Quack!

(He had his eye on me.)

So this guy walks up to a bar...

Key West

I never got around to posting pictures from our trip to Key West last month.  Here are a few from that trip.

Fort Lauderdale

Always known for my current postings (snicker, snicker), I thought I'd share these highly processed images from our vacation in Florida. We were visiting the Fort Lauderdale Beach at night, while Tropical Storm Nicole was approaching. Since this was a sea turtle nesting area, lighting was limited and I didn't use a flash. Considering the lighting limitations, I don't think the photos are too bad.

Canning - Applesauce and Apple Peel Jelly

I've been learning how to can this season and my sweetheart of a husband bought me a pressure canner this weekend.  We've been debating for a while now.  I really didn't want another pressure cooker, since ours exploded last year.  However, unless I wanted to be limited to canning acidic foods, I had to "get-ovah-it", so that was that. 

Anyway, while we were in Pennsylvania early last week, we bought a little more than 10 pounds of mixed apples.  I made applesauce and apple peel jelly.  A couple of my friends asked me to share the recipe, so I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else is interested. 

Applesauce and Apple Peel Jelly

Special Equipment:
*Pressure Canner
*Boiling Water Canner
*12 Hot, Sterile Jelly Jars (half-pint)
*8 Hot, Sterile Canning Jars for applesauce (pint)
*Slowcooker (at least 8 quart size)

Ingredients:
10 lbs of mixed variety apples
Bottled lemon juice concentrate
7 cups sugar
1 package fruit pectin
2 cinnamon sticks (optional)
Vanilla extract

Process:

The applesauce and the jelly are created from the same 10 pounds of apples, so the beginning steps will be completed together.

1. Pour 2 quarts of water plus 2 tablespoons of lemon juice into a dutch oven.
2. Pour a quart of water plus 1 tablespoon of lemon juice into a large bowl.
3. Pour 2 cups of water, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon vanilla into a slowcooker set on high. I prefer unsweetened applesauce. If you prefer to sweeten, add 1/3 cup sugar to the juice mix.
4. Wash all 10 pounds of apples and set aside.
5. Core, peel and rough chop each apple.
6. Put the core and the peels into the dutch oven, making sure the liquid covers the solids.
7. Put the chopped apple into the bowl of water and lemon juice. As the bowl fills with apple pieces, transfer them to the crockpot. (I use a colander inside the bowl). Don’t skip the soaking though. The acidic water will help prevent them from turning too brown.
8. Let the apples cook in the slowcooker for at least 3 hours on high. Stir a couple of times to move the top pieces into the bottom. The liquid will NOT cover the apples in the slowcooker.
9. While the apples are cooking in the slowcooker, start the jelly.
1. Bring the pot of peels and cores to a boil, stirring occasionally, and boil for at least 20 minutes. Continue boiling until it is reduced to about 2/3.
2. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner.
3. Stir in 2 cinnamon sticks, if desired.
4. Put the lid on and let the pot sit undisturbed until it is cool, or even overnight.
10. After the apples have cooked in the slowcooker for 3 hours, use a potato masher to mash them. If they are not completely mashable, allow them to cook in 30 minute increments until they are fully cooked (similar to a cooked potato). I like my applesauce chunky rather than smooth. If you prefer smooth, process in a food processor until they are the consistency you like.
11. Return the apples to the slowcooker, keeping them on high while you prepare the pressure canner according to your canner manufacturer’s directions.
1. For safety, the applesauce should be processed in a pressure canner only.
2. Once the pressure canner is ready, fill 8 pint jars with the hot, bubbly applesauce, leaving ½” headspace.
3. Process for 8 minutes.
4. After the canning process is over and the pressure is off (again, follow the manufacturer’s directions), set the jars in a draft free place for 24 hours before disturbing them.
5. After 24 hours, check seals. If they are sealed properly, wipe them down, label the jars and store them. If they are not sealed properly, either reprocess according to manufacturers directions or store in the refrigerator and eat within a week.
12. Prepare the boiling water canner for the jelly.
13. After the mix has rested until cooled, pour through a strainer to separate the solids from the liquid. Patience is key. If you force it through, the jelly will be cloudy (but it won’t affect the taste).
14. Measure the remaining liquid.
1. If there is more than 5 cups, discard the excess. (You can also drink it after you reheat it to boiling and let it cool).
2. If there is less than 5 cups, return everything to the pot, add more water and bring back to a boil for at least 15 minutes. Let it cool and strain again.
15. Once you have 5 cups of strained liquid, return it to the cooking pot and stir in one pouch of pectin. Bring it to a rolling boil on high heat and keep it boiling while you continue.
16. Pour in 7 cups of sugar, stirring continuously to dissolve it. Once dissolved, return to a rolling boil and keep it boiling for 2 minutes. Make sure it is a hard boil.
17. Turn off the heat and remove the pot from the burner.
18. Pour the jelly into 12 prepared half-pint jelly jars, leaving ½” headspace. Wipe the rims, seat the lids and put the rings on finger-tight. Process in boiling water for 10 minutes.
19. After processing, remove the jars from the water and set them in a draft free place for 24 hours before disturbing them.
20. After 24 hours, check seals. The jelly may take up to 2 weeks to set. Don’t worry if it appears runny. If they are sealed properly, wipe them down, label the jars and store them. If they are not sealed properly, either reprocess or store them in the refrigerator and use within 2 months.
1. To reprocess any that did not seal, open the jars and empty the jelly into a pan.
2. Prepare the boiling canner.
3. Reheat the jelly to boiling and boil hard for 1 minute.
4. Re-pack in hot, clean jars with new lids.
5. Process for 10 minutes.

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Part 5 - Turtle Garden

Out front at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center was a “Turtle Garden”. Here, there were life-sized, realistic sculptures of the sea turtles. Children were welcome to climb all over them, touch them, and enjoy them. E would have spent almost all day in the shade of that garden, if I had let her.

Can you imagine encountering one of these creatures while out on a swim?  I think I would pass out and drown.  They are mighty cute on land, though.

This last one is a leatherback.  They are the largest species of sea turtle and can grow to around 1000 lbs. 

Don't they look real?

This is the last posting on Gumbo Limbo.  I hope you have enjoyed reading about our visit and looking at the photos.  It is well worth a visit. 

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Part 4 - Jalapeño

In yet another tank at Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, there was a 1-year-old loggerhead turtle, named Jalapeño.  He was about a foot long, but will eventually grow to be 200-300 pounds! Jalapeño was a social turtle. In talking with staff, it seems the little turtle has learned to associate humans with food. Since interacting with humans results in feeding, at least daily, then he chooses to socialize in order to get food. Pavlov, anyone?

He hangs out underneath the mangrove roots as a form of protection.  Unlike land turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their heads into their shells for protection.  So, when they aren't out and about, they like to park underneath something that provides protection for their heads.

E really wanted to touch him.  That's against the rules, so she talked to him..a lot.  Whole conversations.  She even took a few videos of him. 

We visited with Jalapeño all three days.  Since we've been home, she has continued to talk about the little guy and can't wait for an opportunity to go back and see him again. 

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Part 3

During our first visit to Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, we also took a walk on the boardwalk trail. The boardwalk is there to allow visitors to explore a mangrove tank, or a forest of mangrove trees, without damaging the fragile area. Mangroves grow only in tropical and sub-tropical climates, but they are able to grow in southern Florida in the land areas between the ocean/gulf and the intra-coastal waterway. E was allowed to collect one seed from the black mangrove for dissection and studying. What makes mangroves so interesting is the tangle of roots protruding from the water. Those roots form a habitat known as the ocean’s nursery. Under those roots live many young animals that thrive here as they mature, such as shellfish and crustaceans. These areas are also popular nesting areas for pelicans and other native birds. We saw hundreds of fiddler crabs in the area.

Along the trail is an observation tower. It reaches 40’ above sea level, so we could see panoramic views for miles around. Since there was so much damage from a hurricane five years ago, many of the trees are still recovering, so we were above the tree line.

On our second visit, we explored another trail. This one included a butterfly garden. It had just rained and was incredibly muggy, so there weren’t a whole lot of butterflies out. We did see the zebra longwing, which is the state butterfly of Florida.

I think this next one is a Julia Longwing.  Please feel free to share the correct name if I have mislabeled it. 

We also saw this incredible spider, the banana spider. She was huge! I’d guess she was around 5” in diameter. Her mate was only about 1.5”, which is a good thing since she is going to eat him after she lays her egg sack. There were quite a few of those spiders around. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not afraid of spiders!

There were some beautiful flowers in the butterfly garden.

This particular flower was attractive to ants. I took advantage of the opportunity to shoot a close-up photo of the little ant. This is not one of the fire ants that pestered us while we were out and about.

At the back of that second trail was a Chiki Hut where classes are held adjacent to a small opening into the Intracoastal Waterway. We spent a little time down there at the water’s edge. E found a piece of palm bark partially buried in the sand and decided to study it for a bit. She scraped out the sand with a mangrove pod.

Nope...not done just yet.

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Part 2

The seawater tanks at Gumbo Limbo were a fun place to visit. In one, there were hammerhead sharks and a gigantic lobster looking thing. I forgot to ask what kind of lobster it was. In another, there was a large sea turtle that was rescued from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, they are able to rehabilitate the turtle, as it is one of the most endangered species of sea turtles. In those tanks are also nurse sharks, a moray eel, and a bunch of local fish.

Nearby is the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center. There, we met Shrek, Leroy and Jason, three greenback turtles who were nearly well enough to be released back into the wild. Gumbo Limbo opened the rehabilitation center in December 2009. Then, Florida had an atypically cold winter, resulting in a large number of sea turtles becoming ill. The rehabilitation center was able to rehabilitate around 150 sea turtles that otherwise would not have survived. All sea turtles are either endangered species or are threatened species, so saving that many is a big deal. A benefit of the rehabilitation center is the opportunity for scientists to study the behaviors of the sea turtle. Much is known about the hatching process, but not nearly as much is known about their lives after they return to the water.

We met a couple of volunteers at the rehabilitation center, Joyce and Carol. As with the other volunteers and staff, they took E under their wings and shared as much with her as possible about these beautiful creatures.

Just outside the rehabilitation center is the Gopher Tortoise Exhibit. Now, I had never heard of a gopher tortoise prior to our visit. On our first visit to Gumbo Limbo, I didn’t see any. But, on our second visit, the clouds were heavy and they were out to visit. The striking differences between the tortoise and the turtle were quite apparent when they were so close to each other. The tortoise had a rounded shell, while the turtle’s was flatter and broader.

Stay tuned...there's more to this place...

Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, Part 1

One of the places we visited on our trip to Boca Raton is the Gumbo Limbo Nature Center. When I started looking for activities to do while King J was in class, this facility looked promising. A little fun, a lot of education, and a chance to see different wildlife. Little did I know that this would be THE highlight of our time in that city. We were fortunate that Gumbo Limbo was accessible to us through the hotel shuttle. Otherwise, we might have missed the opportunity.


Anyway, we showed up just after 9:00 am Tuesday morning, and discovered we were the first visitors of the day. Gumbo Limbo doesn’t charge admission, but they suggest a donation of $5 per person.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit Gumbo Limbo, please do so.  It was a truly amazing place.

While I was at the counter getting a map and becoming oriented to the facility, one of the Program Interpreters, Evan, had already taken E over to a marine aquarium and began showing her the creatures in there. The sea cucumbers were fascinating to me.  I wish I had a photo to post of a sea cucumber. 

We wandered through the visitor’s center for a bit and took in the sights there. There was a hands-on display (perfect for E) to feel various creatures and guess what they were. Like me, E was hesitant to stick her hand into a place she could not see, especially considering there were snakes nearby. The staff assured us there was nothing alive in any of the cubbies. Ha! We must’ve made an interesting sight.

They also had a wall with photographs of sea shells and descriptions of those shells. The challenge was to match them. It wasn’t nearly as easy as one might think.

There weren’t too many snakes, three I think, but I was glad to see them hanging out in the corners of their cages.


One of the buildings out back houses the FAU Research Gallery.  Students at Florida Atlantic University conduct studies to help learn more about sea turtles, stingrays and seahorses.  In one container, they have a sea turtle that is lightly attached to a wire that prevents him from hurting himself by bumping into walls.  Then, there were lots and lots of little sea turtles that were housed in little containers that looked a lot like strawberry baskets.  Apparently, the sea turtles can be very aggressive with each other, so this allows them to be studied while keeping them safe from each other.

Taking photographs of subjects in water is difficult, especially since flash isn't allowed and would reflect back anyway.  These are some of the best.

Another Vacation?

Yup! Well, sort of. Hubby had to travel out of town last week on business. He was heading to Boca Raton, Florida for a week. Having never been to southern Florida, we decided that E and I would join him. He left Sunday, because he had to be there Monday morning. We flew on Monday, since that's when the flights were less expensive. Anyway, while he was taking care of business, E and I were off exploring.

At the end of his business trip, we added a few days and visited Miami and the Florida Keys.

Over the next few days, I'll be sharing more and more of our trip. There's so much I want to share (and record for our family journal). Stay tuned!

Oh, yes, I do remember that E has asked to do a guest post. She still has to get it together rather than just talking about it. We'll see how long that takes.

Wheat Thin States

One night at dinner, we were having Wheat Thins on the side.  Princess E picked up this one and said, "Hey, this one looks like Vermont."  Lo and behold, it surely did.  As we looked at it, we realized it was similar to several states, depending on its orientation. 














I suppose this is a good reason to play with your food.  Ha!