priorities

The Countryside Publix in Clearwater's definition of a storm basic. You can tell they've been through a few hurricanes.

vacationing by the numbers

Number of days gone: 13
Number of beds slept in: 12

Number of miles driven: 2460
Number of miles driven by me: about 500

Number of miles walked in new heels to meet friends for dinner in downtown Cincinnati: 1 1/2
Number of blisters gained from said walk: 6
Number of times we walked/ran across the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge going back and forth from Cincinnati to Covington, Kentucky: 7







Number of weddings attended: 2
Number of dresses for weddings left hanging in a closet on the other side of the state: 1 (the one I needed!)

Number of flights of stairs climbed to do laundry in Cincinnati: 6
Number of times we had to climb them: 3 (mercifully)

Number of baseball games attended: 4
Number of baseball games attended where the home team was celebrating both youth recreation day and senior citizens day: 2 (really, what are the odds?)
Number of Jimmy Buffet cover bands performing after a baseball game: 1
Number of fans who stayed to watch the Jimmy Buffet cover band: about 600 (yes, including us)




Number of homemade lemon meringue pies eaten by each of us: 1/2
Number of ice cream-based desserts eaten by each of us: 5
Number of pounds gained by each of us (despite running): 5 1/2

Number of times finding a great song on the radio changed our mood: 4
Number of books on tape I fell asleep listening to: 2
Number of times a five-lane interstate full of traffic was stopped for a funeral procession: 1 (that was one brave cop!)

Height (in feet) of the highest point in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 6,643
Number of miles we climbed to get there: 1/2
Height (in feet) we climbed to get there: 330
Angle of said climb: unknown, but very, very steep





Number of times I wanted to come home: 0

We had an amazing trip. More pictures should be up by the end of this weekend.

room with a view

The downtown Cincinnati skyline as seen from our friends' terrace. I know I make fun of Ohio, but this city's skyline is gorgeous. We stayed across the river in Kentucky a couple of nights ago and had similarly breathtaking views that included both the Bengals and Reds stadiums.

brrr

We've had a busy several days filled with family and friends. And lots and lots of driving. Through it all, I have been proud of myself for maintaining the discipline to run every other morning. But this morning presented a true test. I woke up, threw on running clothes, and stepped out into a 50-degree northwest Ohio morning. Yikes! I decided I was tough enough to handle it. By the time I got back, I couldn't feel my fingers and my nose was runny.

*sigh* I packed exactly 3 short-sleeved shirts and 7 tank tops for this trip. Will I ever learn that summer does not mean the same thing in all parts of the country?

Update: The edge of Lake Erie across the street from Tim's grandmother's house near Cleveland. It's easily 50-some degrees before wind chill. I owe Tim's mom Jane a huge thank you for loaning me the sweatshirt. It saved our vacation.

corduroy chicken

Well there it is, my new summer bag. I like the green corduroy, but not nearly as much as I love, love, love the pink chicken fabric.


Hmm -- funky lighting in this picture. Anyway, the bag is deeper and wider than the last bag I made. I customized the pockets again to fit my cell phone, camera, and various other things.

*yawn* It is almost 1:30 in the morning. I think I'm finally ready for Ohio.

procrastination queen

I am supposed to be getting ready for our trip to Ohio. I should be doing laundry, cleaning the house, packing...


Instead, I stayed up until 2 this morning working on my latest great idea -- coordinated travel shoe bags, lingerie bags, and laundry bags. There are 5 bags total -- 4 shoe/lingerie bags and one laundry bag -- all with drawstring ties. I've been using a Winnie the Pooh pillowcase as a laundry bag since I was in high school -- I figured it's time for something new.


I also finished the laptop bag I've been wanting to try. It didn't quite turn out the way I wanted it to (a little tight and not roomy enough for other stuff like cords and chargers) but it will suffice for this trip. And don't even get me started on the hell that was putting in the zipper (I think I ripped it out about 4 times before being marginally content with it.) At least I won't have to rely on clothes in my suitcase for laptop protection anymore.


The entire impetus for going into the craft room was the desire for a new summer tote bag. That was only started at 1 this morning. Hopefully I'll finish before our departure tomorrow at 8am. I'll post pics on my way out the door.

step-by-step guide to homemade jam

Making your own jam seems like an antiquated thing your grandmother did. After all, jam is easily found at the grocery or at the farmer's market -- there it's even sure to be homemade (albeit by someone else.) But it's a fun activity to do with all the extra berries you have left over after a trip out to a you-pick farm. Blueberries are easy to preserve since they freeze well. But I've never had any luck freezing strawberries -- they always taste like mush once you thaw them. Jam is a nice alternative.

The hardest decision to make is whether to can your jam or just leave it in the refrigerator. Canned jam has a shelf life of about one year (which is why I can make them now and give them as Christmas gifts), but refrigerator jam should really be used up in a month or so. If you decide to can, you'll need a couple of extra ingredients: a canner (or large stockpot) and canning tongs, which are covered in plastic to grip hot jars securely. I'm not sure where I found my canner, but it was probably at a thrift store for a few dollars. I went ahead and bought the tongs new, along with a wide-mouth funnel for ladling in the hot mixture into the hot jar -- both were very good investments.

I have the easiest jam recipe I can think of. It uses what seems like a lot of sugar, but when you keep in mind that most strawberry recipes use twice as much it's not so bad. This is a combination of several different berry recipes I've tried over the years. I don't like my jam too sweet, so feel free to add more sugar as you see fit.

pen loves paper's All-Purpose Jam Recipe

2 pounds fruit
2 cups sugar
juice of one lemon
6 1/2-pint jars, with screw tops and new lids

Really. That's it. It's what you do with it that makes a difference. First of all, don't bother with a scale. When you're at the you-pick place, ask them to bag your haul in two-pound increments. Extra berries should get their own bag (for nibbling or making mixed-berry jam.)


Add the two pounds of berries to a large glass or ceramic bowl with the sugar and lemon juice. Mix together and let sit on the counter for two hours to macerate, stirring several times. The above photo shows three different batches of jam: strawberry, blueberry and mixed-berry (strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries.) Your strawberries will turn to mush within an hour, the blueberries barely do a thing. This is what the mixed-berries looked like:


If you are canning, place 6-7 newly washed jars into your canner and cover them with water to over an inch above the top of the tallest jar. Put the canner on to boil a half hour to an hour before the berries are done macerating. My canner takes forever to heat up, so I put it on almost immediately after starting the macerating process. If you aren't canning, just add the clean jars to super hot water in the sink about 10 minutes before macerating is over and let them sit until you are ready to use them. Next, add your berry mixture to a saucepan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat, stirring often. Watch it carefully, as it tends to froth and can run over the pan as it reaches a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn down the heat to low-medium and boil for 18-22 minutes, still stirring. Add the lids (not the rings) and enough water to cover them to a small saucepan and bring to a boil.

What you do next depends on what type of jam you like. I like my jam runny since I use it more on ice cream and in cookie recipes than on bread. If you like thicker jam, you will need to boil it an extra 5-15 minutes. It also depends on the berries you use. Blueberries are done much quicker because they don't give off as much liquid during the macerating process as the strawberries.

How will you know when it's done? There are two schools of thought on this (I personally use them both.) One is to stir the mixture and then run your finger down the back of the spoon. If your finger trail stays, it's thick enough. I use this as a primary measure. Then I try this: place a small saucer in the freezer. Once you think the jam is thick enough, spoon a small amount onto the saucer and place back in the freezer for one minute. Pull it out and push the edge of the jam with your finger. The jam should have formed a coating of sorts and ripple when you push it. If it doesn't ripple, boil it for a few minutes longer and try again.


When your jam is ready, turn the heat to low and pull the jars out of the boiling water one by one and lay them on an old towel you have doubled or tripled over (make sure it's old, you will definitely get stains on the towel.) Ladle the jam into the hot jars using the wide-mouth funnel, filling them up to the screw lines on the jar. It depends on the type of jam you are making to how many jars you will fill. Blueberry and mixed-berry jams made six 1/2 pints each, the strawberry only made five. Use a wet paper towel to wipe the edges of each jar. Using tongs, pull the lids out of the water and shake dry before adding them to the top of the jar. Add a screw top to each.


Use the tongs to add the jars back to the boiling water. Allow jars to boil for 15 minutes. Pull the jars out of the water and place on a towel to cool. Do not be alarmed if you hear a strange ping/popping sound coming from the cooling jars. That is the sound of the jars sealing. Let the jars cool overnight on the towel. Then label them with contents and date. If you aren't canning, add contents and date to the lids and store in the refrigerator. Either way, that wasn't too hard was it?

a berry busy day

I decided to go out to Santa Fe Berry Farm last Saturday to pick blackberries and blueberries. It's located in tiny Earlton off SR26 right on Lake Santa Fe -- check out the view from their house (they welcome visitors to check out the lake):


I chose to go there instead of my usual organic haunt because I've always wanted to pick blackberries but end up going too late in the season to have any luck. It took a long time to pick the blackberries because of their thorny bushes, and by the time I was ready to switch to blueberries I was already hot and sweaty. Six pounds of blueberries was what I needed to make jam, but I gave up long before that due to the heat -- my fault for going berry picking at 11am. I ended up with almost a pound and a quarter of blackberries and 3 and a half pounds of blueberries (and at least a pound of berries in my tummy!) all for about $10. Not bad for two hour's worth of work.

Another fun thing about Santa Fe Berry Farm is their flowers. They grow huge sunflowers, black-eyed susans and zennias that you can cut to make your own bouquets.


If you decide to go (and I'd highly recommend you do) don't forget to wear close-toed shoes, bring a hat and your water bottle. You may even consider gardening gloves to get to some of those hard-to-reach blackberries without endangering your fingers.

Since I didn't get enough blueberries to make the amount of jam I wanted, I drove over to Roger's Farm to pick several extra pounds of strawberries so I could make mixed berry jam instead. Picking strawberries can hurt your back, but it's certainly quicker than blueberries or blackberries -- and you can't beat the price of $1 a pound! They had dropped the price of pickling cucumbers to 60 cents a pound, so I bought more of those too. If you're going to spend the day canning, you might as well go all the way, right?

war and peace

They're back. I got a migraine at a baseball game a few weeks ago -- one of those really, really bad ones that require total silence and darkness to feel even remotely okay. The next day it still wasn't completely gone, which is unusual. Since then my head has been at war with the rest of my body, and I've been battling several headaches a week. It's like living in a constant fog.

Peace has finally come to the garden in the form of rain -- real rain -- several times this week. Peace also comes to mind every time I look at this orchid that finally bloomed last weekend. These certainly rival the beauty of my favorite hibiscus.

Step-by-step guide to making and canning your own jam coming soon -- contingent on headache frequency.