ingrid

I know it has been a long time.  Believe it or not, I am nearly done with ONE of my two classes.  Right on target.  I was going to give myself all of October and here we are with a week to spare!

Even though I have not been writing here, it doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything.  That is, I am mostly working on my classes, but I have managed to squeeze in some fun little projects here and there.  Here is an update:

I canned.  A lot.

The kids love tomato soup, and as I felt sort of weird about the amount of soup boxes we go through and I grew a LOAD of tomatoes this year, I thought I would try canning it.  My mother in law hooked me up with a new pressure cooker and good directions and I kicked out these puppies.

I don’t want to be a braggart, but damn this stuff is good.  It really is awesome.  My complaint about tomato soup from the stores is always that it is too salty, even the reduced stuff.  Mine is perfectly tangy, tastes like real tomatoes and has these lovely little chunks in it.  Now if we don’t get botulism, all is well.

My friend Lindsey worked (like a galley slave) one Friday helping me make applesauce.  We made a ton of it.  It is pretty lovely too.

Here is the complete list of canned stuff this summer:

• 14 pints strawberry jam
• 6 pints raspberry jam
• 22 quarts applesauce
• 14 quarts pears
• 8 pints pear chutney
• 5 half pints pear plum chutney
• 24 pints tomato soup
• 7 pints blueberry syrup/jam

I had a funny experience with the blueberry syrup.  This whole canning thing is pretty new to me and I am just making whatever I can get my hands on for free or think we might use.  A few weekends ago, my mother in law, preserving goddess, serves us some blueberry syrup with our pancakes.  ”It didn’t turn out” she said.  She had tried to make blueberry jam.  She then said that she didn’t know why but her blueberry jam never turns out.  I loved the stuff just the runny way it was.  Of course, I go home and try to make blueberry syrup, but it sets up all firm… like jam.  Shoot.  Maybe she will trade with me?

And here are our tomatoes.  Yes, there are more of them.  Maybe I will have fresh tomatoes until December, but I am not convinced.  For now, we have to duck these in the kitchen, which is goofy.  It will make the room seem so big when they are gone!

I had a rough day with the kids today, and instead of my first instinct which was to put them in front of a movie, we pulled out the art supplies and made a royal mess.  It was exactly what I needed.  We made these fun skulls for Dia de los Muertos, and most thrilling to the kids, we got everything hung up and looking awesome by the time Brad got home from work.  He was suitably enthusiastic and the kids were super happy.  In addition to the skulls we made today there is

• pumpkin by Zephyr from preschool,
• candle holders from Mexico from Kendall
• mariachi skeletons in paper mache by Brad (!)
• precious paper skeletons from Italy that my parents carried back
• Virgen de Guadalupe candle
• Good Shepherd holy cards
• Sacred Heart metal pendant
• crucifix
• a picture of my cousin Maria who is dancing in heaven.  She liked Latin American culture, so I know she would like to be part of this scene.  And all my canning stuff was from her, so I have been thinking about her a lot lately.

And the front door:

Zephyr’s skulls are so funny!  HE did the one on top and the one on the lower right with blue eyes (it looks sort of like a decrepit lizard).  I took these pictures in the dark, and I know that was not a fantastic idea, but hey, the kids are asleep, so it IS dark.  I don’t see an alternative really.

I’ll post again soon.  Maybe I will include a picture of my chickens.  They are all molting and look awful.  I think they are cold as they are barely coming out of the henhouse!

Good thoughts!  Happy October!

In: Awesome!, food, projects, urban farming | | #