There was a chance – just a CHANCE – that the thing currently disturbing my bobber was some sort of prehistoric mud-dweller, one who had lain at the bottom on Old Man So-and-So’s pond since the dark ages, and was just now summoned from the murky depths to investigate the curiosity that was my small nightcrawler, still struggling upon my tiny hook.
Travel Diary Alaska// Fishers of Fish, Part 1 —
Hello everyone, on this hot and still, North Florida night.
I do hope that you are staying cool as it has been a very hot day.
I was in the kitchen tonight doing prep work and after I had prepped these beautiful raspberries, I came across a recipe that had the time shortened in half to make raspberry jam.
I have to admit that I have a passion for raspberries. I had been waiting such a long time for a sale on them. But, alas I just could not wait any longer. So I made a trip to Publix and paid out $24.00 for 6 packs of raspberries. This is only a luxury craving for once in a blue moon!
Here is the recipe that I used to make the raspberry jam and then water-bath canned it so it will last me, for a year of fabulous cream cheese bagels with this jam.
6 of the small packages of raspberries (makes 6 c of berries)
6 TBSP of Mrs. Wages Pectin (Box or package) Always at Save A Lot I mixed some of both as my box was almost empty (by me) The box is powder-like apples or citrus and the package has like tapioca in it. Both melded together just fine.
3 c of white sugar ( It called for 6 c) but it turned out very sweet and a little tart with 3 c. Which is how I like it!
2 TBSP of butter and a saucer for the jam foam to be put on
Before you begin it is nice to get all the prep work done and have everything waiting for you to pick up and use. So here we go!
Have 6 jelly jars sterilized (clean) and the lids and rings. Boil a little pot of water and turn down to low simmer. (For the lids, later, when ready to start the jam process.
Use a large and tall pot or a water-bath canner and fill with water 3/4th full. Start boiling now.
Prep items to have ready are a few napkins to clean jar rims with. A funnel–A ladle—lifting tongs and a thick potholder—a fork to get lids out of the boiling water— a kitchen towel folded and on the counter for the hot jars that come out of the canner ( very near the canner). A long wooden spoon to stir the bubbling hot jam with—A spatula to scrape out the pot of jam for the last bit of jam.
It takes longer to get everything set up than it does to make the jam. You also need a potato masher.
Use a heavy-duty steel pot and put in the washed berries. Use the potato masher to mash the berries in the pot. Turm stove on #8 pretty high. Use the long wooden spoon to stir with. When boiling add in the pectin and stir it in. Add in the sugar and stir it in. Let the pot come back up to a rolling boil again and then set a timer for 2 minutes. Stir just a little.
Turn off the stove and add the pats of butter. Skim off the foam lightly to the saucer.
Now we are ready to water bath can this jam for 10 minutes. So Put the 6 lids in the small simmering pot. Have the canner boiling. Have you 6 jam jars and rings ready.
I set the jam pot down in the sink and have my jars beside the sink and on the counter with rings and jars and napkins to wipe the jar rims off with. I also have a thick potholder to hold the bottom of the filled jar with and the jar lifters to pick up the hot boiling filled jars with to take to the canner and gently lower the jars into. The water has to be 2 inches over the jar tops or more is ok.
Use the funnel and ladle to fill the jars—wipe rims–put the hot lid from the small pot on the jar and then put the ring on the jat (ONLY fingertight) as air has to escape from the jar.
Process for 10 minutes at a rolling boil. Turn off the stove and let the jam stay in the pot for 10 minutes more. Then use the jar lifters and the thick potholder to remove and set on the towel. I leave them there until the next day. You will hear the lids pinging as they seal. That means (Well Done Job) and it is safely canned and will last for many years in the pantry. At least 3 years if you can wait that long! I can’t.
NOTE I do have to add that this jam is not real firm, as of a few days after making it. It’s more firm than runny but it is a little runny, but it sure sits on a cream cheese bagel, very well.
Thank you for stopping by and always feel free to share my recipes with your good friends and family, if you wish. Sorry, that is so long, but it is every step of the jam-making process. Thanks again for your time.
Homemade Apple Strudel
Good Morning All!
I am posting to you, on this very cloudy North Florida day. I hope that your day goes well! I know that mine will. In my mind, I will just project a lovely and peaceful day.
I have a little recipe for you that won.t break the bank and people do like this one. This was my first strudel so I did not give justice to the looks. I will do better on the next one and there will be a next one, believe me!
Ok, onward to the recipe, now.
The ingredients are:
1 long can of crescent rolls
1 beaten egg
Powdered sugar and milk for the glaze and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 pint jar of canned apples and cinnamon with a little brown sugar
(OR make your own) cut up 2 apples (peeled and diced small) add 2 TBSP of brown sugar and 1 tsp of cinnamon. Let this marinate overnight in the refrigerator. Simmer for 15 minutes with a TBSP of butter and let cool.
Get a baking pan and put parchment paper on it.
Open your can of crescent rolls and use some flour on the counter to roll this out in as long of a rectangle that you can achieve. Keep going you will get there! Now put the strudel on the parchment pan and do these strip cuts.
Use a butter knife to make cut marks down both sides (while leaving the middle uncut for2-3 inches) this is for the filling.
Sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice (if you wish) I wanted the aroma wafting through the house as I can’t wait for fall!
Spoon the filling onto the middle of the strudel and then wrap or braid-like wrap the strips and pinch the ends together. (All ends).
Brush with egg wash. Bake 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown.
This feeds 3 people, but you did want some more! Oops, almost forgot the glaze! Use a 1/2 c of powdered sugar and whisk the lumps out. Use 1 TBSP at a time of milk and stir until you get the glaze how you want it, so it can be drizzled over the strudel with a fork.
Thanks for your visit today. I do appreciate it, more than you know! Always feel free to share with good friends and family, if you wish.
Connie B. #CONNIEBRECIPESWISDOMFORPENNIES
Good Morning All, on this cloudy and muggy, North Florida, Tuesday day!
I hope that you make this day a good one. And I hope that all your wishes come true.
I have a nice little recipe for you, today. And it is really easy to make this one. I don’t know why I was so scared to make this for so long of a time.
Chicken Parmesan Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast that is washed and sliced in two by the thickness. Then use a meat mallet to pound it out thin, it will break into some pieces so don’t worry. This is in the photo in the full pan. This uses only 1 chicken breast!
I do this the night before and keep it in a cover in a container in the refrigerator. ( prep-work done).
The next day:
2 cans of diced tomatoes- 1 diced onion- 2 TBSP garlic in the squeeze jar-1/4 cup of olive oil. 1 TBSP of oregano (I was out of basil or I would have also added 1 TBSP of basil Simmer this for 30 minutes on med-low.
3 mixing bowls- 2 whisked eggs in one bowl
3/4th c of flour in one bowl. I used Kentucky Kernal Flour (already seasoned) from Walmart.
The third bowl is 3/4th c of panko crumbs with 10 saltines crushed medium-sized.
All 3 bowls are ready to go now. Dip a piece of the chicken in the egg wash and then in the flour and back to the egg wash again and then into the breadcrumbs, last of all. Have a plate ready to put this one on while you do the next one and so on.
Have 1/2 inch of hot oil in a medium frying pan at medium temp. Like #6. Fry the chicken just until golden brown on each side.
Have a 13 x9 baking pan ready and put 1/2 of the simmered sauce in the bottom of the pan. Lay the fried chicken on top of the sauce. Pour remaining sauce over the chicken and add sliced mozzarella on top.
Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes.
While it is baking. Make your spaghetti (1 lb) boil for 8 minutes and drain.
After the photoshoot, I added some of this extra sauce to my plate and topped it off with parmesan cheese that was sprinkled over the top of this dish.
My photo did not show this part of the recipe, but I do like a lot of sauce with my spaghetti so I used 1 can of tomato sauce (15 oz) and 1 can of paste (6 oz) with 3 little cans of water and whisked together. I also added in 1/2 package of McCormicks Spaghetti seasoning and simmered this while the chicken parmesan was in the oven cooking.
I hope that you try this! Thank you for stopping by today and please share my recipes with your friends and family, if you wish.
I will post another recipe on Saturday and then Tuesday. Thanks again. Connie B.
Good morning Everybody, on this sunny North Florida day.
I hope that your day is fantastic! I know that mine will be!
This photo is a beautiful one that I have permission to use, as it almost goes along with my short little recipe for today. I love the photo, it fits my mind.
Ok, I said that this is for kiddies so leave off the pepper and throw in the chopped hotdogs for this recipe.
You will need 2 cans of pork-n-beans
1 pack of hotdogs
1/2 c of brown sugar
1/4 c ketchup
3 TBSP barbecue sauce
I like to fry the hotdogs in 2 TBSP of butter and then slice them up.
Add all the rest of the ingredients to a medium pot and then add in the hotdogs. Cook on high until it begins to simmer and turn down low and simmer for 15 minutes.
If you need a larger amount of beanie weenies then just add another pack of cooked hotdogs and another can of pork-n-beans into this recipe as you are cooking it.
I am 62 but I still get a craving for this recipe at times!
Thank you for your time today. I will post again on Tuesday and Saturday. Come back to visit me again, if you wish, and feel free to share all of my recipes with your good friends and families, if you want to.
Good Day to everyone! I hope that you are staying dry.
Here in North Florida, we are having a rain day, off and on, all day today. I have always heard from the old folk that you do not want to make divinity candy on a rainy day. So I have never made this candy on a rainy day.
If you can remember the old Stuckey’s Candy Store/Restaurant/Gas Station/Ice Cream Shop/Free Orange Juice when you reach the Florida Line. Also, the best postcards and dried gator skulls/ leather hats and vests/Seashells/Shell Dolls/Baby Dolls/Rubber Bugs/Oranges/Tangerines/Pink Greatfruit/ Orange Slice Candy/MaryJanes/Coconut Ribbon Candy/Giant Lollipops, and I am sure that I am leaving some things out.
That was a store from the past! When we stopped as a kid, I always chose divinity rolled-in pecans for my treat, so here is my recipe.
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup hot water 1/4 tsp salt 2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pecans chopped- candy thermometer-pastry brush-cup of ice water
Use a heavy steel pan and combine the sugar -hot water-salt-corn syrup.
Cook on high until the sugar dissolves and it is at a rolling boil (Stirring at this stage).
Once boiling-do not stir! Use a candy thermometer to take the temperature of the candy. It has to reach 250 F. While you are in this stage of candy making, use a wet pastry brush to keep brushing the sugar crystals down in the pot. Remove from heat now.
To do the hardball test, use a spoon and let some of the hot syrup drip into the cup of ice water. Let sit a moment and then use your finger to pick up the candy and roll it between your fingers. It should be at a very hard stage, like glass. This is the hardball stage in candy making.
Right as the candy stage is getting close to the 250-degree mark. Start whipping the egg whites in a mixer bowl until stiff peaks form.
Now, you will start pouring a very slow stream of the hot syrup into the egg whites, while still beating the egg whites with the mixer on medium speed.
Increase speed to high when you have all the syrup in the bowl. Beat for 5 minutes and add vanilla. continue beating until stiff peaks form and the candy begins to lose its glossy look.
Have a tray with wax paper ready to drop the divinity by spoonfuls onto the wax paper. add some pecans to each one. Store in an airtight container. You should get about 18 candies from this recipe.
I hope that you enjoy this candy! It does take work but it is so worth it.
Thanks for stopping by today. I will post another recipe on Saturday and Tuesday. Connie B. #CONNIEBRECIPESWISDOMFORPENNIES
Good Day, all. I hope your day has gone well and that you are safe and sound.
I have a little recipe for you. I hope that you don’t say, soup again! I just get in a creative mood and it has been for soups lately and I have really liked each and every one of them. They will always be here on my blog, forever so I can always find them for later years in case, I lose my memory.
I do hope that you will give this recipe a try-out.
Ok, so here we go! You will need.
1 lb of ground sausage
1-pint jar of canned chicken breast (Y’all know I,m a ferocious canner). Or 1 lb of cooked chicken breast (boiled) and diced up.
1-can of white cannellini beans and 1/2-can of red kidney beans
15-oz can of diced tomatoes 6oz-can of tomato paste
4 chicken bullion cubes or a box of chicken broth or your broth from your boiled chicken breasts with the 4 cubes of bullion added to it.
1 large onion diced 2 sticks of celery washed and diced or 1-TBSP of celery seeds (which I used seeds). 2 TBSP of the squeeze bottle garlic.
1 TBSP of oregano 1 TBSP of basil 2 tsp of Accent 1TBSP of Cavenders Greek Seasoning 1 can of spinach drained.
1 cup of Ditalini noodles (Publix). Parmesan for sprinkling over the top of your soup bowl and some great breadsticks to bake!
Begin with a large pot and fry the sausage along with the vegetables. Keep the small amount of grease in the soup, it will flavor it.
When done add in the seasonings mentioned and 6 large cups of water.
Add in the 4 bullion cubes (Or your type of bullion) Mine is the cheapest way to make broth for anything and I have always used the cubes.
Add in the cooked chicken and the can tomatoes and the can of paste mixed with 3 cans of water.
Drain both cans of beans and add in only 1/2 a can of kidney beans and the whole can of white beans. (Both 15-oz size can) Drain the can of spinach and add in the whole can. If you have fresh spinach or kale that could be used instead of spinach. A huge handful of fresh greens that have been washed and chopped. I did not have kale so I used canned spinach.
Simmer this soup for 1 hour with the lid on the pot so that your liquid does not escape! In the last 8 minutes of the hour, add in only 1 cup of the Ditalini noodles.
Have some fabulous garlic breadsticks baking to coincide with the timing of this awesome soup getting done. I hope that you will love this soup. I know, I do.
Today is just a freebie recipe post that I tossed to you all. I will post again on Tuesday and Saturday. Thanks for stopping by today and share my recipes with your good friends if you wish.
Good afternoon all! I am late today with this post!
I hope that all is well, within your home and family.
I have a new recipe to share with you and I do hope that you will try this one. I’ll bet that you can’t eat just one! I, found these to be addictive.
I used 3 squash for this recipe as my 2 squash bushes have only produced 5 squash for me so far, Hopefully, more later on!
The ingredients are 3 squash
1 large cup of flour and 1 short can of beer (some of it)
Wash the squash well and dice or slice it medium thickness
In a medium bowl add the flour and keep adding in the beer and stirring until you have a thick dipping batter. In the end, I stopped with the beer and added just enough water so that it made a thick like runny dipping batter.
Have a frying pan ready with hot sizzling grease and dip the squash pieces into the batter and let the batter drip off a second, then fry in the pan until golden brown and flip over for the second side. (You will have enough batter to do 6 squash if you can eat that many).
Have a plate ready with paper towels on it for the cooked squash to lay on. Now is the time to season the squash with a little sale and a little more Cavendar’s Greek Seasoning.
Thank you for stopping by today and please do stop by again as I post on Saturday and Tuesday. Connie B.
Good, Tuesday morning to everybody. The sun is shining in North Florida today and I hope that it will be the same for you also.
We had a lot of rainy days so I was in the soup-making mode. So, here is a little recipe for you if you wish to try it.
A big soup pot. With 4 large Quarts of water in it.
1 Quart jar of home-canned turkey with the liquid
OR 2 cups of cooked turkey shredded
I used 4 chicken bullion cubes for flavor and salt or 1 carton of bullion would do. If you use carton bullion, only use 3 quarts of water in the pot.
1 1/2 TBSP celery seed or 3 chopped celery sticks. (I was out of celery).
1 tsp Accent 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp black pepper (Spicy soup) for less spicy leave out the cayenne
1 large onion chopped in big chunks 3 large garlic cloves (Petals) diced small
5 large bay leaves
IBERIA Angel hair pasta. (Dollar Tree) I call this (Bird’s Nests) as they are wrapped around like a bird’s nest. Only use 3 of them, from the package.
This gives you soup just like chicken noodle soup from the can, but this has way less salt and taste, way above the can soups.
To begin with this soup journey you start out with the water and the pot. Add 4 bullion cubes or package chicken broth and 1 less quart of water.
Toss in the onion and garlic (chopped). Throw in 5 large bay leaves. (Remove the bay leaves, before eating).
Anyway just throw everything into the pot except for the pasta.
Cook on #4 with a lid on the pot and let this simmer for 1 hour.
Put 3 bird’s nests of the round angel hair pasta into the pot. I just pull each one apart just slightly and drop it in. Continue cooking for 8 minutes and then it is done.
I used saltine crackers with my soup, but you could use some awesome home-baked bread or breadsticks with this. And some sweet tea!
I do hope that you will try this recipe! Once you start to make a homemade soup then you will never want to go back to a canned soup.
Thank you for visit today and please do share my little recipe blog with your friends and family. Thank again, Connie B.
#CONNIEBRECIPESWISDOMFORPENNIES
Hello from North Florida on this muggy, muggy day. My wish is for everyone to stay safe from the storms that are approaching.
I do not know about you but I love seafood! And I had been wanting this for a while now. I chose for my seafood platter, shrimp. deviled clams on the shell and last but not least some hushpuppies with lots of onion and corn, inside them.
The clamshells were cooked in the hot air-fryer with a spray of olive oil, over the tops. The shrimp was deveined and peeled and rinsed well for shells. Then I used a fish batter to bread them and fried them in oil (lard).
The hushpuppies were made with my old standby recipe. 1 cup of self-rising flour and 1 cup of white cornmeal.
1 egg
1 small can of corn (drained).
1 chopped onion
Add enough water to make this a thick batter that will drop off a spoon and into a frying pan that is half-filled with hot oil (lard).
As these get done, they will flip over to the other side to cook to a golden brown beautiful color. And then they are done.
Thanks for your visit today and I do hope that you will find a recipe to try. Connie B. #CONNIEBRECIPESWISDOMFORPENNIES