Welcome to the very first how-to on Carries Sweet Life. This how-to is courtesy of my lovely mother. She makes Adam strawberry jam every year. He looks forward to it every year. We go pick fresh berries she makes the jam and then we freeze it. Going through about a jar every couple weeks. Adam swears by this jam!!!!

This year we picked 22 3/4 pounds of strawberries… thats a lot of berries!!! We used about 20 pounds for jam, and then we saved the rest to eat, bake and freeze.

Although I don’t like strawberries aren’t those some pretty berries.

To start you need to hull and wash all the berries, my mom enlisted my Grandmas help.

Then you put them in a bowl and use a potato mashed to smash the potatoes, to small chunks.

The berries after being smashed, we did some very small chunks and some bigger chunks so it all equalled out.

You then add your butter, some sugar and sure-jel to the pot.

Then you cook on a medium high heat until they boil, adding the rest of your sugar and then bring to a roiling boil and boil for 1 minute. This is towards the end of the 2nd boiling process.

You then laddle it into jars, cover with the lids and then stir on the cover to seal.

And finally end with the ever famous JAM.

Strawberry Jam (From: My Mom)

• 6 cups strawberries, hulled, and crushed
• 4 cups sugar
• 1 pg. sure jell

Wash jars and screw bands in hot, soapy water; rinse with warm water.

Crush strawberries in a bowl, 2 cups at a time, using a potato masher.

Pour fruit into a large pot. Add 1/2 t. of butter to reduce foaming, if desired.

Mix in 1/4 cup of sugar and sure-jell.

Bring mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly.

Stir in remaining sugar, quickly. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim off any foam that has formed.

Lade quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of the top. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two piece lids. Screw bands tightly on. Allow to cool, and caps will “seal” you will hear a pop.

Store in the freeze for up to a year.

One of my dads favorite desserts is Carmel Apple Pie with Cinnamon ice cream, although I have never tried it I want to make it for him to go along with our dinner of beer can chicken, green beans, and crashed potatoes for dinner.

This dessert was a HUGE hit, all inspired by my dad, the ice cream was nice and creamy and had the perfect hint of cinnamon. It paired perfectly with the carmel apple pie. I am submitting the cinnamon ice cream to Joelen’s Junes Tasty Tools which is featuring ice cream makers this month.

Cinnamon Ice Cream (From: The Perfect Scoop)

• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 c. sugar
• pinch of salt
• 10 cinnamon sticks broken up
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks

Warm the milk, sugar, salt, cinnamon sticks and 1 cup of the cream in a medium saucepan. Once warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let step at room temp for 1 hour.

Rewarm the cinnamon infused milk mixture. Remove the cinnamon sticks with slotted spoon and discard them. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the ehh yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and into the cream. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

Chill the mixture throughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according the manufacturer’s instructions.

My dad is not a big pie person, but he loves carmel apple pie with cinnamon ice cream. I have never had neither but decided that it would be the perfect dessert for our Fathers Day dinner.

My dad said this pie was better then the purchased pie. Everyone else really raved about it too. I put the pie in when we sat down for dinner and pulled it out as it was time for dessert. PERFECT timing and we got to eat delicious FRESH pie.

Carmel-Apple Crumb Pie (Found On: Erin’s Food Files Adapted From: Cooking Light)

• Frozen pie crust
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 8 apples sliced (I used apples that I froze last fall that already had lemon juice on them, if you use fresh apples add 1-2 T. lemon juice)
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup carmel chips

Topping

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
• 2 T. carmel sauce

Preheat oven to 375°.

Melt, 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Add sugar mixture and apples to skillet; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in 3 tablespoons flour. Spoon into prepared crust. Top with carmel chips on top of apples.

To prepare topping, lightly spoon 1/4 cup flour into a dry measuring cup. Combine flour and 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl; cut in 2 tablespoons butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in carmel sauce to give it a nice brownish color. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the apples. Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until apples are tender. Cool on a wire rack.

With the in-laws in town, I made a deal with Adam if he made breakfast Saturday I would make it Sunday. I decided to do quiche and cinnamon rolls. I have had these starred for awhile and decided this would be a perfect time to go. I thought these were very good.

Orange Cinnamon Rolls (From: Pioneer Woman)

Dough

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 package Active dry yeast
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix milk, vegetable oil, and sugar in a pan. “scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point.) Ture off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active drive Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 4 cups of all-purpose flour. Stire mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.

Add 1/2 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda, and the salt. Stir mixture together. Refrigerate overnight.

Filling

• 8 T. orange marmalade
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup broke sugar
• 1/2 t. salt

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Spread the marmalade over the top. Pour on butter, then sprinkle on the brown sugar evenly. Sprinkle with salt.

Beginning at the long side farthest from you, roll the dough in a long roll towards you, being careful to keep it tucked tightly. Pinch the edge to seal it.

Cut rolls into 1 to 1 1/2 inch rolls and place them into butter pans. Allow to rise for at least 20 minutes.

Bake at 375 for 15 to 18 minutes, or until golden brown. Meanwhile make the glaze.

Orange Glaze

• 2 lbs. powdered sugar
• 6 T. melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• dash of salt

Mix all ingredients, thinning with more milk or orange juice to make mixture thin enough to be pourable.

When rolls are done cooking remove them from the oven and immediately drizzle orange glaze over the top.

Serve warm or at room temp.

I have had this starred for a while. Adams mom and sister were coming over and I decided this would be something quick and simple to whip up. I previous made a lemon pasta that was pretty good and thought this one would just be creamier.

I was less then pleased with this one, Adam thought it was “lemony” DUH! But my mother-in-law and sister-in-law both loved it. So I think it really depends on your tastes. I thought it was much too dry even though I baked for less then it called for.

Baked Lemon Pasta (From: Lemons and Love, Orginally From: Pioneer Woman)

• 1 pound thin spaghetti
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• juice of one lemon
• zest of one lemon
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste if desired
• grated Parmesan cheese
• flat leaf parsley, chopped (I omitted)
• extra lemon juice