Canning classes in CT

I love the website Food in Jars.  It's a great canning blog and her other recipes are fantastic as well.  She is having two canning classes in CT that I won't be able to attend, but I wanted to let people know about the classes.  Here's the info:

June 30: Spiced nectarine jam and dilly beans at the Greenwich Historical Society’s Vanderbilt Education Center in Greenwich, CT. 1 – 4 pm. Click here to register.
July 1: Rhubarb chutney canning class at the Coventry Regional Farmers’ Market in Coventry, CT. 2 – 4 pm. Click here to register.

Check them out! 

The last month

The month of March has been busy!  I'm directing the musical at my middle school, so although I've been crafting, canning and cooking, I've had no time to blog.  So here's an quick look into what I've been doing. 


First of all, I've been enjoying needle felting!  And I made these cute Pac Man ghosts:

I also made Mint Jelly for the Easter Lamb!  Mr. Pie Plate decided to add some green food coloring, so it's a very pretty emerald color!



I also made some lavender sachets from leftover quilting scraps for my aunt's birthday.  I used rice and lavender essential oil and just sewed it all up.  They are not perfect, but they smell wonderful and they are pretty cute!

Now I'm on to Easter Baking!  Enjoy your holiday!

My Experimental Apple Pie

Last night we went to dinner with good friends, the Oaks!  They are wonderful and they have two of the cutest kids around!  For Lent, Mrs. Oak has given up processed sugar and I am bringing an apple pie.  An apple pie without sugar?  Challenge accepted!  I am using The Farm Chicks baked pie shell   It's a very flaky recipe, you should try it!
Ingredients:
One baked pie shell
9 small to medium apples (I used Gala and McIntosh because that's what I had)
3 Tablespoons honey
1/4 Teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice (I usually use 2 teaspoons cinnamon, but we were out...) 
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 tablespoon butter

1. Make the baked pie shell and place the dough in the fridge for one hour.

2. Roll out the dough, place in a pie plate and cook on 250 for 25 minutes.  I use a bake in pie lifter that is the best, but I can't find it anywhere.  Here is one that is similar. 

While the dough is cooking:
3. Slice the apples and combine in a bowl with 1 teaspoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and 1/4 teaspoon cloves.
4. Make the oat topping by combining 2 teaspoons honey, the remaining allspice, the oats and 1 tablespoon butter in a bowl.  I use a fork, but clean fingers work as well. 
5. Take the pie shell out and fill with apples.  Use your fingers to sprinkle the oat topping on top of the pie.  bake at 350 for 40 minutes, longer if you want darker crust or more tender apples. 
7. Enjoy your wonderful pie!

The pie turned out to be very delicious and my husband told me I should make all of my apple pies like this one...  Overall, it was a huge success! 

Pumpkin Granola

I love all things pumpkin!  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes... The list goes on and on!  I also like making granola because you really can't go wrong when experimenting.  I stumbled across a recipe for Pumpkin Granola here.  I did make several changes because of what I had in the kitchen. 

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons pear butter (that I canned, you could substitute apple sauce)

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

 2 tablespoons golden raisins (I ran out of cranberries...)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 275.  I use a Demarle non stick baking mat to bake my granola.  It is really awesome!  If you don't have something like this, you could spray the baking sheet with cooking spray, but I prefer parchment paper because it cuts down on the oil. 

Mix the first seven ( dry ) ingredients together in a mixing bowl. 

Mix the wet ingredients together in a smaller mixing bowl. 

When they are combined, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined.  *Do not add the fruit yet!  It will burn! 

Spread the granola out on the baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  The granola will continue to harden when it is removed from the oven, so don't over cook it. 

Let the granola cool for 10 mintues then combine with the fruit in a large mixing bowl.  It is delicous and pretty healthy!   Enjoy!

Heartfelt Crafts

I'm not really one for Valentine's Day. I think it's an over commercialized holiday, but I also love my husband and I really enjoy wearing festive colors. So for February 14, 2012 I made a few crafts, which is something I really love! The first thing I made is a gift bag for husband's candy. It was my first attempt at sewing felt. I think I need some practice, but it wasn't a bad start. I also made myself a felt rose pin. It was super fun and I like it a lot! A tutorial will be coming your way very soon! Happy Valentine's Day!

A Yarn Letter for Charlotte

Right before Christmas, my husband's cousin Heather had her first baby Charlotte!  Charlotte was born about a month early so the craft project I wanted to make her was not yet started, but everything was ready!
I bought a cardboard letter from Joann's:

I also used felt and pretty pink yarn that I had in my craft arsenal. 

I hot glued the yarn to the back of the letter and then wrapped the yarn around the letter over and over and over!  The curves in the C made some of the yarn more challenging, but I just wrapped in a x pattern around the curves and it worked out perfectly. 

I then made four felt flowers in different colors and hot glued them to the bottom of the "C" and attached a turquoise ribon that matched one of the flowers.  I love it and I can't wait to give it to Heather, Sean and Charolotte! 

Theresa's Baby

My friend Theresa and her husband are welcoming another baby girl to their family! Baby girl 3 is the first daughter to be born in the winter, so naturally I knew she needed a knitted hat! I used a double strand (one pink, one white) from my odds and ends yarn collection. I also added a braid to the top of the hat by using a tapestry needle to weave it into the point and I love it! A lot!