POP POP POP

If you are reading this blog you probably know me well enough to know I enjoy cooking... whether for family or friends... I just enjoy it. Tonight I got the biggest thrill when I took the jars out of the canning bath and the lids popped (creating the seal) It makes the sweetest little POP, POP POP as they each go after you set them on the kitchen counter. Okay... truth be told I dig it every time! What a simple thing... the sound of the jar of food you just prepped, cooked and completed actually sealing.

Okay... so I have had a total blast making applesauce. Tonight Caitlyn and I finished off the barrel of apples. Making 5 more quarts of homemade applesauce... How funny is it that I am wondering if 14 quarts is enough? It really isn't. My kids eat the stuff like crazy. Plus... Caitlyn is wanting more apple butter put up... what a goose. Plus... I want it to last until the end of next summer... so it looks like I may be packing up the ladder and heading back over to the neighbors place to pick the tops of his trees plum clean... okay Apple Clean! We will see how far I get with that desire... considering Tami called today (my friend) and their crabapples are ready... meaning I need to head over and get all the crabby apples I can to bring home and make our very own apple jelly! (this way I don't have to keep paying the grocery for theirs!)

I will be doing a little more research before I head over and put out a bunch of time picking crabapples! They are awful tiny and you need a whole bunch to cook down for 6 cups of juice. There is an apple tree by our local theatre that is just about ready for picking too! I am really enjoying gleaning some of our food.

To date I have:
14 Quarts of Applesauce (Gleaned the fruit!) (yup... 14 QUARTS!)
6 Half pints of Apple Butter (Gleaned the fruit!)
6 Pints of Spaghetti Sauce
3 Pints of Peaches (plus I put up peaches in the freezer!)
4 Quarts of Tomato Soup (homemade mmm) (there is a pint down there too!)
5 Half pints of Peach Butter (picked this with the kids)

There is also some homemade tomato juice in the freezer.

How cool is that! I wish I had done more tomatoes. I would have liked to can diced tomatoes as that is one of my frequent ingredients where I have to depend on canned. We use them all the time in chili, veggie soup, tomato rice and of course spaghetti sauce. I also really wish I had a garden this year and was able to say I put up green beans and other things we eat all the time around here. ... Next year that's my plan. (besides, I found a great "recipe" for dilly beans... makes your mouth water doesn't it!) Let's hear it for the Freedom Garden!

I may actually still have time to do more tomatoes... but I don't know... it wasn't really a money saver or ultra cost effective, just a healthier option for my family.