It's Momma Bert's Birthday!

On August 28th we celebrated Momma Bert's birthday!  Her favorite candy is Turtles, so I decided to give homemade Turtles a whirl and let me tell you...it was the easiest candy ever and they are delicious!!  No oven required!  Friends and family members can look forward to Turtles at Christmas for the next 50 years!

Turtles for Bert

You will need:

1 -  package soft caramels - approx 14 oz.

1 - package semi-sweet chocolate chips - approx 1.5 cups

1 - package pecan halves - approx 1.5 cups

Cooking spray

Measure 1.5 cups of pecans.  There should only be a little left in the bag which I ate plain, but you could use and make more turtles.

It is optional, but I prefer to have my pecans toasted.  If you'd like to toast your pecans you will have to use the oven. I know!  I know!  I said no oven required, but it's worth it!  Toasted pecans are YUMMY!!!  So, preheat that dreaded, God awful oven to 350°F.  Lightly spray a cookie sheet with a non-stick cooking spray.

Spread the pecans out on the cookie sheet in a single layer.

Once the oven is preheated, put the pecans in the oven for approximately 5 minutes, but keep a close eye on them as they can scorch easily!

In the meantime cover another cookie sheet with aluminum and spray with your non-stick cooking spray.  

Once your toasted pecans are done and have cooled arrange them on the cookie sheet with 4 to a cluster as seen below.

Like the pecans I used almost all of the package of caramels.  I had about 8 leftover and ate 2...they were good.  Add a spoonful of water to the caramels and microwave in 30 second increments stirring in between.

You want the caramel to be a gooey consistency that drizzles off the end of your spoon.  Don't let it get to runny or it'll be all over your cookie sheet and not on your pretty little turtles.

Drizzle the caramel over the center of the four pecans that form the cluster.

Caramel and pecan yummy goodness!  I was tempted to forget the chocolate and dive in, but managed to stay strong.

Now it's time to melt the chocolate.  Using 1.5 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl microwave in 30 second increments stirring each time until the chocolate is a smooth consistency.  Don't over microwave as it can cook the chocolate and become lumpy and grainy.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the caramel.  You may want to use the back of your spoon to smooth the top of the chocolate and spread out over the caramel and pecans.

Now let them cool.  You can put them in the refrigerator, but this will most likely result in a cracked tooth later as the caramel will be extremely hard.  If you have a cool basement or somewhere chillythat works the best.

Once cooled....ENJOY!!

Happy Birthday to the most amazing mother! A woman of God, humility, grace, patience, and unconditional love.

A weekend away! - Breckenridge, Colorado

My beautiful nephew!  Often known by his aliases - Punkin' and Monkey.

God is good!

Abandoned building on Main Street in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Main Street in Breckenridge, Colorado.  Apparently red is a popular vehicle color in this area?

Buffalo Bleu

Breckenridge Brewery Tester

My brother and Monkey's Daddy sportin' his new Tom eyewear!

No worries Monkey!  The glass is always half full :)

Canning Dill Pickles!

My cucumbers are still coming in and I didn't have the patience to wait for some dill pickles, so I cheated and bought pickling cucumbers at the Farmer's Market in Rocky Ford, Colorado.  If you have never been to Rocky Ford believe me you have to go!  This time of year is heaven with an abundance of fresh produce and at reasonable prices!  I spent around $50 and got four cantaloupe, a watermelon, five peaches, two spaghetti squash, the huge box of roma tomatoes below and a large bag of cucumbers.

 For my birthday this year, my mom bought me a canning kit which included jars, flavor packets, basket to drop the jars in water, magnet stick for removing lids from boiling water, funnel, measuring stick and jar tongs.  First and foremost you need to wash your jars.  Wash your jars either by hand in very hot water or put them in the dishwasher.  It is also a good idea to boil them empty for awhile to ensure any and all bacteria is dead!

But your own Ball^®Canning Utensil Set HERE!

 Camera test...yep we're good to go!

My canning assistant.  He's worthless.

Now that you have your canning essentials, let's get to the good part!  The ingredients!!!!

1.)  Fresh Dill

 2.)  Crushed and Peeled Garlic Cloves

3.)  This is the mix that came with the canning kit and it was very tasty!

4.)  Peppercorns

5.)  Dill Seed

6.)  Pickling Cucumbers

7.)  White Vinegar

8.)  Water

Place a large, deep kettle on the stove top that will be deep enough for your jars to set in boiling water.  

Next, following the instructions on the back of the pickle mix make your picking broth using a medium sized sauce pan.

Next cut your cucumbers into the desired pickle type.  We did spears.  Cut off the end of each cucumber, slice it in 1/2 then in 1/4's.

 Now it's time to pack your jar with the punch!

 Before you put the cucumbers in the lay some dill sprigs, a couple teaspoons of dill seed and 6-8 peppercorns in the bottom of your jar.  As you can see in the photo below I made a few of my jars SPICY! If you'd like to make Spicy Dill Pickles simply slice a jalapeno in 1/4's, remove the seeds and wedge in with the pickles.  The results were delicious!  Buffalo Bleu doesn't even like spicy food, but preferred the Spicy Dill Pickles over regular.  Maybe I'm getting him converted!!  

 In a small sauce pan bring water to a slight boil.  Toss in your jar lids so the seal can soften and seal properly.

Cram your cucumbers tightly into the jar.  Try to squeeze in as many as possible, but don't force them in and  crush or scrape the soft side of the cucumber.

 Finish with another sprig of dill on top.  Look at those yummy little jalapenos in there!!

 Now it's time to add the pickling broth.  Place your funnel on top of the jar and begin ladling in the broth.

My kit also came with a measuring stick.  You want to leave at least a 1/4 inch of headspace between the broth and the jar rim.  The main thing is ensuring your pickles are covered.  If the broth does not cover your pickles you will need to wiggle a knife in and trim them down.  Once you have the perfect amount of broth use a dry towel or paper towel to ripe the rim of the jar.  Don't use a linty towel that could leave remnants in your pickles or along the rim.

 Using your handy dandy magnet stick remove a jar lid from the boiling water.

 Please the lid on top of your jar and tightly screw on the screw band.

After you have enough jars packaged and ready to go, place them in your canning basket and slowly lower them into the boiling water.  Be careful of the hot steam!

 Let the pickles boil for about 15 minutes.

 Tick tock, tick tock.

Remove the jars using the tongs or the you can remove the entire basket as long as your hand won't get burnt via the water or steam!

 Place the jars on a towel or somewhere to seal.  After a few hours the jar lids should concave meaning they are sealed.  If a lid doesn't concave, no biggie!  That just means you have refrigerator pickles and will need to eat them sooner....this is not a bad thing!

 Talk about yummy!!  6 jars canned, 106 to go!