Pomegranate Peeling

The Pomegranate is loaded with antioxidants and is considered a “Super Food” because of the vitamins, iron, potassium and folic acid content. They are very juicy and the juice will stain so peeling one is very messy unless you know how.

Score the pomegranate along the sides just deep enough to go through the red skin.

Place the pomegranate into a bowl full of water and pull the sections apart.

Pull the skin away from the seeds. The seeds will sink to the bottom, and all the other stuff will float to the top. Skim the waste from the top, then scoop the seeds out of the water.

We buy trays of pomegranates at Costco and I try to seed three at a time so there are plenty of seeds to snack on.
They are only available at certain times of the year, but you can freeze the seeds for later use. Just lay them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until totally frozen. Then you can place them in a freezer bag or container for up to 6 months.
Remember, Pomegranates are a good source of energy and we could all use more energy this time of year! Enjoy.

Making Birdseed Ornaments

Hi everyone. My mother has been in the hospital but now she’s out and seems better so I’m back to blogging. Today I’m making bird seed ornaments. They weren’t easy but I’m glad I did this. If you have a better recipe please let me know. For now, here is what I used.

I took 3 cups of seed, mixed with 4 envelopes of unflavored gelatin. After that was good and combined I added 1/4 cup water and mixed that together. I used parchment paper to line the cookie sheet. I placed some seed into cookie cutters, some in the bottom of bowls and some I just shaped. I cut a straw into several pieces and placed one into each shape to make and maintain a hole for the string to eventually go through. I let them stand for 1 hour to dry out a little. Then I sprinkled them with more water after I had pressed all the seed in tight.

Then I baked them at 250 degrees for 1 hour. You must let them cool in the oven so it’s best to bake them at night and let them sit in the oven overnight.
I tried to carefully remove the ornaments but most of them broke apart. Now you can wrap the cookie cutters with tin foil or spray them with cooking spray and that might help. The only ones I was truly happy with were the ones that I had shaped on the cookie sheet.

I took ribbon and hung the ornaments in a tree outside. I also strung some cranberries. I think it looks really sweet and was singing “Feed the Birds” while I was decorating the tree. So have fun and do something nice for our feathered friends this holiday season!