Recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles-batch 2

So, I'm hooked, and I don't want to stop making pickles, esp when you taste how good these are, even very warm, right out of the pot. (I have to confess, I ate most of the left overs, that I couldn't squeeze into the jars....I'm off to find more cukes today, so I can make batch 3 with Splenda.

I believe I got this recipe off of Allrecipes.com, but I'm not sure. I scoured the net the other night, and pulled off a few, and didn't mark the source of this one, sorry!

The Recipe:

4 Qts sliced medium sized cucumbers, unpeeled (I used all of the 23 or 25 I had)
6 medium white onioins, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1/3 cup pickling salt, non iodized
5 cups of sugar (the reason I want to use splenda next!)
1 1/2 tsp turmeric (will stain EVERYTHING it comes in contact with- be careful!)
1 1/2 tsp celery seed
2 T mustard seed
3 cups white vinegar

1.Slice the cukes thin
2.place the cukes in a large bowl and add sliced onions, chopped peppers, and whole garlic cloves
3.Add salt and cover with ice. Mix well. Let stand for 3 hours.
4.Drain the cucumber mixture well.
5.Transfer the mix to a large pot, add all remaining ingredients. Bring just to a boil.
6.Pack cucumber mix into hot sterilized 1 pint jars.
7. Seal with lids and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes (20 minutes for high altitues over 1,000 feet)
Allow to sit in a cool dark location for at least 2 weeks prior to use.
Makes about 4 pints.

I got 5 pints with left over brine, so I think next time, I'd up the cucumbers to 25-28. Supposedly, the Splenda recipe online, is very close to this one, but using only about 2 1/4- 2 1/2 cups of splenda, instead of the 5 cups of sugar.

If these taste as good or better in 2 weeks, after they tasted so good in the pot, these are going to be terrific!

Home made pickles!

I know I haven't blogged in so long, but this was worthwhile mentioning, at least for me!

My hubby bought me a canning pot with accessories recently from a garage sale, so I felt I really should use it. I bought some great looking pickling cukes from the Amish at a farmer's market, and I wish I had bought more now. Anyway, here is my journey this am. I also had the assistance of my sister, who is in the picture, and is here visiting from NM, and leaves to go back home tomorrow. I have to say, that I ended up cheating and didn't use a recipe, since Walmart was out of Mustard seed, so I bought a packaged mix to make the bread and butter pickles.

I would have spent all morning slicing these cukes by hand, if it hadn't been for Jan asking me why I wasn't using my new Kitchen Aid food processor. In all honesty, I hadn't even thought about it, since I'm still not used to having it to help me out. It went so much faster, using it to do the slicing!






Here are the jars in the pot, waiting to come back to a boil


And here is the final product....I'm totally hooked, and I want to make more.....and I may be able to on Sunday! I just need to find some more cucumbers!

Rhubarb and apple crisp makes everything so nice!

MMMMMMM, the rhubarb is ready, and that means it time for crisps or cobblers, or pies.

Today, I'm going to share an awesome healthy recipe, from The Heart Association's Low Fat Low Cholesterol cookbook. ( I love that cookbook!) It's nice and sweet, and not too tangy or tart.

Apple Rhubarb Crisp (eight servings)
Filling:
2 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
2 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 cup of sugar
1 Tbsp of cornstarch

Topping:
2/3 cup quick or regular oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar packed
3 1/2 Tbsp of tub light margarine

In a large bowl, mix all of your filling ingredients and let sit for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degreees. Then spoon into an 8 inch baking pan or 1 qt baking dish.

In a medium blowl, stir together the topping ingredients except the margarine. Using a pastry blender, cut th emargarine into the topping until the mixture resembles coarse crums. Sprinkel the topping over the apple-rhubarb mixture.

Bake uncovered for 30-35 miutes, or until the topping is light brown. Let cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

Nutritional values: calories, 173, total fat 2.5 (no sat fat), cholesterol 0mg, sodium 44mg, fiber 2 gms, and protein 2 gms

WEIGHT WATCHERS points: 3

(I couldn't wait 20 minutes!)
Now for the pictures, right?


and how about a little closer?


Enjoy! Feel free to post back here if you tried it and liked it!

Spring flowering trees in my yard

It was a wonderfully overcast afternoon today, which is perfect for going out to photograph things, without having harsh shadows show up in your pictures. The only things flowering right now, are my two trees; a crab apple, and an ornamental pear, and some daffodils which are on their way out, and my primroses.

I thought I would share a few that I really liked from today. Now, if it would just warm up again!

Holland Patent Prom

Courtney went to her first Prom tonight, in which she was escorted by her boyfriend Marcus, from Holland Patent. They looked great together, and I have to tell you, this was a half a day's ordeal! The nails last night, the hair today, the meeting at their house for pictures, and then Grand March at school....it's almost like a wedding!

Miss Emily returns....

once again! Sunday, she brought her friend who happens to look just like her, and was even dressed just like her. With matching dresses, they both looked beautiful.

Here's a sneak peak of her shoot....

I met my first weight loss goal!

16 weeks and 20 pounds lighter, I am finally posting some pictures. It is a rare site to see me in pictures, especially when I've asked someone (Ashley who happened to be home) to do them for me. Good job Ash BTW.

I will have a new pic to use on my blog for now, until the hair grows out some more, (and then I'll have to take a new one). Man, I hate this part of it, when you can't do anything with it yet. But it will get longer this summer, and not any too soon.

so here are two shots of me.....I have set a new goal now, and it has to be done by the end of June, when it's going to be really warm out.

Thanks for looking....this isn't as fun as looking at cute kids in pretty dresses!

Addison's Easter pics

Little miss Addison returned for her Easter pics this past weekend. What a difference 4 months makes, when you are talking Christmas at 12 months vs 16 months now! This girl can't be bothered with standing still, when there are kitties to play with, and neighbor kids she was watching, who were playing outside .

As always though, she's a pleasant little lady, who LOVES her mommy!

Easter cross Rye Rolls

A woman from the Fresh Loaf.com site referred me to her blog for some easy rye bread, which I made three batches of this morning, and just thought I would send you her way too, if you like bread baking, and like rye (Or anything else she has on her site!)

These were very easy and they taste awesome! Libby's site is At the Very Yeast, so give her a looksey.

And here are two pics to make you drool!



PS....they went over really well at dinner, so make sure you have some on hand for dinner guests!

Happy Easter eveyone!

I hope your day is wonderful, and that you may enjoy nice weather, and fellowship with your families and friends!

1st Communion photo shoot

This was my first time shooting a 1st Communion session, and Jordan was a great sport about trying a bunch of different poses for me....she's a natural in front of the camera too.

Here are a few of my favs from today:

Three brothers

These boys have grown, as I haven't seen them in over a year! This collage is a collection of their best individuals, and a pic of them with their mom. She's expecting a little girl this summer, and all 3 seem pretty excited! That little one, will be one well taken care of girl in school I'm sure, and she better be pretty tough on the homefront too, sticking up for herself!

Buttery Honey Whole Wheat bread

I am an avid reader of The Fresh Loaf website, which is a site dedicated to bread making for beginners through pros, and today, I made an excellent tasting, healthy recipe, using honey and whole wheat.
This is the Buttery Honey Whole Wheat Bread recipe that I used.

Joe's breads look beautiful, and while the tops of mine deflated a bit, from using an unsharp knife that I did, to score the top, it tasted wonderfully good warm with some butter on it! MMMMMmmmmmmmmm!

If you enjoy bread making, be sure to check out this site, and his too. He has some good stuff on there. On the Fresh Loaf site, there is pretty much everything you need to get yourself started, or to challenge you if you are already experienced....Enjoy the smell of hot bread baking in the oven.

Saturday weigh in!

Down another 1 1/2 pounds, but it took 3 weeks to get here.....it's slowing down, and I think I found the balance of calories in vs calories out.....that means I have to start exercising more.....if the rain would ever stop, I'll be good to go outside, and I can't wait to get on my bike!

down: 18 1/2 pounds!

K+K for Easter

I had two sisters and then Mom and Grandma too for a family picture to be done today.
I remember two Christmas's ago, when the eldest Miss K wouldn't even make eye contact with me. Then through two more sessions, she became my helper, and I even got some hugs out of her, and she let me help her with her coat too. It's the little things that come out of shoots like this, that make these days special!

Little Miss K turned one this month too, but she is at a stage where strangers are not her friends, so we were lucky to get a few of her by herself.