Saturday, July 17, 2010

Takin It Back to the Old School

To start off, I really wish we knew where the cord to our camera is, because I have some fab pics to share! So, uh... stay tuned!

In recent news: I MADE JAM! I got plums from my Bountiful Baskets Co-Op and I thought- I should make plum jelly like my grandma! So, I give her a call for this secret recipe and come to find out she alwasy followed the directions on the Sure-Jell box. Easy enough! I ended buying MORE plums (they're pretty cheap!) and a big ol' case of jars, and then I was ready! 4 lbs of plums is A LOT of plums but I made it work with my mish mash of cookware. You smash up the fruit boil it with some H2O, add the Sure-Jell, then ADD 8 CUPS OF SUGAR! Ahhhhh! That is a lot of sugar! After that's all said and done, you ladle the BOILING liguid into the jars. On jar numero uno, I dump the stuff all over my thumb and scream like the little girl that I am. No bueno! But I have to see this jam through to the end! So I sit with a lovely ice pack while Josh finishes the jars and seals them all nice and tight. Then we really kick it old school, or maybe poor school, because we don't have a canning rack thing, so we stick the jars in the pot and put a plate over them to hold them down. Needless to say: it worked!!

Then we run to Walgreen's to stock up on the "Please don't turn my thumb into a giant blister," stuff and wait for the jam to become jam.

And then a miracle happened! When I was going to bed my thumb burned like crazy-- so I aloe vera-ed and iced it, and when I woke up-- no pain, and then NO BLISTER or anything! YAY!!! It's a miracle and I gave a little prayer of thanks. :)

And then I actually tried the jam-- and it was fabulous! Just like my grandma's and so good that I want to have toast all the time. :) And for those of you who don't know-- plum jam is the bomb!!! This just goes to show that you don't have to be uber-goober domestic to make something fabulous. HALLELUJAH!

And on that note... I really like that new Justin Beiber song. :D