The Harvest's Bounty

Here's the bounty of our harvest as of the middle of August. Well, I know it's not that much of a bounty, but over the weeks we continually get about this much every few days. I'm very proud of this, mostly because the grasshoppers have taken residence in our garden and those little buggers are eating up our hard work. They are tricky and quick which makes it all the more frustrating when I'm yelling at them.

These beautiful tomatoes were calling for me to keep them preserved somehow, someway and I love to keep summer flavor...so off to research I go.

While researching I gently covered my precious tomatoes. I wasn't sure how we were going to dry and by the power of the internet, I found three different ways - over, dehydrator, and car. We have a borrowed dehydrator with no manual so I was leary to do that and I wasn't too sure about the consistency of the dashboard of the car so I decided to try the oven method....and I left them in too long.

Then my heart broke when I saw the crispy, dark red "chips" sitting on the cookie sheet instead of summer flavors preserved in the Italian red color I was expecting. Ouch, ouch, ouch. They tasted terrible! So now what?

Ken and I babysat the dehydrator one afternoon and checked those tomatoes like they were turning into gold. I'm going to leave you hanging and will post the pretty, red tomatoes on the next post.

p.s. they turned out great!!!

The Delights of Life

As the summer nears it's end, I would like to reflect on the delights of life. The little things that crack me up, abundantly! ...or just make me smile and think!
Sticking your head out the window so your mouth flaps open.

Building a dam in the gutter.

Seeing a swan.

Tea party with Girl Scout Cookies.

Tiny kittens on your bed.

Old school Fisher Price Little People.

Critters coming out of the neighbors chimney.

Star Wars!

Grandad with a Blue Bell hat on.

Peachy Keen and Ice Cream

Nothing says summer like homemade ice cream at Grandma's house. I have fond memories of my dad and uncle turning the hand crank while each of us kids took a turn sitting on the cold towel on top of the metal cylinder. What was even better? The small bits of peaches Grandma cut up and threw in the mix.

Boys making ice cream, I love it.

Up close with the recipe...and vanilla.

And here's instructions from Grandma. I have to tell you that Grandma has the most amazing stories that you could hardly believe. I love to listen to her and hear about her life. I wish I could bottle her up so I don't forget a word she says! I guess that's why we love making ice cream, so we have our own stories to tell. Who couldn't love a grandma that does this with you?

Looks like she's made it a million times! "You blend, I'll hold."

...steady now...

and the last ingredients go in.

We used an electric ice cream maker and it was wonderful! No one got tired and everything inside was evenly mixed.

"Here....let me show you how!"

"Now you do it." (I could close my eyes and hear her voice like I was right there. So sweet.)

Look at those chunks of frozen peaches!

I think I had 3 bowls in a row....yikes!

Disclaimer: Grandma did not know I was posting these pictures. Don't worry, Grandma, no one judges you on your kitchen counter-top. I know that's what you're thinking.

It's just Peachy!

The family and I stopped at a wonderful little (and famous) peach orchard in Mexia, TX. It's actually pronounced "ma-hay-ya" not like Mexico misspelled. It was hot, and hot, and hot down there but the peaches were so happy!

We bought one box of grade 1 peaches which, I learned, meant that they were the prettiest peaches with no scars or bruises.

We brought these little guys home and wanted to preserve the summer succulence for those colder months ahead. But don't worry, I cut little "spots" off and popped them into my mouth so I was sure to get plenty summer flavors!

Ok, to prep peaches, the best trick we've stumbled upon is to dunk them in boiling water for about 30 seconds and then in cold water in the sink (thanks mom). The skins peel off so easily they almost fall off, which is awesome when you are doing an entire box of peaches.

I followed the recipe in the Ball Bluebook (you remember the one) and cooked the peaches in a sugary syrup.

The blue thing you see in the pot is called a Food Loop and you can go to http://www.thefoodloop.com/ to watch the video of how wonderful this contraption really is. The best way to describe it is a silicone, stretchy zip-strip for cooking. They are re-usable wash great. The recipe called for allspice and whole spice wrapped in cheesecloth so that's how I secured the bag closed so the spices would stay nestled inside and wouldn't cloud the pretty, red syrup.

We put the peaches in whatever jars I had leftover. Most were wide-mouth jars but I had to use a couple of regular mouth jars...and that was tricky. You see, a good peach canner will put the peaches in the jar with the rounded side up and then gently lay the others on top. With a smaller mouth jar, the peach flips over and you can't get your hand in there to flip it back (statement of experience). Another thing to remember is that whenever you are canning, you have to get the air bubbles out and those little stinker peaches were hiding air bubbles all over the place. I would hold up the very hot jar and have my daughter look underneath to make sure we squeezed out those pesky bubbles.

After layering, pouring syrup, pushing out air bubbles, and screwing on lids and rings, it's into the water bath for 20 minutes. And here we are.......PEACHES!