Homemade Vanilla Extract: It's Done!!!!

If you have been around for a while you can remember when I started a project of making my own homemade Vanilla extract. It has been almost 6 months and the vanilla is done. I have tried it in a few recipes and love it. Much better than the imitation stuff you buy from the stores.

This was one of the simplest things to make, you wouldn't believe. I thought at first the 6 months were going to take forever. With all the summer staycations time has flown by. Now the vanilla is ready for bottling.

These are going to make great Christmas gifts along with the homemade apple pear jam. Guess you'll have to see if your on the nice or naughty list this year.

Delicious Apple-Honey Challah

Apple-Honey Challah from Martha Stewart. She is one of my ideals. Love ya Martha, sorry, had to get that out.

This is one of my favorite bread recipes. It does take a few hours to make this from start to finish. Well worth the time. I took a piece into work the other day and gave it to my co-worker, he called it "heaven in a bag." You gotta try it, yummy!!

Sorry I don't have any pictures of my own to post. My computer has been in the shop for a week now. Hopefully I'll get it back soon.

I've been canning up a storm the last few weeks. Made 12 quarts and 9 pints of peaches, 8 pints of sweet pickles and 6 half pints of sweet relish. Hoping to get some tomato sauce made this week. It's amazing how much you can get done when you have no computer to play on.

Staycations: Part Two

The staycation is over with and now it's time to go back to work. I really enjoyed this years staycation. We got a lot done around the house and still enjoyed our time off. We visited a few places on our staycation as well.

We went to Monticello and visited the home of Thomas Jefferson. We got really cheap tickets and went to Kings Dominion one day. We took a two day trip to Va beach. I love the beach!

There's nothing better than the sand between your toes. Relaxing on the beach listening to the sounds of the waves hitting the shore. Jumping over the waves as they try to knock you down. Did I mention I love the beach. :) Sorry about that, I was off in lala land. Back to reality.

I wanted to get some canning done on my staycation. I decided since it was peach season to can some peaches. My local grocery store carries local peaches and I bought 40lbs. That in turn turned out to be 12 quarts and 9 pints. Minus a few we ate. They are going to be so yummy this winter to eat in a peach cobbler or just straight out of the jar. We also made home made peach ice cream, yummy.

We are very blessed to have an apple orchard a few miles away, Fruit Hill Orchard. Saturday we picked 50lbs of apples. Made applesauce, apple pie and going to make apple bread soon. The apple bread is to die for. It's a Martha Stewart recipe, I will share with you later in the week. Delicious!!

All and all we had a great time just relaxing and enjoying family time. What did you do on your vacation or staycation?

Blackberry Cobbler

Summer is my favorite time of year. Yes, it's hot, but think of all the fresh fruits and vegetables you can eat. Some are even free.

Last year when I was cutting grass beside my neighbors fence, I noticed wild blackberry bushes growing. I left them alone and cut the grass around them. They spread very quickly and this year we are enjoying fresh blackberries. We are getting about 1 1/2 cups every two or three days. And it's all free, free fruit, can't beat that. Thank you God for the free blackberries.

Some of the blackberries we freeze to make smoothies or milk shakes. They are also yummy in cobbler.


Blackberry Cobbler:

3/4 cup of butter
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. baking powder
3/4 cup milk
2 cups blackberries
1 cup of sugar (to apply over berries)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a 9" square metal or glass pan, melt 3/4 cup of butter, let cool. Mix flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and milk in medium bowl. Pour over cooled butter. Add blackberries, sprinkle remaining 1 cup of sugar over blackberries. Bake 45 minutes.

Preserving Fresh Green Beans

It's that time of the season where green beans are in full force. I have been picking about 2lbs a week off my two little rows. I planted two 10' rows of tenderettes, bush beans, back in late April. Then three more rows three weeks later. The second set of beans just started blooming last week. More beans to come soon. :)

What do I do with all these beans? Remember it's just my daughter and I and we really don't want to eat green beans with every meal. So, I freeze them for later use.

After picking your beans, wash them really well. Inspect them for any bug bites. If you find any bug bites just cut them out. If you wish you can cut off the tails of the beans. The tails are the end of the bean not connected to the bush.


In a large pot put in your beans and cover with water. Boil for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool and then transfer to freezer bags.

These are going to taste so yummy this winter in a bowl of hearty vegetable soup. Yum!
What are you getting from your garden? How are you preserving it?

Homemade Garlic Croutons

Don't throw away that day old bread, make some croutons. This is the easiest recipe to follow and so yummy. You can adjust the ingredients to your tasting. We love garlic so I made garlic croutons.

6 cups bread cubes
1 cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. onion powder
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. parsley

Cut your day old bread into bite size cubes. In large bowl mix together olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and parsley. Toss in bread cubes and fold gently until each bread cube is covered. Spread evenly on cookie sheet. Bake @ 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Let cool and store in ziploc bag.

Stay-cation: Monticello-Home of Thomas Jefferson

Do you have summer travel plans? How about a stay-cation?



Stay-cations are when you vacation close to your home. This can save you time and money. Most states have beautiful parks, historical sites, beaches, museums or even your city pool.

To save on money we have decided this year to do a stay-cation. We are going to go to local places that we can take a road trip in one day. This will save us a lot on hotel fees. Pack your lunch and save even more.


We live in the heart of Central Virginia. There is so much historical places around here that we have never been to. So, we went to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson. It was amazing. For only $22 a person, kids are cheaper, you get a 45 minute tour. Our tour guide, Megan, was awesome. She really knew her stuff on Thomas Jefferson. This old tree just spoke to me, not sure what it said though. I bet if it could talk it would have a lot of stories to tell.



After the house tour you are invited to take a garden tour. We took our own garden tour when we first arrived. I never knew you could grow artichokes in Virginia. Guess what's on my list for next years garden, artichokes.

Stay tuned, more presidential houses to come.
Montpelier, home of James Madison, is our next destination.