FloJo

It seems as though everyone is into canning in my circle these days, when did that happen? I don't know anything about canning other than the fact that it seems to be a hot hot hot adventure in the kitchen. A few things might be contributing to this phenomenon such as; high cost of groceries, more of my friends participating in farm shares, or even planting a garden (way to go Jen and Abby). I am a huge fan of the fresh veggies but you have to do something with them, and there is no way you can eat the whole farm share every week even if you split it with someone. I do find it a little less scary to freeze the veggies, maybe it's time I find an inexpensive chest freezer. I do remember Grandma Harvey canning and making lots of jellies and jams and marmalade (oh my!). I do remember Mom making jelly and jams as well but I don't think she canned a lot of veggies. I think it was the same for Patti Jo, mostly jelly and jam and frozen corn. I grew up eating a lot of store bought c...

Every time I open up those recipe boxes I am overwhelmed by emotion. I still can't believe that Patti is no longer with us down here on earth. I really wanted to organize the recipes with Patti Jo and I still find myself wanting to call her and ask for a recipe...or just ask her advice on something I am trying to create. I hate to admit that I still have Patti Jo's cell number in my phone, how do you delete something like that? Patti told me on several occasions that she really liked being the oracle of all family recipes. I would call her and ask for a recipe, write it all down with the intention of keeping it, but I would still call the next time I needed it. I can't tell you how many times I called her to ask for "The Banana Bread" recipe. The silly thing is that you can Google the crap out of banana bread recipes and they are all pretty much the same. It didn't matter, I needed that damn recipe from Mom...which it turns out was from Faye, a friend of Mom...

This was one of my favs growing up...who knew it was so easy to make. The other night, I walked up to my corner store with Brenda (friend, roommate, and champion Wheel of Fortune player) and Tanner (Brenda's ginormous dog who we call handsome) to buy the marshmallows for the recipe. I remember mom making this when I was a kid...she would roll the caramel popcorn into a ball about the size of a kids hand and wrap them in plastic wrap to be eaten with lunches and sometimes given out as part of a Halloween treat bag. So simple to make and quite a treat. Caramel Corn In a big fix & mix bowl, fill 1/2 full of popped corn In a heave sauce pan 1 stick Oleo (I use butter, not a fan of margarine...sorry Mom) 1/2 cup dark brown sugar 8 large marshmallow Melt over low heat & beat. When smooth, pour over popcorn and toss (I use a wooden spoon to stir it). I included a picture of the recipe card written by my Mom, Florence.