Cortney's cup of hot cocoa this morning.( the list to the left is her church youth groups fundraiser sheet, they sold frozen braided sweet bread)
The snow we received a few days ago melted, but this morning we woke to more and it's still snowing.
Beyond the BBQ, in the garden are our carrots and potatoes, still in the ground. It's fore casted to be cold tonight and then a warm front is headed our way. Praying it helps to dry our soil enough to get our spuds and carrots out of the ground and into the cellar.
Cortney loves the snow, without dog prints through it, so quick snapped this before they'd had the chance to race all over it.( this is our front yard)
The stock pot is half full( cooked down tomato sauce, from a full pan) of now enchilada sauce. The side it's setting on is the simmering spot, to the left directly over the firebox closest to the back splash is the hottest spot. When you have a wood cookstove you learn quickly all the temp. zones*wink*

After using some of the sauce for our enchiladas the other night, we still ended up with 10 pints of sauce canned. The mill is a Victorio mill and I've had it for over 13 yrs.( ordered in 1996) It was a big purchase back then, and my original sales receipt from Lehman's total was $77.85( that included the extra cost of a salsa screen). It was worth every penny! If you've never had the opportunity to use one it's well worth the $55+ s/h today. The berry screen takes out even 90% of the strawberry seeds. It is one of our favorite kitchen tools, manual, but makes life so much easier. The design has changed and it is no longer called the Victorio, but it still works the same. Some tools are an expensive investment, but in our experience they are worth it.

Today Cortney has already sorted through the tomatoes for the ripe and ready ones. We'll be running these through the mill, cooking down the sauce and making Chili Sauce for you guessed it a pot of chili as well as canned pint jars for later use.

Chili Sauce from Stocking Up

4 qt tomato sauce( if you like your sauce chunky add chopped peeled and chopped tomatoes)

2c. chopped sweet red pepper

2c. chopped onion

2 cloves garlic; minced

2 dried hot chili peppers finely chopped( we substitute 1-1/2 Tbsp chili powder)

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 Tbsp. celery seeds

1 Tbsp. mustard seeds

1 whole bay leaf

2 sticks cinnamon( 3" long)

1 tsp. whole cloves

1/2 c, honey

3c. cider vinegar

combine tomato sauce, sweet peppers, onions, garlic, hot peppers, ginger and nutmeg in a large stainless steel stock pot

Tie; celery seed, mustard seed, bay leaf, cloves, and cinnamon in a cheese cloth bag, add to tomato mixture. Bring to a boil, uncovered until volume is reduced to half.(2-3 hours) Stir frequently to prevent sticking. Remove spice bag, add honey and vinegar, return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly. Simmer for 5 minutes

Can or freeze. Pour hot into sterilized pint jars, leaving 1/4" head space. Seal and process 35 minutes in a boiling water bath.

This is so handy to have, along with canned beans, all you need to do is fry some burger, add ingredients together and heat thoroughly, serve up with a fresh pan of homemade cornbread or corn muffins.

Cortney is signed up for a beading class(wire wrapping an pendant) in the city for tonight( 6-8:30 pm), but.... we'll have to see what the roads are like( BIG chicken here*gulp*) and we've been listening to the emergency radio all morning and there have been several wrecks in our area, so roads are most likely slick. The sun is coming out, so we'll watch and see if they dry off, it's stopped snowing as of now. If they are dry I'll chance it, but if wet, forget it because they'll surely freeze by nightfall and be black ice.

Well.... I'd better get to work on the next batch of sauce,Cortney's run it through the mill and has it simmering on the wood stove, the stove is just the right temp to simmer it down.

May your day be blessed and pray for good roads for us, will ya?