Ok so in my last post, I mentioned that Jim and I might be getting a little more time at home, and getting a little more odd in our old age. Which is why when we were in severe storm warnings and were watching the coverage, and noticed the cats were also seemingly worried about the weather, I had to take a picture. I was completely amused with them sitting there watching the storm coverage. Only later did I realize there was a moth flying around the TV and that might have been what they were focusing on. Still funny.
Do you know who does not worry about weather? These 2 lazy dogs. They slept through the entire storm warning.
Madison sent this picture and I was blown away by how she looks like a big kid now. Why do babies not stay little?
Trying new things is something that I love. Saving money in our current governmental fiasco is going to be necessary. We may not have master level gardening skills, but I do have a lot of weeds. This week, I happened to see a friend's facebook proclaiming that they had made red bud jelly and that it was delicious. I was not completely sure that was a thing, so I did a little research. Turns out, it is a very real thing, and there were also a bunch of other jellies that can be made with "weeds" from your yard. I reached out to a couple of my "hippy/gardeny" friends, and was overwhelmingly told that red bud jelly is in fact, delicious. Most of them also recommended dandelion jelly as well.
And yes, curiosity got the better of me and I found myself in the yard picking dandelions and red buds. Maude needs to spend time outside anyway, so rather than watching her go potty, I put myself to work. I did have some trouble picking the dandelions, as Maude kept sticking her head in the bowl and eating them. Silly dog!
In both types of jelly, you use the flower to make "tea" and then use the tea for your jelly. As a lifelong lover of pink, this is the prettiest tea I have ever seen! One small problem - I did not have any pectin laying around. I am currently boycotting walmart, amazon, and target. I found a place on line that sells bulk pectin, but the price was incredible. Finally, i remembered that Menards has a canning section. One trip into my favorite store later, and I was set. My friend Dusty came over to help me! We were equally excited about this project. Also, I was overjoyed at having an evening to visit with her!
Red bud jelly is absolutely beautiful. Here are my thoughts on it - I liked it, I don't think I love it. I love the color. I love that I can say I have tried it. I gave Jim a spoonful and he didn't come in the kitchen asking for more, so I am guessing he wasn't overly excited about it either. It has a light floral taste, and a bit of a woodsy, mossy taste. I am not thinking it is something that I will need to make again. Is it terrible? No. But I think there are too many good foods in the world to eat some that are just meh.
On the other hand, I really did like the dandelion jelly. I am not sure we put enough food coloring in it, and I think it could be prettier, but the flavor! It tastes like a buttery honey. I absolutely would make this one again. As a matter of fact, I am planning to make it again. Oh kids - guess what you are all getting for Christmas this year!?!? Jim tried this one as well. He told me that the spoonful was too small or a sample to get a read on how he feels about it. I did some math and we have about $5 in this entire project - less than store bought jelly. And the best part - I got to hang out with my bestie, catching up and laughing like we were 14 again! So much fun!
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