Apple Butter

It's that time of year again.....time to make my yearly batch of Apple Butter! This stuff is delicious and so easy to make. (Plus it smells amazing in your house while it cooks!)

I started with 7 pounds of Gala apples which I peeled and cored. And, honestly, that's the hardest part of this whole process. 

Next I placed the apples in a large crock pot (and the peelings and cores in my compost barrel).  In a separate bowl I mixed 1 1/2 cups of sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground cloves and 1/4 tsp salt. I poured this mixture over the apples and mixed well.

Next, I put the lid on and cooked on low for 10 hours, stirring occasionally.

After 10 hours, I added one tablespoon of vanilla, stirred that in and cooked uncovered on low for two more hours.

Next I used my Cuisinart immersion blender to puree the apples until smooth.

After that, I ladled the apple butter into half-pint jars (which I had heated in a hot water bath) leaving 1/4 inch headspace at the top. I put the lids on and processed in a hot water bath for 10 minutes.

Then I removed the jars and left them on the counter overnight. You'll hear the popping sound for about an hour as the jars seal. 

Then I printed some cute labels and put them on the jars and I was done! 

10 jars of Apple Butter ready to give at Christmas!

Rescue!!

Last week, while checking cows, I found one of our new baby Angus calves caught in a barbed-wire fence! He was on the ground and had his front leg caught, just above the hoof. The bottom two strands of the fence were twisted and had him caught, very tight. I tried to pull the fence apart but it was in too much of a bind. Fortunately, I had wire cutters with me and was able to cut the fence and free the baby. He had a difficult time getting up at first. The video is right after he got up. I was very concerned about the limping plus he had a pretty bad scrape on his side. I am happy to report that yesterday he was running and playing! All is well.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!

Well since I posted so many pics of my fall decorations, I decided to post a few of my Christmas decorations. I already talked about the sentimental Santa mugs, elves and snow globe. There's some pretty special old Christmas books with my decorations too. Enjoy!

This is an old Christmas record from when I was a kid. 

Love this cute snowman cookie jar from Cracker Barrel!

The kitchen tree

Cute Mr. and Mrs. Clause that I found on eBay

The master bedroom tree

And I'm STILL NOT FINISHED WRAPPING GIFTS!

Christmas Treasures; More Than Just Decorations

I know, I know.....it's not even Thanksgiving and here I  am putting Christmas decorations out. But I just couldn't wait any longer! I LOVE decorating for fall, but, even more, I LOVE decorating for Christmas.
I love fall weather, I love the leaves and the promise of the holiday season. It's such a wonderful time of year. But, all of my fall decorations are things that I've purchased. Ones that have been accumulated over the last few years. There's nothing "sentimental" in my fall decorating. And that's the thing that's missing.
I have so many sentimental Christmas decorations. They not only make my home beautiful, they make me smile, they remind me of people that I love and miss, they are a sweet memory. And that's so much more than just a decoration.
My maternal grandmother bought me the two little elves about 45 years ago. And my paternal grandmother gave me the Santa mugs around the same time. They've moved with me to every house I've ever lived in. And, after Christmas, I pack them away very carefully.
The snow globe was a gift from my mother. After I was an adult and had my own home, each year she would buy me a new Christmas decoration. This is the last one that she bought for me. The following Christmas she was very ill and it was her last Christmas with us. I've had the snow globe for 20 years.

RoxAnne's Casserole

Be sure and check out my newest YouTube video showing you how to make this super easy casserole that also freezes well!
Farm Wife Burton YouTube

Fried Okra and the Food Saver

I will be the first to admit, when my husband bought our food saver, I was skeptical. My mother had a  machine called a Seal-A-Meal (or something like that) when I was a kid. I don't remember her using it. She and my dad raised a big garden and she canned vegetables all summer long. I remember jars everywhere. I remember that her pressure cooker (which I still have, but never learned to use) had belonged to her mother. And I remember a couple of times when we sprinted out of our house because the pressure had gotten too high and she thought it was gonna blow up!! It never did.
But, I digress.....
So this food saver machine that my husband brought home is amazing. It is a fast and easy way to preserve all kinds of foods, not just vegetables. For example, when chicken breasts are on sale, I buy a large package and then re-package them individually or in packages of two. The food saver machine removes all of the air so they freeze really well.
This past summer, my aunt and uncle gave me a huge grocery sack full of fresh okra from their garden. I washed it, sliced it, and breaded it with a mixture of cornmeal, salt and pepper. I then spread it out on baking sheets and covered it with plastic wrap and let it freeze overnight. The next day, I sealed portions in food saver bags and refroze it. It's easier to get a good seal on something soft, like the breaded okra, if you freeze it overnight first. And the best part, when you're ready to fry your okra, just pull it out of the freezer, cut open the bag, and pop your frozen breaded okra into the hot oil. It tastes like it just came out of the garden!      http://www.foodsaver.com/

Update on the Piggies

If you've been following my blog, you know that a little over 6 weeks ago we had a big surprise here on the farm.....baby mini pot-belly pigs were born! We are now down to just one baby, his name is Bumpy, and he's the keeper. Oh we still have the parents, Fred and Ethel, but the other three babies are gone. We sold them to Russell Feed Store in Saginaw. www.russellfeedandsupply.com
It was a sad drive home after we left Owen, Elmer and LuLu. But I know they will be well taken care of there and they will be sold to good homes. I'm just thankful my husband let me keep one!!
We built Bumpy a special pen in the yard instead of at the barn with Fred and Ethel. He's got his own little house with a heat lamp, his own little yard, and he gets A LOT of attention.
I see a lot of Bumpy blogs in the future........