I made and canned some Pepper Relish. I used the recipe:

 

I doubled the recipe and used red bell peppers (about 1-1/2 large) 4 large anaheims, Jalapeños (many), 1 serrano and one habeñero. My friend, Misako, helped me make the relish. We seeded all of the peppers but the serrano. We also wore gloves. It really helped - my hands do not hurt this morning.

 

We canned this using my stepmother's pressure cooker. I had never used a pressure cooker before and Misako hadn't used one since she moved to the US (10 plus years). We were reading through the instructions and laughed, remembering a Concordia University classmate (I think his name was Erik) who often refered to us as Laurel and Hardy (not that one of us was fat, but many things we did looked like they could be fiascos). I called my stepmom, she walked us through some of the issues we were having. One jar didn't seal, plus we had a little left that wouldn't fit in a full jar. Misako has the unsealed jar and I have the tiny open jar.

 

It turned out so good - I started looking for other pepper relish recipes:

 

Pepper relish and amish recipes
http://www.anniesrecipes.com

 

About Southern Cooking - relishes
http://southernfood.about.com/od/picklesrelishes/Pickles_and_Relishes.htm

 

This site includes Nutritional information (very helpful for Weight Watchers)

This one is Italian, and looks really good!
http://www.grouprecipes.com/21644/puglise-pepper-relish-peppone.html

This is from a woman who has a shop called Ain't B's

 

Spicy Texas Cucuzza Pepper Relish

 

This next one I really liked - so I am including the recipe
http://heidi-bees-knees.blogspot.com/2007/10/canning.html

Whitney, here is the recipe for the Harry & David's Pepper Relish (it's delicious mixed with cream cheese and served with tortilla chips!)

3 cups tomatoes, skinned, diced and drained
3 cups red peppers, diced
3 1/2 cups sugar
2 T salt
1 small box pectin
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
1 T fresh ground chili paste
2 jalepenos, seeded and diced
2 onions, diced

Mix all ingredients together, except pectin. Bring to a boil. Turn down to low/med heat and simmer for 2 hours until thickened. Whisk in the box of pectin and boil for 1 minute.

 

(I think you can buy the chili paste. I found a recipe here http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg1097/chilipaste.html )

 

This one was interesting it uses maple syrup and cardamom
http://solfoodfarm.org/2007/10/09/week-19-sol-food-news/

 

Maintaining Weight

 

I am discovering that the maintenance program for Weight Watchers is tougher for me. I have had to cut back my eating to weight loss levels. Argh. Oh well it isn't like I have gained the fifty pounds back.

 

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Jelly Making

 

Mom and I made two different types of Jelly this week, Jalapeño (which we have made before) and a spicy Tomato Jelly. I used the MCP Pepper Jelly recipe with a half pound Jalapeños, one red bell pepper and two or three Anaheims. It turned out well - flavorful and not too spicy.

 

The Tomato Jelly took a lot longer to make. Rich and I started making it Sunday night - processing the tomatoes using my stepmother's sauce making machine. The machine was great - it separated the meat from the skin and seeds. After we ran over ten pounds through the machine, we started reducing down the pulp. The next day I ran the reduced pulp through a fine strainer. I then reduced the liquid some more. The pulp in the strainer was very tasty - like a pure (no salt) tomato paste. I froze that for future use. The liquid was then seasoned and boiled some more to make the jelly. The jelly hasn't set yet. If it doesn't set by next Monday I will try the solutions in the Certo package. I gather that this is not a rare occurance. I got the recipe from "The Good Cook's Book of Tomatoes" by Michele Anna Jordan. I also have her mustard and Oil & Vinegar books.

 

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Beyond the Alphabet

 

Carl is showing an interest in learning how to read. He knows all the letters and is interested in the sounds they make. We go through his alphabet books and talk about the letter sounds. I have been searching for other tools to help teach him.

 

While shopping, I found a video Phonics by Little Steps. It is very basic - the first sounds of animal names through the alphbet.
http://www.topics-ent.com/details/little_steps.php

 

I then started researching a little on the Phonics Videos, and found this article on About:
http://kidstvmovies.about.com/od/alphabetandphonics/tp/topalphadvds.htm

 

I found the Leap Frog Talking Words Factory (not the same one listed in the article) at Toys R Us. It was a VHS tape - I think the tape was marked down, it was a bit cheaper than the DVD. Carl loves it. He sings the little songs and requests to watch the movie often. I found this DVD and others from Leap Frog teaching phonics at Costco for cheaper than TRU of course...

 

YouTube has a few videos, but not anything that was really helpful. Here are some for children, geared more toward esl students:

 

The Disney site has some good games on the Book Of Pooh website:
http://disney.go.com/disneychannel/playhouse/bop/

 

I found some videos in Comcast On Demand - under the Baby Boost section (there are a lot of sections and they change all the time.

 

If Carl is interested in watching, I am more than happy to let him learn - I am just making sure I am not pushing him - he is only four.

I went to a bit of a reunion lunch yesterday. My mom, Carl and I drove out to SE Portland to have lunch with my mom's cousin and his wife. Mom did a lot with this cousin growing up- he is ten years older, but lived the closest. He was in Portland while Mom was in Longview.

 

Listening to some of the stories were great. They talked about the his Dad (who died when Mom was a girl). The tales brought him to life. His mom (who I loved dearly) died not long after I moved to Denver. We talked about how Dale got her stubborn streak. She was independent until she died at 89.

 

We went out to eat at Shari's - a local family chain. I got online to try to prepare for the meal. The nutritional information lacked fiber - which is needed to calculate points in Weight Watchers, but there was enough (calories and fat) to get a rough estimate of points. I wrote the names of the dishes to consider and printed out the soups page to take with me. At the restaurant I discovered NONE of the the dishes I selected were on the menu any more and only a few of the soups. Their "signature" soup (according to the menu) was NOT LISTED on the website! I finally found the chilli - white meat chicken and white beans - it appeared to be pretty healthy and it was REALLY GOOD. I showed the problem to the manager and he said he will need to encourage the website updates.  What I found to eat was tasty and filling, but until the website is updated, I would not recommed the restaurant for people trying to loose weight.

 

I then went to Costco with Mom, she needed help loading and unloading the purchases. I realized I really like shopping during the early hours. I usually go there at 10 AM, which is reserved for business and executive memberships. It is busy but not crazy like it was yesterday afternoon. I also like shopping without the distraction of a 4-year-old. "Go back" "I want to taste that" "I need to yook at that" are really distracting.

 

We got home and Rich had called, saying he wanted to meet for dinner. He is getting through a really busy schedule this week. He had homework due for his class (he is getting his PhD in physics), research he was presenting in a meeting at work and a paper for an upcoming technical conference. He has made it through the first two and is late on the third. He has asked for my help this weekend on the third. He is close to finishing the paper.

 

We went out to Old Chicago's for dinner. I didn't plan too much for this one. I ate a piece of pizza and had a beer. I don't think I will gain 50 pounds back from that. I will be careful today and Sunday. I then went to the Rack with Carl. He is patient shopping to a point. I was able to find a shirt for myself and a pair of jeans for Carl. Shopping for clothes for me is a lot more fun...

 

 

I was recently making brownies with chocolate frosting - using the frosting recipe on the scanned scotch-a-roos card. It was pretty hard to read.

(photo number 4)

 

Here is the Chocolate Frosting Recipe:

3-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

 

Mix in a bowl. Stir in:

1/4 cup melted butter

 

then slowly add, stirring

1/3 cup milk

 

You may not need all of the milk.

 

I made the brownies from "magic." Carl was watching the Pillsbury Brownies Dough commercial and turned to me as asked for "Magic." He also used to ask for "possibilities" after the Campbells commercial, he still refers to soup as "Possibilities." Grandma used to get such a kick out of that one. Back to the brownies, I buy the Triple Chocolate Chunk dough. I have made it with homemade frosting and purchased frosting and like it with homemade frosting better. I do have some brownie recipes but they require melting bakers chocolate, which is striking me as a chore.

 

 

I of course ate several as soon as they were done. I guess we need to make sure we get to the park every day this week!

 

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Speaking of things that Carl does that my grandma would have gotten a kick out of: Carl's interest (almost obsession) with geography continues. Carl discovered Rich's relief map of the US. It is now hanging in Carl's bedroom. Rich had some Rand McNally wall maps, one of the US and one of the World. He gave Carl the rolled up US map and promised to hang it later in the week. Carl had to sleep with it last night. Rich hung it up this morning. After Rich left for work, Carl showed me where the rolled up world map was stored in the garage.

 

While Carl was at preschool I did a little shopping. One of the places I went to was Toys R Us (it is so much easier to shop THERE without my husband and son.) I found a phonics tape (more on phonics in another entry) and a wooden puzzle of the United States. I was planning on having him earn the puzzle, but so much for that idea. He has been working on it for two hours straight (other than the 20 minutes it took for me to dig Pennsylvania out of the basket of clean clothes. I do not ask how it got there.)

 

relief map (this looks like a great site - I have a feeling we will be buying a lot from this company...)

 

Wall map

Wooden US Map

 

I found a cute little four year old singing "Fifty Nifty" on Youtube.

What a character! Her name is Hannah - she really has a cute personality.

 

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Cool Looking Kids-oriented food blog:

I recently found some of the old Sesame Street counting videos on YouTube - Carl is loving them!

 

Baker Series Playlist

This one always ended with the baker falling down the stairs with baked goods. They don't have "1." I remember that one from childhood - the baker fell with a huge wedding cake.

 

Jazz Spies Playlist

Carl loves these - he dances a bit to the music.

 

Raga 1-20

There is a spanish version also.

 

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Here are some videos of my nephew:

 

He continues with his scootering at the indoor skate park in Seattle. I know he is still competing. Since he now has to compete on the pro level, he is finding the competition a lot more tough. Good luck to him at his upcoming competition.

 

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My friend Susan A has a blog! It is so great to see what is going on in friends lives that I no longer see often!

 

 

 

I finally made my weight loss goal at Weight Watchers! I have now officially lost 50 pounds! 

 

Now to finish going through my clothing and getting rid of the stuff that is too big or the smaller sized items I saved and that are now really really out of date.

 

I also want to make sure that I keep with the healthier eating - I want this to be my heaviest weight from now on.

 

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Mom and I took two weeks off from making jelly - she went to visit my brother in Everett and then her cousin came for a visit.

 

When Mom was in the Seattle area, my brother and sis in law took her to Chateau Ste Michelle winery. My parents (as well as aunts uncles and grandparents) have loved this winery for years. For this tour they took the garden tour (my bro and family are putting a lot of work in their yard and mom is a master gardener). They said it was amazing. Mom also came back with a case or two of wine - I don't remember the name...

 

Here is the link to the tour:

They took the Garden and Historical Tour listed at the bottom of the page.

 

While mom's cousin was here, we took her to the zoo one day and to the beach for a few days.

 

The beach trip was really nice. Some friends have a house that they let us use (we offered rent - honest). The home was so amazing! It at one time had been a two bedroom bungalow. A garage and amazing master bedroom were added on. The only drawback to the addition were one of the bedroom lost its closet and became a hallway/room (you have to walk through it to get to the new addition).  The house was three blocks from the beach. Since we went mid week after the beginning of the school year, the beach was empty - it was wonderful. The house was in a tiny town north of Tillamook - everything closed up early (6 pm) so we had to plan ahead for dinner.

 

The weather was nice for the trip - it wasn't really warm but it was sunny. Mom's old greyhound loved the beach - even at 10 she can still run! Carl loved picking up rocks, shells and sticks at the beach. We brought some home, used some to "decorate" the yard and "accidently" left a few collections at the beach.

 

On our way home we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tour. Carl loved watching the production. We tasted cheese. I bought some smoky cheddar, pecan/cheddar cold pack, cheese curds and cow shaped cookies.  The cheese curds are a definately weakness - I went through the bag in two days.

 

The zoo was fun too - there are a lot of changes going on. The new black bear/cougar/bobcat section is open and running (though they need to get rid of the fake rock obstructions in the otter/beaver section). They are building a new wolf exhibit, modifying the primate exhibit and building a new African exhibit with Lions! Carl's favorites are still the Orangutans.

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This last week mom and I went back to jelly making. After the break we were a bit out of sorts - we had a routine that made the time flow smoothly. Hopefully we will get back in routine this next Monday. We made one batch of blackberry jelly and two batches of grape. Granted it wasn't just the two week break that threw us off - we also were making grape jelly (which neither of us had made before) and using new jelly bags. Mom's 30 year old bag was giving out,  it can be mended. I found some new ones at our local Ace Hardware - I love that store! We still had to get used to working with the new bag.

 

My step mom has lent me her tomato processing machine and a pressure cooker. I want to make some tomato jelly (the processor will help with that) and pepper relish (I want to make sure the canning is safe on that one).

 

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I posted a video of Carl riding his scooter at preschool on YouTube. Here is the link:

 

I am pretty amazed by my son. He is doing great in preschool. I didn't think he would have any trouble with the subjects they would be teaching - I was concerned with his ability to socialize. He is doing fine there too. He shares and doesn't let himself be bullied. Not that there are any bullies in his class, but a few that are strong willed.

 

Carl's new interest is in learning the states. I bought a lift-the-flap book on the United States at Target for a whopping dollar. He LOVES it. We read it every night - last book - before bed. I hope this doesn't make him predisposed to fall asleep in geography class in the future. I also sang the "Fifty Nifty" song that I learned in 5th grade. He loves it - I found it on Youtube and that is one of his favorite things to sing now. He doesn't remember EVERY state and he keeps saying Oklahoma City for Oklahoma. From YouTube we also found some Animaniacs clips on the states and capitals, presidents and countries of the world. The last two are a bit dated, but they are a great start for learning. He loves them! The only problem is some OTHER Animaniac clips get clicked...I have limited the Macademia clip to once a day!

 

Here are links to the clips:

 

Fifty Nifty

 

Animaniac

States

 

Presidents

 

World

 

I can't find any links for the book, but it lists Clever Factory out of Nashville as the distributor.