My Last Post About Peaches (this year) I Swear!

I finished canning the last of my peaches. There are 3 or 4 still ripening on the tree, but I think we'll just eat those. :)

I've had a lot of fun with my peaches this year. I wasn't quite ready to quit. It's been really fun trying a bunch of new things.

My favorite peach concoction this year was the Pickled Peaches, but coming in a very close second is this Peach Rosemary Lemonade Concentrate. OH. MY. It is sooooo good. I canned 14 quarts of it. It'll be perfect to whip up quick for a party. I already have big plans so serve it at Baby #5's baby blessing dinner. It pretty much tastes like summer in a glass.






Peach Rosemary Lemonade Concentrate

*Makes 6-8 pints or 3 quarts of canned concentrate

Ingredients

6 cups peaches, frozen then thawed or fresh
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
5 cups sugar
6 stems rosemary

Directions
In a food processor, blender or bullet puree peaches.  
Transfer peach puree to a stainless steel saucepan over medium-high heat. DO NOT BOIL. Add lemon juice, sugar, and  rosemary and stir to combine. 
Using a thermometer heat to 190 degrees Fahrenheit, stirring occasionally. Because this recipe has sugar it will get to temperature rather quickly so keep your eye on the thermometer. Remove from heat. Remove rosemary before filling jars.
Ladle mixture into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim, add hot lids and tighten rings just finger tight. Process in water bath canner at a boil for 15 minutes.
To reconstitute, mix one part concentrate with one part water, tonic water or ginger ale. Adjust concentrate to suit your taste.

My sister-in-law Esther gave me some vanilla beans, so I made a few batches of Vanilla Peach Butter. It turned out good. It's really yummy on pancakes. I don't like it as much as I like the Apple Butter though. I think prefer making fruit butter, as opposed to fruit jam, because there is a lot less sugar in the butter, and you don't have to buy any pectin.

Crockpot Vanilla Peach Butter

Ingredients
8 Peaches
2 Vanilla Beans
1/4 Cup Sugar

Instructions
1. Peel peaches, remove pit and cut into chunks or slices and place in crock-pot.
2. Cut each vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrap out the vanilla bean seeds with a spoon and put seeds and the pods into the crock-pot with the peaches.
3. Add the sugar and stir to combine.
4. Cover and cook on low 4 hours.
5. Remove the vanilla bean pods.
6. Pour cooked peaches into the jar of a blender and cover.
7. Carefully (the mixtures will be hot!) blend the peaches until smooth.
8. Pour pureed peaches back into crock-pot and cover, but prop up the lid of the crock-pot with a chopstick or other heat proof utensil to allow moisture to escape.
9. Continue cooking on low for 1-2 hours, stirring every now and then to prevent peach butter from burning.
10. Pour into jars or containers and refrigerate for up to 2 months, freeze for up to 6 months or process in a hot water bath for 20 minutes.


So huzzah for peaches. We have really enjoyed them (if you hadn't noticed). So much so, that I've even convinced Aaron (and it wasn't very hard) that we want to plant a second peach tree next year. Maybe one that ripens a little earlier. That way we can enjoy the peach love all summer and fall long. I can can them to my little heart's content, and then when I'm sick of it, we can always give the rest away, or feed them to the chickens, or let Lincoln try his hand at setting up a fruit stand and selling them to the neighbors at an exorbitant rate. ;) (Remember when he wanted to sell gallon bags of spinach to the neighbors for $10 a bag? Ya, that's what I'm referring to.)

Just Peachy

Two thirds of my peaches ripened up this week. I think sliced peaches in canning jars are one of the prettiest things. I almost just want to line the top of my cupboards with them and use them for decoration. I did 15 quarts of sliced peaches. And I still have some quarts left over from last year, so I decided to branch out a little in the peach department.

Last year I canned this Peach BBQ Sauce as an experiment. And we loved it so much, that this year I decided to make twice as much. It's fabulous. I usually use it over a pork roast in the crock pot, to make pulled pork sandwiches. But I think it would be good on any meat.

Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce

6 cups pitted, peeled peaches (about 3 lbs, or 9 medium) 
1 cup seeded red bell pepper (about 1 large)
1 cup purple onion (about 1 large)
3 Tbsp finely chopped garlic (about 14 cloves)
1 1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp hot pepper flakes
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp salt
8 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions

1. Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set aside.

2. Put peaches, bell pepper, and onion, in a blender or food processors and blend 'til smooth.

3. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture thickens to the consistency of a thin commercial BBQ sauce, about 25 minutes.

4. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars leaving 1/2 headspace. Remove air bubbles. Wipe rim. Center hot lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is finger tight.

5. Process in a boiling water canner for 15 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when the center is pressed. 

And after that, I still had some peaches left (and some more still on the tree). And I was in the mood to experiment with the exotic. :) I found this Sweet Hot Pickled Peach recipe that spoke directly to my little pregnant taste buds. And I'm glad, these are by far the best tasting thing I've ever canned in my life. They will be a future staple at my house from now on.

 Sweet Hot Pickled Peaches

Ingredients

6 pound small fresh peaches or apricots (about 18 peaches)

2 ½ cups water

2 ½ cups cider vinegar

4 cups granulated sugar

3 cups packed brown sugar

4 sticks cinnamon

2 piece fresh gingerroot, peeled and cut in strips

1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper

1 teaspoon mustard seed

8 whole cloves

1 small sweet onion, cut in wedges

1 medium red sweet pepper, seeded and cut in strips

Directions

1. To peel peaches (apricots may be used unpeeled), fill Dutch oven with water; bring to boiling. Carefully lower peaches, a few at a time, into boiling water; let stand 30 to 60 seconds. With slotted spoon transfer peaches to large bowl of ice water. When cool enough to handle, gently rub skin off peaches. Halve and pit any large peaches; set aside.
2. Drain water from Dutch oven. For pickling mixture, in same Dutch oven combine the 2-12 cups water, vinegar, sugars ,cinnamon, gingerroot, red pepper, 1 teaspoon salt, mustard seeds, and cloves. Bring to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugars. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 5 minutes.
3. Add peaches, onion, and sweet pepper to pickling mixture; return to boiling. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 5 minutes or just until tender, gently stirring once or twice. With slotted spoon divide peaches, onion, sweet pepper, and cinnamon evenly among four clean, hot 1-quart jars. (See Safe Storage, below.) Pour pickling mixture into jars; cool. Cover and refrigerate at least 24 hours or up to 3 weeks. Serve peaches with a slotted spoon and drizzle with a little of the juices.

From the Test Kitchen

Safe Storage:

Before filling the jars, wash them in hot soapy water and rinse thoroughly. Pour boiling water in and over the jars and let them stand in the hot water until ready to fill. The pickled peaches are stored in canning jars, but are not processed as canned. Therefore, keep refrigerated and eat within 3 weeks. If giving as a gift, include storage instructions. Makes 18 servings.

Hot:

Hot: 2-inch piece fresh gingerroot

Hotter: 3-inch piece fresh gingerroot

Hottest: 4-inch piece fresh gingerroot

This recipe says to store them in the fridge, but I wanted to can them, so I searched online until I found a similar recipe with most all of the same ingredients, and it said to process for 25 minutes. So that's what I did.

This used up all my ripe peaches. I'm still waiting for the ones left on the tree to be ready...but don't worry, I have big plans for them too!

Old McKrystal Had a Farm E-I, E-I, O!

Could August have been any more lovely? I doubt it. I have been loving the mild temperatures and the rainstorms. Sunny days are beautiful too, but something about the texture in these clouds contrasted with the greens and yellows of the cornfield speaks to my soul. This is where I live. I see these mountains and this corn field, and even the barbed wire fence, every single day...and it never gets old.

Fall is upon us. I can feel the change starting slowly. The rain hasn't been all that great for my garden, I feel like it's more of a wild, green jungle than anything else. But it has produced some ripe things. Mostly tomatoes. The cherry sized tomatoes are doing best. And the other day I made this delicious Tomato Cucumber Avocado Salad. (blurry picture, sorry)

TOMATO, CUCUMBER, AVOCADO SALAD

Prep time: 12 mins

Total time: 12 mins

Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS

1½ cups of chopped tomatoes - I used cherry tomatoes

1 cucumber - peeled and seeded then diced

1 avocado - diced

4 oz feta cheese - cubed

2 tbs minced red onion

1 handful parsley - minced - about 2 tbs

2 tbs olive oil

1 tbs red wine vinegar

8 twists of black pepper from a pepper mill

INSTRUCTIONS

Chop tomatoes into a medium dice. If using cherry tomatoes, cut in half. Add to a bowl.

Peel and seed one cucumber and dice. Add to bowl.

Remove pit, dice avocado and using a spoon scoop out the avocado from the peel. Add to bowl.

Cube feta and add to bowl.

Add minced red onion and minced parsley to bowl.

Whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar and black pepper - pour over salad.

Toss gently so the feta and avocado don't break up. Serve immediately.

If refrigerating - keep the avocado aside and add before severing.

I also canned salsa this morning. I sort of combined 2 recipes and made up the rest. :) So I won't post a recipe here. But I used a bunch of tomatoes and peppers and tomatillos from our garden. A few of the early ripe peaches off of our tree, onions, garlic, cilantro and spices. I think it turned out pretty good. I got 10 pints worth. 

Speaking of our peach tree, in a couple more days I'll be swamped. :) I'll have so many off my tree this year, that I won't need to buy from Brigham City at all. Yay! I made sure to point out to Aaron the figures, just for fun. Our peach tree cost us around $12 at Costco two years ago. To buy a bushel of peaches from Brigham City costs me about $36 every year. So in this year alone, our tree has paid for itself twice over. I knew fruit trees were a good idea! 

And our garden and trees aren't the only thing producing around here. Our chickens have started laying eggs! Yippy! We've had six eggs so far. I don't think all of them are laying yet, I think just maybe the two black ones. But with the eggs and fruit and produce I feel like I live on a freaking farm, and I love it!! 

I told Aaron today that I think gardening and canning what you grow is more satisfying than raising children. At least so far, because you can see the results of your efforts a whole lot faster. ;) 

Can When You Can

We had a really strong wind storm last night. When I went out in the backyard this morning, I noticed that one of the branches of our apple tree had snapped. I was sad. I've had my eye on our apples all week, they've been so close to being ripe. I went over to survey the damage. Bad news: the branch wasn't fixable, I had to cut it off. Good news: many of the apples were ripe. I picked a whole grocery sack full.

I decided to make Crock Pot Apple Butter. It's so easy. And SOOOOO good. And when you're done you can either freeze the apple butter, or can it. With the apples I picked, I got about 11 half-pint jars, so I decided to throw them in the steam canner, since i don't have room for that many jars in my freezer. The apple butter made my house smell like fall. And I was happy all day while it simmered in the crock pot.

I've also collected quite a few jalapeno peppers from the garden the last couple of days. I found a tasty looking recipe on Pinterest for Strawberry Jalapeno Jelly and wanted to try it out. I figured since I was canning today anyway, that now was as good a time as any. And set to work seeding and chopping jalapenos and mashing strawberries.


I'm happy to say that both recipes exceeded my expectations. They were divine. My goal this year, when I planted my pepper plants in my garden, was to grow enough jalapenos to make plenty of half pint jars of jam, that I'd be able to give jam away to my neighbors as Christmas gifts. That way all the work would be done in September or so, and I wouldn't have to stress about what to do for neighbor gifts right after having a new baby. So far my plan has started off splendidly. I did 11 half-pint jars of Apple Butter, and 14 half-pint jars of jelly. With more jalapenos growing every day! (I'm secretly hoping to make enough jam that I won't have to give away any of the apple butter, I've become addicted to it!)

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Approximately 3 lb. apples
3 cups sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cloves
Dash of salt
3/4 cup water or fresh apple cider

Directions:
Fill Crock-pot 3/4 full with peeled, cored and sliced apples. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until evenly mixed. Cover and cook on low setting overnight or until the butter is of a thick, spreadable consistency.
If apple butter has too much liquid, remove lid and cook on high until thickened. Stir often as butter thickens to prevent scorching.

Store in refrigerator for up to 6 weeks. Freeze for longer storage.

Variation: For a less sweet apple butter, substitute 1 cup honey for the sugar.

To can the apple butter, pack into hot jars leaving 1/4-inch headspace and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.


Strawberry Jalapeno Jelly

4 cups crushed strawberries (discard stems and leaves)
1 cup jalapeno pepper (processed in food processer)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (1 3/4 ounce) package powdered fruit pectin (Sure-Jell Premium yellow box I prefer using 1 1/2 packages because strawberries are runnier)
7 cups granulated sugar (yes this is the right amount...it's jelly!)

Directions:
1 Sterilize eight half pint canning jars with lids and rings, boiling for at least 5 minutes and kept hot.

2 Place the crushed strawberries (do not chop in a food processer; the texture will be too fine and choppy), processed jalapeno pepper, lemon juice and pectin into a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan; stir in the sugar to dissolve. Rapidly bring to a boil over high heat (long, slow boiling destroys the pectin). Once at a full rolling boil, cook for 1 full minute. One half teaspoon butter may be added to keep down the foam, if desired. Letting this mixture sit for about 5 minutes discourages the fruit from separating.

3 Pack the jam into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids and screw on rings.

4 Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner. Remove the jars and place onto a cloth-covered or heat-resistance surface. (While cooling, I shake frequently to redistribute content.) Allow to cool overnight. Store in a cool, dark area

Schooling by Day, Canning by Night...

For some ridiculous reason, I always start our school year right when canning season kicks in. This year was no exception. Although, I have to say, it is so much easier to get excited/motivated to can this year, than it was last year as a pregnant person. :)

But I should start where I left off last time. On Friday I decided to go ahead with my Story of the World activity, because I already had it planned and printed off. Luckily, I chose to do the maps part of it, because Lincoln is way into maps at the moment, so, besides the readings, I wasn't repeating anything he did in class already. We listened to the the Introduction and Chapter 1 on the CD while we ate snack, and then we each colored a map of the Fertile Crescent. I thought Ivan did a lot better than I had expected him to, and Adelia mostly scribbled on hers while I colored it. (Lincoln liked this activity so much, that a couple days later, he asked for another blank map so he could do it again. Which is making me think that maybe we'll keep doing the maps as we read the book, and then just leave the other activities to Lincoln's teacher.) *And yes, I am aware that I spelled crescent wrong on the maps, English Major fail. :(

Then we had kind of a wild weekend. Friday night I hosted a movie night for my book club. We'd just read and discussed Life of Pi, and some of us wanted to watch the movie. I love the movie and the book, but especially the book. It's one of those that my brain goes back to, over and over again, at random parts of my life so I can analyze it from new angles. I think it's hard to grasp anything much beyond which story you believe to be true in the first reading of the book, because the shock factor is so high. But this last reading/book club discussion I kept focusing on the part about it being a story to "make you believe in God". And this, in a nutshell, is what I think. I think the second story is the true story. I think that many religions teach using parables. So I think the first story is a parable for Pi over-coming the natural man, and finding forgiveness and strength by being forced to hold the tiger within himself at bay. Pi says he can't tame the tiger, but he can train it. I think that's a wonderful metaphor. Our mistakes of the past don't have to define us, or our futures, if we can accept the grace of God, and work to rise above our animal instincts. In the book, Pi finds God's forgiveness and peace, allowing him to move beyond a horrible deed and start a new and happy life in Canada with a wife and kids and two cats. :) Anyways, I love the book. And the movie is awesome too.

Saturday we had two soccer games in the morning. Both boys played well. Then I drove up to Hooper for Sabrina's bridal shower. She and Jackson are getting married at the end of September. I'm excited to have her in our family. She is really good for Jackson. And they seem really happy together. My mom puts on a great shower. This time she had a really cute table display with cupcakes and candies in little cups. They were shaped in a heart and set on the table as party favors. It was cute. And I always love seeing all of my Hooper people. All the ladies that were my neighbors, primary teachers, young women leaders, etc. I love those ladies. They are a riot. And it's fun knowing them now as an adult, instead of just as a kid. Jack and Bri got some great gifts...makes me want to have a bridal shower again for myself. I feel like when I got married I had no idea what we needed or wanted, and I didn't know which gifts were good gifts. I remember a few things I returned, thinking I'd never need them, that I sure wish I had back now!

I got home from H-town late Saturday night. Then we all had to get up early Sunday morning to be in Salt Lake by 9:00am because Aaron's brother Kelly was blessing their new baby Eli. We almost made it on time. Luckily, Kelly's ward was flexible and let them do the blessing after passing the Sacrament, so that Aaron was still able to participate. We went back to Kelly and Esther's afterwards and had a nice brunch. It was raining so we all stayed inside, but it was still a really nice morning. The kids had fun playing with Asher, and the adults chatted. We left and got home in time for Sunday afternoon naps! Glorious! We have one o'clock church, so we don't get to have Sunday afternoon naps very often. I have greatly missed them.

Monday morning was Lincoln's first choir class as the Scera Theater in Orem. He had a great time. His teacher even made a point to come and find me afterwards and tell me how much she enjoyed having Lincoln in her class. She said that he followed directions very well. I was happy to hear that. The classes are for home school families, so there were a bunch of other people waiting in the waiting area with us while we waited for Lincoln's class to end. Ivan and Adelia soon found a couple of little friends, and spent a very happy hour playing duck-duck-goose, tag, and running up and down the stair case. I was glad for them that it turned out to be a fun adventure. I chatted with a few of the other home school moms, I hadn't met any of them before since they were all from the Orem/Provo area, and most of the other home schoolers I know are from Springville and south, but all the moms were really nice, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. Sometimes I think people don't realize how many home school families there actually really are. Home schooling is not a very small minority anymore. And that makes me glad.

Monday night, my friend Wynter came over and we canned peaches. She did hers and I did mine, but it was way more fun to do it together and have someone to talk to. I bought a bushel from up in Brigham City this year, like I do every year; but, to my great surprise, my very own peach tree also produced this year. I wasn't expecting it to for a few more years. But I got forty peaches off my tree this year. They were a little bit smaller than the onse I bought from Brigham, but they tasted every bit as good! So I had a bazillion peaches. What to do? What to do? I still have about 12 quarts of sliced peaches from last year. I decided to only do 12 new quarts of sliced peaches this year. With the rest, I tried a new Zesty Peach BBQ Sauce recipe, and it turned out awesome. And I also blended up a bunch with some raspberries and made Peach-Raspberry jam. I've been canning like a mad woman every single night this week. Trying to use up my peaches before they go bad.

Tuesday morning it was my turn to host Ivan's preschool co-op. I set out our Wedgits and Magna-tiles for the kids to play with when they got here while we waited for everyone to arrive. Today we learned about shapes. First we did singing time though. We sang Hello Everybody, Here We Are Together, In the Leafy Tree Tops, and Five Little Monkey's (the alligator version). Then, to introduce shapes, I read them Thumper's Shapes. Then I handed each child cut-outs of the four basic shapes; circle, triangle, rectangle, square. We talked about each one, and said how many sides and how many angles it had. Then I would describe a shape by saying something like, "I'm thinking of a shape that has three sides and three angles." And the kids would have to hold up their triangles. For the next activity, we talked about how shapes can be different sizes or colors but if they have the right number of sides and the right number of angles they are still a square (or whichever shape). We played a game where the kids came up and picked shapes of different sizes and colors out of a brown paper bag, they had to decide which shape it was, and then put it on my flannel board under the right category (circle, square, triangle, rectangle). Then the kids needed some wiggle time. So we went outside on the driveway where I had drawn large shapes with chalk. We walked around the perimeter of the shapes singing Hi-Ho the Dairy-o and changing the words for each shape, like this: "A rectangle has four sides, a rectangle has four sides, two are short and two are long, a rectangle has four sides." Then I gave the kids chalk and they practiced drawing the four different shapes. Next we went back inside and had a snack. I gave them pretzel sticks and had them try to make their shapes out of pretzels too. After snack we did a cutting/gluing activity. They attempted to cut out the shapes and glue them onto another piece of paper and then color them. They did pretty well, but I think our scissor skills need a little work. For out last activity we did pattern block pictures. Each of the kids got a cookie sheet, a pile of magnetic pattern blocks, and a laminated picture to fill in. They seemed to really like this activity, and when they finished with one picture, they asked to switch out for another one. When it was time to go, every kid got to take home a bag with paper shapes and colored sticks in it. The idea is that they can set out the paper shape, and then use the same colored sticks to go around the edge, to practice making shapes. I did a piece of string so they could do a circle too.

Tuesday afternoon was also the first day of our art class. We will be doing a weekly art class at my house with Wynter and her kids. We are using the Home Art Studio DVD curriculum, and I'm really excited about it. Today we learned about Primary and Secondary colors. First the kids traced their hands a few times on a piece of large construction paper. Then they painted each of their hands a Primary color of their choice. Next they learned about mixing colors, and then got to choose which colors they wanted to mix to make a Secondary color background of their choice. Ivan's finished product is bottom left, and Lincoln's is bottom right. I put up a string along the empty back wall of my school room, and am planning on displaying all of their artwork for this year on the string using clothes pins. The kids had a great time with this project, and I am looking forward to it next week and for the rest of the year.

Tuesday night we went to soccer games. And Aaron brought me home flowers, just because. :) I love when he does that.

Also, here's a picture I took of Ollie the other night when he was taking forever to want to go to sleep. I feel like he's been a little bit left out on the blog lately. But seriously, he won't hold still long enough for me to take any good pictures of him. He's all over the place rolling around, and even pushing himself up on all fours for a few seconds at a time. I am NOT ready for a crawler. But check out those beautiful baby blues.

Wednesday we had another great Science Club at Wynter's house. I was only in charge of snack this week, and didn't have to teach, so I got to see some of the lessons. They were all so good! We have some awesome creative moms doing Science Club. We did mammals again this week, but each mom took a different type of mammal. So one class was about bears, one class was about marsupials, and one class was about sea mammals.

Jill taught the sea mammals class. She did an experiment to teach about the scientific method, and I thought it was so cool. She wanted to show the kids how some sea mammals have blubber that keeps them warm in the cold water. She had a bowl full of ice water on the table, and had the kids put their hands in it to see how cold it was. Then she had the kids take turns putting their hands in a plastic bag that had another plastic bag filled with shortening inside, then stick their hands wrapped in the plastic bag back into the water, and the shortening blubber kept their hands warm. I thought it was such a neat experiment.

In the bear class they learned about hibernating. And at dinner, Lincoln explained to Aaron how bears are really small when they are born. And in the marsupial class they learned about kangaroos, and how the baby kangaroos are born as small as a jelly-bean and then live in their mom's pouches until they are bigger.

Today was our second day of hosting preschool co-op. My subject was handwriting. Most of the kids in the class are pretty young, so I decided to go with a fine-motor skills approach, rather than an actual hold the pencil and do handwriting approach. For our first activity I used a piece of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum. They have these wooden blocks that you can use to build any capital letter in the alphabet. I've never bought the blocks, but I have cut the shapes out of card stock, and that works just as well in my opinion. So I cut out a set of shapes for each kid in preschool. We sat in a circle and practiced building the first letter in each child's name. Once we had built the letter we traced it with our fingers, and used the verbal cues from HWT, which go something like this: "Ok we're going to make the letter P. To make a P we start in the top left corner, then we make a big line down, then we frog jump back to the top, ribbit! Then we make a little curve to the middle. This is letter P." In our class, we happened to have two I's, two A's, a P, a J, and a D, so those are the letters we worked on today. But I sent the shape sets home with the parents, so if they want to practice more with their kids they can. I didn't get as many pictures today, because Ollie was awake and wanting to be held. I wish I would have been able to get one of all the kids making their letter shapes, they did so good!

Our next activity was letter lacing cards. Again I chose to focus only on the first letters of each of the kids names. So I made a block letter for each kid, and laminated it, and hole punched it, and tied a piece of yarn to it. The kids got to "sew" their letters, which is a great fine motor skill, and helps develop the hand muscles needed to hold a pencil. Then it was definitely snack time. :) I did pretzels again, because that's what I had on hand. Then we did a cutting sheet. Cutting is another fine motor skill that helps with handwriting. I had planned to go outside and write letters with sidewalk chalk, but the weather did not want to cooperate with me. It was pouring rain. Instead, I took black sheets of construction paper and wrote each child's name in big block letters, then they took the sidewalk chalk and traced over the pencil. It went pretty well. About half traced their letters, and the other half just had a great time making a chalk picture. Either way was fine with me. And that was preschool today.

This evening Lincoln had soccer pictures and a game. Lucky for us the weather cleared up a bit, the sun even came out during the game. It was lovely out. I love Linc, and he is getting better, but man! that kid is an awkward athlete. I think he might be a little too smart for sports. Not that athletes are dumb, not by any stretch...but Linc's biggest problem is that he thinks about it too much. He could probably repeat to you verbatim, everything his coach has ever told him about soccer. But he lacks that natural athletic instinct. When the balls comes his way, he freezes, and you can just see the wheels turning, "Ok, the ball is coming my way, I'm playing a defensive position right now, so that means what I need to do is kick the ball away from the goal and towards an open member of my own team..." and by the time that processes and he goes to act, the ball is long gone. He's also not super aggressive, but I  think that has more to do with his age, than his ability. He's still fun to watch though, and he does a little better at every game, and he has a good time, which is what really matters.

And of course this is a typical soccer game position for Aaron and I, kids climbing all over us, I'm surprised we even see any of the game.

"Go my favorite sports team! Score a goal/basket/unit! Go team! Go team, go!"

Uh-uh, no you didn't! Cut that out! I do NOT want a crawler! 

So that was an extremely long post. I don't mean it as a way to brag or show off, but just as a way to document. We are in a happy place right now. Life is beautiful. We've traveled some rocky roads to get here, and I know that more rocky roads are ahead. But right now, this day, this moment, I am content. Things are going smoothly. I am not over-whelmed or under-whelmed. Things are wonderful, and I am grateful. I want time to stop right here. I want to remember. I want to soak it in, and breath it back out, and love every precious moment while it lasts.

Makin' Stuff

I might as well just change my name to Martha Stewart. Or Betty Crocker. I've been making stuff like a crazy person. Friday, I made two gallon sized freezer bags full of mushed baby carrots for Oliver. I don't make Oliver's baby food because I'm cool. I make it because I just so happened to have a large bag of carrots that needed to be used pronto, a baby starting solids, and because it's WAY easier to boil and blend carrots than it is to take four kids to Walmart to buy baby food.

Yesterday I was bound and determined to try to keep ahead of my garden.  Because no matter how hard I try, there is always a giant pile of produce sitting on my counter. That's a good thing though, it means my garden is doing well, which is what I want. I just have a hard time figuring out what to do with it all (read that as: finding time to figure out what I want to do with it all), and I don't want any of it to go to waste. So I made salsa.

I tried a new recipe this time, mostly because my mom wasn't home for me to call and get the usual recipe from. Maybe I should write it down. :) Either way, I was happy with how this recipe turned out. It's called Rockin' Salsa and is off of allrecipes.com

Rockin' Salsa

Rated: Submitted By: Tami Photo By: Lightedway Prep Time: 45 Minutes Cook Time: 3 Hours 20 Minutes Ready In: 6 Hours 5 Minutes Servings: 64

"This recipe makes several jars of spicy salsa that's great for gift-giving or to just have in your pantry."

INGREDIENTS:

1 red onion, chopped 1 white onion, chopped 1 yellow onion, chopped 6 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled and chopped 2 banana peppers, chopped 3 green bell peppers, chopped 3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

1/2 cup white vinegar 2 tablespoons garlic powder 1 1/2 tablespoons salt 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup white sugar 8 pint canning jars with lids and rings

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Combine red onion, white onion, yellow onion, tomatoes, banana peppers, green peppers, tomato paste, white vinegar, garlic powder, salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large pot. Simmer until thick, about 3 hours.
2.	Sterilize the jars and lids in boiling water for at least 5 minutes. Pack the salsa into the hot, sterilized jars, filling the jars to within 1/4 inch of the top. Run a knife or a thin spatula around the insides of the jars after they have been filled to remove any air bubbles. Wipe the rims of the jars with a moist paper towel to remove any food residue. Top with lids, and screw on rings.
3.	Place a rack in the bottom of a large stockpot and fill halfway with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then carefully lower the jars into the pot using a holder. Leave a 2 inch space between the jars. Pour in more boiling water if necessary until the water level is at least 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Bring the water to a full boil, cover the pot, and process for 10 to 15 minutes.
4.	Remove the jars from the stockpot and place onto a cloth-covered or wood surface, several inches apart, until cool. Once cool, press the top of each lid with a finger, ensuring that the seal is tight (lid does not move up or down at all). Refrigerate after opening.

I didn't have banana peppers so I used jalapenos instead. And a lot of people in the comments said it was too sweet and to only use half the sugar, so I did that as well. I also added some minced garlic, and some cilantro, and some lime juice. I was happy with how it turned out.

But I still had jalapenos left over. 32 of them in fact. What the heck am I supposed to do with 32 jalapenos?! I searched around on All Recipes for a bit, and found a Jalapeno jelly recipe that I had all the ingredients for and decided to give it a whirl.

Jalapeno Jelly

Rated: Submitted By: Sue Delgrego Photo By: MELY C. Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 45 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 5 Minutes Servings: 32

"This recipe came from the Black Lakes in Canada. It is the best that I have ever tasted, and very easy to make."

INGREDIENTS:

1 large green bell pepper 12 jalapeno peppers 1 1/2 cups apple cider vinegar 1 pinch salt

4 1/4 cups granulated sugar 4 ounces liquid pectin 4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Combine the green bell pepper and 12 jalapeno peppers in the container of a food processor or blender. Process until finely chopped. This can be done in batches, if the peppers do not fit.
2.	Transfer the peppers to a large saucepan, and stir in the cider vinegar. Bring to a boil, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain the mixture through at least 2 layers of cheesecloth, and discard pulp. You should have about 1 cup of liquid.
3.	Return the liquid to the saucepan, and stir in the salt and sugar until dissolved. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. When the mixture comes to a rolling boil (one that cannot be stirred down), boil for one minute, then stir in the liquid pectin.
4.	Stir in the remaining jalapeno peppers, and ladle into sterile jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Seal jars in a hot water bath. Refrigerate jelly after seal is broken.

I did not strain the pepper mixture through a cheese cloth, and I used six cups of sugar. I made sure that I got every single solitary seed out and cut all the veins out as well as I could. I'm not a super spicy person, and having never made this recipe before, I wanted to be safe. The jelly turned out fantastic. The flavor is awesome, and it isn't spicy at all. My kids even like it. I even think I'll leave a few seeds in next time to get a little more spice. The best part was it used every single one of my jalapenos. Hooray! Now if I could just find a zucchini jelly recipe I'll be all set! ;)