Homemade Ketchup

I have had quite a few people ask for this recipe so here it is!

12 pounds of tomatoes
3oz salt not iodized
3 pounds of sugar
3 T ground allspice (you can add more if you want)
3 cups apple cider vinegar
4 T crushed garlic

Wash and cut up tomatoes and put into a stainless steel pot. Mix the rest of the
ingredients together and pour over the tomatoes. Cook on medium heat for 3 hours stirring frequently. Pour into a blender and blend till smooth then put back in the pot
for 30 minutes on a higher heat stirring frequently. Pour into jars and put lids on should seal themselves. Makes a gallon

I love the canning season!

I love the summertime when canning season is here. I am so grateful to my grandma for teaching my mom how to bottle things. I have learned from them both and now I am able to do it on my own. I lucked out to be able to have a small garden spot this year at our bishop's house. I think I would make my mom proud with what I have done. I was invited to go to our relief society presidents house and pick out of their garden while they are away on a vacation. They have such a big garden with loads of food how lucky was I to be able to pick somethings:) Today I made a double batch of zucchini bread and some homemade ketchup. Its really good and you would be suprised how regular ketchup is no longer appealing. I was going to take some pictures to put with this post but, my batteries ran out so its just writing today sorry. I made some blueberry jam for the first time ever and I am hoping to make some blackberry too! I am also going to bottle pears and freeze some corn. There is nothing better then fresh fruits and veggies from the garden. That's really all I am up to this week so not to exciting but time consuming! I hope your week is going pretty good! I am going to a fun event on the weekend and I will be sure to have my camera so I can get lots of pictures. So please come back and visit!

Fitness Challenge

Our ward has been doing a fitness challenge all summer to try and keep us in shape! I haven't been the best at doing as much as I can but have tried. Yesterday to end the event they had a 2k walk or 5k run down at Bryant park. I am not a very good runner so I signed up to do the walk and it was lots of fun! I had my roommate trish walk with me and we walked with another lady from our ward who had twins she was pushing! It looked like quite a workout! They had a great breakfast of fruit and muffins afterward. I posted a few pictures from the fun event. Maybe if I train now I can do the 5k next year!

Garden time

Our bishop let us use his garden boxes this year since he was focusing on his landscape and we grew 2 different kinds of squash and some tomatoes and watermelon. The squash and tomatoes have been doing great but we haven't seen much out of the watermelon. Nothing tastes better then straight from the garden! Its worth all the sweat just to enjoy these:)

Gooey Brownies

3 cups sugar
1/2 cup + 1 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups melted butter
5 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
Mix together and spread on a buttered cookie sheet (standard stainless steel). Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 30 minutes. Be sure to not overcook. Frost
Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
3 1/2 tsp cocoa
6 TBsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
Powdered Sugar--I have never measured. I just add until I get the consistency I want. If it becomes too thick I just add a little more milk.
Boil together, remove from heat and add powdered sugar. You can add nuts into the frosting or sprinkle on top if you would like. These are very rich but oh so good!

thoughts

I have been thinking quite a bit how fragile life is and how much I truly have. My cousin has had extreme health issues and had to have 1/3 of her lung cut out that was full of cancer. They have found more and I cant imagine the amount of pain she must be in. I have been so fortunate to have very few health issues. I am just so grateful to have the gospel in my life and to be a member of the church. I cant imagine going through trials without having the love and support of a loving heavenly father. Its such an amazing amount of peace that comes from that love. Just a random post but i wanted to write what was on my mind.

34 years and 34 random things about me

I have been thinking of things to post about for my birthday and I thought it might be fun to post 34 random things that most of you might not know since I am turning 34! I hope you enjoy reading a bit more about me...

1. I love Gerber daisies
2. I love animals but am allergic to anything with fur.
3. I went to Disneyland twice last year since I had so much fun!
4. I am a cookbook junkie and own around 30 cookbooks
5. my favorite vacation was going to see the church sites in Nauvoo with
my family.
6.I was in the marching band in high school and loved it!
7. I know how to play the flute,piano and bells
8. I would rather clean other peoples homes then my own
9. I fell off the back of the couch when I was 2 and broke my leg in 3 spots
10. I love to walk but hate running
11. I love to play games and could do it non stop
12. my favorite color is red
13. my gall bladder almost burst 3 years ago
14. my cousins husband is my dentist
15. I love to travel and usually go on at least 2 vacations a year
16. I am a very emotional person and cry at least once a day
17. I love to cook especially for my friends
18. The most I have cooked for by myself is 325 people
19. My movie collection is mostly Disney movies
20. I want to live in the mountains someday in a cabin
21. I saved someone by giving them CPR
22. I love the elderly and consider my grandparents my really good friends
23. I made 8 lap quilts in one day
24. When I was younger my mom had me in piano, dance, tennis, bowling and singing lessons
25. My dreams come true 1/2 of the time
26. I almost didn't graduate high school
27. I have moved 27 times in my life
28. I have had 40 shots in my toes in one year for ingrown toenails
29. I hate fish and seafood
30. I want to own a bed and breakfast
31. I was engaged once
32. I was named after a movie star
33. I have 10 books about September 11th
34. I am very patriotic and my favorite holiday is 4th of July!

Well there you have it. I hope this wasn't too boring and you learned something about me you didn't know. Thanks for supporting me all these years and reading my blog too. I love to read your comments you leave.

Just this and that...

I cant believe that its already August! What happened to the summertime? Its been awhile since I blogged and for really no reason except... It was really hot and I didn't feel like turning on the computer and having it let out heat to add to the problem. My roommate and I have had non stop visitors which I love but sometimes its hard to stay caught up on everyday life. I am still looking for a job which is really frustrating especially when you think you are qualified and others have a different idea. I am looking forward to eating a ripe tomato out of the garden this weekend and some squash! I love the endless amounts of fresh fruits and veggies available. I almost make myself sick eating so many but thats ok! I am also getting excited to move into a brand new apartment! There is just something great about living somewhere that nobody else has been or touched. That is just a little bit of what the summer has been like. I promise in between the company to post some pictures but for now its nice to just enjoy the summer days...