marmalade

 Last week my family and I picked a bunch of plums from the tree outside. Today Laci and I made plum jelly. I think we cut something like 230 plums today and used half for jelly making and froze the other half to use in smoothies over the winter. We're pretty new at canning and making our own treats, but it's so much fun and so rewarding. 

Drizzly goodness

Isn't that color gorgeous? I can't wait to try my hand at more homemade goodies!

Teasicles

I had surgery today. The inside of my mouth could easily rival Frankenstein's monster, it's that tacked up. I have orders not to eat or drink anything hot. My Dr also recommended that I keep some icey treats on hand. I'm not a fan of the super sugary, flavored colored ice pops at the grocery store so I decided to make my own treats.
My love of tea and refusal to give it up during this healing process spurred some creativity today. Of course, I could always ice my hot tea, but sometimes I get a little bored with that. So I made teasicles!

First, I picked my tea. I figured green tea might be a tad bland in icicle form and I really love the cinnamon flavor in Yogi's Kava blend.
Thus, Kava won.
I brewed some water and steeped 2 bags to ensure maximum flavor.

 

I let the tea steep and cool for a while before I poured it into regular ice trays. I put them in the freezer for about 20 minutes before I stuck the sticks in them. The theory is that the semi-solid state will hold the toothpicks upright, but the meds made me a little hasty and sloppy. That's okay though, I'm not really going for aesthetics right now. Then I just waited until they were frozen all the way through.

My toothpicks are all willy-nilly!

Ta-da! Now I have two trays of deliciously iced tea in a miniature form! Have I mentioned I love mini things? Well, I do. These are especially great during the summer, too, since it's blazing outside. I'll keep making and refining these. I think next time I'll try to make an icicle-smoothie treat, complete with brewed tea and blended fruits. Yum!