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1 Hour Homemade Coffee Liqueur

October 21, 2018 by Jenny Gomes 10 Comments

This 1-hour homemade coffee liqueur recipe can be prepared and dispensed into bottles for gifting or enjoying yourself in an hour. It is a simple recipe that my mother has used for years and this coffee liqueur is delicious both hot or cold in a variety of mixed drinks. It also is easily doubled and is best made with friends. Read on for a delicious homemade coffee liqueur recipe that won’t have you tied up in the kitchen all afternoon!

1 Hour Coffee Liqueur | This recipe and video tutorial makes a copycat Kahlua that is to die for- so good! And it is perfect for gifting and the best part is that it is done in an hour!

This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions remain my own.

This recipe really is SO EASY. I hope you are ready to share this video to show how simple it is!

My mom made this 1-hour homemade coffee liqueur recipe every fall I was growing up, set the bottles on the shelf, and then had a bottle to take as a hostess gift to every holiday party, every progressive dinner, or to add to a gift basket.

In addition to the following ingredients, you will need jars for storing or gifting. You can pour some of the coffee liqueur back into the fifth bottle, use canning jars, or any variety of the Grolsch brand (or similar) bottle. I scored a dozen bottles at a homebrew shop while in college and they were inexpensive and well made. I love the rubber flange which ensures a great seal and mine have lasted 10 years without needing replacement. If I had to buy more bottles, I might get the clear glass as it is fun to see the color of the concoction you are serving. You’ll want to get these jars for sure!

Let’s get cooking! Watch this video to see the 1-hour homemade coffee liqueur making process!

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How to Make 1-Hour Homemade Coffee Liqueur

Combine in a large saucepan:

3 cups white sugar (I have used turbinado sugar and it was delicious also and contributed to the maple-y flavor to good effect)
12 tablespoons instant coffee
4 cups of water

Should You Be Sterilizing Canning Jars?

October 11, 2018 by Jenny Gomes 2 Comments

Do you need to sterilize your jars first when canning? This post explains how sterilizing canning jars can be a huge waste of time and why. Read on to find out when you need to spend time sterilizing canning jars!

Sterilizing Canning Jars

Sterilizing canning jars before canning is topic I’m asked about often and I wanted to write a post to clarify when sterilizing jars is necessary when canning, and when it is not.

One of the factors that makes canning “work” is heat. Water bath canning brings the inside of the jars (and thus the food) to over 212 degrees, which kills spoilers (microorganisms) in the high acid environment.

The high acid environment is the high acid raspberry jam, dilly beans, or salsa canning recipe that you’ve prepared. All water bath canning recipes are high in acid. Acid is one of the other factors that makes canning “work.” I wrote a whole post about acid and canning here.

This heat in the boiling water or steam canner is enough to kill the germs that any sterilization step may kill as long as the processing time of the water bath recipe in question is 10 minutes. This is the critical part; the process time for the recipe must be 10 minutes for you to be able to safely skip the sterilization step.

Most water bath canning recipes require a 10 minute processing time, so most of the time, you would not have to sterilize your jars first, because they will be sterilized as the jars process in the boiling water bath or steam canner.

However, if you are canning a recipe that calls for processing time that is less than 10 minutes (some highly acidic juices in jars smaller than a quart, perhaps, like cranberry) the official recommendation is that the jars be sterilized first.

To properly sterilize jars, they must be submerged in boiling water for ten minutes.

If I were canning a recipe where the process time was 5 minutes, I would rather add 5 minutes to the processing time and meet the sterilization requirement that way, rather than go through the steps of sterilizing separately.

The downside to a longer process time is pickles that aren’t as crisp, and fruit juice that has lost the fresh fruit flavor (though I think a 5-10 minute process time wouldn’t make a dramatic difference in flavor, but it should be considered nonetheless).

Because I live above sea level at 3000 feet elevation, I have to add 15 minutes to all my canning times (5 minutes for every 1000 feet)- I’ve never faced the option choosing to sterilize OR increase the process time. But for those of you living at sea level, this is a choice you’ll make, I’ll bet, sooner or later in your canning adventures.

Readers have told me that they sterilize their jars/process jars in the dishwasher and/or oven. This method of canning or sterilizing isn’t approved by the USDA, nor is it safe.

There’s no way to know the temperature inside a dishwasher, nor how long a certain temperature is maintained.

Canning jars are specially designed for the heat of hot water; the heat in an oven is completely different and jars can splinter. Furthermore, you know that sound of your oven heating up, and then turning off? That’s the sound of temperature change. There are fluctuations in temperature inside an oven that make it also an unsafe choice for canning food in any form as well as an unreliable method of sterilization.

I can with clean (no debris, washed by hand or in the dishwasher, or new out of the box) jars and NEW lids. I don’t bleach them first (only very rarely if the jar held something pungent like a rich tomato sauce) nor do I do anything beyond making them clean as I would drink from normally.

More Information about Sterilizing Canning Jars

I can guarantee that when you read this information and share it with others, this is what will happen. Some people will say, “Oh, how great to know, I always wondered about this, etc” and others will say things like, “Well my mom always sterilizes her jars because X, Y, and Z.” And both of these responses are okay.

Canning, like most food related activities is steeped in tradition and is part of many family’s food culture. That’s why changing your diet is so hard; food culture is powerful stuff! We are wired to eat and cook the way our mama did! This is normal, good, and there’s nothing to argue about 🙂

When you encounter a negative reaction to your new, up to date, scientifically based canning information, you don’t have to engage in debate. You can always read more, or direct the doubter here http://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/usda/GUIDE01_HomeCan_rev0715.pdf

But know that every woman is the queen of her own kitchen; you probably won’t sway other’s behavior but you can know, henceforth, that sterilizing canning jars is unnecessary unless your recipe has a process time of under 10 minutes in which case you can EITHER sterilize your jars first by boiling them for 10 minutes OR simply increase the processing time to a total of 10 minutes.

Pretty simple, right? Happy Canning!

19 Inspirational Quotes for a Country Girl

October 11, 2018 by Jenny Gomes Leave a Comment

Whether you have an appreciation of all things rural, real, and agrarian, because of blood, birth, or by choice, you will love the sentiment behind these words. Read on for 19 Country Girl Quotes!

I’m an English teacher and lover of literature, which is why I decided to compile a list of my favorite lines that put wings on my heart. Here’s to living like a country girl.

Feel free to pin & share any and all of these pretty images. I made them all just for you and I want them to show what you feel in your heart.

You’ll notice a theme in this collection. I think country girls are BOTH lovers AND fighters. I don’t know if it is this crazy election, or that I’m thinking (and subsequently crying) about my little girl going to kindergarten next year, or if it is the fierce love I see in so many shapes and sizes all around me. Here’s to loving, and fighting, and to happiness, Dear Readers. May you be lucky enough to have love worth fighting for, in all its packages.

Here are the words that move me, and that I think will move you. Love you all, Wildflowers.

19 Country Girl Quotes

“What lies behind us and what lies before us is are small matters compared to what lies within us.”

“Always saddle your own horse.”

“She who is brave is free.”

“Speak your mind and ride a fast horse.”

“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

“Do you suppose she’s a Wildflower?”

Loving these Country Girl Quotes? You’ll LOVE Inspiration for a Wildflower.

This is an ebook of essays about friendship, motherhood, life well lived, and more.

More Country Girl Quotes

“Though she be but little, she is fierce”

Shakespeare wrote this often quoted line and it makes me think of a beautiful, petite student I taught. This young lady wrote as an 8th grade student (!) about something difficult she had faced in her life in an essay. She wrote about the fact that she had been kicked by a cow in the face and earned a rather large scar across her pretty cheek. She wrote about being fearful of cattle for a long time afterward, of being worried about how people wouldn’t see HER, but only her scar, and and how she overcame those fears because, like scars, those worries will fade with enough time and patience. It has been years since I graded that essay but I’ll never forget it. While my own four year old daughter is becoming a manifestation of this famous line, this student, who is now in her final year of high school, makes me think of this line every time I see her. It breaks my heart to think of the things that force us to be fierce, like the things others can see like scars, as well as the wounds we have on the inside, but the thing that sets us free from them is feeling that despite size, we can be fierce.

“The Earth laughs in flowers”

“All your life, you will be faced with a choice. You can choose love or hate…I choose love.”

The most important part of this line is “choice” because sometimes we forget who is in charge of our feelings. We can choose how we react to situations and we can choose love. Choose it, Wildflowers, and that includes loving ourselves.

“Do small things with great love.”

If I could have met any famous person, from any time, Mother Teresa would be my pick. Her story is a fascinating one and I encourage you to read any of the biographies about her. She wasn’t a nun in a church; she begged hotels for discarded soap to give to orphans in the street with which she’d give them a handwashing lesson so they’d be less likely to suffer from internal parasites. She was a badass and learning how to take more action with greater love is something I know I could improve upon.

“Two feet move your body. Four feet move your soul.”

Even More Country Girl Quotes

“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.”

“She is clothed in strength and dignity and laughs without fear of the future.” Proverbs 31:25

“Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.”

I’m reading the Little House series to my kids and it is a true joy. If you haven’t read or need to re-read Laura Ingalls Wilder and her stories of living like a country girl, I suggest you get the series. Young and old alike love them, and they are great read alouds.

I was a little girl on my grandma Glory Ann’s couch when she read the Little House series aloud to us kids and I bet I read the series a dozen times on my own once I could. The pioneer spirit, terrific writing style, and wisdom that we can apply to our modern world makes this one of my all time favorite authors.

“I’d rather be on my farm than be the emperor of the whole world.”

“Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.”

Eager to plant something? You might love this post on growing sprouts.

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.

Am I right, Wildflowers? We can’t all stay living in the country. Some of us marry those with great jobs far away, build our empires in the city ourselves, or otherwise travel a road that leads us away from wide open spaces. You’ll spot that country girl by the way she pays attention to the weather, can build a fire in the ski lodge, waves at other drivers on the road, knows what to do when there’s a power outage, is the friendly girl in a crowd, and can solve a problem with brain AND brawn. Country girls are lovers AND fighters. You can quote me on that 😉

If you loved this list of Country Girl Quotes, I hope you’ll check out Inspiration for a Wildflower!

20 Things Country Girls Know: A List You Haven’t Read Before

October 10, 2018 by Jenny Gomes 4 Comments

20 Things Country Girls Know: A List You Haven’t Read Before. For those raised where there are no stop lights, where you wave at every passing vehicle (probably referred to as a rig) because that’s the polite thing to do, and where you can name every single kid in your class and probably your whole school, there are many truths that you manifest that are different than that of our more urbanly raised Wildflower sisters. This is not going to be a post about 4-wheel drivin’ or mud on your boots. It will be about matters of the heart and of practicality, which are the prime ingredients to growing any Wildflower, right?

Your actions stick with you. When you are from a small town where you attend school with the same kids in elementary, middle, and high school, being awful to someone isn’t a sin that is forgotten, even if it is forgiven. Your choices stick with you, year after year, for better or for worse. Choose wisely, regardless of where you put down roots, Wildflowers.
An Appaloosa doesn’t change their spots. Country girls have lived with the same folks for a really, really long time and they know that it is a very rare thing indeed for a person to change. Girls who were mean in high school will probably be mean in the future. Boys who are good to their mommas will likely always be so.
Cowgirl boots and a lifted pickup with sassy bumper sticker does not a country girl make. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that’s how a classy country girl should interpret those who haven’t an ounce of rural living or common sense to their credit and still hope to be part of the club. As Dr. Seuss said, “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Be you, Wildflowers, wherever you are, and be the best You you can be.
Never say whoa in a horse race. If you are working, striving, and aiming towards a goal, keep after it. You don’t win by slowing down. That’s not to say all of life needs to be a race, but if you’re in one, don’t slow down.
Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. John Wayne said a lot of things, and this is my sister’s favorite. Courage doesn’t mean doing something difficult. It means facing fear and not letting it win. Accepting fear as part of the experience, and owning the fact that often times what is necessary isn’t comfortable (and can be downright terrifying) is part of living life fully, being a grownup, and being a stand up person. Saddle up, and be better and stronger for doing so.

Jalapeño Pecan Jelly

September 26, 2018 by Jenny Gomes Leave a Comment

Jalapeno Pecan Jelly Easy Canning Recipe is delicious, spicy and sweet, and quick to make. This recipe is from a 5th generation pecan farmer friend, Kristen, from Texas, and she’s been kind enough to share her family’s jalapeño pecan jelly canning recipe with us all. You won’t believe how FAST this jelly recipe is…it might even be faster than my raspberry jam recipe! Read on for the easy recipe!

How to Make Jalapeño Pecan Jelly Canning Recipe

This post contains affiliate links.

Hi Wildflowers!

I’m Kristen and I met Jenny at a blogging conference last year. I’m excited to share with you one of my family recipes. My husband, Winston, and I are fifth generation pecan farmers. Our family has been harvesting and selling pecans in Texas since 1888. You can check out our pecans here! They make wonderful holiday gifts and a perfect addition to the pantry. You’ll see how the incorporate perfectly into this canning recipe, too!

We make a Jalapeno Pecan Jelly with our fresh pecans that folks across the country adore. I love this jelly because it’s just the right amount of sweet and spicy. My favorite way to enjoy it is poured over a block of cream cheese and served with crackers. I always keep a jar on hand for a quick appetizer. After all, you never know when a company might stop by for a surprise visit!

Note: If this recipe sounds delicious (I assure you, it is!) but you’re not so sure about the canning part, I have a fantastic, STEP BY STEP guide that will SHOW you exactly how to dive into canning. It’s way easier than you think, too! Grab the Canning Jump Start Guide here!

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Jalapeño Pecan Jelly Canning Recipe

You will need

4 cups pecan pieces

(9) 16 oz. wide mouth pint mason jars

20 jalapenos, pureed

5 lbs. sugar

3 cups apple cider vinegar

6 (6 ounces each) pouches Certo

1. Pour 1/4 cup of pecan pieces into each jar.

2. Combine sugar, vinegar, and pureed jalapenos into your preserving pan.

3. Bring to a boil and boil for 4 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat and add the Certo.

5. Mix for a couple of minutes and ladle into each jar. Maintain 1/2 headspace.

6. Put jars in a hot water bath or steam canner and process for 15 minutes at sea level.

Pro Tips:

You may need a food scale to weigh the sugar and frankly, they are a very handy thing to have in the canning kitchen. I love this one.
Certo is liquid pectin that works particularly well with the pecan and jalapeño mixture.
If you are new to canning, Get the Canning Jump Start Guide! It’s a visual guide that will help you get started for just $5!

Thank you so much, Kristen! When we met at a blogging conference, we were two small-town girls in a pod, let me tell you. She’s a girl after my own heart and I’m so honored to share her family’s recipe with you all. Be sure to Pin this recipe to Pinterest, Wildflowers, and head over to Millican Pecan to get the finest pecans you’ve ever tasted!