We're having a rainy Labor Day here in Ohio, but it's a day off nonetheless. Jeff has worked for the past 14 days straight, so it's nice to have him home today. We had a tentative plan of fishing today, but as we have a downpour going on, I think we'll be staying closer to home.
Our food preservation is still in full swing, although we've shifted from homegrown produce to locally grown produce. I'm finished with tomatoes and beans, and now it's time for apples and soon, pears! The apples, we get from a small orchard a couple miles away. The pears come from my dad's rental about 200 yards further up the road. It doesn't get much more local than that, unless you grow it yourself! Canning fruit is so easy, and really, nothing goes better with most meals than a bowl of warm applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon, or a dish of pears with a sweet vanilla glaze. So simple. So delicious.
What I'm Doing: canning applesauce. I have a bunch of sweet-tart-mealy apples that should make beautiful applesauce. We eat a lot of applesauce, both as a side dish and for dessert in the form of fried pies, so now is as good a time as ever to get started on a batch. Before the season is through, my goal is to have at least 36 quarts of applesauce, plus a dozen or so quarts of apple slices in syrup.
That's what I'm doing to ensure my family eats well this winter.
What are you doing?
5 comments:
We aren't in full apple mode yet. a few more weeks I think before the good keepers are ready. I got about 24 quarts of sauce form the early wild apples put up. I try for 52 quarts at a minimum and I still run out. We fill in with berries when we are apple deprived. I got a tome of pickles done. Today it's kraut and I racke d the peach brandy. It was probably not a good idea in retrospect to rack the brandy before breakfast as I always end up with several mouthfuls from the syphon. I am grinding wheat today and then putting in my Richter's order. Heather J. gave my a gift certificate for my birthday and I can't wait to use it. I guess for me, Labor Day is just a day of labor. At least I am doing stuff I love.
I always find typos after I post. Sorry. That's what I get for rushing.
rain... ::drool::
Yeah, still parched out here in sunny SoCal. Basil's trying to bolt, so today we'll be harvesting a round of tomatoes and basil for the pool party BBQ we're attending later.
Looks like we spent Labor Day the same way - canning lots of applesauce. I've got 21 quarts of applesauce, and like you, I'm shooting for about 35-40, plus some slices. I did a bit of pear and peach sauce too. There is another 1/2 bushel of apples waiting for me to get to sometime this week... I really enjoy thinking that this work now is going to help me stay well fed and happy in the cold months.
Usually at this time of year I'm up to my elbows in tomato sauce. But late blight hit our garden. So I'm freezing beans and doing some chutneys. I just did big batches of peach jam and also froze peach slices for winter cobblers. I love this busy time of year.
Happy to have found your wonderful blog...
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