Monthly Archives: August 2010
Mmm… Monday #12: Frozen Berry Jam
If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable – each segment distinct.
~Letty Cottin Pogrebin
It’s been a while since I’ve done an Mmmm… Monday! I’ve had this one sitting in my bank for a while and just haven’t put the post together.
I add a homey touch by putting some fabric and a bow on each of my jam jars given as gifts.
This week, it’s all about jam. Fresh, homemade jam with no preservatives. I’ll never go back to eating store-bought jam again (well, except when I’m at DINFOS where I don’t have the ability to make my own!). I purchased a bread maker about five years ago (against my mom’s advice… oh you’ll never use it that often). I’m so glad I did! When I purchased it, I saw that it had lots of different settings and could make lots of different things. But I didn’t know it could make jam. I looooove my Oster breadmaker.
This recipe came with the breadmaker. It’s awesome. I tend to give jam (and cookies!) away for Christmas. I am always getting asked for this recipe. So here it is:
Frozen Berry Jam
Ingredients
Mixing it all together.
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 (10-12oz) package of frozen berries (raspberries and strawberries are ideal)
- 1 pouch (3oz) liquid fruit pectin
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Directions
- Combine the ingredients into the bread pan.
- Select the “Basic” setting. Press “Start/Stop.” Allow to mix 5-6 minutes, scraping the sides with a rubber spatula. Press “Start/Stop” to cancel.
- Select the “Bake” setting. When the display unit reaches “00:00,” press “Start/Stop” to cancel.
- Using hot pads, remove the bread pan.
- Pour jam into containers; cover.
- Refrigerate to set. Makes approximately 3 cups.
Yeah, that’s it. Four ingredients. Now, I have no idea how you do this without a breadmaker that has these settings, but the mixing is
Mmm... Jam!
just that… gentle mixing so that everything is together. The second set is just a bake setting, which I’m sure you could do on a stove or in an oven. I just don’t know what temperature and how long you would need. The baking setting here lasts exactly an hour.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #10
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
~William Shakespeare
(please feel free to use this!)
Wow! I can’t believe this is our 10th MFF!
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers. So I created a weekly meme. Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday (like today!) and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky below so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. Please leave a comment too! And please feel free to use the button above!
(Please forgive me if I can’t get to visit everyone’s blogs the next few weeks. I am having a hard time accessing my own blog from the Army Internet!)
I was going to feature one question suggested by MFF participants each week, but since you all came up with such great questions last week, I’m going to have to do more than one a week! This week’s questions are:
1. What secret indulgence do you act on while your spouse is away? (from Devil Dog Darling)
Um, not getting dressed and watching pointless TV (like Toddlers and Tiaras… what a trainwreck that I can’t stay away from!). All. Day. Long.
2. If you were a spice, what would you be? (from New Girl On Post)
I would have to say mint. It’s refreshing and clean… and it goes great with chocolate!
3. Where do you go for support when your significant other is deployed? (from Texas Meets Washington)
I would have to say my Twitter friends. They are mostly MilSpouses and are more of a support network than I have in real life.
4. What is the oldest thing you own? (from A Troop’s Girl)
It would have to be the diamond necklace my grandma gave me. Not the necklace, but the diamond. It was the diamond from my great-great aunt’s engagement ring. I was originally going to wear it for my wedding, but after my dad died, I ended up wearing his favorite ring that I had made into a necklace.
5. How did you vision your future pre-military? (from Daddy’s Duty)
Not this, for sure! I never wanted to marry a military man. I wanted the typical American house with my husband working 8-5 and having weekends off. I was hoping (still am) that when we had kids, I could either work part-time or as a full-time stay-at-home mom. We’d have horses (not really possible as a military family), grow up in a small-ish town where everyone knew everyone and you graduated with the kids you went to kindergarten with.
And I sure as HECK never, ever thought in a million years that I’d ever be in the military myself. Never. People I grew up with still don’t believe it.
Now, I am imagining all the possibilities our future kids will have to see the world and learn the importance of honor and duty.
Please don’t forget to add your blog link to Mr. Linky below by clicking on it. But also if you are not participating in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In this week, please do not put your link on there… I will remove it. It is unfair to others who do participate.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-In #10: Questions for Tomorrow
I never had a policy; I have just tried to do my very best each and every day.
~Abraham Lincoln
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers! MilSpouse Friday Fill-in is taking off even better than I could have ever hoped. I learned so much about my fellow bloggers and can’t wait to learn more… and hopefully even MORE will join in as we go.
Here’s the skinny for newcomers about MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins (and when I say MilSpouse, I mean significant others, too!):
Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. And please feel free to use the button above!
I was going to feature one question suggested by MFF participants each week, but since you all came up with such great questions the other week, I’m going to have to do more than one a week! This week’s questions are:
- What secret indulgence do you act on while your spouse is away? (from Devil Dog Darling)
- If you were a spice, what would you be? (from New Girl On Post)
- Where do you go for support when your significant other is deployed? (from Texas Meets Washington)
- What is the oldest thing you own? (from A Troop’s Girl)
- How did you vision your future pre-military? (from Daddy’s Duty)
I can’t wait to see what you all come up with tomorrow!
I’m Still Around!
I am learning all the time. The tombstone will be my diploma.
~Eartha Kitt
**So, yeah… this post was supposed to be put up last week, but due to Internet problems, it didn’t go up until this week! This is driving me nuts!**
I’m still here. It’s not just MilSpouse Friday Fill-ins! I am still having Internet problems on the Army post… but pretty much only related to WordPress and getting to my student drive from my room… the two things I want most!
We are learning a lot. Well, let me rephrase that… they are teaching a lot. Most of this stuff, I have already learned in college (since this is what my degree is in). But, the stuff regarding how the Department of Defense does things and their rules is what I’m actually learning. The rest is a refresher course.
I have learned one very important thing, though. I now can tell the difference between Army and Air Force BDUs from a distance, ya’ll! They are so similar I’ve never been able to tell them apart except when I see the name tape on the front. Well, we have such a joint class (though no Coasties), I now can tell the difference from a huge distance. Yay!
The first weekend we were here, my friend (and shipmate) and I went to Arlington National Cemetery and to the Women in Service Memorial that is there.
Women in Military Service Memorial
My shipmate checking out the photographic displays
Duty, Honor, Country
Hall of Heroes. Flags representing women killed-in-action during OIF/OEF.
After the Women’s Memorial, we headed into the cemetery. We checked out Section 52… the oldest section where Civil War soldiers are buried.
Oldest section of Arlington National Cemetery
Unknown soldiers... and civilians.
Next up, it was John F. Kennedy’s grave along… then onto the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior (changed from Soldier since persons other than soldiers have been added).
J.F.K. burial site and the Tomb of the Unknown
The soldier who guards the tomb is very regimented. It’s 21 steps one way, a 21-second pause, and then 21 steps the other way. Very, very moving.
We even saw the changing of the guard. It’s very intricate and involves a senior NCO coming out and informing the crowd of what is going to happen, then inspecting the rifle and uniform of the incoming guard, and then the change.
21 steps...
A view of downtown D.C. in the background.
NCO comes out to tell us about the ceremony.
Senior NCO brings new guard out after inspecting his rifle and uniform.
Two guards marching together.
Leaving with the relieved guard.
Almost finished.
New guard on patrol.
So many emotions. I was humbled, saddened, in awe and proud all at once. I am so very honored to serve my country in any way I can.
MilSpouse Friday Fill-in #9
A long marriage is two people trying to dance a duet and two solos at the same time.
~Anne Taylor Fleming
(please feel free to use this!)
I love learning more about my fellow MilSpouse bloggers. So I created a weekly meme. Each week, I’ll post a list of questions on Thursday (so you can have your blog ready on Friday). Come back here on Friday (like today!) and enter your blog post into Mr. Linky below so others know who else participated and we can all visit other blogs. Please leave a comment too! And please feel free to use the button above!
(Please forgive me if I can’t get to visit everyone’s blogs the next few weeks. I am having a hard time accessing my own blog from the Army Internet!)
I was going to feature one question suggested by MFF participants each week, but since you all came up with such great questions last week, I’m going to have to do more than one a week! This week’s questions are:
Please don’t forget to add your blog link to Mr. Linky below by clicking on it. But also if you are not participating in MilSpouse Friday Fill-In this week, please do not put your link on there… I will remove it. It is unfair to others who do participate.
