Asian Pear Jam

To see the recipe in it's entirety; click Pick Your Own

Heritage, History and Hullabaloo

A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I took a quick trip to Austin and College Station with my parents. It really was a whirlwind of a trip but we packed a lot in in 2 days.

My blood runs deep in Texas. I am a 7th generation Texans with roots that reach all the way back to the second colony of Stephen F. Austin. Texas is a very special place to me and my family and so we want to instill that Texas pride in our boys. Although Steve isn't from Texas, his heart is and he is just as proud of our heritage as I am. We have had several significant ancestors in Texas History. This trip was focused on visiting one special site. There is a memorial placed near a small creek in North Austin. It is the site of the Wilbarger Massacre of 1833. My great great great grandfather, Thomas Christian, was part of a surveying expedition when Comanche Indians surrounded them and attacked. Thomas Christian and another man died there but Josiah Wilbarger, although scalped and left for dead, survived and managed to live another 11 years. An article about my grandmother and her story is HERE. The boys and I went to the memorial as well as the river embankment where they were attacked.

We also went to visit the capital building and the museum. This was a very fun and educational day for us. We spent hours exploring, reading and learning about government and the amazingly rich and diverse history of Texas.

And of course, on our way home, we had to go through Aggieland!! We have not been back in so long that Ethan and Isaac don't remember. Texas A&M is another family tradition and one we hope to pass on to the boys. I think they got a little Aggie fever when we were there. We drove by mine and Steve's little trailer we lived in while he was in school. Then we took the boys by our first home we owned and Ethan's first house. Next was the most important stop..... Freebirds for lunch of course. Best burritos EVER!!! Last but certainly not least, was a stop on campus to take the boys to the College of Architecture where Steve lived for 5 years of his life. It was completely surreal to see the boys walking the halls that Steve and I did before they were ever even a thought to us. It is so amazing how time flies by like that. It's been 11 years since we lived there. While on campus, we also had to stop by and take a picture of the Visualization Lab in the College of Architecture. This is where only 18 of the best of the best of programmers go to learn to make CGI movies. These kids are drafted even before graduation to Disney, Pixar and/or LucasArts. So you know Ethan's new goal now. Get in that college! He hasn't stopped talking about it or stopped wearing his A&M sweatshirt since. AWWWW... gotta be proud.

Short but sweet update. Life is zooming by at an alarming speed and I am definitely in the slow lane. I also thought I would try my hand at online scrapping. I HATE to scrapbook but with a program like Picnik, it's really fun!

Until next time.......

Homemade Applesauce

I have always wanted to try to make homemade applesauce. We go through so many apples a week that I never have any leftover to try. Isaac loves apples and usually eats at least 2 a day. So this time, I went to the store and intentionally bought about a dozen more than usual with the intention of making applesauce. When Isaac saw all of the apples in the cart, he got so excited. He thought he was going to get to eat those all by himself. When I told him that they were for making applesauce, he said "I guess that's an ok thing to do with them."

This is my new favorite website "Pick Your Own". It has the best recipes for canning, homemade jams and jellies and links to local farmers where you can pick your own veggies and fruits.

This recipe is from Gooseberry Patch "Dinner$ on a Dime" . It is so easy and fast.

Recipe:

* 10-12 apples, cored, peeled and cubed

* 3/4 c. apple juice

* Optional: 1/2 cup of sugar or substitute (I didn't add any extra sugar)

* Optional: 1 t. cinnamon (I didn't add any cinnamon b/c I knew I would be using the applesauce for baking)

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker: toss to mix. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. serve warm or keep refrigerated in a covered container. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

I canned mine so that I could keep it longer. I added some pictures of the process of making and canning:

I love my peeler, corer and slicer from Pampered Chef

Hardly any work and it only took about 10 minutes to peel, core and slice 12 apples

Once all of the apples are peeled and sliced, all you do is put them in a crock pot, add sugar and/or juice and turn on the crock pot

It takes all day for the apples to soften. The smell in the house is fantastic. Once the apples are soft, I added them to my Foley Food Mill. This was a Christmas gift from my mom and I have used it A LOT.

Once all of the apples are strained through the mill, you have applesauce. It's that easy !!

Then the canning began. You have to make sure your jars are sanitized in the dishwasher and that you are using new lids and rings. New lids and rings are essential when canning because you have to have a good tight seal or the food will spoil. Once a ring has been used, you can not be sure that integrity of the seal is good. I have ordered Tattlers. The are reusable and so it should cut down on the over all cost of lids. They are kinda pricey up front but with our greenhouse going up at the end of the month, I will be doing a lot of canning and so it's worth it to me.

The ball all in one canning kit is also a must. It includes a funnel, lid wand, jar lifter and bubble remover. A pressure cooker or a water canner is also essential.

You can get these kits at Wal-Mart for about $40. If you are going to splurge and get the pressure cooker, it will cost about $65.

Once the jars are filled, you boil them for about 15 minutes. You will know that they are done if you push on the top of the lid and you do not hear a popping sound. If you go to Pick Your Own from the link above, it gives you some great hints to make sure your lids are secure.

While the applesauce was canning, I decided to take the leftover apple peels and make a few apple chips. The peeler doesn't leave large pieces like they would had I peeled them by hand but a few turned out ok.

I mixed together sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled it over the top. I baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 300 degrees.

They came out so good and crisp. They were an hit with the boys.

Well, that was my first attempt at the applesauce making business. I know this will be done quite often when apple picking season comes in the fall.

Now I have 6 jars of applesauce to either eat or bake with. I have already made applesauce bread that was successful at my ladies bible study. I will have to share that recipe at a later date.

When There's Cold... Eat

The weather has been so cold or rainy or both for about 2 weeks now. And as I sit here, I hear the pitter-patter on our metal roof starting up again. I hate this kind of weather. I think I suffer from a bit of seasonal depression. The dark days, the wet everything. I really don't like it at all. I need to get one of those lights that you sit it front of to get some extra Vitamin D :)

So, when the weather is like this I really crave comfort food and I want to cook....cook....cook!! I have found and made some pretty great recipes over the past week or so. And because not much has really gone on around here to really mention, I thought I would share.

My first was a soup recipe that I found when I googled yummy soup recipes. I like to google exactly how I would say it :) The name of this soup is "Cheeseburger Soup". I really don't like that name; doesn't sound exactly appetizing to me. But I can't think of anything else, so it stays. This was such a surprise hit. I served it when I held a church meeting at my house and everyone raved. So its definitely stays on the short list of favorites!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 3/4 cup chopped onion
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup chopped celery
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups cubed potatoes
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups cubed Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup sour cream

Directions

1. In a large pot, melt 1 tablespoon butter or margarine over medium heat: cook and stir vegetables and beef , until beef is brown.
2. Stir in basil and parsley. Add broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10-12 minutes.
3. Melt the remainder of butter and stir in flour. Add the milk, stirring until smooth.
4. Gradually add milk mixture to the soup, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer. Stir in cheese. When cheese is melted, add sour cream and heat through. Do not boil.

Rich, creamy yummyness!

I will post more later! It's making me too hungry to keep going ;)

Praying for Joanne

I don't normally ask for prayer for someone that I really don't know. The blog world is a weird thing. You can read about someone, their family and hear what they do on a day to day basis and really feel like you know them but if you passed them on the street, you really don't. Part of the creeps me out :)

I have been reading Joanne Heim's blog for about 2 years now. She is a Christian author, homeschooling mom, loves contemporary country decor and married to her high school sweetheart. I had an instant connection with what she had to say. She has also written several books that have inspired and encourage many woman.

Last week, her 12 year old daughter found her on the floor of her basement having a seizure. She is 38 years old and in all accounts healthy. They rushed her to the hospital where they diagnosed her as having a major stroke. She has been in a coma since. There was no sign of this coming!!

Why am I posting about this? For some reason, this has really touched me. I know I don't really "know" her but I feel real emotion about this. She is my age, with two children that she homeschools, married to the man that she dated in high school. She could be me!

If you would like to read the whole journey, click here THE SIMPLE WIFE. Her husband and some friends post updates and prayer needs daily.