More Spaghetti Sauce

Yesterday we had 12 more quarts of spaghetti sauce. I think this will be all the spaghetti sauce we make unless we have lots more tomatoes. I want to make salsa and maybe try our hand at ketchup. We also usually just can tomatoes and tomato sauce for use in soup and chili. Temperatures here have been hot and humid. Low to mid 90’s.

Jess talked to her mother-in-law yesterday and she said the name of this apple is Scarlett Apple. She thinks she ordered the tree from Stark Bros. I typed it in on Google and found all kinds of information about it. Very interesting.

Today is bible study day so I better get busy. We have decided to do it at Barbara’s house. It is so hot here and Barbara has air conditioning. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 23, 2010 4

Spaghetti Sauce

Our spaghetti sauce turned out really good. We got 12 qts from a half bushel of tomatoes. Today we will do the other half bushel. The recipe we used:

Scald and peel half a bushel of tomatoes (we used our food strainer instead), 6 cups chopped onions, 4 chopped green peppers, 1 clove of garlic. Cook for 1 and a half hours, stirring frequently. Add 1 pt crisco oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp crushed basil leaves, 1 tbsp italian seasoning, 1 tbsp parsley, 5-12 oz cans tomato paste, 4 jalopeno peppers. Cook another 45 min stirring frequently. Put in jars. Heat lids and seals to boiling. Put lids and seals on jars. Cover jars with towel and let sit overnight.

This recipe does not call for processing as the liquid is so hot when you put it into the jars. However, if you are uncomfortable with this method you can process in a hot water bath canner or freeze the sauce.

We better get busy. Lots to do today. We need to get busy on the other spaghetti sauce and on cleaning house. The ladies will come tomorrow for bible study. Take care and God bless.

July 22, 2010 2

Pink Apples

Saturday while down at Jessica’s we went over to David’s mothers. There we found an apple tree loaded with apples and ready to be picked. She said we could have them. We did get a surprise though. They are not your normal apple.

We gathered about a 1/2 bushel and brought them home. We had never seen an apple that looked like this one. I’m not sure what their name is but they are difinitely different. What fun we had today working with these. Grace of course loved them as pink is her favorite color.

After cooking them and running them through the sauce maker, they turn a beautiful, darker color.

We canned 9 pints and put 1 qt bag in the freezer. I think they look very pretty in the jar. Tomorrow, if all goes as planned, we will be making spaghetti sauce. We have a bushel of tomatoes to work up. Our pastor’s wife gave us her spaghetti sauce recipe, so I think we will make it tomorrow. She gave us a can to try and we all thought it was very good. The recipe I have made before does not get thick enough so I have been on the search for a new one. I’ll let you all know tomorrow how it turns out. Take care and God bless.

July 20, 2010 2

Just a Swingin

Sam really loves his swing. He does not however like his car seat. He was sooooooo ready to be home Saturday after shopping. He wanted his swing and some sleep. Us girls got up early and went blueberry picking. We picked 2 gallon-1 for us and 1 for Jess. We came home just before the rain started. Good timing. It rained most of the day there.

Afterward, we all went out to eat at Golden Corral. Then we went to look around at Lifeway. I purchased a new bible study. It is Ruth by Kelly Minter. I think this will be our next Friday Ladies Study. It looks very interesting. I saw so many new studies that I want to do. We even picked out one for the girls to do for their bible class this coming year. It was a great day. We all had lots of fun.

We are getting some much needed rain today. Temperatures are cooler too. 74 degrees right now. I like that. Did you all notice my drying log on the right. My darling baby girl, Grace, did that for me. She told me she watched David put the others on. I was very impressed with her knowledge as I have no idea how to do any of that. Thanks Grace.

Church was very nice yesterday. Our pastor’s sermon was on what it takes to make a man. It was a very good sermon. Then we had communion, followed by a fellowship meal. LOTS o f good food. Then we had more good food last night with our Sunday Evening Study. All in all it was a really good day. I better get busy. Take care and God bless.

July 19, 2010 1

Home Place

This is a picture of our Grundy home. The original house was built by my grandparents. It (like most old homes) had rooms added on. I was 12 years old when I first moved into this home and 40 when I left. Leaving was hard. Life changes though and we must be able to change with it. I have so many happy memories of this place but I also have many happy memories of where I am now.

The girls and I have been busy. We had 23 qts. of green beans. We finished them today. We also put more squash in the freezer. We are going down to Jessica’s this evening. Tomorrow us girls will be going blueberry picking while Dad and PawPaw watch the two boys. After that we plan on going to Lifeway and then out to eat. We will be coming back home tomorrow evening.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 16, 2010 2

Applesauce

The girls and I finished the apples yesterday. You can check out our logs at the right to see our total. I really like cooking the apples in the microwave. So much easier. It makes the applesauce thicker too. When I cook them on the stove, I have to add a little water to keep them from sticking, so it makes the applesauce a little thinner. Today we will be canning a bushel of green beans. Also working on cleaning the house as tomorrow is bible study day.

Beautiful weather here in Floyd this week. When we got up this morning about 6:00, the temperature was 59 degrees. This makes it so much more comfortable for sleeping. I would guess yesterdays high was in the low 80’s. Very nice. Days like we have been having remind me why I like living in Floyd and especially here on the farm. God was very good to bring us to this place. Thank you Lord.

The birds are singing such beautiful praises this morning. I think I’ll join them in their worship. Breakfast outside sounds wonderful. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 15, 2010 1

Comparison

I thought it would be nice to look back and remember how things were just a few short months ago. This picture was taken this morning. Then I looked back and found another picture of the same scene.

Personally I like this morning’s picture better but to each his own. Yesterday was busy for us. The girls and I went to pick apples. A friend from church offered us his early apples from his tree. We were very thankful to get them. After we came home, we started processing them. Yesterday we got 11 quarts of applesauce made and still have more to work with today. Sally, our pastors wife, told us she puts her apples in the microwave to cook them. This was much easier as we didn’t have to worry about them burning. Then she puts hers through her food strainer and puts them in the freezer. I had never put applesauce in the freezer, only apples. We tried that yesterday. It was a lot faster and didn’t heat up the house.

Beautiful weather here in Floyd this week. Much cooler temperatures with a wonderful breeze. We have had several little rains which we really needed. I picked green beans Monday and dug some young potatoes. They were delicious. I think I’ll be able to pick some more beans by tomorrow. YUM! I love fresh produce.

Did you all notice my canning and freezing logs Dave put on my blog? Thanks Dave. I really like being able to look at it and see what I’ve got done and what I still need. I better get working on those apples. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 14, 2010 1

A Fun Day

Yesterday was a fun day. Baby Sam came to MawMaw’s house for the very first time.

He seemed to enjoy himself. I know MawMaw and PawPaw certainly did enjoy it.

Sam investigating the world from PawPaw’s shoulder.

Just one more picture. Don’t he look content and happy.

Daniel had a great time with a bottle sprayer filled with water. All MawMaw’s plants needed a drink and he had a great time giving it to them.

I think this is my favorite picture of the day. Ain’t he soooooo cute?

What do you think they are looking at?

A frog of course.

My Julie. The gift my Lord surprised me with at 40.

At 41 my Lord gave me another gift. Grace. I never imagined the Lord had more babies for me. My daughters(all 3) have taught me so much about life and love. I am such a blessed woman. Such joy He has given me. My family is so important to me and I cannot never thank the Lord enough for allowing me to be part of their lives. God is so good. Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 11, 2010 3

The Cost of Berry Picking

I decided yesterday to pick some more gooseberries and make a gooseberry cobbler. I had never made this before. It turned out very good. Tasted a lot like cherry cobbler. The recipe I used is:

1/2 cup butter, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1 tsp almond extract, 1/2 cup water, 4 cups gooseberries. Melt butter in 9X13 baking dish. Combine sugar and flour. Mix almond extract and water and add to sugar mixture; add berries. Pour into pan. TOPPING: 1 cup sugar, 1 cup flour, 1 tbsp oil, 1 egg-mix ingredients until crumbly. Put on top of berry mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 40 min. I think this would work with just about any fruit.

Somehow during my picking I managed to get too close to a wasp. Not good! I also made my own tortillas yesterday for supper. Another first. They were really good and not too hard to make. I think I would try them again.

We got a little rain last night. Lots and lots of thunder and lightning. I could have done without the thunder and lightning but we really need rain. Hopefully we will get more this weekend. The garden and yard really need a drink. Jess and family will be coming up tomorrow for a little visit. I can hardly wait to see them. I know Sam has grown so much already and Daniel seems to grow up more each time I see him. Family is such a blessing from God.

Bible study today so I need to start getting ready. Take care and God bless.

July 9, 2010 2

Grapes

A picture of our grapes. They look like they will be plentiful this year. When we bought these vines several years ago, we thought we were buying purple concord grapes, however they are green. They first year we almost didn’t get any because we kept waiting on them to turn purple. They are very good, though. We just had to adjust to grape jelly not being purple. I am thinking about making grape juice this year. I have no experience with it though. All I’ve ever done with our grapes is make jelly but a family can only eat so much jelly. If anyone is familar with making juice, I would appreciate any advice you can give. I am thinking about purchasing a steamer/juicer for this but I am not sure it would be worth it. What do you all think?

It was extremely hot here yesterday. When we went to bed last night it was 90 degrees in our bedroom. When we got up this morning about 6:00 it had cooled down to 82 in our room, thats still pretty warm. Hopefully, today will not be as hot but it is what it is. Tomorrow our bible study will meet at Wanda’s house. She has air conditioning.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

July 8, 2010 3