else you won't have room for all the sloshing and you won't get butter despite your best efforts... Fill it about half way... That will leave enough room for the buttermilk and the butter to separate from each other.

Step 2: Put the lid on... and make sure it is on good, and sealed.. or else you will have a mess to clean up

Step 3... Shake the heck out of the jar... If you use the same size jar as I did (and same amount of cream) then you get a pretty cool sound for about the first 4-5 minutes when the cream hits the top of the lid... Keep shaking... switch hands, use both hands... just keep shaking the jar

Eventually you will have whipped cream (you could totally stop here, add a little sugar and throw it onto some berries if you wanted... but then you wouldn't get butter... you have to keep shaking for butter to happen)

That cool sound I talked about? It will stop, the jar will be white and you will feel like nothing is happening (this is the whipped cream stage)... Keep shaking we are almost there...

Soon it should sound like there is sloshing going on in there again... Shake a little more.. about a minute or two.. and you can see the buttermilk has finally separated from the butter...  Look, I even used the video of my iPhone and managed to upload it here for you:

So now... You are going to need a few more things..

A fine-mesh strainer, a spoon... and a bowl.

Open your jar... see what it should look like:

Pour the buttermilk through the strainer and into the bowl (or down the drain if you don't want to bother saving it)

You will (probably) need the spoon to get the butter out of the jar.. Now what you want is to get as much of the buttermilk out of the butter as you can...

Push (gently) against the mesh to help coax the buttermilk out.

From about 1 cup of cream, I ended up with just under 2/3 cup of Buttermilk

Once you are happy with your butter, put it in a small dish... This is where you can add some salt if you want, mix well, and then cover and put into the fridge to let it set up a bit.

Happy Butter-making.... I think I am going to go and make some fresh biscuits to go with my fresh butter... (the temperature inside my house is already 34 C anyway... why not turn the oven on!)

(also.. I apologize for the quality of the video... I will try and do the you-tube link next time I do something like this instead of uploading from blogger...)

....still here?

Here that?

I'll be back soon... It has been 30+ degrees in my house all summer, so I havn't been around much... Plus work has been crazy...
I'll be back soon... promise!

My Summer Bucket List 2012

Dear Joy and Tracy

This is my (late) homework...  I am addicted to your podcast, and you never stop making me laugh.
Also you are both my blog-idols... Here is my summer bucket list...

1)Don't let all of my plants die like I did last year (this could also read - Don't trust the weather man when he says it is going to rain)

2) Make a friendship bracelet from embroidery thread - one for me, and one for my BFF when she comes to visit in August!

3) Organize my kitchen (Going to get my High Straightenence on)

4) Make an awesome cake at work - Now that I get paid to play with icing!)

5) Go Hiking with the Boyfriend and the dogs in the Mountains

6) Lay out on the grass and stare up at the starry sky next time I am at my parents house

7) Canning party with my mom (AntiPasto and Jam for sure... maybe some pickles too)

8) Make a Lemon Meringue Pie completely from scratch

9)Make a bouquet of sugar flowers for my grandma

10) Finally finish my family-tree painting

Where the hell did June go?

Whoa, It is already June 22... Whoa

I totally meant to show you picture of the Royal Icing flowers I made WAAAAAYYYY before now

But I started a new job, and It has been super fun! .... And I have been consumed with that.

And my mother in law came for a visit, so I was busy with that.... (i love her, it was a good visit!)

And I'll stop making excuses now...

I made Meatloaf today, with mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy... It was amazing, and I REALLY wish I had taken a picture to show you, but i forgot.

BUT.... here are some other pictures:

I Made Croissants on the weekend... They were AMAZING

These are my Chrysanthamums... They could use some work, but not too bad for my first try

the first three Chrysanthamums I tried...

I REALLY love how the daffodils turned out!

Tiny little Lilac flowers...

...all stuck together...

...equals pretty lilac blooms on the cake

CRAY-CRAY

Things have been CRAY! 


(that means crazy by the way)


but I promise I will try and get a new post ASAP


I've been working on my decorating skills


if you follow me on insta-gram then you would probably know that already (wlizardbreath is my username there)


on the weekend, I whipped up a batch of Royal Icing and got to practising my flower pipping... I made lilacs (I piped over 200 tiny little flowers), 2 dozen Daffodils, roses in 3 different colours... STILL not great, but they are getting better, and I made some Chrysanthemums... Those are hard... maybe easier in butter cream? I'll have to play a little more with them

So on Sunday, I made a cake (a 1-2-3-4 Vanilla Cake)... but it was kind of dry, and I won't be making that again..


I whipped up a batch of butter cream (I need Butter cream tips... Will I get more flavour if I attempt a Swiss or Italian Meringue butter cream??  The simple stuff just doesn't cut it for me any more), and covered my cake in a light sky/teal blue, 3 large lilacs, and some green (obviously) leaves, and then a darker teal blue on the edges... My edge piping needs work too


I also practised some basket weave pipping too... Pretty easy when it is a flat cutting board... probably going to be harder once i try to do the side of a cake.


Anyway, Once things settle down a little around here, I will get you a new post as soon as possible... and I'll try to get a few pictures of my cake and flowers on here (but I made a bad and forgot my phone in my locker at work... and all the pictures are on there)

I'll be back... I promise!