Ben's Keetchun - Strawberries & Rhubarb

Welcome to another episode of Ben's Keetchun!!

Today, Sandy and I are making... rhubarb relish!!

"I picked the rhubarb back in May, and froze it..."

We have a recipe here...

Oh... but before we begin... we've already been busy making...

Strawberry-rhubarb jam!!!

It is beary beary good...

We still have lots of strawberries left over...

But we'll just leave them here and handle the rhubarb...

Sooo... we need sterilized canning jar... put them in the oven on 200F for a while...

And have the lids in warm (not boiling) water...

Now it's time for some prepping...

 Dice the onions...

Thaw the rhubarb...

 And... oh, hello Sandy...
"Hi Ben, I just wanted to interrupt quickly because I have a lead on some firewood!"
Oh... OK... I guess I'm on my own then!

Sooo... now you add all the ingredients to a big pot and get it simmering... This will take a while...

"Hmmm... look at all these strawberries..."

I wonder where they all went?

Heh-heh...

OK... once the mixture has thickened...

You ladle it into the jars and put the lids on and... voila... rhubarb relish!!! This batch made 16 jars... whew!! Thanks for watching!

Jerry's Corner - Episode 10 - On Location in Canada

Hello stuffies everywhere! This is Jerry's Corner. I'm your host, Jerry. Welcome to the show!

(Psst... Ben... get in closer!)

Jerry's Corner is a talk and information show where stuffies of all kinds from around the world can get answers to their questions, receive great advice, and enjoy helpful tips, all from me, your host, Jerry! Remember, keep those questions coming!

Today we are on location in... (you know this already)... Sandy's Greenhouse in Canada!!

Thank you so much for having us here, Sandy.

"My pleasure Jerry! I am soooo glad you guys could come up here!"

Thanks also go to our camera-bear today, Little Bear Ben!

"Hullo!!"

Well Sandy, we have a several questions from our viewers. Are you ready

"I'll do my best, Jerry!"

OK, the first question is from Ajdin... He would like to know... "What is your favorite thing about Canada?"

"Ooohh... that is a good question. Well.... I think we have a beary cool Prime Minister at the moment. Of course, it would be better if we had a Prime Stuffie but... a Little Bear can dream. The other think I like is that we have sooo many trees, lakes and rivers and huge unpopulated areas where bears can roam free!"

Thank you Sandy, Ajdin has a second question... "Is it possible to grow a garden indoors, and what plants should I start with? (anxiously looking at my mom and wondering when we will have a garden."

"Well, that is a great question! Ajdin, I think you definitely could grow a mini-garden indoors. I would start with some herbs - basil is bear easy to grow indoors. You could also try some parsley and oregano. As long as you have sunshine, water and some fertilizer... you should be good to grow."

Great answer Sandy. I would agree with you. Ajdin... we would love to see pictures of your garden once you get it started! Now... our next set of questions comes from Little Fox. He would like to know... "What is the National Animal of Canada?"

"Great question L. Fox. The national animal of Canada is the beaver... and it symbolizes the industriousness of Canadians. You will be happy to know that the provincial animal of BC is... the Spirit Bear also known as the Kermode Bear. It is a white/cream black bear (not albino). I think it is beary appropriate that I live in BC!"

"Aren't they cute?? There are several provinces that don't have provincial animals... maybe Little Fox could campaign for the Fox!"

Whew... we had to move out of Sandy's Greenhouse for the rest of the questions... our camera-bear was starting to look faint. Our next question from Little Fox is... "How many time zones does Canada have?"

"Ooooh... good question!!! Let's see... we have Pacific, Mountain, Central, Eastern, Maritimes and Newfoundland.

"There are a couple of tricky things though... Saskatchewan doesn't switch time zones... so in the winter they are on Central time (like this map shows)...

...and in summer they are on Mountain time.

Prairie folk... what can you say... (Some pieces of BC do the same thing...) And Newfoundland isn't really a full time zone... it is a half time zone! Sooo... on TV they always say... '7 pm in Atlantic Canada and half an hour later in Newfoundland'. Just to confuse everything So... I guess you could say we have 5.5 time zones!"

Heh-heh... alright... Little Fox's next questions is... "Why do Canadians have outdoor swimming pools?"

"Well... another great question. Just for the record... we don't have an outdoor swimming pool in our yard. Although.... we do have this bird bath. It's sort of a swimming pool for bugs! Canadians do like to swim in cold water (annual Polar Bear swim on January 1 is one example). Many Canadians do have hot tubs and some have heated outdoor pools. I think that takes a lot of energy though and isn't good for the environment..."

Errr... we have an interruption here... a plant just blew into Sandy's face... Can anyone identify it?

"Well yes... let me see... that is a red clover! Sandy!! is that a weed in your garden????"

"Heh-heh... I guess my garden help hasn't been keeping on top of things!"

"I theenk we need to move locations here... Again!"

Alright then... our next question from Little Fox is... "Are you going to take J and B to the Calgary Stampede?"

"Oooh... that would be so great!!! But alas... Jerry & Ben have to go home this coming week and... the Calgary Stampede is in early July soooo... not this time around."

Thanks Sandy and... our last question from Little Fox is... "Are you going to take J & B to Timmies?"

"Heh-heh... stay tuned and find out!!!"

Thanks to all of our regular viewers! This is Jerry, Sandy, and camera-bear Ben, signing off! Keep those questions coming!

Ben's Keetchun - Basil Garlic Scape Pesto

Hullo... wellkom to Ben's Keetchun! I am here with my soo chef Sandy... A few weeks back we harvested the garlic scapes and then made pesto with them. Due to teknical sekrebearial isshues... this post was deelayed. Sooo... here we are!

First, we washed zee scapes...

Then we chopped them into pieces (1-2" long)... and deescarded the tips above the bulbules...

While I was kutting... Sandy got out the food processor and set it up.

Now... we put the scapes in the food processor...

Remember... don't include the tips... they are tough!

Nowwww... we also need... olive oil, walnuts and parmeezan cheeze....

I hope we have eenough cheeze... Oh... what is that you have Sandy?

"Well, it's some frozen basil puree from last year... maybe we could add it??"

 Hmmm...

I theenk that would work well!!

Soooo... we whipped up the scapes...

Added the basil purreee...

 And then some olive and walnuts... but... Sandy said he had more puree....

So we thawed some more in the mikrowave...

 While I added that, Sandy rooted through the cupboard and...

found some jars!

Mmmmm... doesn't that look good???

I do think Papa needs to build me a greenhouse so I can grow lots and lots of basil and make pesto!

All of that made three jars... which we will now put in the freezer...

Thank's for visiting Ben's Keetchun!! (Actually Sandy's Keetchun... but you know... mia casa sua casa!)