Puttin' up with Peaches

I LOVE peaches.  And I've never canned them before... how crazy is THAT?  This year I was prepared.  A pastor friend of ours just a town or two over does a fundraiser with the youth in his church.  They sell Grand Junction peaches.  O.M.goodness!  I adore Colorado peaches,  and Grand Junction is cream of the crop.  We made sure to buy two boxes of them.

The only problem, was that my kitchen was still kinda in the middle of a reno.  This made finding a time to can a little tricky... which meant that the unprotected boxes of peaches were vulnerable to poachers.  Even having been the victim of snackers, I was able to put up 14 pints of peach jam, 6 quarts of peach pie filling, and 6 quarts of packed peaches.  Not bad.  

Because I'd never done peaches before, I decided to go with the recipe that came with the SureJell powder I bought.  In hind sight, I'd go with the no sugar needed kind.   See, you HAVE to use the 5 1/2 cups of sugar PER batch (yes, 5 1/2 cups) with the regular kind or the jam won't jell... but with the no sugar kind, I can control how much sugar and it won't affect the setting of the jam.  Live and learn, I guess.  So for this batch, we get free tooth decay! ::smirk:::                                                                                                                         

Whether I made jam, filling, or just left the peaches alone, I peeled and cut all the peaches into wedges.  To peel the peaches, I put them into simmering water for a few minutes.  They have to be completely submerged for this to work.  After they had gotten hot, I spooned the peaches out of the water and took them to the sink to put them into a bowl filled with cold water.  This basically caused them to split their skins, making it very easy to just slide off the skin and throw it away.  

My blender.  Nothing fancy, but it gets
the job done.

A "rolling boil" is when you can't stir
the bubbles away.

These peaches were so perfect for canning.  They  were juicy, but not mushy, ripe but not overripe.  They were remarkably easy to cut and the pits just fell out of them.  So for the jam I took the peaches and chopped them using the blender.  The idea was to leave some chunks in the jam.  I took the four cups of peaches and one package of SureJell and heated it to a rolling boil over high heat.  I wanted so badly to double the batch, but never having done it before, I was afraid of messing the "science" up and not getting good jam.  This meant I painstakingly made batch after batch after batch of jam.   Once the jam came to a rolling boil, I added the sugar...Made my teeth hurt.

Peach jam.

I filled the pint sized jars with jam, wiped the lips clean,  then put the seals and lids on them.  Of course what I didn't mention was that I ran the jars through the dishwasher cycle to sterilize and heat them... I don't like to run the risk of a jar breaking because I put something hot into a cold jar.  This is why I always have them heated in the dishwasher.

The peach jam took 10 minutes to process in the water bath.

For the peach pie filling, I combined:

3/4 cup of sugar 

1/4 cup of water

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 TBS lemon juice

3 TBS cornstarch

I whisked all this while heating it to a boil in my large pot, making sure the cornstarch didn't lump... (For one batch I had to use flour because I ran out of cornstartch... seemed to work just fine.)

Once it was mixed I added 5 cups of peach wedges, and let that all heat up till bubbling.

I packed the peaches in quart jars with 1 inch head space.  Wiped the lips and sealed the jars.  They got a 30 minute bath.

The last 6 quarts of peaches were just heated up with some water and 1/4 c. sugar to sweeten them a little.  Once they were bubbly, I ladled them into their jars, wiped and sealed them.  They got a 15 minute bath.  

Well, I can proclaim with confidence that this year's peach pilgrimage was a success!  We have tasted the jam... and it is good!  Now... about all these tomatoes...

Crochet Ole!

I've attempted knitting a few times.  I think my earliest memory is of my mom trying to teach me how to knit when I was around... 7?  I quickly forgot, but tried again, much later.  Last winter I made my third (and final) attempt at knitting.  I knitted a scarf.  Which no one will wear because it's too short... and it took me FOREVER.  I'm sorry if I offend any die-hard knitters out there... but I need results way quicker than what knitting produces.  

    After my last epic fail at knitting, I decided to look into crocheting.  After all, my sister, Katie was with me in our first knitting class with mom... and she's abandoned it all together for crocheting. Perhaps she knew something I didn't.  

       Off to Ohio for a crochet lesson! Katie got me started on some basic crochet lingo and stitches. At first, I just practiced on old yarn until I felt that I could handle a project.  It dawned on me that perhaps youtube would have some educational videos that showed how to crochet.  Jackpot!  For an uber visual person such as myself, these homemade how-tos were perfect for me.  One You-tuber: "tjw1963" even does slo-mo!  She's awesome.  I followed her project instructions closely, "rewinding" over and over to make sure I was doing everything just right.  By the time I was finished with my project, it was so cute, I wished I had used higher quality yarn!  Wanna know what I made???

A Tam...a beret, if you will... A HAT.

This is my daughter, Emily.  She's not real thrilled with how I made her wear the hat.
I get this look a lot. :)

   

The most important thing, is that someone
actually wants to wear it!  

Top view

Here's the link to the written instructions. 

http://crochet-mania.blogspot.com/2010/01/crochet-kingston-hat.html

You can find all of Theresa's videos by going to youtube.com and searching for The Art of Crochet.

Aww, now she's happy.  Of course I can't see the
hat... but she's so darn cute.

Chocolate Chip Scones

Chocolate chip scone and iced mocha.
There is no such a thing as too much chocolate!

Oh My Goodness. I just made THEE yummiest scones.

 Betty Crocker Rocks.

Cooler weather always sends me to my kitchen with a strong desire to make something sweet and yummy.  I don't know if it's the fact that I'm no longer sweating in the humidity... or because I feel the need to "store up fat" for the long winter ahead... heh.  Either way my nesting instincts set in and I bake.
    Today, scones were on the menu.  I'm not sure I've ever made scones before. I've certainly eaten them many times.

Keeping my family in mind, I ignored Betty's suggestion of  raisins and opted for Dark chocolate chips instead.  No nuts either...you're welcome, Eric ;)

Here's what I did.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Ingredients:
1/3 c. butter
1 3/4 c. flour
3 TBS sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup currants or raisins ...or dark chocolate chips ;)
4-6 TBS half and half*
1 egg, beaten (yes, another one)

* I didn't have half and half, so I substituted with "homemade" buttermilk... a trick I learned from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook.  To make a buttermilk substitute, I put a tablespoon of lemon juice in 1/2 cup of milk.  Let it sit for a few minutes.   Basically, you're making curdled milk.  I use it when the recipe only calls for a small amount.  In this case it worked out just fine.  

Cut 1/3 cup butter into flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar until resembles small crumbs.  Stir in egg then chocolate chips.  Stir in half and half one tablespoon at a time until dough doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl.

Drop dough onto lightly floured surface and knead 10 times... I have no idea how much one knead is let alone 10 kneads, but I think the idea here is just not to over knead it.  Now, I like the triangular shaped scones, but not the pizza-cut isosceles triangle.  I rolled the dough out into a 1/2" thick long rectangle and made more of  a right angled triangle and even a couple scalene triangles... yes, I googled "triangles".

Put the scones on an ungreased baking dish, brush with (second) beaten egg and bake for 10-12 minutes.  I baked mine for about 15 min., but my oven is like that.

Betty didn't say to drizzle with powdered sugar frosting, but c'mon, it's a no brainer!   Powdered sugar + little bit of milk+ little bit of lemon juice. I made mine a little thicker because I drizzled it over the scones while they were still hot and I didn't want it to just melt away.  You can always add powdered sugar if it's too thin or more milk if it's too thick.

I enjoyed mine with some iced coffee... hmmm...maybe another day I'll share how I make my iced mochas.
Oh, and by the time I finished this post, all the scones were gone.  :)  Success!

How do ya like THEM apples?

Earlier this month my dear husband ran and completed his first half marathon up in Dubuque... he did a great job btw!.   On the drive home we stopped off at a "mom and pop" apple stand.  This place was so very cute.  They had pumpkins, gourds, apples all displayed in cute ways... wish I had gotten a picture of it.  We were slightly disappointed that they couldn't let us pick our own apples... something about not being insured for it... oy.  So we got a few bags of apples to take home and make applesauce with.




So this is what I do when I make applesauce.  Now, I'm taking a risk here by showing just how easy it really is to make your own applesauce.  I can feel my Martha status slowly slipping... ;)


    First thing I do is fill my HUGE canning pot 2/3 full of water and set in on the stove to boil.  Keeping the lid on will keep the heat and vapor in so I don't boil away the water. Plus, it seems to help the water reach a boil quicker.  Next I put all my canning jars into the dishwasher and send it through a cycle.  This not only sanitizes the jars after they have been sitting in my pantry for three seasons... it also keeps them nice and hot until I need to fill them with hot applesauce.  

Quart sized mason jars sterilized
and heated in the dishwasher.

My canning pot... got it at a garage sale back in California
for next to nothing and never used it until I moved to Iowa!

  

Let me just say this is the greatest canning invention. EVER.
 $50 well spent.  You'll see later just what it does.  

I set up my food strainer on the dining room table.  I have to do that in there because the countertop in my kitchen doesn't have a wide enough overhang for the contraption to grip onto.  I use some rubbery drawer lining and kitchen towels to keep from marring my dining table.  It works really well.  Now that I'm all set up... it's time for some apples.

Apples get washed in my new sink!

                                                                                
                                                                                
Although, I think organic is a great choice, these apples are just your run of the mill, pesticide infected apples... so make sure you wash all that waxy buildup off!  

Why yes, yes that is my new granite composite, espresso colored sink... thanks for noticing :)  Updates on THAT project are coming soon... but back to them apples.

All I did was quarter the apples and throw them into a pot... I really need to invest in a stock pot or something bigger than the one I have now.  Anyway, no need to core or peel.  Seriously.
 You'll see....

Death of an apple.

 I like to put in something to compliment the flavor of the apples.  Usually it is cinnamon sticks.  This time I just bundled them and tied them with a twisty tie.  Sometimes I make a pouch with cheesecloth and put in some cloves along with the cinnamon sticks.  This goes into the pot with the apples and I put in a few cups of water to help steam the apples.

Mm-mm...cinnamon

 I cover and cook the apples at medium high until they start to get soft and mushy... about 10 minutes.  Let me tell you, this makes your house smell WONDERFUL.  It's about now that the kids will make their way into the kitchen to see what I'm doing.

SO after the apples are softened, I put a colander over a bowl in the sink.  I do this because I want to reuse the steaming water with the next batch. ... I'll explain later why.

 Drain the apples.

Aerial view.

The apples then get put into the large funnel on the strainer.  The red plunger helps push the apples down into the moving parts of the strainer.  Eric loves to help with this part.

Here is where the magic happens.  As the handle is turned and the apples are plunged down into the strainer, the meat of the apple gets strained into one bowl (pink) while the peel, seeds, core, and stem all get pushed out into the yellow bowl.  This contraption saves me sooo much time.

Wide mouthed funnel and jar tongs.

While another pot of apples is steaming, I take the first batch and begin to ladle it into quart jars.  Once those are filled (leaving about 1/4 inch head space), I wipe the lip of the jar clean to ensure a good seal,  drain the second batch of apples like the first, then put another pot of apples on the stove to steam.  When I have six or seven filled jars, I  put lids and rings around them and put them into the canning pot for 15 minutes.  There needs to be about 2 inches of water covering the jars.  If I don't have enough I boil some quickly in my tea kettle and fill the pot.

After the fifteen minutes is up, I pull up the jars and use the tongs to take them out of the water.  I put a double thickness of towels on the counter and just let the jars sit there until I hear them POP.  That's when I know they've sealed.  You can re-process the jars if they don't pop... but mine always do!

So I'd say the hardest thing about making applesauce is the clean up!  Now I have applesauce in my pantry to enjoy all winter.


  Oh! The reason I saved the water from the applesauce bath is because I will strain it and use it as apple juice to make apple jelly another day.  I just seal it up in a container and put it into the fridge.  :)

The Gospel

My husband preached today... as he normally does each Sunday.  And it was one of those sermons that just sticks with you all day long, and you digest bits and pieces throughout the day.

The sermon was from the Gospel reading in Luke chapter 10 about the Good Samaritan, but I'd say 2/3 of the sermon was law... what God expects of me... what God commands from me.  So, I'm sitting in the pew hearing this law, all the while knowing there's no WAY I can do perfectly what God commands...it's heavy, hard to hear.  But I've been listening to my husband's sermons for a while and I am on the edge of my seat inwardly begging for him to get to the Gospel.  I know he will, I know it, but I can hardly stand the wait.

He talks about what it means to love our neighbors.  That our neighbors are whomever we come in contact with, and loving them means caring for them in the most remedial tasks as the Samaritan did when he cleaned and bandaged the beaten man and took him to the hospital.  Okay, so, we are the Samaritan...we are to meet the needs that we see in front of us for whomever is in front of us.. be it friend or foe. We show God's love to our neighbors by doing our family's laundry, allowing someone with small, tired children to get in front of us at the grocery line, returning a harsh word with a kind one... and sometimes I do this.  But sometimes I don't... many times I don't.  And I know this as I sit and listen to the sermon.   I'm the Samaritan, and I'm not doing such a great job.

Then it comes.  Jesus is the Samaritan.  We are the beaten and broken man.  Jesus sees us in the road, friend or foe?  Doesn't matter, he cleans our wounds and brings us to the hospital to heal.  HE does what God commands of us perfectly, HE shows us God's love, because we can't.  Ahhh Gospel.  And when we fail... because we always do, the gospel heals us.  It cleanses us in the waters of our baptism.  It heals and strengthens us in the Holy meal of communion.  And leads us to rest in the company of other saints as we hear the Word of God preached on Sunday morning.

 Because of the perfect life of Christ, I am now able to do the work that he has prepared in advance for me to do...I will show the love of God to my neighbors, and I will come back to church regularly to receive forgiveness and to hear the healing Gospel.  Ahhh, Gospel.

Lily of the Valley

Awwww, Lily of the valley.  What a lovely plant with lovely little bell like flowers...  Um, yeah, not so much for me.  Lily of the valley has taken over a section of the garden to the point where they are so dense, that the little flowers they produce get smothered by other LOV plants, greatly diminishing its appeal.  I might have considered keeping the invasive bugger if the bunnies were attracted to them, but they seem to instinctively know that these delicate multipliers are poisonous.  So I have decided to thin them out... which is just gardener speak for "get rid of as many as I possibly can".

Being the novice gardener that I am, I googled some information about the best way to go about my task.  Of course there was no shortage of opinions.  There were those who were fans of the plant and simply couldn't stand the thought of someone destroying perfectly good specimens, offering to drive hundreds of miles to adopt any in need of a good home.. puhlease. Then there were those on the other extreme whose answer to any unwanted plant is hefty doses of Round-up.  While, I would love to adopt out all my orphaned plants, the reality is that there are too many of them and not enough of me.  Surely, I will make known to others that there are free pickin's at the parsonage and all are welcome, but for now let's just say there WILL be casualties.   As for the round up... it's like killing an ant with a bazooka.  Serious overkill, and frankly I don't want my soil ruined for any newcomers to the garden.   Somewhere nestled in the middle of these two extreme sides of debate lay my answer.

Humor me for a moment of gardening introspection and reflection:

 At the risk of sounding philosophically lame...why do we naturally seek out the easy answer?  Instant this, automatic that. When did we forget that there is value in the journey... in the work, sweat and effort?  We opt for labor saving devices...dishwashers, elevators, riding lawn mowers... then hop on our treadmills or spend an hour at the gym to get in our daily dose of exercise... huh?   It is here that the answer to my Lily of the Valley dilemma is found.

Allow me to set the scene: Me, a wheelbarrow, a pitchfork and my sheer will.  Certainly not the "easy" answer, but the answer which benefits me AND my garden the most.  For nearly 3 hours I poked at the LOV with my pitchfork.  I stabbed the soil, hoisted the roots, shook off the dirt and discarded them in the wheelbarrow to be hauled down to the compost pile.  Two wheelbarrow loads later, I called it quits.  I was literally soaked with sweat, filthy with soil, and bleeding from blisters.  My pitchfork didn't keep track of how many calories I'd burned and the wheelbarrow didn't know how many miles we had logged up and down the hill... but my body told me it had been a good workout.  Something tells me that my fight with the Lily of the Valley is far from over.  But that's okay, I need the exercise.  :)

After:

Veritas Press Scholars Academy Online

For the last few days we have been getting to know the people who are influencing our daughter. Emily takes classes at an online school called Veritas Press Scholars Academy... a classical approach to education.

Some background:

     Two years ago when we moved from the Seminary campus to Dan's vicarage placement in Iowa, we knew we needed to make a change in how we were schooling Emily. While I consider myself reasonably intelligent (no snickering), I became aware that it would be a daunting task to academically challenge my more than reasonably intelligent daughter through high school. While in St. Louis at the Seminary, we were fortunate to meet Joanna Hensley, who is one of the online instructors for Veritas. She was their best marketing ploy in my opinion. If this woman was representative of the quality of teachers being hired by this up-and-coming-technologically-suped-up-online-classical-school... sign us up.

     In August of 2008 we enrolled Em in three of the online classes, but because of the late date, she would only be able to participate fully in one of the three classes. The other two she would "audit". This meaning that she could watch the live class, but could not answer questions, "raise" her hand, or submit work to be graded. She would however get to benefit from class discussion and wisdom of the teachers. One of the classes she was auditing was an Omnibus Primary class. This "3 in 1" of Literature, Theology, and History involved mounds of reading and oodles of great discussions... just what Em was looking for. However, telling my daughter that she couldn't participate in heated theological debates in class was like telling a starving man he could only watch through a window as others feasted at a banquet! Regardless, she was hooked.

     It's been fascinating for us to see just how a "virtual" school can give our daughter such a concrete experience like it has. She's had classmates in our kitchen working on science labs.. goggles and all, via skype. She has assembled power point presentations for classes with classmates thousands of miles away. And walking into her room at any given time, I can hear, "Hello Mrs. Pool," from any number of kids, their beaming faces coming in clear over the video cam. She's used her computer to reach across the world... literally. She has made friends from Belgium to Mexico City, from Sri Lanka to Alabama, San Francisco to Bermuda... all through a computer screen. And these "virtual" friendships are anything but virtual. They are quite real.

Back to the present:

     This past weekend our family has enjoyed the End of the Year Gathering hosted by VPSA in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This event is an opportunity for the students, teachers and parents to meet "in real life". The kids get ridiculously excited at the prospect of meeting their best friends for the first time...to actually hug and confirm each other's existence beyond a monitor screen. It takes a minimal amount of time for newness to wear off, and although they have only just officially met, their relationships really continue from the last time they logged out of cyberspace.

   Yesterday, we said our goodbyes and it was quite emotional to watch as the tears flowed.  Each student headed home to climb back into their electronic boxes miles away from each other. I know Em will be sore for several days, and the ache of not having her friends within arm's reach will slowly dissapate into her normal rythym of life.  But there is no escaping the impact they have had on her. 

And we are thankful. 

Thankful for like-minded parents.  Thankful for teachers committed to excellence.  Thankful for administrators who look at our children and see potential and promise.  Homeschooling was never about doing it on our own or being renegades.  It has always been about discerning what is God's best for our children.  Thank you Veritas for being the best for my daughter.  We are grateful beyond words.

Emilyann's Parents.
http://www.veritaspress.com/