Sharing some exciting news and celebrating my return!

hi!!
I am not going to get too excited, who knows how long I'll be able to get in to post, but as long as I have access I'll try to keep posting! I was so shocked when I was able to get logged in last night, I almost fell out of my chair!!!

Things have been busy, busy, busy with my Etsy shop the last few months. I have made custom orders for eight events since my last post. I feel such joy and honor to have this tiny part of someone's special event!! Folks have been super creative with their jam, too! Some have gone with custom labels that I have created, others are dolling up the jars themselves. I'll share some photos of their creations soon.

But the most exciting thing for me recently, started when Sarah of Repeat Crafter Me emailed me an idea for a back-to-school teachers gift. I have been following her blog for some time now and give most of the credit for my current following to her. She asked if I could make her Apple Butter minis and shared what her gift idea was. AMAZING!

I'm sharing the picture and link to her post for Plastic Bottle Apple Containers with you all. Be sure to stop by and say hi to her and let her know I sent you.

How adorable are these apples!

Just about the same time I was getting started on Sarah's labels and some party favors for an event in Rhode Island, I got an email from La Bella Box. They were interested in using my mini jars for their October Bella Box.

This is all too unreal. Being given the opportunity to share my items with up to 70 folks who subscribe to La Bella Box, who other wise may have never heard of my little business. How could I say no!
I will be making Apple Cranberry Jam for them and can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of it!

I still have quite a few Summer favorites available in the shop in both mini sizes for Samplers and 4 ounce jars.

In the coming weeks I will be adding Apple Butter, Apple Conserve and Apple Cranberry. Welcome Fall!! Oh, how I have missed you!

A New Twist on Dessert

After hearing how many of you really liked the idea of Homemade PopTarts, I was super excited when my sister Leah emailed me another idea. This was using those poptarts!!

Pie. It's delicious, pretty easy to make, smells amazing...but sometimes you want pie without wanting to MAKE pie! The 9pm sweet tooth has gone from a pester in the back of your mind, to the only thing you can think about. You want something sweet and warm, maybe with a scoop of Ice Cream. Oooh, pie! But it's 9 o'clock in the evening. There's no way you're rolling up your sleeves, turning on the oven and starting to peel apples. Who wants to wait hours for it to bake and then cool enough to eat? Don't get me wrong, I LOVE pie! But when my sweet tooth won't back down, I am not staying up until midnight to satisfy it.

Here's the solution to that!! Take one of those magnificent little Homemade PopTarts from the freezer, or make a batch in the afternoon to have ready to heat in the evening. Cook it in the oven according to the directions in the link.
Slice it in half once it has cooled enough to handle, set in a bowl and top with your favorite flavor of Ice cream! Tada!

Since the poptarts are made with pie crust, if you use a jam like Blueberry or Peach, you'll have that rich, thick flavor that you find in pie filling.

When Connor and I set out to make these, we did make them smaller than the standard poptarts. Since I was thinking how sweet these would be as a party treat, I made them smaller so that they could serve a crowd and would fit nicely into a bowl. Of course, you can make them any size you want!

 I also experimented with making Tarts with the filling and the pie crust and they turned out beautifully.

Can't you just picture a nice Ice Cream party or Shower with a selection of two or three different tarts and a few complimenting flavors of ice cream? Everyone gets to create their own dessert.


For the mini Tarts:

1 store bought ready to use Pie Crust
1 mini muffin tin
a rolling pin
spoon
knife or Pizza Cutter
Nonstick spray or butter
Your Favorite Flavor of Fruitful Delights Jam



Roll the dough out until it's about half the thickness it started out as. I ended up with 12 after I combined the scraps and rolled them out.

Either spray with non-stick spray or butter the muffin tin to help keep the jam from sticking.

Cut the dough into 3 inch squares and carefully place into the mini muffin cups. Make sure to press the folds that you create to help keep the jam from oozing out.

Once all of your pieces are done, carefully spoon about a teaspoonful of Jam (I used Strawberry-Banana) into each.
(Note: if you have any muffin tin slots that haven't been used, fill them about halfway with water before baking.)

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the crusts are golden brown and the Jam is bubbling.

Remove while still warm, but cool enough to touch an edge of the crusts to help keep any oozage from sticking which will make removing these tasty bites quite challenging.

Now is the hard part!! Waiting until it's cool enough to eat!!

I served them warm with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream and they were so tasty!!

How I juggle Jam and Kids

Pretty much as soon as I started selling my jam, friends and acquaintances started asking, "how do you find time to make jam?". I'd usually smile, laugh and say something witty in response. Haven't most mom's learned their own tricks to keeping their ship afloat? Why are we afraid to ask or to hear how another mom does it? I felt as sense of shame when I'd see a mom with more kids than I had who always seemed to have it together, always kept her cool and had a clean home all at the same time!!

I thought I'd give a little insight into my own little world. It's not perfect, it's life. Life is not perfect, but I love it! For starters, we're pretty much alone out here. All our family is either in New Jersey, Virginia or somewhere in between. A two-hour drive is pretty standard for a get-together. As lovely as it is being out here, it can be lonely. With it just being us, all the pressure seemed to fall on my shoulders.

 So I'd push myself to be better at the things I used to do well, but after I had babies I had lost touch with (keeping a spotless house for one) and it was the most frustrating time. No matter what I did, something was getting forgotten. I felt defeated and deflated. What I thought was getting back into a groove was making me feel like I was failing at everything.

Finding the Balance

When I became pregnant with Liam the same year we'd bought our house, I had to find a balance. For me, it was either clean house or play with Connor. I couldn't figure out how to do both. He seemed to know when I was hoping to get a load of laundry in, and that would be the day he would scream bloody murder the moment I left the room, or he wouldn't nap making vacuuming or dusting difficult. Knowing baby #2 was on the way, I couldn't let him "win" any more.

SO I started to write down what I wanted to get done in any given week. Simple things such as: water plants, dust den, vacuum second floor...and so on. I broke down each floor of our home and the things that I'd like see done.
I took that list and broke it up among the 5 weekdays (weekends I like to keep things up in the air).

For example:

Monday: vacuum first floor

Tuesday: mop kitchen

Wednesday: vacuum den

Thursday: water plants

Friday: laundry

Suffering a little less than I did with Connor, this was doable. Mostly to make me feel like I was still accomplishing things throughout the day other than getting out of bed and Connor not burning the house down. ( you know what I mean ladies!)

Slowly though, the laundry especially, got out of hand. My anemia was so bad I could hardly walk 30 feet, let alone up and down two flights of stairs with the laundry basket.

When Liam was 6 weeks old, I'd been to the doctor and given the go ahead to get back into my routine, I rewrote my routine!!

What Works For Me

With new ambition I went from a routine to a full on schedule! It revolved completely around the kids day, but still made it possible to get cleaning, cooking and fun all done. I sat down with a notepad and wrote down how the day went, when I was upstairs, when I could fit in laundry without making an extra trip upstairs (risking waking up the baby unnecessarily) and such.

For example:

Monday

wakeup-10am: Breakfast, dishwasher (either load or unload), free play

10am - 12pm: Liam up for nap, laundry down and into washer, activity with Connor

...so on and so forth. I have broken it into code though so it isn't so wordy

BUT

just because I have a system, DOES NOT mean that my
world isn't full of chaos. The photo to the right is a perfect example of this. I had gone into the dining room (two rooms away) to package up an Etsy order. I could hear the boys talking to each other and having fun, so I took the 3 minutes and got the box taped, labeled and ready for shipping. When I returned to the den, this is what I found...hundreds of little foam letters all over the floor!!


The long of the short of it is, even with a system, kids = chaos! Just today Liam completely emptied out Connor's dresser before he decided he was ready for his nap...clothes everywhere.

A friend of mine said "Cleaning up after kids is like shoveling while it's still snowing."

My Tips For Anyone

We're each in a different season of our lives. My routine wouldn't work for a mother with a newborn who isn't sleeping through the night, or someone who works full time. It's what works for me.

If you are struggling to find balance I have a few tips which may help.

1. Write your goals down!
Seeing what you're hoping to accomplish in a day, week, month; whatever you've written out helps put it into perspective.

2. Start small!
Instead of writing out a goal of "clean the house", try "clean off the dining room table" or "wipe down the kitchen counters". A simple task that won't take more than a few minutes can do wonders for your spirit!

3. Set a timer.
10 or 15 minutes per task. When the timer goes off, you stop or if you've finished before the timer, head to the next thing on the list.

4. Breathe.
If you're kids have full tummies, clean diapers (if you're in that stage still like I am) and are dressed...you've accomplished a lot! If the sink is overflowing with dishes, Breathe. Wait until there's time to do it. Even if that means waiting until the next day.

I'd rather sit on the floor and play Go Fishing than scrub toilets anyway!! Wouldn't you?

200th Fan Giveaway Contest!!

     As some of you already know, I've had two Giveaways since starting my Fruitful Delights Facebook Page. There was one for Fan #50 and Fan #100.

As of today, I am 8 fans away from reaching 200. I can not believe that there are so many people who are out there supporting this Stay-at-home-mom! I am at a loss for words how to describe how grateful I am for each and every one of you!! Making homemade jam went from my way of treating my family in a healthy way, to spreading into your homes as well, unreal!

As a Thank You to all of my fans, I have created a Giveaway, giving you all a chance to enter and win a jar of my Jam!! I'll also be having a sale in March, clearing out my inventory (perfect time to order for Easter and Mother's day!) and will be offering discounts and free shipping opportunities.

The contest runs into March. Lots of ways to enter.
The winner will be chosen on March 11, 2012.
Please Spread the word about Fruitful Delights and don't forget to enter!!

Sneak Peek: Strawberry-Banana Jam

So many people like Strawberry Jam. It's a classic for sure! How could it not, sweet, red, chunky and it goes so well with Peanut Butter.

Last year my husband asked if I'd make some different varieties. He'd blurt out a flavor combination and we'd think about it a while. Then one day he says Strawberry-lemonade. I liked the idea of this! It was a mix of sweet strawberries and tart lemons. The combination works beautifully as a drink, why not as a jam!

Believe it or not, it was my most popular of the Strawberry Jam flavors I'd sold last year. So once again the think tank went back to work to come up with another winning Strawberry blend and I think we've come across it!

Strawberry-Banana!!

The bananas are added at the end of the cooking process so they keep some of their shape, but spread well. As you take a bite there's a subtlety to the banana throughout with the bonus bite of a piece of ripened banana.

This is a beautiful blend especially when served as a Classic PB&J. Who out there doesn't love a little sliced banana on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? Well, now it's already blended in with that sweet Strawberry Jam!!

If all goes as planned, Strawberry-Banana will be available for purchase by Memorial Day weekend. A great kick-off to a wonderful summer filled with fresh fruit and Jam.

Sneak Peek: Golden Raspberry Jam

I am so excited to be offering three new flavors to the selection of Jams that I will be making for the 2012 Jam season. That will mean there will be 12 Jam flavors for this year!!!

The first one I'm letting you get a sneak peek at is Golden Raspberry.

A little History

The first spring here in our home, Steve went to the local hardware store and picked up three berry plants for a container garden we built on the side of the house. Two raspberry and one Black Raspberry. We planted the Black Raspberry in the middle of the raspberry plants and anxiously waited for the Summer fruit!! To our surprise though, one of the raspberry plants fruit was this pale pink, almost white. The flavor was sweeter than a red raspberry but didn't think anything of it. When we picked the berries, we put all the Black Raspberries together and the Red and "white" together. So when I made red raspberry jam, it didn't taste any different to us but the color was slightly different. We were surprised to see that this plant continued to produce fruit into the fall.

a few berries from our garden

Doing a little research I learned that the "white" raspberry was really Golden and of the Ever-bearing variety. These berries are much sweeter than a Red Raspberry and the plant produces fruit from Summer into Fall making it a great plant for a garden.

Test Batch

Thanks to the crazy winter of 2010-2011, we only got about 1/4 cups worth of Golden Raspberries. Nowhere near enough to make a
batch for selling, let alone gift giving to family. So I held onto them until things quieted down and I could make a small batch for us to taste. I barely got an 8 ounce jar out of the berries but...

Oh, my!! If you like Raspberry Jam, but not so much the tartness of Red Raspberry you will LOVE this Golden Raspberry Jam. It tastes like honey, with a very slight undertone of raspberry tartness. Truly amazing when it warms on toast.

With the crocus already blooming here (opened up today) I am very nervous to see what the berry season is going to be like and am hopeful that I will have enough of these beautiful little gems to make a batch of Golden Raspberry Jam for you!!

Not your Grandma's Jam

This fall after we'd picked somewhere around 70 pounds of apples, I had my recipes all lined up of what I wanted to make. Of course there was Apple Butter and Applesauce (my kids LOVE my applesauce), even Apple Peach Jam. After all of that, I still had quite a few apples left so I went digging for something different! I came across this recipe in an old cookbook of mine and it sounded intriguing.

The apples were only slightly cooked, still skinned and cut into bite size pieces. Raisins and Walnuts were the other two main stars of this "Jam". I had to try it! The method of preparing this particular product was a bit different for me, but the end result was something extraordinary. I call it Apple Conserve and it is amazing when served with pork or lamb instead of Mint Jelly.

Having nut allergies in the family, I was very concerned about selling it in my Etsy shop, fearing someone may not see that it contains walnuts. The views of it have been wonderful and I've been amazed that I haven't just sold one jar, but someone came back for a second.

The out pour of support from both Etsy and Facebook has just been so wonderful. I really look forward to announcing the new flavors for Fruitful Delights 2012 season this April. I will have all of the flavors that I currently make, as well as a few new ones and I will also be making many of my flavors in Sugar-Free versions!

Check back on Friday for my post about Sandwich pockets...it was an interesting experiment!

What motivates me

As a parent, I want the best for my kids. And for us, that started with a healthy relationship with food. My kids have to fight genetics (diabetes runs in my family) and it was so important for us to lay a solid foundation for them when it came to food.

Meals that I make from scratch is one of the most important ways I can show my family that I love them, but it does not mean I have to slave over the stove for half the day. What it does mean is lots of fruits and veggies! Every day starts with a bowl of fruit, either with or without a whole grain cereal. They're kids, so they snack on things like animal crackers and Goldfish, not cookies and chocolate bars. I'd love to hope that when Connor is 12 and he's hungry between meals, he'd choose an apple or banana over a bag of chips...


We have a vegetable garden. Actually it's a few of them, scattered on our small piece of property, where we grow tomatoes, green beans and bell peppers. We also grow parsley, basil, chives and lettuce. It is so great to be able to make homemade sauce for spaghetti! I fill it with onions, tomatoes, fresh basil and parsley and when we have them in the fridge, carrots. I found making meals from scratch gave me control over how many veggies I could pack into each meal and that was so great!

bread maker ready to go!

So when my husband surprised me with a Bread Maker for our 5th Anniversary (I love practical gifts!) I was SO excited!! Reading article after article on the benefits of homemade bread from Money Saving Mom, I was amazed at how simple it was. One more thing I could do for my kids...what kid doesn't love a sandwich and now I don't have to worry about the bread having too much sugar in it.



Knowing how many preservatives, sugar and salt are in pre-packaged foods is what moved me towards starting Fruitful Delights. This is my chance to offer you all a little taste of the wholesome goodness that I offer my family.

Connor helping make scones

The world moves so quickly and it's so easy to get lost in it. Taking 30 minutes to make Homemade Mac n' Cheese (with steamed cauliflower thrown in) helps me slow it down and enjoy my kids while they're still young. Cooking is a great way to spend time with your kids too! You can teach them math, the importance of patience, hand-eye coordination and the joy on their faces when the meal is complete and they can see that they were a part of it, priceless!!
I hope you have a chance to roll up your sleeves and make something for someone special!