Giving me the raspberries

With two lengthy rows of raspberry plants on a year where they really produce, I'm kept quite busy keeping up with the fruits of my labor. Honestly I only want to freeze so many; I'd rather enjoy them now. (To freeze mine, I lay them on baking sheets in the freezer and once they are frozen individually, then I bag them.)

And when I had nothing in my cupboards and fridge but wanted breakfast I miraculously had all the ingredients to make the oatmeal muffins out of my great aunt's 1974 Betty Crocker's Cook Book (page 48 at the top) 

I half filled the cups, poked some raspberries in and then finished filling in with batter. Delish.

That used up...a handful of berries. I still have a lot of berries left. Then I found this flavored water recipe - yum! So I made a pitcher of lemon raspberry water. Also delicious. And refreshing! (and blogging has now murdered my proper sentence structure.)

That used up another small handful. Thankfully my mom knows me and my fruit snacks and bought me a food dehydrator earlier in the year. I dug it out and washed it and it had this great tray that meant I got to try fruit leather - one of my very favorite things.

I followed these instructions and it required almost no sugar at all. I added a small amount because my berries - at that point - had been a bit sun deprived and needed a flavor boost.

Also I learned to spread what I think is a fairly thick puree and just let it dry for a looooong time. This works much better than a thin layer which wants to flake. I also think if you used oven safe plastic wrap this would be even easier. I kept a small bowl of puree in my fridge for three days and made fresh fruit leather each day.

The rest? Raspberry jelly. (I used a mesh strainer and some seeds still made it through! Ah well.) I used the instructions found in the pectin box.

I have a glass topped stove and if I remembered correctly you can't use a canner on them because of weight and heat issues so I turned my jars upside down after I'd filled and put on my canning lids. The heat from the jelly is supposed to seal the lids for you. It worked, by the way, but I didn't get my jars as full as I'd thought (tie hair back next time) and my brother was looking at the jars and asked,
"Why is your jelly.......................levitating?"

I told him, "Because I made it like this."

Mosaic Monday - Bauman's Farm & Garden

I briefly mentioned Bauman's another time in this post but this time I was with a friend and her extended family and a small herd of little ones so I got to see more while I spent more time there.

It was a gorgeous day and a tad warm so...

My friend and I got iced coffee drinks from inside their store (where you can buy an assortment of delectable baked goods that I try not to buy ALL of every time I go) and sat in this little, out of the way, gazebo next to a water feature.

This entranced me and I kept taking photos of it. (Is it larkspur?)

 It was deliciously cool in there and the air smelled like the blossoms we were surrounded by.

They also have a lovely lawn with pathways if you're interested in a stroll.

Hydrangea bliss.

At the end of one of these pathways I found some picnic benches near several raised beds of herbs. Lavender always catches my eye.



These gorgeous lilies were taller than me. But as my friend sarcastically put it, "that doesn't take much."
Tis true.

 And they have a spectacular collection of roses.

You can buy plants of all kinds, yard decor, baked goods, seasonal produce, assorted packaged local foods like sauces and canned goods. If that doesn't tempt you they have play structures and a petting zoo for the kiddos. They also host seasonal events like a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hay fort, etc. And during the summer they have classes that include canning and preserving.

You can visit their website here.

If you're in this part of Oregon I highly recommend stopping by.

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!

Also check out Centsational Girl's garden link up.

My prize swag from J.R. Watkins

Remember when I wrote about winning a photo contest on Twitter for the J.R. Watkins folks? Well now that I have a computer again I can show you the super generous box of goodies they sent me!

I was overwhelmed at the size of the box even before I opened it.

OH THE GOODIES!

 Because of the comments on this post I dug out the lemon cuticle cream and hand cream and have been using it every day. It smells amazing and does wonderful things for my gardener's hands.
The all-purpose spray I used to clean my bathroom after I got home from house-sitting. The room really needed it and this smelled great (light and non-lingering) and worked really well.

The tote bag has already come in super handy for shopping as it is a nice, thick and quality bag.
They even sent me coupons because obviously after I've been hooked this way I will want more.

The rest I'm rationing but don't think I haven't opened and sniffed them all a time or two.

I know there's a "Watkins man" in my little town because I bought stuff from him at the last holiday bazaar I worked; I like supporting my fellow small townians that way. Watkins also has a website and can be found in stores like Target as well.

Watkins also has a twitter account and they post tips for using their extracts. I've gotten some great ideas for foods that way!

They are not paying me to say this, but they are totally welcome to. ;)

My monitor died

I apologize if I'm difficult to get ahold of for a little while. I think my computer eats monitors - this is the second one!

This is my super awesome drawing done with MS Paint. :)

Mosaic Monday - poppies

I love how large poppies have such crepe paper petals and hairy stems. :)

My "here and there" volunteer poppies I've moved, cultivated and saved and dried seeds for the past several years to create my raised bed poppy garden. Such a gorgeous splash of color from summer until autumn.

Be sure to visit Little Red House to see all the beautiful mosaics!