Autumn canning

  Autumn is the busiest of seasons in the kitchen. Canning and preserving are in full swing with apples to dry for my homemade muesli  and to can for apple pies and crumbles

 come winter. Tomatoes are made into Passata, tomato sauce and BBQ sauce.   Capsicums and chilli's become Capsicum relish. This spicy relish comes from a friend of mine who has been making it for years. It has become a firm family favourite.

                                                       Capsicum Relish.

  Cut up: 1 lb capsicum
               2 cooking apples
               3 or 4 hot chillies
             
Add:      2 cups sugar
              1 tsp salt
              1 cup apple cider vinegar ( any vinegar could be used)
              1/2 cup water.

Boil till tender and bottle.


I love going to my pantry and seeing all my hard work put up in jars, and knowing that I am a little closer to living a more self-sufficient life. The dream is to one day grow most of our food, and supply most of our needs for ourselves. This will probably be a long time coming, so for now I am taking baby steps. Preserving what I can, from produce either grown by me or locally.

                                                      Tomato Sauce

                                                             
                                                              BBQ Sauce

                                                            Flowers from Andrew

Every day life

God has placed me in very green pastures and  life is very good. One of my favourite verses in the bible comes from Isaiah.

            He tends his flock like a
              shepherd
            He gathers the lambs in His
              arms
            and carries them close to his
              heart
            He gently leads those that have young.

                                   Isaiah 40:11


 With as many little ones as I have, life can get very chaotic at times and I love knowing that God watches over me, I have a place in His heart.  No matter what happens God is completely trustworthy, and whether it is needing a place to live, my husband needing a job, or all the children coming down with Gastro within  days of each other, He is in control. That is not to say that I wont be exhausted or sad at times, or that tough stuff wont happen. But when it does God is there.

This morning, the kids and I walked to the park to get rid of some of the energy that seems to abound in young children.

 

     They had fun.

We then did some school work

      and they are still having fun!

And after so much work and play, of course it is time for lunch. I make a very simple bread for our daily loaf. I have tried Sour dough but I am having trouble finding a recipe that we all like. I think it is an acquired taste. 

This bread is super easy! All I do is place some water and milk in my mixer, add yeast, a little honey and a little salt. Then comes some bread flour, enough to make a sticky dough. I let the mixer knead it for me for about 5 minutes and then leave the dough to rise. After about 2 hours I split the dough in half,  pop it into tins and let it rise for another 45 minutes. Then into the oven to cook and we have lovely fresh bread for lunch. 

RUGS

 One of my latest crafts is rug making. When I was younger I tried hooked rug making but found it too slow and tedious.

 Recently I discovered a type of knotted rug that goes by the name of toothbrush rugs, or pencil rugs.  It is basically a crochet type knot that doesn't need a hook, just a pencil.  It is so easy to do, and comes together really quickly, which suits my personality beautifully.

  They look good, don't they?

  God Bless,

  Jenny

Good Things

Well the biscuit tin is full, and so is the cake tin. The house has been cleaned, and the washing is inside. Dinner is organised and the children are quiet. How I love a day where my to-do list gets accomplished :)

Home-made lip gloss

 

 Emily (4) and I made lip gloss this afternoon. She loves watching and 'helping'!
 The lipgloss is all natural,  made with beeswax, honey and sweet almond oil. It is so smooth and tastes great! Just what I need in winter, when those cold winds blow.