Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam!

Since I had both strawberries and rhubarb left from the pie I also whipped up this freezer jam and was smart enough to take pics as well! Super easy! I found this Ball Fresh Pectin at Walmart and picked it up, it is in bulk! well ok a jar like form ha-ha. Either way it has simple instructions attached which I followed for many other flavors so far, all of which I took no pic's but happily shoved into my freezer! I will list my other flavor combos at the end of this little post, and yes it will be little as it is super simple! I am going to post the instructions on the container and poof there you go!

Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam: 

For every 2 (8 oz) half pints of jam, you will need:

1 2/3 c prepared fruit ( there is a table also about the types of fruit):
* 1 c Crushed Strawberries, 2/3 c finely chopped Rhubarb
2/3 c granulated sugar, Splenda, No calorie sweetener, granulated
2 Tbsp ball Real Fruit Instant Pectin
1 Tbsp Bottled juice, use only with peaches ( I used it with all especially my bananas.. I did not want brown!!)

Now it has little pictures to follow and is super easy, basically mix the sugar and pectin stir in prepared fruit mix for 3 min and put into jars. Wait 30 min seal and store. Super simple.

The bold is the amounts I used for the 2 flavored jam I prepared, the other combos I have so far made are as follows:

1 c chopped Apricots 2/3 c strawberries1 c strawberries, 2/3 c mashed banana
1 c strawberries, 2/3 c chopped kiwi
1 c strawberries, 2/3 c crushed pineapple ( I only had canned tidbit pineapple, I would suggest just using the crushed if you are going to go buy it.

My thinking that as long as I have the amount of fruit required any flavor combo will work. So far they have, the strawberry kiwi has been tested by a friend and she ate the whole jar :D. SO I take that as a success, the rest are happy in my freezer! I love to can, but since I do not seem to have enough people to just give it away or the space to store I can get my jam fix (making it that is) the freezer way and at least play with flavor combos!

A Damn Fruity Pie!

I have never quite mastered the pie baking part of my passion yet, but I am constantly up to the challenge. Father's Day was a chance to make a pie I came across at my Sister-in-Law's, Ashley, house. Sigh yes I am suppose to properly site whom I got my recipes from but this damn piece of paper is missing that information! it was some cookbook with old fashioned recipes and I wanted to make it. If I can get back there and get the info I will! Needless to say this is me admitting that I know it is not MY actual recipe and such and giving kudos to the actual creator. What snagged me as all the fruit involved, including Rhubarb. Since sampling and making my first strawberry rhubarb pie last year I have been intrigued with the fruit itself, noting the nasty flavor of it raw!! omg I gagged when I took that tiny bite!!!! Horrible!! but with strawberries it is tasty!


I have been sick and very tired lately so I also cheated by using the refrigerated and prepared pie dough. I had enough to do without including a pie dough in my mission of daily accomplishments!  So I simply bought the cheap package and set to work!

Very Berry Pie: 


1 c blueberries
1 c raspberries
1 c strawberries, sliced
1 c rhubarb, chopped
2 c apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1 c sugar

1/3 c cornstarch

1 Tbsp lemon juice

dash of cinnamon (cause I like cinnamon and I did it haha)

Prepared pie crust

Preheat oven to 350. 
prepare pie crust, if home made roll and place in a 9 in pie pan, if pre-done, unroll and place in pie pan ( simple hehe)
Mix all fruit in a large bowl, add lemon juice. Add sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon and stir gently to mix. Poor fruit into prepared pie pan. Top with second crust and seal edges.  Brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar, cut slits in top crust to vent.
Place in 350 oven for 1- 11/2 hours, or until golden brown and bubbling.

I baked mine close to 1 1/2 hrs, I also did heaping cups of fruit, and for the next one will likely add 1/2c more of each fruit since it does cook down. I am not a fan of raspberries and feel they overpowered and next time will leave out or swap with blackberries. If I leave out I will just add more of the others to make up for it. The pie is awesome! It was so tasty and hehe my Grandma had 2 huge slices for her "dessert" right after her very light lunch haha.. Love her!  Do try and definitely Enjoy it!!!  It was eaten so quick no pics of slices were gotten hehe :)

Strawberry Lemonade... yum!

So many years ago I fell in LOVE with the strawberry lemonade from Red Robin, I will go just for that! well and those bottomless steak fries of course! But this is not about fries!! I have family up for Father's Day and wanted to try to make my own strawberry lemonade, seeing as I have never made it before I went on a search for a recipe! I came across one from Epicurious.com and went with it! Holy smokes sooo good!! I juiced all my lemons, I did top off the cups with bottled lemon juice as I was just shy! I doubled the recipe for a big huge pitcher, but it was an old plastic one and not deserving of a picture LOL. I did get overzealous with the strawberries and added a little bit more as well as some crushed to the lemonade as well, either way soo a main stay! By the way, it is 10:30am and I have my a pretty glass filled with it and Chardonnay teehee, quite tasty I must say!

Vanilla Cinnamon Orange Marmalade

It has been a while, and wow it seems so hard to get anything posted on my blog which sucks! I have been sick.. again... sigh! And I had been studying for my Insurance License which I got! Yay me! Now lets see if I can feel useful again lol.. Anyway on to Marmalade!
We have been enjoying going to farmers markets when we can find them, many say they are there but do not exist.. Damn you people!! My favorite is by far the one in Hollywood, it is fantastic! But seeing as we do not want to drive 2 hours to and from for fruits and veggies all the time we do not always get to get there. We did find a tiny one in Pomona where my felt the need to buy a 10lb bag of oranges lol. uhm yea we snack on fruits but not all that!! By the weekend I was still trying to get better from my last bout of illness and pretty exhausted but took on the attempt of marmalade. I looked for a recipe I wanted to try and came across the Alton Brown recipe. Seeing as I can happily link it that means I do not have to type it all out! Ha to that woot! But I will give my opinions and what I added.

I do not have pics but I also pulled off making some freezer jams: Apricot Strawberry, Strawberry Kiwi, Strawberry Banana and Strawberry Pineapple. I found a 4.7 oz container of Ball Real Fruit Instant Pectin which had instructions for flavors on it. Super easy and only makes 2 8 oz jars! Perfect for just a couple of jars here and there. I definitely suggest anyone who wants to make jam to bust this out. It was super easy and awesome! Next time I make some or once I bust a jar out to actually eat I will get some pics up :)
Now with so many oranges, I doubled the recipe. Meaning I used 7 lbs and 8 oz of sugar.. OMG! SOOO MUCH SUGAR!!! I also added a split vanilla bean as well as 2 cinnamon sticks. Why? Well cause I hate to have just plain simple anything. I really wanted cranberries haha so next time it will orange cranberry marmalade lol. Anyway! It took us about 3 hours total give or take to go through the entire process, cooking to soft fruit, to proper jell and such.

Once I had it canned and sealed I had a little plastic jar for the fridge. I think I should have pulled it off the stove a few minutes early, solid it is! The vanilla is the strong flavor very little cinnamon so I would increase to 3 cinnamon sticks next time. I have also decided it is a tid it sweet for me, I would likely decrease the sugar. The recipe calls for 3 lbs and 12 oz.. I would definitely leave out the 12 oz next time and see from there. I very much like it though. I ended up with 11 half pints and 5 whole pints, yup someone is getting marmalade haha. It was an easy recipe over all, we played upwards during the process and I was struggling to stay awake and on my feet lol. I would definitely suggest the recipe, especially if you enjoy marmalade and I do! Super easy and I think it will be easy to tweak as well!