I love Lucy!

NI 066 b

NI 066 b
Originally uploaded by mmaammbr

NI 066 a

NI 066 a
Originally uploaded by mmaammbr

Maters!!!!

Tomorrow or Friday depending on when these ripen up I will can some salsa!  These are from the last 4 days and we have been eating at least 2 a day for lunch! 

Last week I made 13 half-pints of spicy tomato jam...it tastes like spicy ketchup that's spreadable and I made mine really hot.  It IS so good....

I hope spaghetti sauce is next week!

I LOVE TOMATOES!!!!!!

I can't fudge.

When I was a kid my dad got off work at 3pm and he would be home when my brother and I got home from school.  At least once a week, he would make his special fudge for us before Mom got home. He was a chocoholic like me. He called his fudge 'spoon fudge' because you had to eat it with a spoon...he didn't use the candy thermometer or the soft-ball method...he let it boil for 5 minutes and then added butter and vanilla, let it cool and poured it into a pyrex and refridgerated it...then we would get spoons of it and go outside!

  My favorite kind is a little grainy and crunchy...but I have been trying for 3 weeks to make it grainy or regular.
I. CAN. NOT.   It's driving me crazy....so I am going to make some more ...already tried this morning and it did not work...sigh.

Any suggestions?  I don't have a candy thermometer, it's on my gift list for when the family needs ideas because I can't find one when I am out.  and I apparently don't do the soft-ball stage right either...HELP ME.


WOO HOO!!!   I have finally made perfect fudge!  I can make it my way (crunchy-ish, and everybody else's way (smooth and velvety).  The KEY for me was a candy thermometer.  I am so happy, I made some last night at 10:30!  Only other advice besides the candy thermometer is 'don't make it if it's going to rain or is raining'.  Here's the original old-fashioned recipe.


Hershey's Old Fashioned Rich Chocolate Fudge

• 3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup cocoa
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Line 8 or 9 inch square pan with foil; butter foil.
2. In large heavy saucepan stir together first three ingredients; stir in milk, with a wooden spoon*.
3. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a full rolling boil.
4. Boil without stirring, to 234 degrees F on a candy thermometer (or until syrup, when dropped in very cold water forms a soft ball which flattens when removed from water). Bulb of candy thermometer should not rest on bottom of pan. (This can take 20-30 minutes).
5. Remove from heat. Add butter & vanilla.
6. DO NOT STIR! Cool at room temperature to 110 degrees F (lukewarm). (This can take 2 to 2-1/2 hours).
7. Beat with wooden spoon until fudge thickens & loses some of its gloss. (This can take 15-20 minutes. It really works best if you have someone to 'tag-team' with.) It starts to look more like frosting than a thick syrup when it is ready.
8. Quickly spread into prepared pan; cool.
9. Cut into squares.
10. Store wrapped loosely in foil in the refrigerator.
11. *it is very important not to use a wire whisk or the fudge will not set up. Also just stir gently, even though the cocoa will stay floating on top, it will mix in as the mixture heats up.

Sometimes I wouldn't let this cool and I would pour it straight into the pan and pop into fridge....LOVE!

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/hersheys-old-fashioned-rich-cocoa-fudge-4573#ixzz1Uocdra8G

Certifiable.....

With all of Zach's sicknesses that caused so many absences this year, he chose not to graduate and to go and make up his classes in the fall...so, on the one hand, yay, my last baby boy will stay home with me for a little longer and on the other hand, "what is wrong with YOU?" (keeps going through my head!).  He is a very confident and different child and I really am learning 'following the beat of your own drummer'....love the kiddo though and he will be fine on his terms.

Patrick has been home from Afghanistan for a few months now and he's having so much fun with his daughters and wifey....and the bunnies have been busy...WE ARE PREGGO AGAIN....maybe we will get a boy (I already dreamed it was so...so there)!

Jamey and Mike are also doing their own thing and being uber independent.  I miss little boys...but they have to grow up and away.

Lucy is the action in the house...such a toddler dog...gets into everything and spoiled rotten and she makes Kim smile a lot....love that dog!!!

I have loads of projects started, as usual...and finding the space and time is getting harder...I thought I was supposed to have more time in this part of life...HA!

God is answering prayer!

PATRICK is OUT of Afghanistan and on his way to the US!!!!!!  WOO-HOO!!!!!

SNOW DAY!

When Lucy and I get tired of playing in the snow...I will post crafty stuff.

Our new puppy!

She's 4 months old and we named her Lucy Fur. (hehe)