Harvest Time

It's September! I'm excited for it for a couple of reasons. 1) We have 9am church, which is a huge improvement for our kids! 2) Right around the corner is our yearly ritual of stocking up our shelves with canned produce. We've put away corn from the garden in our freezer and are gearing up for applesauce, peaches, pears, grape juice and tomatoes. Canning is a lot of work, but its worth the effort. Our kids love what we make. We've been completely depleted for months now and are feeling the effects. I miss having the ability to go to the basement for a jar of something we need. We'll have hundreds of jars to fill this year!

Last week, I did small batches of fun things: raspberry jam, peach jam, pepper jelly, thick and chunky salsa, apple pie filling, peach pie filling, and raspberry pancake syrup! It's yummy stuff.

I noticed Jackson wasn't eating his sandwiches in his school lunch and he said it's because he doesn't like store bought bread or jam. SO I made a batch of bread and made the jam and he's eating his lunch! And he's right- it's sooo much better! I have yet to make a batch of strawberry jam too, but I'm waiting for the right price. Someday, we'll have to grow our own fruit too!

We really don't need much of the salsa and pepper jelly but it's nice to have on hand. It might even be an every-other-year type of canning, but they are super great recipes! I found a new salsa recipe I really like that's loaded with spices and garlic and is super thick and chunky! All the veggies came from the garden! I love preserving what we grow!

I like using the pie filling for breakfast crisps/cobblers, as a topping on hot cereal, or rolled up like crepes. I'm hoping it will be nice to have on hand for the mornings we are rushed getting out the door for school.

Other recipes I want to try but am not sure if I will have the energy to do it this year is apple butter, pumpkin butter, pickles, and vegetable soup base. We'll see how much zest I have left after the REAL canning is done!