I celebrated fall's arrival by going to the orchard and buying a bushel of apples. That didn't seem like too much until I started working with them! For 2 days' work, I now have 11 1/2 pints of apple jelly, 6 pints of apple butter, and a large dehydrator full of drying apples. I've used about 2/3 of the bushel.
My legs, feet, and back are screaming at me, but I love seeing what I've produced and the way my house smells! In a chat a couple of nights ago, some of us were discussing what constitutes a "good" day for us, and we decided that a productive day is a good one. (I may be out of commission by tomorrow, though!)
Today I borrowed an apple peeler/corer/slicer that makes quick work of making apple slices for drying or recipes. It's a vice-like device with a turn handle that you crank. It takes little effort, and an apple is peeled, cored, and sliced in about 15 seconds. :)
I wish everyone many good days and a happy fall!
Cheryl
That sure sounds like you had a wonderful day Cheryl! :D By the way, when can I expect my apple jelly???? ;) :D
Patze
Wow, Cheryl! That was quite an undertaking, but you've really been productive. :D
I'm sure your house smells wonderful. The smell of fresh apples and apples cooking is one I love, too. I'm glad you borrowed the apple peeler/corer to make less work of the process.
I feel the same about a "good day" and what that means. Many times I am happy to relax and enjoy family and friends, and that can be a good day. But if I'm honest, a good day is one I feel I've accomplished something I've set out to do, much like I could in the past.
My "project" for the weekend is taking down some of the many white mini-blinds, washing them off and hanging them outside to dry. I know, sounds a bit overkill, but just a dusting doesn't do it after a while. All the curtains went in the washer. My windows will be clean for fall. ;)
I hope you're not totally out of commission by tomorrow! You can look at all your accomplishments while you rest.
Wow, Cheryl . . . you got a lot accomplished!! ;D
My mom used to have one of those apple corer/slicer devices. They did make the job a lot quicker! I've seen them used at festivals where they put an apple in it, turn the crank and put the slices of apples in bowls and then pour caramel over the apples . . . yum-o!!
I've never attempted any canning of any type - but, I have received some as gifts and they've been wonderful. My late MIL use to can tomato juice, green beans, corn, applesauce, pickles, etc. I don't know if she ever canned jelly or not.
With fall officially here, they have started harvesting some of the corn fields here - I love to see the big open fields once the harvest is over. I'm a country girl at heart - give me the big open land over the busy city any day. ;D I think it will be several more weeks yet before they harvest our field.
Rest up tonight and hopefully, your screaming legs, feet and back will quiet down. Go take a long soak in the tub. ;)
I'll munch on an apple tonight in your honor of a job well done!! :)
Bucky
Apples are my favorite fruit I eat a least 2 a day. By the sounds of things
I would be in apple heaven at your house.
What a way to celebrate your fall
an apple cider would be nice after all of your hard work.
WELL DONE
Cheryl
Thank you Patze, Meld, Bucky, and Cheryl! I wish I could share with all of you. Yes, the next day was rough, but I think I'm up to tackling the remaining apples today.
Meld, were you able to get all of your windows done?
I hope everyone is enjoying mild fall (or spring in your case, Smallfry) weather and many "good" days!
We wish you could share, too! I'm sure you'll enjoy the jelly, apples and butter over the winter. ;)
No, windows did not get finished, but I really didn't expect to in a couple of days. Small house=14 white mini blinds and I got half of them done, so I felt accomplishment! It's rainy and chilly today, plus I'm tired, so the rest might get done over this next weekend. Good thing is I don't worry about what I can't do right away anymore. :)
I hope everyone can enjoy a bit of mild fall (or spring) days, too!
I was thinking about looking for some sort of orchard the other day! I would love to go PICKING! :) I wonder what there might be in Oklahoma...Hmmmmmmm
CAT
With our Spring comes Strawberry season so its Strawberry jam time.
When Summer comes what everyone is waiting for are the Mangoes when they are in season I spend a lot of time making Mango Chutney.
I try and make enough to see us till the next season but we never seem to make it.
I would have to say that Spring is my favorite time of the year sadly it goes far to quickly.
Yes I will savor our Spring while it's here, and i hope you can enjoy a mild Fall
Cheryl
Cheryl, why do I find it easy to believe you spent a whole day cooking?!? I bet you were at it by 5 a.m., too!
You have inspired me! I have a food dehydrator, and now I plan to yank it out of the bottom of the pantry and use it over the weekend.
Happy fall to you!
Apples. I love apples and the fried apple pies. The aroma of apple butter and hot buttered biscuits.
I like the fall colors--oranges, maroons, yellows, reds. The leaves are so beautiful and a getaway to the mountains would be wonderful. The cool crisp morning air. Ahhhhhh-I can breathe.
Decorations. I love the fall decorations......pumpkins, fall leaves, scarecrows, fall harvest. I try to put out some fall colors in my home and I love doing this. Mums-----have you seen the gorgeous mums?
Quote from: season on September 28, 2011, 08:40:28 AM
Mums-----have you seen the gorgeous mums?
For those outside the U.S.A. she's referring to these flowering plants called Mums - not your mothers!! ;D ;D
Couldn't pass this one up! ;)
Bucky
Cute, Bucky ;) Of course, everyone in the UK has a gorgeous Mum, no matter their age.
I was able to go north 225 miles this week. The trees are changing to golds and reds already, and oak trees are losing their acorns. We have a little color here in SE Kentucky and with our cooler weather, it should be getting pretty soon. I planted snow peas for the first time a couple of weeks ago; I hope I gave them enough time to harvest a few before it's too cold.
Cheryl - I thought of you this morning when I was at a garage sale and saw an apple corer/slicer they had for sale. ;D
It's been real breezy here the last two days. Hard to believe it will be October tomorrow!! :o
Enjoy the Fall season while it's here . . . because you know what comes after it!! ::) ;)
Bucky
Here in Central IL the leaves aren't very colorful this year. :( We've had so much wind lately that the leaves are just blowing off the trees without changing. :-\
They harvested our cornfield yesterday. It looks so strange to see an open field now where we've be hidden by the tall corn since July. We've already seen several deer out in the field last night. They love the corn. We usually go and walk the field and pick up any ears of corn the combine missed and save them for the deer in the middle of the winter. Same thing with the acorns for the squirrels.
Have you noticed some of the strange cloud formations lately? The cold weather colliding with the warmer weather makes for these spectacular clouds.
I'm not ready for what comes after fall. :'(
Cheryl - are you planning on canning anything else now that your apples are done?
Bucky
Fall is my favorite season for all of my life. Remember walking home from school and kicking the dry leaves with your shoes as you walked along.
I live in the country and the corn fields next to the house and across the road and down the road are picked and it was so pretty watching them work during the nice weather. All the colors of the trees behind the fields and the colors of the machinery and the sound of the machinery in the cool fall air. I just love it.
I also have something that I enjoy that is such a blessing to me. I can watch the moon rise through my front room window and watch it move to the south across the sky and then pick it up in the kitchen out the window over the sink and as it goes to the west and north. It is so much fun watching the waning and waxing of the harvest moon.
When the moon is full in the fall when the corn is still in the fields during twilight it is great to stand in my front yard and watch that moon. It feels like I could reach out and touch it sometimes. I have gotten a couple of good pictures of the moon like this on my cheap camera. I have the problem of a light pole being smack in the middle of the picture but you take the picture when you have the time.
I look back at all the canning I did---learned it from my MIL. I tried canning baby potatoes once. Once I said and that was it. Do you know how long it takes to wash and peel enough potatoes to fill 7 quarts??? I have a big pressure canner and it was great for these types of chores.
I also froze egg plant. I would wash it , cut it up, dredge it in egg and flour and fry it in the skillet with salt and pepper. Then let it drain on paper towels and freeze separately on a cookie sheet. When they are frozen I would bag them up. Thennn, when the kids were in school I would take out the amount I wanted and heat them up in the oven and eat all of them by myself. Yum! Yum!
I also made sauerkraut once to see if I could do it. Man, that is the best sauerkraut a person could eat. When we butchered a couple of pigs years back I decided to render lard just for the heck of it. That made the best pie crust you ever tasted. We had a wood stove in the basement and I set the big pots on top of the stove and cooked it down.
It really is fun to do these things. I loved doing the motherly cost cutting things and I surely do miss doing them now. Will some of the rest of you share some of the canning, freezing items that you did. There are always people who know how to do things I never heard of. Irish
Irish, I loved your stories. I come from a Mich farming background, but hated it because I had to work in the fields as we were a family of 3 girls and 1 boy. I would have rather been an only child (at that time) taking ballet or piano lessons. We did all the canning etc but I would stay as far away as I could and still do.
My hubby loves to continue his families work being from a big farm family. He is always buying bussels of something and then canning it. I tell him we can buy it just as cheap. He likes doing the process though. My daughter, a family of one, does canning such as 2 quarts of green beans, 4 pints of potatoes. etc. I waste my breath by telling her she is wasting her time--her remark to me is "mother, mind your business, I enjoy doing this." So some people just do enjoy the old-fashioned ways! Especially some who never had to do them. Lucy
I lived in the country for many years. Had a garden; raised chickens and rabbits; used to hang laundry out on the line; made bread every week. Kids would come home after school and raid the garden for afternoon snacks. One would eat the baby okra, one tomatoes and onions (yeah, I know!), the other baby potatoes. Canning was such a hassle but made me feel productive. I miss those days...
The leaves are turning here, but the peak time in SE TN is around Halloween. I, too, love the fall.
Bucky, I confess I haven't "put up" much food this year. In late summer, I did make several gallons of vegetable beef soup to have for the winter. I freeze it in quart size bags now that there are only 2 of us living here. It's great to have on a cold night with grilled cheese or cornbread.
This week I planted a bed of pansies and colorful kale around my mailbox. I have never planted kale before; how does it hold up in cold weather?