Friday, September 24, 2010

 What to do with 10 lbs of prune plums my Dad brought from B.C.?
I searched the web and found a recipe for  plum sauce and plum crisp
Doubled the recipe for both and made a few alterations.


Plum Sauce bubbling away.

Pureed and reducing

Processed and ready for the cold room.

Oh, I charred some Anaheim Peppers to freeze and use for dinner (green chili pork burgers) too.

Crumble and plum/apple mixture.

Ready for the oven.

Baked and cooling for the deep freeze.


 Plum Sauce
1 lb prune plums halved and pitted
1 lb apricots, halved and pitted (I used 1/6 lb dried and reconstituted)
2 c cider vinegar
3/4 c water
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1 c brown sugar
1 c white sugar
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c peeled and chopped ginger
1 small onion, chopped
1 hot chili, seeded and chopped or to taste.
2 garlic cloves, chopped
4 tsp coarse salt
1 tbsp toasted mustard seed
1 cinnamon stick

Combine all in large pot and simmer 1 hour. Remove cinnamon stick. Blend in small batches when cooled slightly. Be careful with a blender, and put a towel on top of the cover while holding it down. 
Return to large pot and cook it down until desired thickness. 
Pour into canning jars, tighten covers and process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. (the recipe said to just cap, but I like to process in a water bath.)
Wait 2 weeks before using. 
I got 10 cups with a double recipe.

Prune Plum Crisp
1 1/4 c flour
1/3 c ground walnuts
1/3 c unsweetened coconut (optional, my addition because my husband loves it)
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 c packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 c butter, melted
2 1/4 lb prune plums, pitted and quartered (6 cups) (I substituted some apples I had for a cup or so).

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, walnuts, 1/4 c white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and cardamom. Slowly ad the butter and combine with a fork until the mixture is crumbly. 

In another large bowl, combine the plums and the remaining 1/4 c white sugar, toss well.  Spoon into a buttered 2-quart or shallow casserole dish. (I used 4 - 8X5 inch foil pans) Sprinkle crumbs on top, breaking up any large lumps.

Bake until the fruit is bubbling and the topping browned, 50 to 55 minutes. 

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Empty pond after moving the fish.




Saved most of the the pond plants.I have had luck propagating and saving the Cyprus over the winter   

Fish in their winter home. Not fancy but works.


Hungry after the move, these two are about a foot long.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Found a brief bit of sunshine to pose my flower this week.

We moved our pond fish into their winter home in the basement yesterday. Trying to get ready for our annual trip to the Okanagan  Valley next week.

Last year we had warm weather when we left but it got so cold the pond froze and we thought we had lost all our fish. Miraculously most of them survived, despite showing no signs of life. Better safe than sorry this year.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

One Flower Wednesdays

Only one flower again this week.
There has not been a killing frost yet, but looks like it is coming soon.
I might be able to find room inside to put some of my flower pots. I hate to see the end of summer.

Wednesday, September 08, 2010

One flower this week.

More rain today, so off to Calgary to get our passport pictures and passports renewed.

Time to think of warm locations for a winter vacation.

I might not get to the other One Flower Wednesdays blogs until tomorrow, but I am looking forward to seeing  all the beautiful flowers you have made.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010


Violet and her Mom & Dad came for a visit Saturday.

She modeled her new skirt.
                                         

  I joined the 1 Million Pillowcase Challenge. So far I have made 27 and will try and deliver them to the local fabric shop called Cotton and Candy Quilt Shop.
    I found this a great way to use up some of my stash and they will be going to good homes.

Friday, September 03, 2010

                                                                                                        

I decided on this combination of colours. I cut off the top of an old pair of blue jeans and sewed on cotton strips. Next time I will try a softer fabric that will drape better. 
Haven't tried it on my Granddaughter so see what it will look like, maybe this weekend.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

I picked up these pretty new cotton fabrics at a garage the other weekend. My 8 pieces cost $4.00. I haven't measured them but the seller said $1.00 a yard so I guess there are 4 yards total.
Now I want to make a skirt for my Granddaughter Violet.
I missed most of the excitement yesterday. When I got home they were loading this tire onto a trailer. My son was home and took these pictures.

The truck driver came over to ask if there was a gate he could close so the cows wouldn't get out.

He said he looked in his mirror and saw his rear tire rolling along the road on fire. He grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran down the road after it.  It had to cross an intersection before going through our fence into the pasture.

Good thing there was no one else on the road. It sure would have been interesting to see though.

One Flower Wednesday, Sept 1

A cheery yellow flower to match my clematis this week. I like the shadow. I think this species of clematis is classified as a weed in our county, but it doesn't seem to be invasive in my yard. I can think of areas I wish it would spread too.

I am looking at my garden differently now. When I am outside I am thinking of what fabric I have that I can sew another flower with to pose with the real one.

Too bad our gardening season is almost over. I think I'll go and take more pictures to give me inspiration over the winter.