ball

Canning & Eating Sauerkraut – A New Year Tradition

/ Jodi / 43 Comments

canning-saurkraut-processed-jars

On New Year’s Day, Hubby and I canned the homemade sauerkraut we made this year at Krautfest about 12 weeks ago.

canning-saurkraut-marty

In past years, we froze it in Ziploc bags, but we decided to can it this year, and I’m so glad we did.  It tastes so much better this way, and no freezing and thawing.

canning-saurkraut-packed-jars

It was really quite simple to do.  We “cold-packed” it – meaning we did not heat or “cook” the sauerkraut first.  We simply packed the cold sauerkraut in warm, sterile jars and processed them in a hot water bath for 25 minutes.

canning-saurkraut-pot

Easy instructions can be found HERE.

Pork or kielbasa and sauerkraut is a New Year’s dinner tradition in our home and in our area.  Eating it on New Year’s Day is supposed to bring good luck and fortune in the new year.

So eat it we did!  Did you eat yours?

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

Blue Ball: A Charlie Guest Post

/ Jodi / 57 Comments

Charlie blue ball

Woohoo!  It’s Ball Season!

Some of you love baseball.
My family cheers for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

We love football too – if it is the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Right now – our Pittsburgh Penguins are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs,
and though they use a puck instead of a ball, it is still very exciting.

There is also basketball, softball, tennis, golf, volleyball, soccer, wiffle ball, ping pong, bowling, pool, and probably a million other ball games,

but my favorite ball game
(if you don’t count eating meatballs) 

is Blue Ball!

My mom brought out the bucket of blue balls the other day, and boy oh boy did we have fun!

It’s a simple game, but such a BLAST!

Here is how you play it.

Step 1:  Mom throws the ball in the grass.

Step 2:  I run and get it, and then I run back.

Step 3:  Now here is the FUN part….

Sometimes I bring the blue ball back to Mom,
but other times…..  I ZOOOOOOOM right by her and trick her!

Sometimes I bring it to her and drop it….  but (get ready for this!) right when she goes to pick it up,
I grab it first!

And then – (are you ready for this one?)
other times I bring it back – but don’t let go of it, and I make her beg for it.
Sometimes Mom pretends to cry – – –  like I can’t see a fake a mile away!

Other times I let her yank at it for a while and I ferociously (fake of course – but she doesn’t know!) GROWL!

Blue Ball is most fun when you play it by varying up the way you play Step 3 every time.

Isn’t that a great game?!

Hope you have some fun playing whatever kind of ball you like this weekend!

Woofs & Wags,
Charlie

Charlie is an adopted dog with brown eyes and a white-tipped tail who brings joy and laughter to his family and friends.  Charlie is a gifted writer, raving food critic, cat, chipmunk, and donut lover, and exceptionally photogenic model.  Some of his best friends are Mike the UPS Man, Cliff the Mailman, and ANYONE who delivers pizza to the house.   If you would like to read more guest posts by Charlie, simply type “Charlie” into the Search box at the top right hand corner of this link: https://lifeinbetween.me/.   If you would enjoy a companion like Charlie, please consider pet adoption.