THE BLESSED HEARTH: old fashioned pumpkin preserves

Showing posts with label old fashioned pumpkin preserves. Show all posts

Friday, January 16, 2015

Daughter's Winter Decor and such..

Happy Weekend everyone..

Hope you have a great one..

We are supposed to have a pretty cold night here in New Brunswick and then after the weekend perhaps some rain..

I hope not..

It just makes such a mess when we have this much snow but we have no control over the weather, eh?

Just thankful to live here in the North..

We are used to snow storms, rain storms, slush and cold temps..

There are a lot of pluses, though, that is for sure..

Pure crisp air, beautiful scenery, winter sports and so much more..

It is great to love where you live and I certainly do..

Actually, I am quite a spoil sport in the fact that I do not desire to even visit elsewhere..

The love of travel just did a flyby when I was being created.. grin..

Then it landed safe and sound in our daughter..

She loves to travel as do our sons, really..

Mentioning Winter and our daughter... smile..

I am posting some pics of her Winter decor of her Foyer..

As you can see, we have two different styles..

Shonda is very creative and made these mason jar lamps..

I think you just put paint inside the bottles and swirl it around..

Then fill with fairy lights as the English call them.. smile..

Winter in Canada means a more natural decor..

Pine cones, birch bark and moss are there for the picking..

Some greenery you can use are Pine, Firs and Cedars just for a few..

Shonda is using pine..

She also made the pillow from Burlap and painted on black cloth..

The Crazy Quilt was part of the Homespun Christmas present her mama gave her.. grin..

It is mostly satins and I found it at a Thrift store..

Actually, I almost kept it but I do not need it..

Right?

This is another wall in her foyer..

Our grandsons have had their photos drawn several times as they have grown up..

Sweet young men, now..

Anyway..

Dave bought Shonda this old trunk at the Antique Flee Market many years ago..

Shonda made the chalk board and all of the snowballs you see here..

Aren't they perfect for Winter decor..

Here is the Pinterest link for making the snowballs..

Just click HERE..

A few months ago I went shopping with her to buy some new table settings, napkins, table runner and such..

It was so much fun..

Spending Dave's money.. grin..

I especially love the napkin rings..

I decided that day that I would try and make some for myself..

I was in the craft business for over 20 years and had collected a lot of old jewellery, buttons and such and figured I could do a few much cheaper then Shonda's lovely ones..

And so...

This afternoon I dug out a few napkin rings that I had picked up at the Christmas Tree Shop when we were in Bangor..

And hidden away in my craft room were a bottle of jewels..

and a basket full of old beads and such...

Along with my trusty old glue gun I made a few..

The thing is that this post is too long so you will have to come back next time to see how they turned out..

I must say that I do like them..

Friday night at our house means either go out for supper or make something we love..

Hence..

Home made Tomato Basil Sauce and Pasta..

A few of you asked last post for the Pumpkin Preserves Recipe..

Here it is..

Pumpkin Preserves resembles Marmalade but has a vastly different flavor..

Quite sweet though so I do cut the sugar back a bit..

That is up to you..

Old Fashioned Pumpkin Preserves...

5 pounds of pumpkin... peeled and cut into small pieces..

3/4 pound of root ginger..peeled and cut into small pieces..

3 lemons cut up fine.. I use the whole lemon..

5 pounds of sugar (I use 4 pounds)

Cut pumpkin into small pieces and add the sugar..

Let stand for 24 hours..

Put in a large pot along with ginger and lemon...Bring to a boil.. Simmer on top of stove until pumpkin is clear...

Take out pumpkin with a slotted spoon and let the juice simmer until quite thick..

Add pumpkin mixture and bring back to a boil..

Bottle and seal...

Thanks so much for dropping by, sweet ladies..

And a big welcome to the new followers..

Love having you..

Also, I appreciate that you have filled out the questionnaire and I will try to use it to better the blog..

Oh, thanks so much for linking onto the Face Book page of the Blessed Hearth..

You do not need to be a member of FB to read this page..

I hope to randomly add some ideas and recipes that won't be here so make sure to check it out..

There is a link at the top of my sidebar..

God bless you all..

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Another cold day....

Good Evening, my dears..

A very cold day here in Eastern Canada ..

The sun was shining, though and very beautiful with the snow and all..

Speaking of snow..

I hung my little garland of snowmen that I made out of Shonda's gift bag to me..

There is not a lot of blue here but in the back hall it looked fine and I needed something for a change..

I would like to make a couple of wee valances for the doors, too..

Soon.. smile...

I have been working at rearranging the Sun Room...

Most of my plants are in the there but I need to get them distributed about the house a bit more..

Besides which, I have been trying to grow some different from the usual ones..

If you live near me and have the plant called

A String of Pearls then I would love to have a slip..

I cannot find one anywhere..

Do you have lots of plants?..

I have lots of geraniums as I bring them in from the Summer and keep them over the Winter and then just put them out again in the Spring..

The benefit is that you save money but mostly that you have all that lovely color through all these snowy months..

I find they lift my spirits.. smile..

My sister-in-law gave me a small pumpkin before Christmas..

It was still good so yesterday I made a small batch of old fashioned pumpkin preserves...

I had saved a huge pumpkin to do these preserves but it started rotting before I had a chance to make them..

Today we had our town day.. smile..

I found this little cloth and bowls with violets on them..

Nice for Spring..

Also a book by Thomas Kincade..

Home Song..

I have not read his writing before..

Have any of you?

It sounds interesting and my friend used to collect his work..

We stopped by to visit my Mom and her husband as she is quite sick with the cold but doing a bit better..

Bless her heart..

We came home and Terry made a fire..

After it warmed up a bit I made a fish chowder for our supper..

Such a cozy evening..

Eating chowder on a tray with a mohair throw over my lap..

Just like an old lady... grin..

I did make a couple of Raisin Tea Breads, too..

Looking forward to having a slice with a nice hot cup of tea..

The breads were made with Earl Grey tea..

Should be interesting..

I am also trying to learn to do a bit of creative photo work ...

Yup...

The lights of home on a cold winter's night..

We are nice and snug in there.. smile..

This is not much of a post, I am afraid; but just wanted to keep in touch with you all..

I have put the Blessed Hearth on Face Book and need to find the time to put a button on the sidebar..

But if you are on FB please put the Blessed Hearth in the search engine and like the page..

If you don't mind, that is..

Well, good night for now, my dears and hopefully I will have something a little more interesting next time..

Keep warm and God bless...

Linked TO... A TRAY OF BLISS FOR A FRUGAL LINKY PARTY...

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Winding down with old fashioned pumpkin preserves...

Good Evening everyone..

How are you all? Here it is Saturday night already.. It has been a lovely few days and just right for wrapping up our open house and the closing of our wee shop for another year....

Can you believe it? It seems as though we had just arrived here for the Summer and now we are going home...

Tomorrow we go to the Fundy Trail for Art in the Park day where we sit up a booth while they have live music and such.. A lovely way to finish up our time here..

The open house turned out lovely and was as successful as last year if not a bit better.. Thank you, Lord..

We had so many sweet friends come and had some wonderful chats..

I will certainly miss many of them when I am back at home but my it is so good to be going home this year...

Am I just getting older???? Naahh... smile...

Anyway, this was a big hit at my open house ...

We had pickles and jams that folks could try along with some hot cider and our daughter-in-law's famous ginger cookies...

One of the things that went over very well was this old fashioned recipe for Preserved Pumpkin...

So many folks said their Moms used to make this...

I thought you might like the recipe..

It is a lot of work, though.. Just to let you know..

Although, if you like it then it is worth it... It is one of my Mom's favorites and is my Aunt Mary's recipe.... She was one of the dearest people you could ever meet ... As is her preserve recipe..

Here it is...