Hill House Soapworks Boutique

Hey everyone, I have opened a small Bath & Bodycare Boutique called Hill House Soapworks, on Facebook. I have some fun Halloween items in there, and will add more items as I have time. I plan to eventually carry a full range of Body care items. I would love for you to visit, Like and Follow. I also have a Facebook Group you can join, Hill House Soapworks Group, to hear about new items before they are stocked in the boutique. Thanks for your support!

Prickly Pear Jelly

Prickly Pear tunas are turning ripe this time of year. Tuna are the fruit of the prickly pear cacti that ripen after it flowers. Prickly Pear Jelly has a unique flavor I wouldn't begin to know how to describe, but it's good. My neighbor has a nice crop of tunas this year and I decided to try my hand at making jelly. I searched the web for recipes and tips then got started. 

Three Things

Every fall I make apple butter from store bought applesauce to give to my kids. They swear mine is the best they've ever tasted.You know it's not all that great but they like to butter me up and get free apple butter :) 

I don't have apple trees, they are not common here though you can grow them. Nor are there orchards close by (at least not close enough for me to spend gas money on) that I could go to to buy apples for applesauce and apple butter. But there was a really good sale on apples at Safeway and I decided to buy several pounds and try my hand at making apple sauce. It was a fun project but I don't think I will do it again without a way to speed up peeling the apples. Maybe get one of those nifty peeler corer gadgets. Really, though I love homemade from scratch, it wasn't worth the trouble and I didn't save any money over buying applesauce I don't think. I made apple sauce, then apple butter,  canned it and will pass it out at Christmas.