Canned Pears

Prepare pears by peeling, coring and halving them. To prevent browning, submerge pears in a mixture of 1/4 cup lemon juice and 4 cups water and drain. To prepare light syrup, combine 2-1/4 cups granulated sugar and 5-1/4 cups water in a stainless steel saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to low and keep warm until needed, taking care not to boil the syrup down. Warm pears in syrup one layer at a time in a large stainless steel saucepan over medium-low heat until heated through, about 5 minutes. Pack hot pears into hot jars to within a generous 1/2 inch of top of jar. Ladle hot syrup into hot jar to cover pears, leaving 1/2 inch head space. Remove air bubbles and adjust head space, if necessary, by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight. Process pint jars in a boiling water canner for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool.

Happy Easter

Leprechaun Slime

1 bottle clear school glue
2 drops green food coloring (optional)
glitter (optional) I would have used green, but I didn't have any.
1/2 C. warm water
1/2 tsp. borax powder

Dissolve borax in the water.  Empty the entire bottle of glue into a bowl. Add food coloring, glitter, googly eyes, and whatever you have.  Slowly stir in borax solution. Do not add all at once and you can control the thickness of the slime.  Use your hands to stir, slime gets thick quickly.  SCIENCE  It doubles as keyboard cleaner when you are done playing.

Ohio: Did You Know

Ohio has the largest Amish population of any state in the nation.
Oberlin College, (about 40 minutes west of Cleveland) founded in 1833, was the first interracial and coeducational college in the United States. 
Seven United States presidents were born in Ohio: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William H. Taft, and Warren G. Harding.
Ohio is dubbed the birthplace of aviation pioneers.  It is the birth place of the Wright Brothers, John Glen, Neil Armstrong, and 23 other astronauts (7% of all American astronauts to have ever traveled beyond their earthly bonds). 
Life Savers candy was invented by Clarence Crane of Garrettsville, Ohio in 1912. 
Ohio’s state flag is not a rectangle like other flags—it’s a pennant design, and it’s the only state flag in the United States with that design. 
The state of Ohio was named after the river 'Ohio'. The Ohio river was named for the Iroquois word, “O-Y-O,” meaning “great river.”
Cuyahoga River of Ohio was nicknamed “The River That Caught Fire” as the river has caught on fire at least 13 times. The river's pollution and burning covered extensively in the press and the coverage spurred the environmental movement which eventually led to the establishment of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Great Lakes Brewery has a beer called "Burning River" to pay tribute.
Jim Rhodes was an American Republican politician from Ohio, and as of 2006 one of only six US state governors to serve 4 four-year terms in office.  As governor in 1970, he sent National Guard troops onto the Kent State University campus, resulting in the shooting of students on May 4. Four students were killed and nine others were wounded.  Cleveland State University has a dormitory named in his honor.
The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly part of northeastern region of Ohio. Following the American Revolutionary War, Connecticut gave up claim to some of its western lands, but initially sold the Western Reserve to developers. It finally ceded control of this portion to the United States and the area was organized under the Northwest Territory until Ohio was admitted as a state. "Western Reserve" is referred to in numerous institutional names.

Mini Meatballs

Tasty mini meatballs
Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I had a meatball, yum!
I wouldn't have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I had a tasty little rich,
Idle-diddle-daidle-meaty ball.

Throw them in your soup by the dozens,
Just before you chow down.
They make a great appetizer anywhere you go
Try them sauteed with a soy and ginger glaze
Melted with mozzarella all around
The possibilities run the gambit, high and low

I'd fill my freezer with jumbo and mini
every time single time they go on sale.
Buying up as many as the cashiers dare to scan.
Each loud "ooh" and "ah" and "yum" and "lalala"
Lands like a trumpet on the ear,
As if to say "Here lives a cook who can."

Tasty mini meatballs
Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I had a meatball, yum!
I wouldn't have to work hard.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I had a tasty little rich,
Idle-diddle-daidle-meaty ball.