Time for a new truck :(

So, the Monday after Christmas I wasn't feeling well and decided to call out of work. Derrick very rarely is driving to work by himself, but when he does he usually takes the truck. And it is a good thing that he does because less than a mile from the house he braked for a stop sign at the end of Mayall, and since they had not sanded yet the truck wouldn't stop. He slid out into 115 and was t-boned by a Lexus sedan.

He is alright, just a little bruised and sore. He was very lucky! When we went to clean out the truck and I saw the driver's side door I teared up and just turned and hugged Derrick really tightly!

Derrick is alright, but the truck is totalled. And so the search begins! We are hoping to get something without a payment and that can fit a carseat in the back:) We are looking on craigslist mostly, but won't actually buy anything until we get the settlement from the insurance company. Until then we are driving very carefully in my little Accent!

I am just amazed at how incredibly lucky Derrick was to get out of the accident virtually unharmed!! It could have been so much worse!! So, when you go home tonight, hug your spouse or significant other as tight as you can and tell them that you love them! Remember how lucky you are!!

Love, Sarah

Pats vs. Jaguars

So, starting in the next few weeks I am going to begin using a new site for our blog! Until the end of January you will be able to find the same content in both places, but after that all of our pictures will be available on Shutterfly, and we will be using them for our family site! I think it will provide a much easier way to show pictures and videos, and they even have a message board feature that will allow us to chat with you, and you can all chat with eachother. If you are a member you can also upload your own content! The link is http://thecotefamilyadventures.shutterfly.com/. Let me know if you have problems accessing this link. If you want to be a member and be able to contribute content, please let me know and I will send an invitation.

This year for Christmas we got my parents tickets to the Patriots/Jaguars game on December 27th. They were very excited since neither of them had ever been to a game. We have a friend at work who has season tickets to the Pats that we decided to buy, and since he didn't want to break up the set of 4 D and I decided to go too! I had also never been to a game, so it was all very exciting!

On Saturday night we got some bad news though - my parents' truck, which we were planning on using on Sunday, was out of commission! After considering all of our options, including tailgating out of the Accent. . not good, we came up with a solution that ended up working out great for us - Josh and Becky let us borrow their van! It was awesome! Lot's of space and all of our stuff didn't get rained on!

We were meeting my parents in Scarborough at Cabellas, and while D was going to drive most of the way there, we decided it would be a good idea for me to drive to Cabella's so that the first time I was driving the van wasn't in traffic trying to get out of Foxborough!

We made it to Foxborough in pretty good time, and the rain started to slow down right about the time that we parked, so we didn't even put up the dining canopy. We had a nice feast of venison, lamb chops (my mom had never had lamb before. . .she loved it!), and hot dogs. The rain completely let up by the time we were all bundled up and ready to head to the stadium, so we were pretty happy! It was still kind of cold, but we survived! I absolutely cannot believe the amount of traffic that a football game generates! They must have to shut down a couple miles of route 1 right around the stadium every time there is a game. . .it's absolutely insane!!


We walked to the stadium, grabbed some drinks and found our seats. Low and behold we found the wrong seats!! We were one section over from where we were supposed to be. It was really no big deal, and aside from the guy in front of me who didn't like to sit in his seat, we were VERY happy with our third row seats!

It was a really great game, very few penalties and the Pats won by a landslide! The weather cleared up and we were just a few seats away from a kid dressed up as Randy Moss! We had a great time with my folks, and I am pretty sure they enjoyed themselves!

We went back to the van and decided to stick around for a while so we weren't stuck in the initial rush of traffic. There were quite a few people who also stuck around, and a few of them were getting a bit rowdy! As the sun went down it started to get quite a bit colder, and after a few more snacks and beers we decided it was time to brave the traffic! It really could have been worse getting out of the parking lot, but I was a little bit nervous since I was driving a vehicle inside of which my car could fit at least twice. . .but, we made it through the insanity unscathed! I think I made my professional truck driver father a little bit nervous a few times, but all was good! A very special Thank You to Josh and Becky for the loan of their van! It would not have been the same in the Accent!

To see more pictures of our adventure in Foxborough, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arolin11/PatsVsJaguars122709#

Love, Sarah

Five Christmases

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas! This year was a busy one! We managed to fit five Christmases in three days! It was really great to spend time with family, but it was definitely a long weekend!

We began the festivities on the 24th in Lewiston at D's Memere's house for Christmas with his Dad and the rest of the Cotes. The whole family managed to make it up this year, so the house was packed!! There was delicious food and lot's of laughter. It was definitely the largest Cote Family Christmas I have been to! To see more pictures from our Christmas in Lewiston, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arolin11/Christmas2009Lewiston#

We had to leave Lewiston just before dinner time to make it to Buxton for Christmas #2. This Christmas was with D's Mom and Brother. The family just keeps growing and growing! This year, Amy's boys celebrated with us and I think they had a good time. Cammy had fun playing with Uncle Derrick, and although we had already had plenty to eat, we managed to consume even more great food! To see more pictures from our Christmas in Buxton, click here:http://picasaweb.google.com/Arolin11/Christmas2009Buxton#

We got spend Christmas morning just the two of us! Which was great since it was the last peaceful Christmas morning we will get for a very long time! We got up and opened stockings, then had a great breakfast! Then we opened our presents at a very leisurley pace. Sorry, we didn't get any pictures!

For the afternoon it was off to Kezar Falls for Christmas with my family. My parents have a friend and her two daughters living with them, so it was quite a full house! It was great to see everyone though and I was glad that we go to congratulate my brother and his fiancee on their engagement! That's right, my little brother is getting married! They grow up so fast:) We had a great time opening presents, and my parents were VERY surprised with their last gift. . .tickets to the Patriots game on Sunday! My dad cried! The funniest part of the evening came at dinner time when we were eating our Christmas turkey and little Molly kept falling asleep sitting up with her fork in her mouth! Apparently she was too excited to sleep the night before! Too funny! For more pictures of our Kezar Falls Christmas, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Arolin11/Christmas2009Kezar#

Tracey came to stay at our house after Christmas in Kezar and we spent a nice lazy morning together on Saturday. It was good to relax a little bit. Saturday night we headed back to Buxton for Christmas with the Poole and DiBiase families. The nieces and nephews have all grown up so much! We realized that we hadn't seen the DiBiase family since the wedding, and the Poole kids since well before that. They have all grown a foot, and I think a few of them might be shaving already! Or at least that is the way it seems. We enjoyed some delicious fondue and watching the craziness as we try to keep 7 kids under control. They all loved the Nerf swords we got for them. A loud, collective "AAAWWWW!" could be heard when they opened them. Next year it will be even crazier!

I think that is about it for our crazy Christmas! I love the giving and receiving of presents, but five Christmases is more than enough! Hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and that Santa brought you everything that you wanted! Now we can look forward to an exciting 2010!!!

Love, Sarah

Auburn Lights

The other day Derrick and I drove up to see the Auburn Lights Show. For those of you that don't know, a family in Auburn puts up a ton of lights and creates a show set to Christmas music! It is really really cool and I wish we had been able to stay and watch all of the songs! There was quite a bit of traffic and we had dinner reservations at Fuel, but we got to see a couple of really good songs! Here is a video, hope you enjoy it! (sorry it's so dark, it was from inside the car :P)

I probably won't get a chance to blog again until after Christmas, so to all of our friends and family - We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Love, Sarah

Playing catch-up. . .

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas is on it's way! I haven't updated you on what we have been doing in quite a while, so I thought I would try to catch you all up!

In mid-October D went on a fishing/camping trip with Jason, Steve-O, and Blinky. They went to West Grand Lake which is up north somewhere! I thought they were crazy because it was supposed to be freezing and rainy the entire weekend. But, other than a little bit of rain and cold and waking up to ice on the boat one morning, they had a good time and no one froze to death! Oh yeah, and everyone stayed in the boat and noone contracted any kind of bacteria! They spent most of their time eating! But when they did fish, D broke his unlucky fishing streak by finally catching a fish! See more pictures from their trip here.


D has also been busy the last few months building the beautiful tarp shed that is now gracing our yard! It has plenty of room for the motorcycle, riding lawn mower, and snow blower. And I think the cats like it when it is raining! It is constructed using PVC pipe, rebar, wood, and tarp. To see more pictures of the tarp shed construction click here.


We had a good time on Halloween! Us and the Farrars headed to the O'Braffam's house in SoPo for their annual party. D went as a Doozer and I went as a Care Bear. We dyed the clothes ourselves! Click here to see Al and Peg Bundy, Pee Wee Herman, Jem, and many more from the Childhood TV Shows-themed bash!


As for what I have been up to. . .not much really! Just puttering around the house and starting to think about organizing to make room for baby! I did finally make applesauce though! I got to use my new peeler/corer thingy, and it worked great! I love it and it makes peeling apples go by so much faster!


Thanksgiving weekend was a lot of fun. Thursday we went to Nola and Ken's house in Buxton in the morning, followed my folks' house in Kezar for the evening. Two turkey dinners in one day is too many!!!! It was really great to get to see everyone, and we got see my aunts and uncle who we don't get to see very often. Sunday evening we hosted a small gathering at our house with Roger, Jason, Amy, and the boys. We opted against turkey and went for the ham! Although we don't quite have a table big enough for 7 people, we had a great meal and everyone had fun! To see a few more pictures of our Sunday night Thanksgiving, click here.

The big news of Thanksgiving weekend is that about two months after we become new parents we will also be Auntie and Uncle since Jason and Amy announced that they are expecting a bundle of joy in July! Congrats to Jason and Amy! We can't wait to meet the new addition to the family!

It was definitely a weekend full of lots to be thankful for! I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, full of family and friends!

Till next time. . .

Love, Sarah

Announcing. . .

I have not written in ages! Ever since the wedding our life has calmed down quite a bit and we don't have as much to tell you about!

The biggest we have going on right now (for those of you that don't already know) is that we are going to have a baby in May! I am almost 14 weeks along and the estimated due date is May 15th (the same day that my mom was due to be born!). Here is a shot from our very first ultrasound! Little baby Cote is waving! It was amazing to see the little hand moving and the heart beating!

So, to answer the inevitable question: No, we are probably not going to find out if it is a boy or a girl! I know, we are crazy! But I think that extra surprise at the end will be totally worth the wait!

I have felt really good so far, no morning sickness at all! I have been extra tired though! We are very excited to watch the baby grow and to share the experience with all of you! I will keep you updated as we go along!!

Love, Sarah

Happy Hostas

The weekend before the big birthday bash (yeah, I know, that was forever ago!) I decided that I really needed to do something about the hosta bed that lines the back of the house. It was just impossible to keep up with the weeds without also cutting up the hostas. So I decided to line it out and make it look all nice and neat! This is what it looked like before:

I dug up all of the weeds and and lined out the front of the bed with some nice stones that I found at Lowes. It took me a while to dig up all of the weeds and grass because I had to keep stopping and getting through the shivers because of all of the spiders crawling all over the cement of the foundation!! You would have been proud though because I got through it and I only had to have D come over and pull up a few clumps!! I spread the work out over a couple of days, but it all got done and the mulch got spread! Doesn't it look great!

We have had a lot of projects going on, but the most exciting news (current news I promise) is that D bought me a pink netbook for my birthday and we both just got iPhones!! It is really great to finally be up with all the new technology, but now we can sit and not talk to eachother in whole new ways!!

To see more pictures of the hosta bed project, click here.

Love, Sarah

Brewfest

We went to the Sebago brewfest a while back (I am really behind in my posts!!). I was designated driver for the boys and ended up with Derrick, Steve-O, Blinky, and Bo in the car. It took twice as long to get there as it should have, cause, well, I had a car full of boys!! The brewfest was at Point Sebago on the beach. They had a couple of gigantic tents set up and it ended up being a beautiful day!

There were quite a few people there and they had a band. They had some pretty good options for food. I had a chili dog early on and of course I dripped chili all over my shirt pretty much right away!! They also had some delicious pulled pork sandwiches, and of course the gigantic turkey legs!! Derrick, Bo, and Blinky looked like they were cavemen looking for a wife to club over the head!!

Meghan and Tim and Katie and Brad also went to the brewfest, so we got to spend some time with them. We saw a few other people that we knew and a good time was had by all! We stuck around for a little while at the end so that we could avoid most of the traffic. It was a fun brewfest and I am excited for next year. . .I already called NOT DD!!

Click here for more pictures from the brewfest.

Love, Sarah

Party Time!!!

I have been seriously slacking on the blogging lately! To everyone that has been checking every day to see if there is an update, Sorry 'bout that!!

We have started a new tradition in the last few years of having a big party right around D's birthday! He shares his birthday with two of our friends, Lisa and Ann, so this year it was a big one! And, conveniently, it fell on a Saturday!! And, it just happens to coincide with International Talk Like a Pirate Day (no, seriously, it is a real thing!) so we were able to have a little bit of a pirate theme, arrrr!!

We got a keg of Pumkinhead again, and I made a carrot cake for the Birthday people. The kids were very interested in the cake!! It is very interesting how parties have changed, just in the last year! This year's party definitely seemed much tamer than last years, and I don't think it went as late either! It was still a lot of fun though, just not quite as crazy as in years past!

There was a game of bocce, and lot's of good food. And one of the highlights of the afternoon (for the boys at least!) was a game of throw-the-hammer-catch-the-hammer-try-to-hit-a-nail. I am not exactly sure what the point of the game was other than a bunch of guys standing around a log with nails in it, drinking beer and throwing a hammer around. . .they seemed to enjoy it immensly though, so I guess I can't complain - at least they were entertained for a while!

It did get quite cold once the sun went down, so there was a lot of huddling in the living room or the basement for warmth rather than sitting around the fire!!

Sorry for the lack of specifics! It has been a while since the party! But, the moral of the story is that everyone seemed to have a great time and we can't wait to do it all over again next year for Derrick and Lisa's 30th!! Though, I am pretty sure that we are going to try to have it a little bit earlier so it isn't so cold!!

Click Here to see more pictures of the party.

Until next time!

Love, Sarah

Chunky (or Chewonky) Mustard Pickles

These pickles got their nickname at Derrick's birthday party because Tim can't read very well. . . So I suppose I will have to call them Chewonky Pickles when we finally open Cote's Cafe and Pickle Emporium!! They are more of a condiment than something you eat on it's own, but they came out really tasty. So, without further ado, here is the recipe! This recipe should make around 7 pint jars.

Chunky "Chewonky" Mustard Pickles

14c Cubed seeded peeled pickling or field cucumbers (@ 1/2 in cubes)

6c Finely chopped onions

1/4c Pickling or canning salt

3c Granulated Sugar

4tbsp ClearJel (this is a special starch used for canning that isn't really sold in stores. I bought a bag on Amazon)

1/4c Dry Mustard

1tbsp Ground Ginger

1tsp Ground turmeric

1/2c water

2c White vinegar

1 Red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1. In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumbers and onions. Sprinkle with pickling salt, cover and let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink and drain thoroughly.

2. Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.

3. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar, ClearJel, mustard, ginger and turmeric. Stir well. Gradually blend in water. Add vinegar and red pepper. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently to dissolve sugar and prevent lumps from forming. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. Add drained cucumber mixture and return to a boil.

4. Ladle cucumber mixture into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space, if necessary, by adding hot cucumber mixture. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

5. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

We have enjoyed these pickles on hot dogs and burgers and I am sure they would be very good as a pairing for any kind of BBQ!! I hope you enjoy them!!

Love, Sarah

American Idol!!

The American Idol Live tour came to the Cumberland County Civic Center on September 12th. Deb, Jenny, Kelsey, and I got tickets ages ago! The show was great and I would definitely go again! The screaming tweens were a little much (especially since I am not the biggest Adam Lambert fan, which puts me very much in the minority), but we did leave Margaritas after the show just in time to see some of the Idols getting on the buses. Unfortunately I completely forgot to bring my camera, so I didn't get any pictures!! We were going to try to get the Idols to sign Deb's belly, but we couldn't get throught the throngs of fans that had waited on the corner for an hour!! The music was great and it definitely got me ramped up and ready for the new season of Idol! Who was your favorite Idol last year?

Love, Sarah

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend was a crazy weekend that started out with a very nice evening hanging out with friends at an impromptu party! Derrick went disc golfing after work and I went home early! Katie and Jenny came over to hang out and eat yummy pizza and chat while the guys were gone. It was a great evening to hang out on the porch, although it could have been a few degrees warmer!


Saturday was another beautiful day! We ran some errands in the morning and then drove down to Boston to spend the evening with Nick, Lori, Nate, and Lisa. We walked down to the T and went to the Faneuil Hall area. We went to the Bell in Hand tavern which is the oldest continuously operating tavern in the country. There was a huge farmer's market going on in the street next to the tavern, and we were there to see the bulldozers show up to clean the street! The mess that is left behing after this market (which goes on every day in the summer!) is intense! The smell of rotting fruit permeates the air, and there are piles of boxes littering the street - I can definitely understand why they need bulldozers to clean up!


For dinner we walked down to the north end where all of the Italian restaurants are. Most of the restaurants have huge shutters that open the entire place up to the street, and the smells are amazing! It makes me hungry just thinking about it! We walked down the people packed streets looking for a place that looked like it wouldn't be a huge wait for 6 people. We even poked our head into the restaurant that Ben Affleck was supposed to be dining at that night! I don't remember the name of the place that we ended up eating at, but I wish that I did because it was not exactly a pleasant experience. The wait was at least twice as long as we were quoted, and it looked like there were parties of 6 that arrived after us getting seated before us. Once we sat down and ordered, Derrick's fork was dirty and his glass was cracked, someone found a hair in the bread, someone else found a piece of plastic in their beer, and our appetizer order got messed up. To top it all off, once the OWNER of the restaurant came over to hear our complaints she was rather rude and never once apologized for all of the issues. She even went so far as to suggest that we were just vying for free food!! All of that aside, the food was really good, but I am sure that Nick and Lori will not be going back there!


We headed back to Nick and Lori's place for the night, where I promptly fell asleep on the couch bed! N and L just got a new kitten (I am soooo jealous! I want an orange tiger kitty!). He is wicked cute, and he slept with us the entire night! More specifically, he slept on D's pillow for the entire night! I don't know what it is about D, but kittens and kids LOVE him!!

Sunday morning we had to get up early for the trek back to Maine and Derrick's cousin Barb's wedding in Lewiston. We made it home with just enough time to shower and change. We arrived in Lewiston to behold the magic that is the blue tarp cathedral that Uncle Ray and others built in the yard!! It is quite a sight to see, and gave D ideas about how to build a smaller scale tarp building to house our riding lawnmower, cart, and motorcycle!

The wedding was a lot of fun, and it was a gorgeous day! All of the food was delicious, and it was great to spend time with family! Congratulations Barb and Jason!!

After the wedding we went over to Jason and Amy's and continued the party. I continued the party a little too much, because we were supposed to stay and watch a scary movie, but I decided at the last minute that I wanted to go home. Hey, it's a woman's perogotive to change her mind, right?

So we went home! Monday was another glorious day! We puttered around the house and ran errnads and ended the weekend with an awesome lobstah dinner on the porch! Why can't every weekend be a long weekend?

To see more pictures from Barb and Jason's wedding, click here. If this link doesn't work, please let me know!

Love, Sarah

Blueberry Sauce!!!

Although I made Chunky Mustard Pickles before I made the blueberry sauce, I decided that you might like to read about something other than pickles! The night before I made blueberry sauce, I made blueberry jam and forgot to take pictures for the blog! So, you are going to get just the making of the sauce. . .the suggestion for this recipe in the book says that it would be delicious poured over warm lemon pound cake or mixed with yogurt. I always remember having pancakes smothered in warm blueberry sauce at my Grammie Pockets house! However you choose to eat it, I hope that the smell and the taste evoke the same kind of happy memories that I had as I stood over the pot of bubbling sauce!

Blueberry Sauce

7 cups Blueberries
2 3/4 cups Unsweetened Apple Juice
1 Tbsp Grated Lemon Zest
1 1/4 cups Granulated Sugar
2/3 cup Corn Syrup
1/4 cup Lemon Juice

1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

2. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine blueberries, apple juice, and lemon zest. Bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, crushing berries with a potato masher. While maintaining a constant but gentle boil, gradually add sugar, stirring until completely dissolved. Continue boiling gently while gradually stirring in corn syrup and lemon juice. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Boil hard for 15 minutes.

3. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot sauce. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

4. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

So, if you are lucky enough to score a jar of our blueberry sauce, then enjoy! If you are not so lucky - have fun making your own!

Love,

Sarah

Camping Trip Number 2

We love camping, and wish that we could do it more often (well, at least I love camping and wish we could do it more often!).

This time around we went to Beaver Brook Campground in North Monmouth. We carpooled with the Higgins' which was fun. We were the first people there and we were psyched with the sites that we got! It was three sites with their own little driveway and there was a bonus fire pit right in the middle. We decided to make the middle area the party spot and the other sites the sleeping spots. We decided to set our tent up in the same spot as Josh and Becky. I thought that our tent was big. . theirs is huge! It has a center area and then has three little rooms off the central entry! Craziness!

Anyways, Brad and Katie showed up and started setting up their tent on a different site. . .only to find out that something had gotten into the shed where the tent was stored and chewed holes in the tent! Not good considering the bugs and the giant rain storm that was supposed to be headed our way! They went down to the camp store and got a patch kit and some duct tape!!

We managed to get the tents set up, as well as the dining canopy and another tarp before the rains started. And boy did it rain!! We huddled under the canopy playing cards. At one point we realized that the picnic table under the canopy was unfortunately situated in a low area, so the puddle around our feet just grew and grew! Eventually we moved to the other picnic table under the tarp. At one point the rain was so loud that we could barely hear eachother speaking! There was a lull between storms, but it rained for a long time!

We were lucky though, it did stop later in the evening, and it only rained lightly through the night. We got plenty of phone calls Friday night with people deciding that they were going to stay home rather than try to set up their tents in the dark and rain. Jason and Amy did show up just in time for us all to go to bed! They slept in the tent, and I think that the rest of us stayed pretty dry. . .well, other than Katie and Brad!

Saturday morning looked pretty good, and all of the people that were supposed to show up on Friday night made it to the campground fairly early (which is good since I had forgotten yeast for the english muffins!!!) Breakfast got underway. . .although I guess I should really call it brunch. .or even lunch! Once again, our gigantic frying pan did a spectacular job of cooking breakfast over the fire! Oh, and Derrick did an ok job too:) And, we had english muffins with homemade jam for desert! After breakfast, the guys and Amy and I went disc golfing, and everyone else went to the campground pool. It was an extremely hot day, and we were all very happy to jump in the pool after disc! The boys decided to go out for another round after lunch, and us girls spent the afternoon around the campfire. We then got to feast on a bucket of bbq meat that Jason had prepared, and Amy had diligently stirred all afternoon! I am sure that Katie will agree that the highlight of the evening was her trip to the ER due to breathing problems. Apparently sleeping in a moldy tent is not so good for you! Needless to say Katie and Brad did not stay the night again on Saturday.

Sunday was a little bit overcast, but we were hoping that any rain would hold off until we were all backed up. Kelsey and Blinky made breakfast while Josh, Becky, Steve-O, Derrick, and I packed up our tents. We left around 11 and Derrick and I just went home and cleaned and vegged for the rest of the day. Exciting ending, I know!!

For more pictures from our camping trip, click here.

Love, Sarah

Spicy Dill Pickles

Whereas most of the recipes that I have been using for canning come from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (thanks Tracey!), the recipe that I use for my spicy dill pickles is a family recipe. More specifically, it is my Great-Great Aunt Elva's recipe, relayed to my mother as well as my Great-Grandmother could remember it!


For some reason, I have never been able to make a batch that tastes as good as the ones I used to eat every Thanksgiving! There was always a jar in the door of the refrigerator at the house in Magalloway, and I had to restrain myself from eating the entire jar the very first day! Yum Yum! I guess those kinds of flavors just can't be duplicated!

Anywho, here is the recipe! (this recipe makes about 9 quart jars, and I would recommend using the wide mouth jars)

Elva's Spicy Dill Pickles

9 cups of water

9 cups of white vinegar

1 cup of pickling or canning salt

@ 27 pickling cucumbers, ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise (to make spears,
you know what they should look like. . .)

Mustard Seeds

Red Pepper Flakes

Fresh Dill

@27 Garlic Cloves, pealed

1. Prepare the jars and lids (I put the jars through the dishwasher with no
detergent, and I boil the lids in a saucepan on the stove)

2. Combine the water, vinegar, and salt in a large pot. Bring the mixture to
a boil, stirring occasionally to disolve the salt.

3. Pack the cucumbers in the jars, we estimate a total of about 3 cucumbers
per jar, but just keep packing them in until you can't pack anymore!

4. In each jar add a few sprigs of the dill, about three garlic cloves, a pinch of mustard seed, and a generous pinch of red pepper flakes.

5. Fill each jar with the hot vinegar mixture to within about 1/2-1/4 inch of the rim. Release any airbubbles and add more vinegar mixture as necessary.

6. Wipe the edge of the rim. Center lid on the jar and screw on the lid rim. Place the jars in canner full of boiling water so that the water just covers the jars. Place the lid on the canner and process for about 10 minutes. Remove the jars and place them upside to cool.

You may notice that there is a big vat of chili in the background of the pictures. I just wanted to let you know that the chili is not part of the recipe and is not required in order for your pickles to be a success. . .but, it doesn't hurt to have something to eat once you have finished all the cleaning up though:)

Love, Sarah

Pat's Game!!

On August 20th, Derrick got to go to a Pat's Game with some coworkers/friends. A coworker just happens to have season tickets, and although it was just a pre-season/exibition game, they were on the 10 yard line and in the third row! I wish that I had gotten to go with them, but maybe next time!

For pictures of the chearleaders. . .I mean of the game. . .click here: http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm160/arolin1/Patriots%20Game%202009/

Love, Sarah

Zesty Bread and Butter Pickles

We haven't really been up to anything overly interesting, so I am going to try interspersing my regular posts with recipes and pictures of the canning and cooking that I do! We really enjoy making delicious canned items using our harvest and getting to share the bounty with our family and friends! It is a lot of work, but the finished product is worth it and the more that I can the better I get! And, I need to practice if we are ever going to open Cote's Cafe and Pickle Emporium (aka, Pickle Me Silly)!!

Our cucumber crop has been particularly good this year, so I have been pickling up a storm! I started with Zesty Bread and Butter Pickles, which contain cucumbers AND onions from the garden!

Zesty Bread and Butter Pickles

10 cups sliced trimmed pickling cucumbers (I used field
cucumbers)

4 medium onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup pickling or canning salt

3 cups white vinegar

2 cups granulated sugar

2 tbsp mustard seeds

2 tbsp prepared horseradish

2 tbsp grated gingerroot

1. In a glass or stainless steel bowl, combine cucumbers, onions and salt. Mix well, cover with cold water and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Transfer to a colander placed over a sink, rinse with cool running water and drain thoroughly.

2. Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars and lids.

3. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, horseradish, and gingerroot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir in vegetables and return to a boil.

4. Pack vegetables into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot pickling liquid in to jar to cover vegetables, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot pickling liquid. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

5. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

I usually cool them upside down. It is something that my mother taught be to do.

And, this is what the finished product looks like! Don't they look delicious? I am so excited at how they came out and am proud that our garden produces such wonderful vegetables!

Oh yeah, and this is what Derrick looks like after almost slicing off the tip of his finger. . . Thanks for your help honey!

We finally got the cds with the professional wedding pictures so we will be able to get our prints and fill frames soon! Can't wait!

Other than that, I don't think there is much going on. Stay tuned for a post about Derrick's trip to the Pat's game and our weekend of camping, as well as another pickle post at some point!

Love, Sarah

Guster!!

On August 8th (I know, I know, it has been a long time since I have blogged!) Derrick and I went to Baystock to see Guster! We met up with Blinky and Kelsey before the show and went to a Thai buffet place on Congress street that we had been wanting to go to for a while. We were severly disapointed though. . .especially since Derrick had read a review that they had the best Pad Thai in Portland! That is a very bold claim, and while the Pad Thai was pretty good, it wasn't quite the best ever! We then went to Beal's for some icecream and then walked down to the Maine State Pier for the show and to meet up with Nate and Stacey!
For those of you that have never been to or heard of Baystock, it is a benefit concert sponsored by Wright Express (which is how I heard about it!). Proceeds go to benefit the Jessie BC Fund which is a children's cancer charity. I think this was the sixth year that they have had the concert. It used to be a two day event, but now is just one evening on the pier. They have a beer garden, and this year I think it went all the way down to the stage! We were not as close as I would have liked to be, and it was tough to get a good picture of the band, but we scored a railing to lean on, so we were lucky! We got there in time to listen to one of the opening bands, Gypsy Tailwind. They were really good!

And then Guster came on! We had a blast singing along and watching the crowd! There was a lady in front of us that had NO rythm whatsoever! It was hilarious! And then the super drunk girl behind us managed to catch herself on fire (her friend put it out pretty quickly) which was a little bit scary! But, the night air was wonderful and it was great to watch the big sailboats coming into port! Guster is a great band, and I hope they come back to Maine again soon! Derrick thinks I have a thing for the drummer, since I was trying so hard to get a good picture of him! I really wanted to get a good picture of him in action since he drums primarily with his hands rather than sticks!! It is really quite amazing!

There isn't really anything else new! I will be posting about pickle making soon!

To see more pictures of the show and other pictures from August, click here: http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm160/arolin1/August%202009/

Love, Sarah

We are getting old!

This has been a wonderful weekend! Friday night we went to Bed Bath and Beyond and spent our wedding gift certificates. We were going to get a new, smaller trash can. . .but we ended up getting one that was the same size! So we will have to take it back and exchange it. We also got a new bed set! It is very pretty, and it goes pretty well with the bright orange walls! We then went to watch the new Harry Potter movie at the iMax in Saco! The first twelve minutes are in 3D,and the movie was pretty good! Not nearly as good as the book, but then again, they never are!

Saturday I went and got my hair cut for Locks of Love again! Ten inches gone, just like that!

We spent the rest of the day outside! I read all day while Derrick worked on the lawnmower. . .again! He wasn't able to get it fixed, so we had to call the small engine repair guy that worked on the snowblower. He came and took a look at it, but couldn't figure it out so he had to take it to his shop.

Saturday night was Katie and Kelsey's 30th birthday bash! We went to Josh and Becky's for dinner, and then caught a ride with them down to Westbrook. The party was a good time, with some flip cup and pong. But, we are getting old and left with the Farrar's around midnight!

And now it is Sunday and it is cloudy and supposed to rain. So there goes all of the things we were thinking about doing for the day! The weekend goes by so fast and I really think that it should be longer!

That is all for now!

Love, Sarah

Happy 30th Mom and Dad!

Saturday the 25th we celebrated my parents' 30th wedding anniversary. Tracey came up and we went to Kezar Falls for the BBQ!


The day ended up being really beautiful, despite being extremely hot! Luckily we had brought our dining canapy so we could get a little bit of shade.

All of the food was delicious and it was really great to see some friends and family that we don't get to see very often!

30 years is really quite an amazing accomplishment! Derrick and I have only been married 2 months (to the day as I am writing this!) and we are already sick of eachother (I kid, I kid!!!)!! No really, the 8 years that Derrick and I have been together seems like an eternity, I can't even fathom 30 years! So, Congratulations Mom and Dad and I hope there are many more happy years to come!

For a few more pictures go here:

http://s295.photobucket.com/albums/mm160/arolin1/30th%20Anniversary/

Love, Sarah