A New Toy

 It was recently my birthday, and although I am now a proud carrier of a medicare card, I didn't really call much attention to it.  My father was upset with me because he wanted me to have a big party.  He even offered to pay for it, but not all of my children were available at the same time, and I felt funny throwing myself a party, so I just let it pass quietly.

I did buy myself a present, though!  I have been watching facebook marketplace and the local virtual garage sales for an Instant Pot.  I didn't know how much I would use it, so I didn't really want to spend a lot.  I knew I wanted to try and make quark in it, so I could make German Cheesecake, but other than that I didn't know what I would use it for.

A few weeks ago, one was available right in the neighborhood, half the price of a new one, and hardly used at all, so I jumped on it.  It didn't come with a manual, but the good folks at the Instant Pot Company sent me a new one, free of charge.  Great customer service.

I brought it home at looked at it for a few weeks, while I researched the "how tos" etc.  I hard boiled 4 eggs and made egg salad.  I must admit, they peeled very easily.  A week later I made 4 more hard boiled eggs.  This thing is too big to sit on the counter and only use it for hard boiled eggs!

I researched recipes.  I have an entire file of them now.....but they don't magically cook themselves.  So today I bit the bullet and made shells and cheese.  I should tell you that the oven in the kitchen doesn't work, we want to remodel the kitchen and get new appliances, but that hasn't yet begun.  The mac and cheese recipe that I like to make is made in the oven and needs to be stirred every 15 minutes while it bakes.  I have an oven in the basement but didn't want to run up and down the stairs a number of times, so I thought this might be the time to try out the Instant Pot.

Dad liked it.  I need to try it again with different cheese, but otherwise it came out great and saved my knees!

More New Jam Flavors

This week's Jam session yielded Cranberry Jam and Red Grapefruit Marmalade.  Both of them are tart, and yummy.  My Dad, my #1 taste tester liked them both and he is a bit hard to please.

Cucumbers

I have been asked to share the recipe, so here it is:

Refrigerator Cucumber Salad

15 minutes to prepare serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS

·         5 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

·         1 large red onion, thinly sliced

·         2 large bell pepper, thinly sliced (sometimes I use 3, depending on the size)

·         1 1/2  cups sugar

·         1 1/2 cups white vinegar

·         1 tablespoon salt

·         1 teaspoon mustard seeds

·         1 teaspoon celery seeds

·         1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

PREPARATION

1.    In a medium bowl or a half gallon mason jar, toss together cucumbers, onions, peppers, and salt and set aside.

2.    Combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, and pepper flakes in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, remove from heat and add 2 handfuls of ice.

3.    Once ice has melted, pour vinegar mixture over cucumbers. Cover and store in refrigerator. Will keep for 2 months.

Lots and Lots of Jam

 Hello blogging buddies!  I haven't been getting as much stitching done because I have been jammin' a lot this summer.  So far I have made 368 jars of jam and 10 jars of salsa....and I am not done yet!

Thanks to my daughter-in-law's sister, Christy Schubkegel, for helping me with the labels.  They look so pretty! 

I am hoping to sell some of the jam with a portion of the proceeds going to German School.

Sunday Brunch

Sunday brunch at Casa Rill with my brother and his family and one of my sons and his family.   First on the brunch menu are Cream Cheese Lemonaide Blackberry filled crepes.  They were yummy!

 Also on the menu was a large German Apple Pancake, not much left.

 For those who wanted something plainer, Palachinka (Hungarian style crepes) just like my Oma used to make.  Only two left from a very big stack.

And for the kids (and big kids) chocolate chip waffles. 



Most of the food has been consumed, the dishwasher is running and I am going to take a nap.

Now that the Jars are here.....

...I made more jam!  I made a batch of plain peach, because it has always been my favorite.  Then I made two batches of apricot.  I forgot how much I like apricot jam, and the homemade is sooooo much better than store bought!  It is my new favorite.  (Okay, every time I make a new jam, it becomes my new favorite..)  I still want to make watermelon jam, and then I need to figure out what variety of plum is best for plum jam.....

A Jam Session Dilema

At the beginning of the weekend, I realized that I have used up all the fresh fruit that I had in the house, but I still had empty jars.....so .....I went out and bought more fruit and got busy making more jam.  I made a bunch of Cherry Vanilla, some plain Strawberry and some Blueberry Lemon.   I still have more fruit, but now I ran out of jars!  I ordered some more (they are on sale on the Ball site, sale ends today, and I got free shipping).  Jars should be here tomorrow.

I also ran out of labels.  I could have picked up some more, but I wanted some prettier labels.  I found the right size and shape and ordered them from Wal-Mart on line, and will be picking the up today.  A friend is helping me design some pretty labels so my jars of jam will be very well dressed soon!

Another Jam Session

More Jam......Lots of Christmas Jam (Strawberry and Cranberry) and some Orange Marmalade.  I still want to make some Watermelon Jam and want to try Pepper Jam, too!

Jammin' Again on Thursday

Thursday's Jam session yielded 6 jars of plain Peach (I know, boring, but I like peach!) 8 jars of Fresh Peach Amaretto, and 13 jars of Raspberry Nectarine with Drambuie and Cointreau. 

Wednesday's Jam Session

Wednesday's Jam session yielded more Strawberry Rhubarb and some plain strawberry.  Boring, I know, but some people prefer it!

A Short Jam Session this Past Weekend

This past weekend, I made Nectarine Mango Jam and Raspberry Nectarine with Drambuie and Cointreau.  They both turned out yummy.  I didn't think I would like the Nectarine Mango, but it is really good.  The Raspberry Nectarine is even better with the booze in it!

And More Jam....

Today's Jam session yielded 14 jars of Tripleberry Jam (Strawberry, Raspberry and Blackberry) and 19 jars of Strawberry Margarita Jam.  I must add that the Strawberry Margarita is my new favorite!

Another Jam Session

This time I made 6 jars of Blackberry, 6 jars of Strawberry Rhubarb, and 8 jars of Strawberry Lemon.

It's Time to Jam Again!

Spent Friday afternoon making jam, the yield was 6 jars of raspberry jam and 11 jars of salted cantaloupe jam.  I had made some raspberry and tart cherry a little while ago, so that makes 30 jars so far this year.  I am not looking to repeat or exceed last year's 237 jars......

Today's project

By special request, Orange Marmalade!

Something New from My Kitchen

My favorite appetizer or snack at a German Restaurant is Obatzda, a Bavarian Cheese Spread usually served with Bavarian Pretzels. 

The creator of the original obatzda recipe was Katharina Eisenreich, the innkeeper of the Bräustüberl Weihenstephan from 1920 -1958. She served it to her guests as a light snack to accompany their morning beer and soon the idea spread, with many beer gardens creating their own special recipes.

I have been wanting to try and make my own for a long time, and I finally did it!  And I like it!  I will be serving it to my taste testers soon, I hope they like it too!  I will have to work on my Pretzels, this one is from Marianno's.