Canning Homemade!: Canning Raspberry delight -

Canning Homemade!: Canning Raspberry delight -: This is the best raspberry jam we have ever had!  Thanks to SBCanning for her great recipe, this will be gifted to family and friends this Christmas!



Raspberry Vanilla Jam

2 - 6oz packages of Raspberries
1 vanilla bean - split in half
1 cup sugar (3 T. Flex batch pectin) 
OR
3 cups sugar(1 package of powdered pectin)

In a dutch oven or stainless steel pot add the berries and sugar. Add the vanilla bean by splitting in half and removing the pods inside and adding them to the berries. You can add the whole split bean but remember to remove the empty bean before you add the pectin. The bean will give the recipe additional flavor as well. Cook on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Bring the recipe up to a boil. Add the pectin, return to a full boil for one minute. Turn off heat. Skim foam if needed. 

Using sterilized jars ladle the recipe into 4 half pint jars, remove air bubbles and refill to 1/4" headspace. Using a wet paper towel clean rims, add heated lids and add rings. Process in the water bath at a full boil for 10 minutes. Turn off heat, wait five minutes and remove jars and set on dish towel on the counter overnight. The next day label your jars and remove rings for storage.

Lazy Blogger

I haven't blogged in awhile. I have been so busy making soap, selling soap, and working on marketing, etc. Have lots to say...Will be posting about dinner at Seafare Inn, La Habra soon. They have the BEST fried clams locally...pic and story soon, promise.

Bellflower/Long Beach Elks Lodge

Tonight I met a couple friends at the Bellflower Elks Lodge for their weekly "Cook your own steak" dinner. It was so much fun! The food was amazing and such a deal! The cost is $9.50 per person and that includes everything. There were several cuts of steak to choose from (I had a T-bone), or you could have a nice fillet of salmon if you prefer. They provide all the kinds of seasonings you could want for your meat and a terrific indoor barbeque grill. Before we cooked up our steaks, we had a wonderful salad from their salad bar, and there was even soup too (tho I didn't have any). So, with the steaks on the grill I proceeded over to the crockpots to see what else there was. Oh YUM...Baked potatoes and all the fixins, zucchini, & barbequed beans. All this AND it includes your beverage and a little piece of cake. Killer deal and super casual. The people there are so nice...

If you have never been to the Elks Lodge and was ever wondering why on earth you should, this is certainly reason enough. Well, and then there's the FANTASTIC breakfast the last Sunday of every month. Stay tuned for THAT review in a couple weeks!

Quantum of Solace

Well, it was Movie Night at the budget theater again! This time we went to see the Bond flick, Quantum of Solace. Not a bad movie! Of course, we laughed and laughed (as usual) at the interesting people and the strange noises they make. :)

Behind us...we hear someone sucking the popcorn from their teeth repeatedly, a family of like 9 crunching and munching popcorn and sunflower seeds (and throwing them on the floor, ICK). Of course no budget movie is complete without the young teen couple that chose to sit very close to the screen and then awkwardly kiss and flirt during the movie. HEY, SIT IN THE BACK OF THE THEATER NEXT TIME. haha, but then we vowed we would sit in the back too!

Next week we get new movies there...wonder what we'll see! Stay tuned!

Dinner @ Mr. V's last night

YUMMY! Another great meal at Mr. V's. They have nightly specials for $19.95 that change frequently. Last nights specials were:

Rib Eye Steak, Prime Rib, Full Rack of baby back ribs, Salmon or Halibut. Each meal includes sides (vegetables, choice of potato *I recommend their baked*, corn on the cob, etc) and either soup or salad! It's a killer deal and the food is fabulous.

Great food, reasonable prices. Try it sometime...you will be so glad you did!

Transporter 3 at the $2.00 movies

I got my $2.00 worth tonight. Had a great time with a girlfriend for under $20...but seriously, the movie was an action flick but we laughed a lot. I'll have to try that driving on 2 wheels between 2 semi-trucks maneuver next time I'm stuck on the 5fwy!

However, Jason Stratham has a HOT bod. That was the best part of the movie! ;)

All cat's have 9 lives...

I decided that it might be a good idea to have a place other than Kitty's Life to talk about things other than soap! Since all cats have 9 lives, this is blog is 2 of 9! Who knows what the other 7 lives will be doing, but I can assure you it will be interesting!