in which i get giddy about food in jars
This morning i prayed that the Lord would make today a productive day, which includes giving me drive and energy to complete the tasks in front of me. He answered my prayer (with a yes), and i feel like i got a lot done today. Leastwise (that's the funniest expression) i worked all day, from 5:45 this morning until just now (which is 10 pm) with short breaks for things like eating.
I still have most of those pears from last weekend sitting in my living room - many of them still ripening - others just waiting for me. These particular pears - keiffer pears - take much longer to peel and slice, etc., than you might expect. On Friday, i did a batch that resulted in about one quart of pear butter. Oh, and it's delicious!
Today, i did another batch. I cut about half of today's batch (about a quart and a half) and put it in a syrup to use for pie filling in the future. The other half i saved in the fridge to be mixed with plums to make a pear/plum butter. Ooh yum! I can't wait!
But i have to because tomorrow is the great Rogers-June-Birthdays/Father's-Day-Combination-Shindig, and Monday starts Vacation Bible School at my church. Thankfully, VBS is only half days this year, so i will have the afternoons to process pears.
Back to today.
I also took that quart of pear butter and canned it! Weehee!
I'm very excited about this because i haven't canned in years and years, and i am really excited about canning food and storing it up and having lots of beautiful jars on shelves like my friend, Kris. That's one of the most beautiful things to me - not to mention it's quite handy to have lots of grub-with-a-shelf-life on hand that tastes good. Anyway, these three little jars i canned - that i'm sorry i don't have pictures of just yet - are the beginning of many many jars of good grub on our shelves.
And that tickles me.
Oh wait.
There's more. Don't go anywhere.
Earlier - maybe last month - when we got all those plums and just a few peaches, the peach harvest we came home with was pretty disappointing and is already gone. They were very yummy; there just weren't enough of them.
Well today, my darling went to his dad's and came home with a solid scad of peaches (that i also need to process next week), and i am so excited. Reportedly there is more where those came from, so i hope i can put a bunch of them back.
James got some things done today too. He dug more of a trench - more of the water routing plan in our creeky yard - and he started an indoor garden for our fall outdoor garden. This is also very exciting because it means we're getting more and more food sovereign.
Don't forget next Saturday is our first summer slaughter, and that will be even more food that we produced put back in the freezer or......wait for it..........canned! Because there are plans in place to get a real live PRESSURE CANNER from AllAmericanCanner.com! Their canners are a little pricey if you compare them to the Wal-mart version, but they're also virtually indestructible and don't require rubber seals, so we're going for it.
Canning makes me giddy.
I don't care if you think i'm weird. I love it!
And now i think it's time for me to go to bed.
Where i will dream about quart jars filled with canned peaches.........and beautiful brown pear butter............and home raised home canned chicken in a jar....................and pear plum butter with a beautiful red color and lots of cinnamon.....................and canned rabbit like Aunt Clara used to make...........
Sweet dreams!
I still have most of those pears from last weekend sitting in my living room - many of them still ripening - others just waiting for me. These particular pears - keiffer pears - take much longer to peel and slice, etc., than you might expect. On Friday, i did a batch that resulted in about one quart of pear butter. Oh, and it's delicious!
Today, i did another batch. I cut about half of today's batch (about a quart and a half) and put it in a syrup to use for pie filling in the future. The other half i saved in the fridge to be mixed with plums to make a pear/plum butter. Ooh yum! I can't wait!
But i have to because tomorrow is the great Rogers-June-Birthdays/Father's-Day-Combination-Shindig, and Monday starts Vacation Bible School at my church. Thankfully, VBS is only half days this year, so i will have the afternoons to process pears.
Back to today.
I also took that quart of pear butter and canned it! Weehee!
I'm very excited about this because i haven't canned in years and years, and i am really excited about canning food and storing it up and having lots of beautiful jars on shelves like my friend, Kris. That's one of the most beautiful things to me - not to mention it's quite handy to have lots of grub-with-a-shelf-life on hand that tastes good. Anyway, these three little jars i canned - that i'm sorry i don't have pictures of just yet - are the beginning of many many jars of good grub on our shelves.
And that tickles me.
Oh wait.
There's more. Don't go anywhere.
Earlier - maybe last month - when we got all those plums and just a few peaches, the peach harvest we came home with was pretty disappointing and is already gone. They were very yummy; there just weren't enough of them.
Well today, my darling went to his dad's and came home with a solid scad of peaches (that i also need to process next week), and i am so excited. Reportedly there is more where those came from, so i hope i can put a bunch of them back.
James got some things done today too. He dug more of a trench - more of the water routing plan in our creeky yard - and he started an indoor garden for our fall outdoor garden. This is also very exciting because it means we're getting more and more food sovereign.
Don't forget next Saturday is our first summer slaughter, and that will be even more food that we produced put back in the freezer or......wait for it..........canned! Because there are plans in place to get a real live PRESSURE CANNER from AllAmericanCanner.com! Their canners are a little pricey if you compare them to the Wal-mart version, but they're also virtually indestructible and don't require rubber seals, so we're going for it.
Canning makes me giddy.
I don't care if you think i'm weird. I love it!
And now i think it's time for me to go to bed.
Where i will dream about quart jars filled with canned peaches.........and beautiful brown pear butter............and home raised home canned chicken in a jar....................and pear plum butter with a beautiful red color and lots of cinnamon.....................and canned rabbit like Aunt Clara used to make...........
Sweet dreams!
I'm giddy with you!!!! Love it!!!
ReplyDeleteBethie, I get giddy about canned stuff, too! My latest craze is fermented stuff like pickles, kombucha, kefir, honey wine, etc. Funny you should post about canning peaches on this particular day. You see one of my fondest childhood memories of my mom is of us two canning peaches together. She would blanch and I would peel/pit. We both loved how pretty the peaches looked in the jars.
ReplyDeleteMy mom passed away this morning in her sleep. Thank you, lovely dear, for reminding me of this most precious memory of her!!
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing your sweet memory of your mother with me. I'm so sorry to hear that she has passed. With all of my heart i will pray for the Lord to comfort your heart.
God bless you, friend!