This City Girl is Moving to the Country

I've been absent from this blog lately, but it is not without good reason. I have finally decided to take the plunge and move more into the "country." In my new place I will have a lot more space, a dirt backyard, and the chance to raise chickens and maybe some even bigger animals. I have big plans but for now I'm going to take it one step at a time.

I've been a city girl for the past 12 years, somewhat against my will. Until now I haven't had a chance to pursue my dreams of living in a more rural area. So when a place opened up in a good area where I know the neighbors, I decided to take it. Now, I have a hundred things swirling through my mind as I prepare to put a little household together. I'd forgotten how much is involved in moving, and I'm already finding out I had a lot more stuff than I thought I had.

Still, all of it is very exciting. I will have a new place to decorate and organize and a kitchen all to myself, where I can cook and can to my heart's content. There is a lot to do in the coming weeks. I'm picking out paint colors for the kitchen and living room this Sunday and moving in August 1st. I'm ready to start this new adventure!

In other news, I just got back from a week's vacation in Wisconsin where I had a chance to soak up all of the beautiful countryside and relax a little before heading into a busy time. Almost everything in Wisconsin is green and it is incredible, especially when you are used to only shades of brown.

One of the gardens we visited in Wisconsin

I'll share two more pictures from my trip. First a washboard I bought at an antique store out there. I plan on hanging in my new kitchen.

And last, a new purse, that goes perfectly with a dress I have in the same color. I absolutely adore this color. 

No One Ever Told Me Canning Would Be Addicting!

The more canning I do, the more ideas I have for new batches. The above picture is jars of apple butter I recently processed for this year's fair. Since the recipe didn't specify which type of apples to use, I made two batches, one with green apples and one with red. I've given some to my friends to taste test and tell me which they like better.

My two crockpots with each variety cooking.

For this apple butter recipe, it called for cooking the apple butter in the slow cooker for 6 hours. This seemed to bring out the flavors and I love how it turned out. In total, I made 12 jars (1/2 pints) of apple butter. 

Twelve jars of apple butter is too much for my family to go through, but luckily I've discovered that homemade jams or butters make great gifts. People appreciate receiving something that you put your time and effort into.  It's a simple gift, but one that can mean much more because you made it yourself. 

While the jars are beautiful in and of themselves, they are easy to dress up with a square of fabric and a ribbon. Tada!

Homemade Beauty: Exfoliating with Sugar

My mom was the one who passed along to me the trick to use sugar as a natural scrub for the face.  I only wish I'd started using it sooner. It's not only incredibly cheap (you can get 5 lbs. of sugar for around $1.99 usually--and you won't be going through that much sugar on your face for a long time), but I've also had great success with it.

From the time I was 10 to the time I was 20, I struggled with bad acne. In my twenties it tapered off dramatically, but I would still get occasional bad bouts. However, since I started using a sugar scrub to exfoliate, my acne has all but disappeared. Exfoliating your face lifts away the dead skin and other build up on your skin that would normally clog pours. And it goes beyond what just washing your face with a washcloth can do.

Using sugar as a scrub is incredibly simple. I dampen my face first.  Then I put a bit of sugar in my hand and get that a bit wet before rubbing it on my face very gently. Rubbing gently is the key, as the granules do the work for you and no force is needed. I rub for a few seconds and then rinse off the sugar. It leaves your face feeling incredibly smooth! 

Canning for the Fair

I've been busy preparing the for the fair, as this year I am making five entries--three of which are in the canning and preserving category. A few weeks ago I started by making strawberry jam.  

Washing the jars and canning utensils.

The gorgeous strawberries. I only bought two containers because I couldn't find them at the right sale price. I regret not watching the sales earlier in the year when it was the right season...

Mashing up the strawberries. I use a potato masher and it takes a lot of time and arm strength. I much prefer to have either my dad or brother do this part--but on this day they were no where to be found and it took me a while to get them to the right consistency for jam. 

Boiling the jars to sanitize them

The jam cooking on the stove top. It's a taken a few tries with strawberry jam to finally get to the point where I know when it hits the "gel" stage. 

Perfect looking jam! It's so exciting when everything goes right and the end product looks like it should. Especially when you know what it's like to fail and have jars full of air bubbles or leaking out the top. 

My end result was three jars of strawberry jam, which is a very small batch. I'm required to submit two to the judges (they will sample one jar and put the other one on display), and I have one for myself to taste test.