1. On Saturday morning, I wiped the sleep from my eyes, threw on a pair of jeans, grabbed the car keys, prayed I wouldn't get in an accident even though I'd not yet had a cup of coffee, found my way to an Amish home several miles away, and bought 10 quarts of freshly picked (as in, she was out in the garden picking them when I arrived) strawberries for $2 each. I've never bought anything from an Amish woman before. I've also never bought anything at 6am before (I am not one of those Black Friday shoppers).
2. I made strawberry jam. My mom says I've done this, but I don't remember a bit of it, so I think it still qualifies as a New Thing. And, besides, I made it with turbinado sugar instead of regular refined sugar, which was going out on a limb since I'd not actually found a recipe anywhere saying such an exchange was possible. (It worked just fine and is delicious, if you're wondering.)
3. I canned the strawberry jam. I've never canned anything in my life. The first batch was made at a friend's house under her careful supervision. The next two batches I canned, with trembling hands, at home on my own.
And, naturally, that night I had horrible nightmares about poisoning (and killing) my family with the jam I was certain I had messed up. After consulting several experienced professionals, it turns out it's fine (I guess tiny air bubbles in your jam won't kill you) and that I'm as paranoid as Daniel always tells me I am.
My jars of jam are on the second shelf up on the right. I rearranged this cabinet and cleared out space to make room for at least some of the food I plan to put up this year. I have 1 more batch of strawberry jam to make, and then I'm hoping to can a bushel of pears. Then raspberry and blueberry jam. Then some quarts of diced and crushed tomatoes, assuming our garden actually produces well. And then applesauce, assuming I'm not bigger than a whale and still functioning by the time apple season rolls around.
4. We rearranged bedrooms, which means Aubrey is now sharing a room (with someone other than Daniel and me). The girls have the big giant bedroom and the boys have the smaller-- but still big by most bedroom standards-- bedroom upstairs.I'd post pictures, but the kids are in bed and I didn't take any earlier.
5. We're getting a piano! Some friends are rearranging their house and are no longer in need of their upright. I am so excited! The timing is perfect since we were already in the process of shuffling all of our "family room things" (toys and TV) to the "new room" so that the old family room can become a music room/library. Assuming it stops raining sometime in the next year and we can do an open trailer transport, it shouldn't be long before the piano is in our home.
And then I guess I'll have absolutely no excuse for not dusting off my very retired and limited piano skills.
I'm not sure about the jam.
ReplyDeleteIt really seriously may not be sealed properly.
You better bring a jar with you tomorrow so I can test it to make sure.
I have a speacial way too tell.
HAH HAH! You know I'm teasing and I forbid you to bring a jar.
Your family deserves to reap the rewards of your labor!
Congrats!
I used to buy from the Amish all the time when I lived there. They order peaches and apples from downstate by the truckload, which are quite a bit cheaper, later in the summer and fall. Paula H. would have the contact name if you're interested. So glad your jam turned out well. When I did it I used no sugar or sweetener and it wasn't so good. My dh grew up on sugar loaded freezer jam and I finally gave in and started making that instead. I always had such a feeling of accomplishment when I would look at my jars all lined up in a row. For a few years I did LOTS of canning. Now I do a lot more freezing and only can applesauce. I don't even need 100 quarts to get us through a year any more. Hope it stops raining soon!
ReplyDelete@mom2mkei_2 - I'm planning on getting my pears and apples through the Amish folks Paula has gotten many people in contact with. I won't be getting peaches, though, since I hate them. Seeing the jars definitely helps me get excited about my canning plans. I'd rather freeze, to be honest, but since we don't have an extra freezer and we do now have lots of great kitchen cabinet space, canning is the better option for me.
ReplyDeleteCanning scares the snot out of me and as you know, produce fresh enough to can is hard to come by around here! Sounds like you did great!
ReplyDeleteGood work!!! I used to can a good bit, but not much jam or jelly. I learned after a while to keep a canning journal so I didn't have so many questions the next time I canned if it came out well. It was especially helpful with stuff from the garden. I could say I collected a 17 qt pot full of... and it made... quarts or pints. That way I had some idea of how many jars to prepare, etc. (I also had a great book that I turned to for info: Stocking Up.) As lovely as it is to see full jars on a shelf, it's even more wonderful to go to those shelves to collect what you need for a soup or stew in the middle of the winter!!! They look lovely on your kitchen shelves, but I think things generally keep better in a cooler darker place. That's something I'd look up or ask someone about. Our extension service in West Virginia was a great place for info about stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Stacie that it's a bit harder to come by fresh abundant produce at a reasonable price around here.
ReplyDelete@joelsgma - Yes, I've not totally settled on where to keep all our goods quite yet-- and for now have just made room in the kitchen. My dilemma is that our basement is extremely damp (think small "streams" of running water at times!) and most of the information I've read cautions strongly against storing canned goods in very damp areas. Fortunately for me, it's been such a chilly summer thus far, I'm not having to worry about it too much. But if you have any ideas, let me know!
ReplyDeleteIt may have been Louissa and Carina that made the jam.I hope to get there SOON to see the new arrangements!And your piano skills are far from "limited"! ;)
ReplyDeleteWho's the piano from?
ReplyDeleteYay for the piano! I too am looking forward to the day I get my "real" piano (whenever that may be...)I'm looking forward to making plum jam within the next month or so - our tree is LOADED. I must have guessed right last year since I only have one jar left! Last year was my first attempt and I was surprised how easy it was in the end.Since you can't store in your basement, I would at least put your canned stuff someplace dark, since I think light breaks them down more. They are so pretty to look at though! I like to line them up on my kitchen windowsill before I relegate them to the pantry shelf.
ReplyDeleteI'm very impressed with your canning! Someday I may join you! (but not today...)
ReplyDelete@Girabbit - So you don't keep yours in the basement either? And they do okay as long as they're in a dark cupboard?
ReplyDelete@brietta - My pantry shelf is in my basement, where there's very little natural light. I've read that the best temps to keep canned stuff at is 50 - 70 degrees, so your basement might actually be too cold in the winter, besides being damp. I don't worry about the dampness so much since I seal my jars the old fashioned way with paraffin and don't have to worry about metal lids. As long as you don't see any bad signs (bulging lids, big changes in color, seeping) you're probably all right.
ReplyDelete