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[PamsPride]

Tattler lids:
http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/


I printed off all the pages to the website and dropped them off to the Amish store so I am hoping she will order them in!

We had a great time camping! It was cold a couple of the days so the kids only got to go swimming one day. A friend from church, Kathy, has her camper there for the season and she took us out on her boat two days to go fishing. That was a LOT of fun! The kids were pulling in fish left and right! So Kathy filleted the the fish and we breaded them and fried them for dinner yesterday. 22 perch and 2 Bluegill. YUM!! Fresh fish is the best!
8 yo biffed it on the pavement today and got some major road rash on his face and shoulder like 2 hours before we left today. Poor guy!
I think my kiddos favorite part of the camping trip was the showers!! I kid you not! LOL! The older three boys took at least TWO showers a day and my 8 yo took THREE showers a day a couple of the days! The showers were huge and the hot water was ENDLESS!!! With two showers in each shower house and two shower houses in just our section there was never a line for the shower and they could stay in as long as they wanted without someone yelling at them to hurry up or the hot water running out!
Ok, we have an 80 gallon electric hot water tank and if you are 4th in line you are pretty much getting a warm at best shower. There is always someone telling you to hurry up and get out because 4 more people need to get a shower before we have to go somewhere. So endless hot water with FANTASTIC water pressure is a luxury!!

I refuse to camp in the summer too! I swear we had the whole camp to ourselves for three of the days! My kids were the ONLY kids Tues/Wed/Thurs. Friday the kids poured in in droves! I could hardly find my kids and we could not just let them ride their bikes where they wanted to. We had the absolute best campsite in the whole park!! From our site we could clearly see the beach, playground, (closest) bathroom, fishing dock, and had a straight away piece of road for the kids to ride their bikes on. The camp was practically empty, except a few older people. The kids could ride all over our section of the camp and we could see them! I am going to have to make sure I call and reserve this spot for next year because it was a lake front site and I can not believe it was not already reserved! I told the kids we will try and go the week after Labor Day again next year.
The only part I did not like was the running home twice a day. I felt like I missed out on a lot of camping time because it took over an hour each time...half hour drive each way plus milking, feeding, and lock up/letting out chickens. Breakfast was really late each day because they waited until I got back and then I was to tired to sit around the campfire for very long after I got back in the evening. Next year I will have to dry the goats off before our vacation so I can have someone else, like my mom, brother, or neighbor let the chickens in and out and make sure they all have food and water.

We used the new mop bucket to squeeze out all of our blankets and sleeping bags when we washed them by hand when we got home today and it worked great!!! A lot of them smelled like smoke from the campfire because it was so windy nearly the whole time we were there and smoke got blown toward the tents a lot!

 

[keljonma]

I ended up putting like 25 quarts of corn in the freezer.

We are camping all this week. So far everything has gone really well and the kids are just loving! We are home right now because we went to Linesville to the fish hatchery, then a Cherry Valley bulk goods store, and then DH's Uncle's farm for a visit, and then home. The kids wanted to go to their Ranger classes tonight because this is their first day in their new classes for all but one of them. (4 out of 6 kids aged up to the next class, the baby is still in the nursery.)

We went to the Cherry Valley Amish bulk goods store and they actually carried 1/2 gallon jars! WOOT! So I picked up a dozen! I want to get one more dozen and then I will be set for canning a years worth of spaghetti sauce! I also talked to the clerk about getting the TATTLER lids in. She had never heard of them and she does not have a computer so I printed the info off of their website and I am hoping to go back over by there tomorrow since it is not to far from where we are camping.

Don't ya just love the selection of goods at Cherry Valley Amish Bulk Store & Furniture?! I think TR & I were there the day before you were. I was there for dry goods (flour, grains...not anything fun like canning jars ). I think Lizzie, Levi and their children are wonderfully helpful, and their prices are much better than the other 2 bulk stores at this end of the county.

Do you subscribe to Ball's canning preservation site? They just emailed me a $1 off coupon on a case of Ball or Kerr canning jars and variety.

I cleaned out our church kitchen on Saturday and came home with 2 one-gallon glass pickle jars. I'm going to use them for sauerkraut.

 

[PamsPride]

Great find with the gallon jars! I eat pickles JUST for the gallon glass jars!

We are into our 3rd full day of homeschooling. It is a going to be a LOOOONG year! I can just feel it! This is the first year I will have 5 kids to home school at once. On Monday my MIL had my 5 and yo so it was just the older 3 boys and the baby. The baby was as good as gold while the older three did school work. Then Tuesday my 8 yo distracted himself and the rest nearly the whole day! I finally got him to finish his school work just before bed time! The baby kept crawling up onto the table and scribbling on 5 and 8 yo school work!
So today I had my 15 yo's work all set up and ready for him and had him get up at 7....He got up at 6:30 all on his own and got his work done by 10 so I had 11 yo watch the baby until my oldest was done and then he did his work. My 5 yo just cried and whined all day today! She did fantastic yesterday!
I am hoping tomorrow is a better day!

I am also going to TRY to get some more canning done tomorrow. Not holding my breath on that though. LOL!

 

[PamsPride]

Is attempting to make ketchup and BBQ for the first time! I think I am pretty much sick of spaghetti sauce. I picked three more bushels of tomatoes today. I am thinking that will be it for the tomatoes!

School went really good today! My 15 yo got up at 6:30 and got his school work done by 8:30 and I gave him more work today than yesterday! When I got up to milk my 11 and 13 yo were doing their school work!! When I came in from milking my 15 yo was making pancakes for everyone! 5 and 8 yo listened much better today!

 

[PamsPride]

I made 15 pints of BBQ sauce, 11 half pints of Ketchup and 9 cupcake size jars of Ketchup.

The older three boys are headed off to camp for the weekend. I have to pick them up tomorrow for a family photo and then take them back. Thankfully where we are having the photos taken is only a block from camp but we have to bring them home so they can get showers and cleaned up first.
I have been wanting to get a family photo done since my dad is not in great health. Plus I wanted to get a fleece blanket for my MIL with us and DH's side of the family in it for Christmas. I can't believe how many people in my family are being a PITA about getting the photo taken! My BIL and his wife refuse to come at all! She has issues. I won't even go into it about others as that person may be reading this. So, if my BIL and his wife complain that THEY are not on the photo blanket or that I should have picked another Christmas gift.... So it will just be MIL and us on her blanket for Christmas. My MIL is near impossible to buy for and I saw this in Walmart when I was getting my 2148 (actual number of) pictures put onto CD's so I could get my camera card cleared off.

I am really crushed about my half gallon jars! I was reading on another forum and apparently they are ONLY for grape or apple juice canning or storing dry goods!! They are not recommended for spaghetti sauce or ANY kind of pressure canning!

I am pretty much completely out of jars and I have not even canned any chili or veggie beef soup for DH for his lunches for work, or any applesauce or pears! I did 85 quarts of just pears last year! As we have emptied the pears and applesauce from last year I used them up for spaghetti sauce!

 

[TanksHill]

So whats the deal with the 1/2 gallon jars? Do you need to re can that sauce or did it seal? I know you worked so hard on those. That's a total bummer.

Homeschooling, ugg I don't know how you do it. Your kids are sure easy going when it comes to school work and there responsibilities. Do you want my 3 for the year? I think rotating them throughout the day sounds like it's working well.

Your fleece blanket sounds great. I hope the picture turns out. I have a bunch of fleece I bought to make those knotted blankets this year. I better get moving on those.

Is the top flat on those tattler lids plastic? Have you used them before? Sorry if I missed that part.

Have a great day!

gina

 

[PamsPride]

Yes, they all sealed and there is no way I am recanning them! I will continue to use them for spaghetti sauce anyway.

Posts: 706
Per USDA/NCHFP FAQs:


Frequently Asked Canning Questions
General

What can I process in half-gallon canning jars?

At least one canning jar manufacturer is selling half-gallon canning jars. That manufacturer has a printed note on the top that says half-gallon jars are only used for some highly acidic foods in a boiling water canner, with instructions to call a toll-free number for the instructions. When we last called, the only choices are grape juice and apple juice, as we also recommend.

The only processes that USDA, the National Center for Home Food Preservation and the University of Georgia have to recommend for half-gallon jars are for very acidic fruit juices (and juice only): Apple Juice (http://www.homefoodpreservation.com/...ple_juice.html) and Grape Juice (http://www.homefoodpreservation.com/...ape_juice.html). This process time is not to be used for tomato juice, for example.

There are no other research-tested processes for half-gallon jars. Boiling water processes for other foods for jars larger than those published with recipes (usually pints and/or quarts) cannot be extended by any formula to a larger jar.

We are aware that there are historical recommendations for canning foods in half-gallon jars. However, these are not currently accepted or endorsed by the USDA, Cooperative Extension System or U.S. manufacturers of home canning jars.



My 8 yo is still being distracting about school but getting better. My older 3 are doing really good though so that helps a lot!
I believe the Tattler lids are flat. I do know that you do NOT get the 'ping' sound when they seal.
I was given some fleece a while back and I was thinking about getting some coordinating fleece and making a tie off blanket too! I got a HUGE tied off fleece blanket at a Christmas gift exchange from my friend Betty and it is SO WARM and comfy!! Totally worth the time and effort to get them done!

My next project...some time soon, not right away though....is making some FCF outfits for my boys! Part of their Ranger camp out is a Frontier thing. The FCF camp is like 3 camp outs a year and they dress like Frontiers men. Lots of tanned hides and such too. The tents are set up just like you would see at a Civil War reenactment.

 

[TanksHill]

Oh, how cute. If you find a link on the period costume, I would love to see them.

That's odd about those 1/2 gallon jars. I would just boil the heck out of the sauce when you use it. Use your nose when you open them..

When our wall mart started to close down their fabric section the cut the price on all of their fleece. At the time I thought the blankets would be great x mas gifts for my nephews and nieces. I have done 1 out of 8. But I did buy a new rotary cutter and blade. It should make the cutting go much faster.

How are your goats doing???

gina

 

[PamsPride]

I am in serious want!!!
http://auctions.findtarget.com/detail_product/230496353461/clothing/

Trying to find and outfit for the boys and I came across this dress and I totally want one!!!

And for the boys think everything Sully wore on Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.
http://drquinnmd.com/gallery/photoalbum.html

My goaties are doing great!! I am still trying to find a pure Nubian buck so I can get them bred!

 

[TanksHill]

I love that show. I have not thought of it in forever!!! The dress link did not work.

Your boys should be pretty easy to dress. I can't wait to see what you come up with.
gina