Homemade with Love...

Hello there everyone.. 

How did your weekend go? 

Hope you all had a great one.. 

For tonight I thought I would share some pics from around the shop and here at the cottage for the last few days.. 

Saturday morning Terry and I did up the dill you see here..

Litres of garlic dill and pints of garlic dill slices.. 

The slices have become one of our favorites as we put them on our sandwiches.. 

We do eat sandwiches this time of year because we love the fresh 

tomatoes so... 

Anyway, that is only a part of the dill we need to do.. 

There are also the sweet dill which are the favorite of our customers.. 

We can't get anymore wee cukes until Friday so Saturday morning will no doubt see another round of dill pickling.. smile.. 

Then at the shop on Saturday afternoon I made some tags to sell..

Made with old book pages and paper scraps... 

To and From  are written on the back and sold in sets of 3 ....

And a little homemade treat sent down to me from my Mom with Terry..

Her famous Date Squares.. 

So fantastic with a hot cup of tea.. 

Can you tell that I probably am not on a diet at the moment?... grin...

This morning we did up  a dozen bottles of mustard pickles..

The recipe for my Hot Mustard Pickles is HERE...

And I love how my Tart Bottles turned out.. 

Shonda had given me a case of old pickle bottles.. 

I needed something to display the homemade wax tarts that I made and came up with these.. 

The covers I had picked up on the trip to Pa. and the labels are made out of some Kraft tape and a marker.. 

And then today I also made the best jam I have ever ate.. smile.. 

Crock pot Maple Apple Jam...

Fill your crock pot with peeled apples cut into chunks.. 

About 5 or 6 pounds.. 

In a bowl mix 5 - 6 cups of sugar, 1 cup of real maple syrup, 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/4 tsp. of cloves, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg and a 1/2 tsp. of salt.. 

Mix up well and pour over your apples and mix some with a wooden spoon.. 

Turn on high and  cook for an hour then turn on low and cook overnight... 

In the morning mash with your potato masher .. 

Turn it on high again and once it is really hot then put into sterilized jars (1/2 pints) and seal.. 

This is a large recipe and makes 11 pints... 

Today was a busy day but Terry peeled these ones for me and I cut them into spears... 

They are in a salt water mixture until morning and then they will be Ginger Spice Spears.. 

My own secret recipe.. grin...

I will show them to you later when they are finished.. 

We are so enjoying the homemade Chive Blossom Vinegar that I made in the Spring.. 

So pretty, eh?  

And last but not least is a new recipe that I am trying.. 

Well, really  it is a very old recipe that I found in a book.. 

I can remember these from when I was a kid... 

A very long time ago... grin...

They were called Grandma's Sour Pickles..

Fill a gallon bottle or crock with small to medium size cucumbers.. 

Then in a bowl mix up 1/2 gallon of vinegar.. 

Whisk in 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of dry mustard.. 

Let it sit for a month in a cool dry place.. 

I think these are like those Deli pickles you see sometimes.. 

I hope so anyway.. 

The recipe I found said to mix a gallon of vinegar and 1 cup of salt and 1 cup of mustard...

Which I did and only needed a half of it.. 

When I get some more small cukes I plan on making  another gallon.. 

I have a feeling we will love them.. 

I also looked this recipe up on the web and found recipes where they added a cup of sugar so in the next bottle I will add a half of a cup of sugar and see which are the best.. 

Right?  

Well... this is my post for this Monday night.. 

So glad  you all dropped by and I am still replying to  your comments.. smile...

Here's hoping you all come back now.. grin.. 

Love to you all...