Last year I started a little fairy garden and it was so much fun that I HAD to let more fairies come to live! Of course, more fairies means more houses, etc. Since my fairy garden is all in potting bowls sitting on cement pavers, I needed more containers. Off to the pottery store! Being the cheapskate, no, thrifty person that I am, I asked if there was any broken pottery that could work for my project. I found a beautiful, large bowl with a substantial crack up the side AND a loose piece broken off in the bottom. The price was right- just $20 for a pot that could have been well over $100. The nice man at the store told me to wet the pottery well and then apply Gorilla Glue along the cracks. Gorilla Glue is
wonderful! I followed his directions and, voila! The pot is solid and water proof! My only problem was that I didn't follow the directions on the bottle of glue as well as I should have. Directions say to apply stringently, as the glue expands 2-3 times in volume as it cures. I wanted to make sure it held well, so I applied more than I needed to apply. Results: I have a yellow bead showing on the outside of the pot. Oh, well. I just turn that pot so that the imperfection doesn't show! I have a very large and very beautiful pot for my growing fairy garden!

My oops!!!

Strawberry Rhubarb pie filling canning project

The rhubarb in our garden was planted last year. Directions say that you should wait a year before harvesting any stalkers, so I impatiently waited. This year the plant is huge and producing well enough that I pulled enough stalks to can strawberry rhubarb pie filling. Wow, it is good and good looking!
Here is my recipe:
6 C. Rhubarb cut into 1 inch pieces
10-11 C. Fresh strawberries quarter or halves, depending on size
3 cups granulated white sugar
1 cup clear gel or cornstarch ( which ever you prefer. I like the clear gel. I think it holds up better as the product stands on the shelf through the winter)
9 cups of water
Juice of 1 lemon
Red food coloring
2-3 teaspoons of grated orange rind (optional)
First thing- after preparing the fruit, get a water bath going to process the bottled fruit. For more information about home canning, go to freshpreserving.com
In a large pot, mix the sugar and clear jell until thoroughly blended. Add the water and cook, stirring constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. It will be quite thick! Add the fruits and return to a boil. Lower heat to keep the mixture warm, but not boiling. You don't want the fruits to over-cook!
Add the lemon juice and orange rind (if you like), and red food coloring to your preference of color.
Ladle into quart jars leaving 1 inch of headspace. Don't skimp on the headspace as this mixture really expands! Process quarts for 25 minutes. I got about 7 quarts from this recipe. I made some extra and made a big tart, or as I call it, a lazy pie! I will post more about that another day!