What's the opposite of man....JAM!

"Do you remember when you were little and your mom would drop you off at the movies with a jar of jam and a spoon?" -Joe

This post is dedicated to my college roomies :) As most people know, I am obsessed with Friends...I literally watch it every night while eating dinner and I can quote every episode. There isn't a situation in life that can't relate to an episode of Friends. And my college roomies are about the only people I know who share that obsession! So in season three there is The One with the Jam, and I felt like I was in that episode this weekend.

My dad and I (with a little help from my mom) made blackberry jam on Sunday. It was our first attempt at jam and I have to say it was a huge success! We had some old berries frozen from 2008 that needed to be used or thrown out, and since I'm not one to waste good food we decided to see how they tasted in the jam. I was worried they wouldn't be good since they were old but it didn't seem to matter. We used the recipe in the 'jelly powder stuff' box (I don't know what it's really called). It was very easy to make and delicious! We're making more soon!

Also this weekend I got to see my BFF, Dana and her family. My mom and I judged their county fair's baby contest....crazy! Lots of cute babies and it was very hard to pick winners! I also got to see my favorite little boy! Here's a picture of him in one of his birthday presents I got him:

If that doesn't make you smile, I don't know what will :)

"You're so pretty." -Rachel

What's for dinner?

I didn't spend much time in the garden this weekend because I took a road trip down to Kentucky to visit my BFF, Dana, her husband Chad, and their son Anthony (I heart him!)



Sunday afternoon I did spend some time weeding with my dad, aunt Mary, and mom (yep, she helped again...although she was very cranky about it!) We cleaned up the beans, tomatoes, and lettuces. It's looking much better. Dad and Mary like to use tools (tiller or hoe) to weed but I prefer just pulling them out by hand, especially when the ground is still damp from the previous day's rain.

Since we have gotten so much rain lately, I have been eating most meals straight from the garden. A big salad for dinner every night! Sunday nights we always have family dinners at my parents. It's my mom's way to get us all together once a week, not that we need an excuse but the food is always yummy! Last night we had pork chops (well I didn't but everyone else did), a salad, potatoes, and peas. Everything but the meat came from the garden. Such a rewarding feeling!

I decided to lend a hand this week for dinner and cook the peas and potatoes. The snow snap peas were rinsed and the very ends snapped off, then I put them in a big skillet with some olive oil and seasonings. I let them cook on medium for about 10 minutes. They turn bright green when they're done! And they're delicious! You can cook them as long as you'd like but I like them to still have some crunch. Sorry there are no pictures of the end product, it was gone before I could get the camera out. But here's what we started with....




Even though the potatoes aren't done yet, we dug some up and they were excellent! I tried something new with them. I baked them in the oven on 425 in a glass dish that had been sprayed with Pam. Then I washed the potatoes and cut them into slices without completely cutting them apart. Then I melted some butter, added some chives (also from the garden) and seasonings and spread it on top. I baked them for about an hour but I could have put foil on top the whole time to speed up the process. I actually got a picture of the last two before I ate them. I'll definitely use this recipe again!


Just for fun:
My mom says the funniest things so I thought I'd start adding some of them to the blog. Here's her quote from last night:
We were watch a home improvement show and they were remodeling a boat house. They added fans with misters in them to help it stay cool and keep away the bugs. My mom said:
"Won't you get wet with mister?" No...really, mom! I love her!