Just finished making three pints of lemon marmalade. Middle grandson
came by yesterday with a bag full of Bears lemons, well ripened, he got
them from his Dad, who has just started gardening of any kind at age 56.

Anyway, I adapted a recipe for blood orange marmalade and then doubled
it. Didn't use pectin as the lemons had plenty already, just did it the
old fashioned way, held it at a simmer until the thermometer hit 220F
and then jarred the stuff. Remnants in the pot tasted very good as
determined by Miz Anne and myself, Tilly Dawg didn't like it though.

Got about three lbs of lemon left so may make a triple recipe tomorrow
after I've rested. Seems the older I get the less able I am to heave
large pots full of water and jars around. May have to call in a
contractor to put in a canning faucet behind the stove. Should be
relatively easy as the sink is only about four feet away. Maybe a hose
would work better without the extra cost, might have to try that one first.

New Year's dinner is underway, steamed cabbage, black eyed peas, and
pork loin. For dessert we will have some of the pear mincemeat cookies I
made yesterday. That last jar had an expiration date of today as it was
made in 2011. Grands brought back so many empty jars over the holiday
that I'm going to have to scrounge a few more boxes. Not that I'm
complaining. They even washed and dried the jars and brought back the
rings. Granpa has a rule and that includes bringing back jars and rings.
Once deer season is over I will start working with middle grandson on
some home preserving skills. He's into gardening and saving his own food
and has a vacuum machine so it should be easy. I've been teaching him
carpentry and electrical skills here lately and he takes to it easily.
He should be okay at it as he is an elevator mechanic and they have to
do all the craft skills.

We hope you all had a Happy New Year and that your gardens flourish and
your preserving skills stay with you.

George, Miz Anne, and Tilly Dawg

George Shirley wrote:
....
> Once deer season is over I will start working with middle grandson on
> some home preserving skills. He's into gardening and saving his own food
> and has a vacuum machine so it should be easy. I've been teaching him
> carpentry and electrical skills here lately and he takes to it easily.
> He should be okay at it as he is an elevator mechanic and they have to
> do all the craft skills.

some people are handy and can do about anything.
others i wouldn't trust with a dull spoon in a
sandbox.


> We hope you all had a Happy New Year and that your gardens flourish and
> your preserving skills stay with you.

right now it is very simple times. keeping warm,
sleeping as much as possible and not much else until
this cold goes away.


> George, Miz Anne, and Tilly Dawg


songbird

On 1/8/2015 10:40 AM, songbird wrote:
> George Shirley wrote:
> ...
>> Once deer season is over I will start working with middle grandson on
>> some home preserving skills. He's into gardening and saving his own food
>> and has a vacuum machine so it should be easy. I've been teaching him
>> carpentry and electrical skills here lately and he takes to it easily.
>> He should be okay at it as he is an elevator mechanic and they have to
>> do all the craft skills.
>
> some people are handy and can do about anything.
> others i wouldn't trust with a dull spoon in a
> sandbox.
>
>
>> We hope you all had a Happy New Year and that your gardens flourish and
>> your preserving skills stay with you.
>
> right now it is very simple times. keeping warm,
> sleeping as much as possible and not much else until
> this cold goes away.
>
>
>> George, Miz Anne, and Tilly Dawg
>
>
> songbird
>
Got up to 32F this morning, supposed to be at 29F, didn't happen. Not
unusual for certain neighborhoods to be warmer/cooler than others
nearby. Not happy with 32, keep telling wife we should have bought land
in Belize back in eighties when land there was cheap, she's sort of
agreeing a bit now. <G>