December 27, 2018

Good Afternoon!

We survived another Christmas, well fed and full of cheer!  And we are back again to reality.  I am a content person so I do so love my daily routine. 

I woke this morning to about -7*c and beautiful Hoar Frost, something those of us who live in Alberta get to enjoy often in the winter.  This, and Squeaky Snow!

Beautiful Hoar Frost on the Chicken Run fence.

Boxing Day found Papa and I home alone.  The grand buddy who was to spend a few days with us ended up being sick.  Poor guy.  No one wants to be sick over the Christmas Break.  He got feeling better, then his Mom ended up with the same bug.  We opted to leave them to it and spend the time instead to make up some Turkey Stock and to start a batch of Raspberry wine from the berries we harvested and froze from our Raspberry patch earlier this summer.  

Turkey stock simmering away!

We actually ended up with over 15 lbs of frozen raspberries in the end after finding another bag in the freezer.

This steam juicer has proven to be quite a valuable asset to our collection of kitchen needfuls.

One of the several jugs of raspberry juice siphoned off.

We spent the afternoon watching a couple of movies while the raspberries released their juices and turkey stock simmered away.  Not one to sit, I have been knitting up Mug Cozies with some left over wool from other projects.  I think I have 5 or 6 now.  Great small gift items and it keeps my hand busy! 

Mug cozies made up from left over wool from previous projects.

To make the Turkey Stock, I started with 2 turkey carcasses ~ one was previously frozen, one was freshly roasted from Christmas day.  To this I added rough chopped carrots, celery, an onion and about 15 or so peppercorns.  I let it simmer and reduce for about 36 hours in my Rival counter top roaster set to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.  After letting it cool a bit, I strained the lot and kept some of the meat to add to my quart jars, that I pressure canned today.  In all, I ended up with 5 quarts of beautiful, golden Turkey Stock.  A productive day indeed! 

I am currently out in the studio, still cutting up squares from scraps of cotton to be make into a scrap busting quilt in the future.

Beef stew in simmering the house.  Dumplings will be added for a cozy, warm, winter's supper.  We are already noticing that the days are getting longer.

Thanks for stopping by!

Warmest Regards,

Gremlynn