in my farmers market booth

Homemade Jams: lessons I've learned

A few weeks ago strawberries started appearing on our shelves here in Nashvegas grocery stores. Publix was first with the Florida strawberries, and then the California ones started coming in. Of course, later this summer, fellow Franklin Farmers Market vendors will bring theirs to market, and they will blow the others away, but one must take what is available at this time of year.

At one point, strawberries were a mere $5 for four pounds. Cash has been really strapped at our home due to extended unemployment, but we really wanted to say thank you to friends and family nonetheless, and offer the wonderful flavor of homemade jam to those around us as gifts.

So I started scrounging around the house, and found that I had more jelly jars than I had originally thought. Being a chandler, this wasn't entirely surprising, as I have used them off and on for products. I also had an extremely inexpensive source for pint jars because of some connections I have for my business.

All of this led to strawberry jam creation. I must say, it is easier than I thought, and so darn yummy. Just thinking about it makes me want to go to the kitchen and grab some out of the fridge. But I have a post to write, so that will have to wait for tomorrow morning.

All you really need are jars, lids and bands, fruit pectin (available at many grocery stores), and good quality fruit--fresh or frozen will work.

Here are some quick lessons learned:

1. Jam making is NOT an art. It is a SCIENCE. That is to say, it is like a bread recipe in many respects: read the recipe through, measure carefully, and don't do any creative tweaks unless you are willing to deal with something that may or may not turn into jam (there ARE solutions if it doesn't come out the first time).

2. Use fresh pectin. Go to a store where you are reasonably certain that it turns over quickly. Check sell-by dates if they are available.

3. Use the recipe as written. Follow the steps. Read them all through ahead of time, because once you get started you will be busy for a little while (it really doesn't take very long). Do not change the steps. The more you do them, the easier they will be. You will find plenty of recipes to get started inside the pectin package itself, or by surfing over to the Sure Jell site.

4. You can boiling water can jams and no pressure cooker is needed. That was a big one for me. Or you can make jams that you store in your freezer (the fastest and easiest, but I prefer shelf-stable jams).

5. Make nifty labels on your computer and include all the ingredients. That way giftees won't have to worry about any allergies or etc.

6. Be sure to sanitize your jars. My dishwasher has a sanitize cycle which I use shortly before I make jam.

7. Keep the jars warm. Differences in temperature can cause glass to break, and where's the fun in making jam only to lose it in a broken jar? Keeping the jars in hot water until used is a good way to do this.

8. Different sweeteners need different pectins. If you want to make no sugar added spreads, or spreads with splenda or etc., you will need different pectin. When you look on the store shelf, you will find this type clearly marked.

9. Different sweeteners will change the appearance of the jams. If the bright jewel colors of jam are important to you, white sugar is the best way to get this. A yummy batch with demerara cane sugar, for example, is more robustly colored (and just downright delicious, too!). Jams with splenda will look entirely different when finished than a sugar-based jam. (They're pretty good tasting, too!)

10. A canning funnel makes life tons easier. They were selling for a measly fifty cents at my local K-Roger, so it's not exactly a budget-buster.

11. If you plan to can in boiling water, you will need a container that holds enough water to get an inch to an inch and a half of water over the top of the jar.

12. Did I say read the directions thoroughly? They are not that challenging once you read them through.

13. A dab of butter will really cut down on bubbles/foaming.

14. Just because you are able to can things does NOT mean you can sell them. In our state (and hopefully in all the other ones!) there are domestic kitchen requirements that must be met. Our state agriculture department regularly runs domestic kitchen classes to review all the regulations, and you will have to meet regular inspections. This isn't an issue for me, because I don't sell mine, but I include it here for the significant number of folks who sometimes read my blog that are interested in agriculture and selling at farmers' markets.

Anyway, if you are a neophyte like I was, I hope this is helpful! I'll post some pics as well.

If you are a female fan of the University of Tennessee

Then leave me a message here. I have leftover fabric from the apron I made for the Gardener and I will send you your very own UT hairband. This type of fabric is licensed and as such is verboten to sell, but I will enjoy sending you a hairband for free if you want. Don't post your address in the response, just make sure I know how to contact you directly via email and I'll send you your very own hairband!

Obviously, this offer is good only until I run out of fabric. If there is a run on these things, I'll take the earliest requesters.

Enjoy.

Garish, thy name is apron. ;-)

The Gardener and The Gardener's Wife have been very gracious to me. They have supplied me with a large quantity of fabric and such, that I will put to good use. I have already had fun blessing Bunny Mama's mom, Bee Haven Maven, and Smoothiejuice with some of the loot.

For example, they gave me this wad of trims and lacy stuff that will work well on my vintage type aprons I sell at market.

The Gardener's Wife gave me a length of Tennessee Vols fabric and said, "could you make an apron for The Gardener?" Being The Gardener has a shrine to the Volunteers in his basement, including a framed piece of turf from Neyland Stadium and a large framed Phil Fulmer poster, it seemed appropriate.

Did I mention I think the color orange is eeeeeeeeew?

I thought about putting it on a denim background, but I had a length of orange mini-camo. Upon sharing the situation with hubs, he gave me his advice. "Go all out; go with the orange. A true fan would rather have it go over the top."

Hokay, I did just that. See for yourself. ;-)

Of course, miss Mandy wanted to be in the craft action shot. As usual.

Enter here.

Hand dyeing of cotton yarn...

I've been wanting to do this with some items I have already finished in cream/ecru Sugar N Cream or Peaches N Creme-type cotton yarn. Lo and behold, I found this tutorial at yarngear that looks to have all the elements I'm looking for. If I can get these done this week, I'll have a bunch of new items to sell at market.

Craigslist came through for me.

Here is my new old sewing machine. I'm partial to the old machines made in Japan. They are all metal, have no computers to go bad, but yet have lots of groovy stitches. The person I bought this from (for a song--$40!!!) thought it was too complicated and couldn't figure out how to run it. Hmmm...

Well, this machine is almost identical to my other one, including lots of pattern stitch cams. Also has lots of feet including a bunch of hemmer feet. Since my machines are late 70's and early 80's vintage Kenmores, they have a special "super high" shank and it is hard to get feet that truly work. Yes, you can get attachments from ebay, but they don't fit nearly as well. So I figure just the great army of feet included was worth the money just by itself. Of course, I wished it had a walking foot and a ruffler, but alas, that is too greedy of me.

As much sewing as I do, my online sewing friends were aghast that I didn't have more than one machine. Well, it never dawned on me. At this amazing price, it was well worth it. Did I mention that it was a mere four miles away? I just drove over and got it (hey, it's craigslist, so I was sure to have hubs along just in case).

After a few quick adjustments to the feed dogs and a quick rundown on the bobbin protocol (unlike my other machine but somewhat like the machine of my childhood years) I'm up and running. So far, it purrs like a kitten. I've gotten a fair amount of product done already.

So I'm a happy camper. It's probably not a coincidence that I found it, and I should give a quick shoutout to God and give myself a little credit for looking doggedly for an option that would be good.

It came with a bunch of sewing stuff, some of which I'm going to part with in an upcoming Mary Jane's Farm giveaway. So stay tuned, seamstressmeisters....

I feel naked without it.

My sewing machine is in the shop. It's an oldie so I am hopeful that they can even find parts for it. (It's older than our marriage--1982 vintage.)

It's my worry stone, my therapy, my "calm down" thing to do.

Guess I'll have to do something else. Well, walking does seem to help. I need all the (good for me) stress relief I can get.

But it doesn't help me make things to make money. Oh, well. There are other things to do, piling up, it would seem. Having a hard time keeping caught up, but I feel it will get better. It's going to have to.

Market

We had a very good market this last weekend. Hats off to our new market manager who has got it goin' on, if you know what I mean. I think we all pretty much were busy. I'm very grateful.

I need to get a ton of product made not only for market, but for some other orders. Chop chop, nashbabe, keep workin'...gives me something to do instead of thinking about kiddo's situation. That's not all bad.

Somehow, this is just my style...

Earlier on this here blog I told you pardners that I had signed up for a western mini apron swap. Well, hubs didn't call a shrink and I'm not in a psych facility, so now that I'm mostly not sick I finally finished the crazy things. If you know me, these won't strike you as out of character. *L*

And of course, dear little feline Mandy was nowhere to be seen until it was apparent that one of her slaves was going to take some photos. Mr. De Mille, I'm ready for my closeup...*L*

Another crocheted rug

This is a variation on the bath rug I previously made. I used the same technique as described there, but with an acrylic/wool blend gifted to me by a fab chickadee. It was perfect to do during this last week when I was a sickly girlie. This one's going in the downstairs bath so I can get rid of a truly threadbare rug in another part of my house.

The two color thing just kind of came together, partially because I didn't have enough cream, and partially because that bath is basically cream colors and black.

The dimensions on this rug are around 24"x36". To make this rug, I used a double strand of the yarn. As a result I needed tons of yarn. I'm guessing it was around 2800 yards. Can't believe it took that much, but it did!

Oh! One more thing!

Silly me, I thought Bev had mistakenly left a pin in the lovely craft/sewing case she sent me. Au contraire. It held this. Here is an action shot, commemorating the team that will surely go down in the national rankings this week... ;-)

Goodness gracious, bee lady, thou art kind. Your kindness resonates with me deeply, and comes at a time when we have had many struggles so it's particularly lovely! Thanks.

Lookie lookie at this beautiful stuff from the empress of creativity

Bev had a giveaway on her blog. Little old me was the recipient of some very, very nice stuff. You're going to want this, I'll bet she has some for sale on her etsy. Don't you think her combination of different fabrics is just over the moon? Well, I do! :-)

Koolaid looks kewl...

Look what I found...how to dye fibers with Koolaid. Looks totally kool. Pardon the pun.

It's official...

I have lost my mind. Told hubs last night that he needed to call a psychiatrist and have me committed because I SIGNED UP FOR A WESTERN MINI-APRON SWAP. Probably have to make a couple dozen of those crazy things. He did look at me like I was several fries short of a Happy Meal. Silly boy.

Well, I do have an excuse:

1. Cheaper than therapy -- oh, wait, I'm doing that too! and very understandably so, I reckon; ;-)
2. Nice chickadees who are also making them, very nice and complimentary of my first effort, and just darned good people who are fun to talk with about this madness;
3. An ongoing promise that I AM NOT GOING COUNTRY/PRIM. There will be no festoons of mini aprons adorning my home. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'll just use them for booth decorations or perhaps gift them to a lucky person.

Still, I think the psych ward might be in order.

Felted Wool Mittens

These mittens were described in the paper today. Haven't made 'em, but I know there's some felting fans out there so I'm passing this along. :-)

Crochet Potholders

This is the time of year that many of us are trying to lose weight, stop smoking, etc. I'm not saying that crocheting will do this for you, but why not do something else with your hands while watching TV, waiting in the school pickup line, sitting in a waiting room, or wherever else you may find yourself?

Personally, I use these for some stress control/relief. If you know me, and you see me making a lot of these, you automatically can know that I am probably really stressed out. :-)

Many potholders are not thick enough for me, so I usually use two thicknesses of a cotton type yarn like "Sugar n Cream" or "Peaches n Creme". The former is available at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, etc., and the latter is available at Wally World, etc.

To make a couple of double strand potholders I would probably get a couple of balls of single color cotton type yarn, and possibly a ball or two of an ombre or striping version of the same type yarn. In that case, you could crochet a couple rows of one color, then pick up the ombre/striping for a couple rows, then go back to the main color, etc. I did that with a neon/lime green set for a friend, which I should have snapped a photo of before I sent her way to grace her neon/lime green kitchen.

Of course, two different colors are in no way necessary. Do whatever is cool for your design idea!

One of these potholders was made out of the "homespun" lion brand type yarn interspersed with a cream/aran type red heart super saver. These are not expensive yarns, as you well know. I am kind of attached to the cotton rather than the poly ones, having used both.

The original pattern that I took from the Peaches n creme label said to chain 22 with an H hook, and then and hdc in the second chain from the hook and hdc across. If you don't know what an HDC is, it's a half double crochet. In height that is partway between a single and a double crochet. Wrap your yarn around the hook as in a double crochet, but instead of only going through two loops at a time, go through all three loops at once. If this leads to aggravation or pulling out your hair because of the persnickety loops, remember to keep your thumb on the thumb indentation on the hook and that twisting motion as you remove the hook will, in my experience, help you get through all three loops speedily and reduce your stress...because isn't crochet supposed to reduce your stress instead of add to it? :-)

In my case I chained three for my turning chains instead of two, and used two thicknesses of the cotton yarn at a time. This results in pretty speedy completion. Keep going until you have a shape that is twice as long as it is wide. Then fold it wrong sides together, and chain one, and start crocheting both halves together with sc's all around the square. Then when you get to the final corner, ss, chain 9 loosely, and slip stitch to the other side of that corner for a loop. Then I personally go back and slip stitch all the nine chain stitches of the loop to reinforce them, slip stitch once back at the corner where I started the loop, and weave in ends/finish off.

If you like your potholders thinner, I'm sure a single strand will work well too. I would start around a size H for single strand, and maybe J for the double strand.

My decorative stitches on the cream colored ones are done by doing one stitch in the top loops of the last row as usual, then doing the next one into the next row down, and so on and so forth, alternating. If this is as clear as mud, let me know and I'll get some examples up here for you fellow crochet peeps.

This is also a nice way to use up small amounts of peaches n creme or sugar n cream you have left over from other projects. I assume potholders will be primarily made to protect our hard working cooks hands, so I personally could care less if some of them are multi colored. You can always make a nice "dress" set in your kitchen's colors to hang up or display prominently, and have the "bits n pieces" ones in a drawer where you actually use them.

These are thick enough with the double yarn version to make decent trivet-hotpad type usages, too.

enjoy...

Crochet Bath Rug

Just finished something we really needed around here...a crocheted bath rug. It is very thick and absorbent and feels good on your tootsies. Here's what I did in case you are interested...

*Move things along faster and thicker/more cushy by using two strands of nice absorbent yarn.

*I recommend you get a bunch of that cotton type yarn...I used a couple of cones of Sugar N Cream, Peaches N Creme, that kind of stuff.

*If you've seen this type of stuff in the stores, you know already that you don't have to have a creme colored rug if you would rather have something else. Sugar n Cream, for one, has many different colors and ombres, and has new self-striping colors too. Do check the yarn labels, though, for colorfastness.

*For two thicknesses of this yarn, a "J" sized crochet hook should be about right.

*Crochet a shape out of double crochets. Whatever shape you desire will work. A rectangle or square is the easiest, of course. I crocheted around fourty or fifty chains and then crocheted on both sides of the chain to start an oval.

*Whatever you do, CROCHET THE DOUBLE CROCHET PART FIRST, THEN ADD THE LOOPS (below). I found an example of this on a blog somewhere (darn if I can't find it now, but I'll keep looking to give this person their props) of double crocheting a row, then going back and doing the loops on that row. I would not recommend that if you are doing a shape like mine...you could end up with something misshapen and have to pull some stitches out (ask me how I know! *L*).

*When you have the shape done that you want, I'd recommend a single crochet border all around to prevent stretching, etc.

*Then go back (hopefully without even cutting the yarn, the less cuts the better, of course!) and do the loops by doing a single crochet in the post of each double crochet stitch, then five chain stitches, then a single crochet in the post of the adjacent double crochet stitch, and so on and so forth.

*Put a non-slip rug backing on the rug so you're save and sound when you get out of the tub. I got mine at Target in the rug section. Not only will you be safe and sound, I know you'll have nice cushy stuff for your toes to enjoy, tooo...

*If this is all clear as mud, let me know and I'll put some more stuff on the web to explain things.

The project that ate my head. ;-)

'Signed up for a mini apron swap...sounded like fun. Grew to 23 minis. My hubby thought I was nuts, and I assured him that I would not be decking the house out in country charm (I'm more of a modern girl, if anything, design wise). The kittens wanted to pose with them, evidently... *L*

The race is on...

After waiting a while, I did actually get that new account. They had purchased a competitor's products right before I called. Hubs said "didn't you feel intimidated when you saw the other stuff in the store?" I said "no, I figured as quickly as they answered my call to gauge their interest, they knew they wanted my stuff instead." It's kind of an old account, actually, but enough of that...this is a public blog. I ain't going into that here...but these guys are the good guys...

When I brought my first order in there Friday, they actually applauded as I came through the door. I figured someone famous came in behind me...after all, this is Nashvegas! But they were welcoming me there.

They sold a very significant amount of product in the first business day, and I have already had to restock with a bigger amount of stuff. And a third of the stuff I brought over is already spoken for with one customer. Yikes.

This could get good...and also quite tiring. But a good kind of tiring.

The owner went out of their way to let me know how happy they were to have my stuff in their store. That was super cool and not what I expected. Usually it's just business, ya know?

So if I don't blog much for the next month or so, you'll know why... ;-) Lord knows we need the money. It is really, really hard to make ends meet, because kiddo's school bills are so very high. God will provide, somehow...

As sucky as things have been as of late, it is nice to have some positive stuff going on, and I am grateful.