Canned Pickles in 24 Hours!

This year my parents have been sending me tons and tons of cucumbers and we can never seem to eat them all without them going bad. My oldest son Sean said something about wanting some pickles and was going to try something. Instead my Mr. Sexy decided to go buy stuff for canning pickles and he wanted to do it fast. 
I am from a farming family and my mother canned every single year but to have pickles in less than 24 hours seemed crazy to me unless you just like vinegar and cucumbers but you still have to eat those fast. 
My Mr. Sexy got online and found a recipe! 

Cucumbers
Canning Salt
Vinegar
Water
Ground Coriander Seed
Fennel Seed
Bay Leaves
Dill Weed
Pepper Corn
Sugar
The boys cut up the cucumbers into chip slices and then put them in the colander, rinsed them off and then sprinkled with canning salt or however much you think. This was all measured out by sight and instinct I guess. You let the cucumbers sit with this salt on it for 15 to 30 minutes. The cucumber will absorb the salt and break down a bit.

While this is going on bring your vinegar and water to boil-Equal parts.(about 2 cups to 2 cups) Add in your desired seasonings which you see our list above. With your sugar add more for a sweeter brine or less for a picklier brine. Around 1/4 cup. Bring it all to a boil.

Stuff your jars with the cucumbers and pour the brine over them into the jar! You want to cover your cucumbers. In one of the jars the boys added jalapenos to the cucumbers. The recipe says to let sit uncovered for a bit, we did not do this. We put the lids on the jars while they were still hot. Guess what? They sealed. All but the one that was not full. 

 There we have it! Some fast easy pickles


I was not expecting them to taste very well but to my surprise they do! The boys did an awesome job. 
If you want to try this yourself feel free to repin THIS PIN

Happy HomeMaker Monday 6/28/14 Edition

It is Monday once again and I have failed to post throughout last week. But that is okay. I will make up for it...Or will I? 

Today I am joining in over at Diary Of A Stay at Home Mom for the Happy Homemaker Monday post: 

Breakfast time: Well I am not pointing fingers but someone was not up in time for any breakfast activities. My breakfast is Pepsi. The older boys can fend for themselves and the little one had pop-tarts. He could not wait to get those in his hands yesterday when we went to the grocery store. 

On Todays To Do List: Participate in Logans ABA therapy, gets some blogging done and maybe jump in the pool for a bit. 

The weather outside: HOT HOT HOT!! I live in Arkansas so its HOT--To be fair my weatherbug says it is only 83 outside at the moment and it is noon thirty. We are expecting it to hit 90. Arkansas summers are usually unbearable but this summer has been kind of mild. 

On the Menu this week: Am I a slacker because I do not like to cook? My Mr. Sexy(found this label on another bloggers post so I am stealing it) does most of the cooking. I like to cook in the winter..I am a crock pot addict. Anyway I know we are having stuffed pepper tonight and then Beans from my parents garden Tuesday night. Wednesday I am thinking we might go out to eat somewhere. We hardly ever do that. It would be a nice change. The rest of the week we have NO idea. We need to go grocery shopping by then. 

If I have a few minutes to myself I will: Blog of course or do some crocheting. I had been working on a blanket for the baby that we were expecting but since the miscarriage I have not picked it back up. I think I will work on it this week. It will be Logans blanket if he wants it. He carries one around with him everywhere he goes anyway so maybe he would choose this one to carry. 

In the garden: Tomatoes are still not ripening on our vines and my cucumbers look pitiful. I just dont think we have the right dirt here for it. But on the other end, my parents garden...Its abundant in produce. 

Favorite Photo from Camera:

Logan dove into this ice cream on Saturday. He has never ever even had an interest in ice cream before!! We were so proud of him. Whether he does this again we shall see!!

Bean Picking Time--Its the Simple Things In Life

Sometimes its the simple things that can take a humans breath away. Nothing that costs a million dollars, extravagant vacations, fancy cars or houses. In other words "keeping up with the Joneses or these days its more like keeping up with the Kardashians.  

This weekend we got back to basics. We seem to do that when we visit my parents. Not only is it being with family but the things we do as a family. For some reason seeing the kids and my Eric participate in something that I did every year of my childhood brought a smile to my face. And of course I had to break out the camera! 

It was day with no electronics, no phones or anything of that. The kids and Eric did learn a thing or two about growing and harvesting your own food! Eric also learned a few terms of the south I guess you could say. We were picking the green beans which were on their last leg and produced about all they could. It was either my sister or my dad that said "There is enough there for a good mess." Eric of course gets the puzzled look on his face and asks me "Ok let me pretend that I am from the city and I have no idea what was just said, what in the heck is a mess." We all look at him like he is crazy and I bust out laughing. For those of you that don't know what this term means, it means you have enough for a meal....Showing my family how our family functioned while growing up makes me feel like I am accomplishing something. I think it is an important skill to know how to grow, harvest and cook your own food! 

Its Bean Picking Time

The New and Improved Pinto Bean

Even Gizzy got in on the action but got tired really quickly

Your not being a kid right unless you get dirty!

After all the work done we enjoyed just chatting under a shade tree while momma "shelled the beans" or "removed them from the pods." The kids ran around with water guns and played in the pool a bit. It was a perfect Saturday and it was all simple! The simple things in life take my breath away. Now its all back to the normal hustle and bustle of the week! Have a great one everyone. 


Linking with
Simple as That for-Simple Things Sunday
Shine the Divine for I heart Macro

How Is My Garden Growing?

Well Ill be honest, its not really a garden. It is just two cucumber plants and two tomato plants. Yellow tomato for my Eric and a normal one for me and a Lemon cucumber for him and a normal one for me :-) About a month ago all my plants almost drowned. I have awful drainage and it rained for days. I saved them and now they are beautiful. There is just something about checking on them everyday and seeing new growth. I can not wait until they start producing!!

Linking up with
No Rules Weekend Blog Party
What Has Made Me Happy This Week?

The Good, The Random and the Fun 6-16-2014

The Good

Oh yes it has happened. 

The Random
I have been complaining a lot lately about my plants dying due to all the rain. I uprooted a few and put them in buckets since the ground they were in had poor drainage. After awhile of me being disappointed and me giving them some care I think they will make it after all!!

The Fun

One of his favorite things to do :-)

Link up HERE