A Birthday Card and Tutorial

It's been a little crafty here in Big Sky Country!  I've been working away in my make-shift craft studio, trying to drowned out the sounds of hammers and drills with my sewing machine and heat embossing gun!  I have some fun quilting projects to share with you later, but for now I wanted to show you a card I whipped up.

Along with the card, I created a tutorial for the CutCardStock blog.  Click on over and check it out!  If you do head on over to the blog, you can find other tutorials I've made for them.  I've been working with the great gals of CutCardStock for a while now and enjoy their cardstock and envelopes a lot.

An Education in Cherries

So this great adventure moving to Montana is not just fun and games....  I am getting a real education in gardening and tending to an orchard.  Would you believe that on our orchard alone we grow 36 varieties of cherries.  36 varieties?  I would have never guessed there were so many types, and I am sure there are more beyond what we grow.  Before this education, I knew of Bing, but other than that didn't give much thought to types.  Maybe just expensive compared to inexpensive cherries, or the big yummy ones from Costco compared to the little whimpy ones from the regular grocery store.

  (Ray in the orchard checking on the cherries)

I've really got to hand it to my father-in-law.... he's so knowledgable about plants and trees.  He has really expanded his orchard for the sake of finding out what varieties will grow and thrive in this climate.  He diligently documents his findings and can rattle off any information you may or may not want to know about any of the trees.

Me, well I am slowly starting to learn the names of some of them.  I sort of graze through the orchard in the evenings, tasting the different cherries as I make my way through the rows.  I think the art of tasting cherries must be a little like wine tasting in that you have to develop the ability to taste all the different notes.  In the meantime, I will just keep tasting.... emerging from the orchard each evening with a little more knowledge and a full belly!  And now I'm left wondering what to do with all these cherries?

Boys and Beets

After our third meeting of the photography class I am taking, the instructor gave us the assignment of taking a picture that finishes this sentence :   "I like living in Montana because...."

It's a timely question for me because we are just hitting our two month mark and I have been thinking a lot about the changes we've made and what I like most about the move.  There are certainly a lot of differences; just this week Ray has had to take care of two skunks that were trapped on the property, attempt to take down a huge hornet's nest we discovered and shoo wild turkeys out of the yard in the early morning.  The garden and orchard are really going strong, so my time has been spent picking cherries, making raspberry jam and finding ways to use the abundance of zucchini.  The boys have been enjoying the adventures on the property, they are still talking about getting to go tubing last weekend, progressing greatly in their swim lessons and at this very moment, I can hear them outside practicing hammering nails into a board.  That might not sound like too much to you or I, but believe me, that's good stuff for a boy!

So, when I thought about the class assignment, two things first popped out at me.  First, what I love about living here is what it's doing to the boys.  I've seen them really open up, mature some and welcome new adventures.  They both have really toughened up and they seem to want to take on whatever is put in front of them. 

The second thing that I thought about is how much I love the garden and orchard.  Aside from simply that I just love food anyway, the fact that I am helping it to grow and that I can run down and pick fresh what I need is just awesome!  It's exciting to think that next year I will have a little more involvement in the planning part, so it's already in the works to expand the garden and plant a lot more of what we want and need.

Hopefully the feedback will be good on the pictures.  We are learning a lot and I am trying to incorporate an artistic perspective in my photography.  I thought I'd share how I prepared the beets.  Even if you think you don't like beets, you should try this.... they were delicious!

Roasted Beets and Greens
What you'll need:
6 medium beets, stems and leaves attached
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely diced
3 slices bacon
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
olive oil

What to do:
Scrub the beets clean (but leave the skin on) and trim the stems off, leaving about 2 inches of the stem attached to the bulb.  Cover a cookie sheet with foil.  Rub the beets with olive oil and place them on the cookie sheet.  Roast them at 400 degrees until they are fork tender.

In the meantime, remove the leaves from the stems.  The leaves are tender and tasty, but the stems can be a little tough and bitter.  When you get a huge pile of leaves, soak them in a big bowl of cold water.  All the dirt will sink to the bottom of the bowl, so when you think they are clean, just pull them out of the bowl and dry them off a bit.  Then you want to slice the leaves into 1/2 inch stips.  This may sound like a lot of work, but it really isn't.  Just make a big pile of leaves and roll them up tightly.  Then slice the roll into 1/2 inch strips.  When you've got them all sliced, set 'em aside.

When the beets are tender, take them out and let them cool for a few minutes so you can handle them.  Using a paper towel, wipe off the skin.  It will come off very easy and this it where it can get messy, so be careful.  Trim off the little stem handle you left on and slice all the peeled beets into 1/4 inch slices.  Set aside.

Chop up the bacon into small pieces and cook it over med-high heat.  When it's nearly done, but still kind of soft, add the onions and get those cooking.  After about 5 minutes, add the garlic.  Saute all of that for a couple minutes, then add in the cut greens.  They will cook down quickly when they hit that bacon grease... they are similar to spinach, so if it seems like you have a lot of greens, just wait a minute and they will shrink down.  When the greens have wilted, add the sliced beets to the pan.  Saute them up and get all the goodness working together.  You only need to cook this long enough to heat up the beets.  When you're almost done, add in the fresh thyme (leaves stripped from the stem) and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Adventures on the Lake

We enjoyed another weekend of camping recently.  It was a great little get away where we met some new friends and enjoyed a little more of what Montana has to offer.

While we were camping, a friend offered to take the boys tubing on the lake.  Even though they've never done that, they were both anxious for the opportunity.  Excited, but a little nervous, they jumped in the tube and were give the low-down for hand signals.  Thumbs up for faster, thumbs down for slower.

Within a mere 30 seconds, they were both giving us the thumbs up and yelling "full throttle!"

They had a blast and were bummed it couldn't last longer.  Our friend had to take her boat back, but promised us another get together soon.  I think the boys were grinning from ear to ear for at least the next four hours or so!

Fun and Simple Baby Blanket

I have long been a collector of fabric and quilting supplies.... much longer than I've actually been a quilter.  Now that I'm settling down a bit, I am spending much more time sewing and teaching myself to quilt from YouTube videos.  Believe it or not, there are actually some very useful videos there!

I recently dug out a cute baby boy blanket kit that I have moved from coast to coast over the last several years.  I decided there wasn't a better time than now to actually break it out and make it.  With a couple of my cousins having baby boys soon, it will make a great gift.

Technically, there wasn't really any quilting.  The top was simply pieced together and then sewn to the flannel backing.  I top stitched it and did a little "in the ditch" stitching to keep it from shifting about too much.

I like the way it turned out and it's given me a little boost to take on more complicated projects, so stay tuned to see what's next!

Home Canning

With a half gallon or more of raspberries ripe and ready for picking each day, I have to think of ways to use them before they go bad.  Aside from eating them straight from the garden, making pies and other dessert or freezing them, making jam is one of my favorite ways to use up a lot of berries at once.

I first made jam last year when we were just visiting.  It turned out ok and we had enough to share with a lot of friends and family, as well as last through all the PB&J sandwiches during the school year.  This year, though, my jam is turning out much better.  I've had success with Strawberry-Rhubarb freezer, cooked Strawberry jam and now Raspberry jam.  Let's just say that after two short months here in Big Sky Country, I've got mad jam skills.....

The recipe is straight from the packaging inside the SureJell pectin.  You can pick up the pectin from any grocery store.  The ingredients are simple: berries, pectin and sugar.  The equipment you'll need are 9- 1/2 pint canning jars with lids and screw bands (you can pick these up cheap from Wal-Mart), a canning pot with rack and lid (again, cheap at Wal-Mart) and a funnel and jar lifter.  Aside from that, I keep a large towel and a coffee cup handy.... you'll see why in a moment.

Start out by sorting, washing and mashing your fruit.  For this Raspberry jam recipe, I used 5 cups of crushes berries.  Since I prefer seedy jam, I used the fruit as-is.  If you want to get some of the seeds out, you can push the crushed berries through a fine mesh strainer, but it's important that your final fruit measures 5 cups.

Put your fruit in a stock pot and add the packet of pectin.  Bring this up to a boil on high heat.  You'll need to stir it constantly until it comes to a full rolling boil.  Which brings me to why I wear an apron while I am making jam..... just like spaghetti sauce, the fruit will get all over you.

When the fruit is at a full rolling boil, add in your sugar.  I know that 7 cups of sugar is nearly mind-blowing, but resist the temptation to alter that amount.  It's really a science here and if you change any part of it, the jam is not going to turn out the way you want it to.  Trust me.  If you're worried about eating all that sugar, just make the decision that you'll only enjoy the jam while on the treadmill.... that will even things out a bit.

So, add your sugar and stir until it's completely dissolved.  You're still working over high heat here, so keep stirring until this mixture comes up to a full boil.  Once it reaches that hot, bubbly, lava type boil, keep it there for exactly one minute, while stirring.
After the minute, remove the pot o' jam from the heat.  At this point, I skim off the foam.  I know that you can add a pat of butter to help knock down the foam, but I want to keep my jam dairy-free, so I just skim it off the top.  Don't dare throw that foam away because it's really yummy.  This is where the coffee cup comes in.... just put the foam in there and set it aside.  You can use it on sandwiches or toast later when your kids ask "hey mom, is the jam ready?".

Now you're ready to fill your jars.  The jars are prepared.... by that I just mean clean and rinsed in very hot water.  If the glass jars aren't hot when you add the hot lava jam to them, well, they could crack and that would not be good.  So, you should have all your jars and lids hot rinsed and sitting out ready on the towel.

 

Using the funnel and a ladle, fill each jar and leave about 1/4 inch at the top.  This will give the jam a little room in case it wants to expand some. 

When you've got them all filled, wipe off the top rim with a damp paper towel to get off any spills; this will help make sure you get a good seal.  Top each jar with a lid and band.  Just screw on the bands and make them hand tight. 

Place them all in the boiling water canner, on the rack.  Use the jar lifter so your hands stay a safe distance from the water.  The water should come over the tops of your jam jars by an inch or two when they are all in there.  Cover the pot and let the water come back up to a boil.  When it gets to a gentle boil, let it continue for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, remove the jars using the lifter again.  Set the jars back on the towel and leave them there.  Don't touch them.  Don't tip them.  Don't press on the lid.  Just let them sit there for 24 hours.  If you mess around with them and starting guessing whether or not things worked correctly, you'll more than likely spoil the process.  Very soon though, you'll hear little clicking sounds that may remind you of when your kids first learned to do that suction-click-thingy with their tongue and the roof of their mouth.  That's a good sound.

In exchange for your hard work and patience, pull out your toaster and a slice of bread.  Grab the stock pot that the fruit mixture boiled in.  If you try, you can probably get enough jam from the sides and bottom of the pan to enjoy on your toast.  This is the first taste of your hard work.... enjoy with a cup of coffee!

Getting Adjusted

I decided early on that one of the best ways to get adjusted here in Montana was to immediately get involved in anything I could.  Within our first couple of weeks, we were camping with friends and meeting new ones, the boys were signed up for swim lessons, Ray and I joined the local gym and we started attending church.  I figured the sooner we got out doing whatever we could and meeting new people, the sooner it would feel like home. 

Another step for me was to get enrolled in the Community College.  With the benefits available to us because of Ray's 20+ years of service, the cost of attending college wasn't an issue.  I also thought that having a schedule and commitment would be a good way for me to stay focused and active.  I am all set to start in Flathead Valley Community College's certificate program for Graphic Design.  I can't tell you how excited I am because I will finally get to learn how to use all the Adobe software.  My schedule will coordinate perfectly with getting the boys to and from school when they start after Labor Day, so it just made a lot of sense.

While waiting for the semester to begin, I ran across a summer class being offered that peaked my interest.... Beginning Landscape and Wildlife Photography.  Of course, I signed right up for it.  I go one night a week for seven weeks and should have a better handle on some photo basics when all is said and done.  We've had two class meetings so far, just covering some real basics at this point.  I think we will really be getting into the "meat and potatoes" of it soon.

Our instructor gave us a theme for our picture assignment this week.  The theme was "Sail Away".  Here is my submission.

This is one of the docks on Flathead Lake.  The lake is huge and many days, you'll find lots of sailboats out and about.  I liked the look of all the masts and the mountains in the background; hopefully my instructor will agree.

Garden Fresh Dessert

You may or may not be finding yourself with an abundance of raspberries, but I am.  And when life gives me raspberries, I make dessert.  Not just any dessert, but a Gluten Free, Dairy Free Fresh Raspberry Crumble Bars.  Why Gluten Free, Dairy Free?  I have an intolerance to both gluten and cow's milk..... I will go into that a little further in another post, but this can easily be adapted for all you wheat and milk consumers.

First, round up your help to gather the berries.  You may have to force creatively pursuade them to pitch in; I recommend retelling the story of the Little Red Hen for a sure fire way to have everyone ready to do their share.

Important note:  you need to pick more berries than you actually eat.  But, with my QA background, I can appreciate wanting to make sure they are ready.  Thanks, Jacob.

Then, while the berries are still really fresh, quickly collect all the items you'll need in the kitchen and get crackin'.  Here's what you'll need to do.....

GF/DF Fresh Raspberry Crumble Bars

1/2 c sugar
3 t cornstarch
4 c raspberries
3 cups GF flour blend (or substitute all-purpose flour)
1/2 c light brown sugar
1/2 c sugar
1 c shortening (or 2 sticks of butter ~ best heard in the voice of Paula Deen)
1/2 t salt
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1 t baking powder

Gently mix the raspberries with the 1/2 cup of sugar and cornstarch.  Set aside and out of reach from anyone passing through the kitchen that may want to snatch a berry or two.

Combine all the rest of the ingredients.  Incorporate them by using a pastry blender or two knives, or two forks.... or two spoons.  Whatever works.  Just get everything together and when it's ready it should look like a bowl of thick wet clumpy sand.

Then, in a greased baking dish (as close to a 9 x 13 that you have), press in just a little over half of the batter mixture.  Then pour in your juicy, sweet berries.  Top with the rest of the thick wet sand batter, randomly crumbling it over the top.

Bake at 375F for about 35-45 minutes, until the fruit is bubbling and the top is nice and golden brown.  Let cool.  Don't get too anxious; the fruit will most likely take the ridges off the roof of your mouth at this point.  Let it rest.... your patience will be rewarded. 

When it's time to enjoy, dish it up with some whipped cream, top with vanilla ice cream or enjoy as it is.  Yummy!

Project: Basement

I don't know if I ever dreamt of living in my father-in-law's basement..... probably not.  But with the big move and all other things considered, it's just where we need to be for now.  Work has officially begun and it's getting a little easier for me to see the diamond in the rough.  For now, the concrete walls have been sealed and the framing is in progress.  As the framing goes up, the electric and plumbing is in progress as well.  This is big progress people..... a couple of months ago, it was difficult to walk through the space let alone see it as a potential warm and welcoming home for a family of four.

In the beginning.....

Framing in progress.....

Our handy helpers who work for peanut butter and honey sandwiches and the promise of a new DS game.....

Life in Montana

It's taking a little bit of adjustment.... life in Montana is quite a change.  Oh, they are good changes and believe me, I've always welcomed the new possibilities with a big move.  I am not sure I really  had my head wrapped around the enormity of this move, and I don't think everything has quite sunk in yet either.  I guess we'll see how welcoming to change I am in January when I am up to my tooshie in snow and don't have a clue how to handle it.  In the meantime, though, I am really enjoying the summer here.

I may have previously defined wildlife outside my window as a group of tattooed, pierced punks walking down the sidewalk in front of my house.  Well, with a little fresh air and Montana starting to flow through my viens, I have a different perspective.  Here's a shot of the twin fawns I see regularly outside my window now.  Aren't they cute?

Another change is how I go about getting fresh fruits and veggies.  Before it was a trip to the grocery store or if I was fortunate, I visit to the Farmer's Market on Saturday morning.  Now, it's a short walk down the driveway and through the gate to the garden and orchard.  The season is a bit late this year, but things are starting to take shape.  We are enjoying raspberries and early cherries, red potatoes, radishes, zucchini, beets and baby carrots.  Before I moved up here, I swore my thumbs were black... I couldn't keep a house plant!  Amazingly, things don't die when I touch them.... they actually grow and become mighty tasty.