Apples-Some butter and filling

Saturday was apple day. My kids all helped in some form or fashion for most of the process, which was much nicer than last year. Friday I cooked down enough into applesauce to start my apple butter. I do it in the crock pot overnight. So Saturday morning I added new applesauce to the cooked down butter and let it cook several hours longer. I froze or refrigerated 4 quarts, but I actually canned two quarts. We like "chunky" applebutter", so that is why you see pieces of apples in the jar. We also put up 20 quarts of frozen pie filling (Jonathons and Primas). I still have 1 1/2 bags of apples to do. We had a death in our church family yesterday, so I will be doing some cooking for that sweet family today. Hopefully I can finish the apples today or tomorrow.

Apple a Day-Keeps the Doc Away?

I am not sure about the validity of this old saying, but I think eating well can help you avoid those nasty doctor's visits. Our whole family loves apples. Last year I put up many, many bags and about three 16 ounce containers of apple butter. All of the butter was gone by early spring, but we still have a handful of bags of apple pie filling. I went to the orchard yesterday and bought 5-6 paper grocery sacks of Jonathon and Prima apples for only $27 . This weekend I will be up to my elbows in apple guts(if there is such a thing). I am planning on making "chunky applebutter" because that is our favorite on piping hot biscuits! Doubling the amount of apple butter this year, so we don't run out. I'll post my apple butter recipe later. I do mine in the crock pot overnight-YUM! It is less messy and it doesn't burn or scorch to the bottom. So hopefully we will be eating some by the end of the weekend. Will post some pics soon.

The Sew Convert

I try to read several blogs about sewing everyday. Usually the posts are short, so I glance at them over my morning coffee. Today on Sew Retro I saw the cutest 50's inspired dress from the Sew Convert (she looks very elegant). I am posting a link here http://sewconvert.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/a-frock-a-romper-a-giveaway/?blogsub=confirming#subscribe-blog so you can not only see her cute dress and romper, you can enter to win a kit to help you make your own! I think it is interesting that she uses decorator fabric to get her "swing". I guess the stiffness of those fabrics helps give a fullness and a twirl to a full skirt pattern. I have several of these in my stash of fabrics. I might just have to make one into a skirt.

Labor on Labor Day!

The holiday was spent siding our shed. I am very thankful for our 2 story shed. Our family (mainly hubby and son) built it. It stores a lot of stuff. We have tar paper covering it, but it is starting to look a bit ragged. My husband decided we were going to get some siding on it yesterday. I know you might be thinking that sounds easy, but think again. We received "free" tin from a friend of ours years ago. This tin has tar globs on it because it was on his barn roof. It is also "weathered" white. So we had to measure and cut (by hand with shears) then get off the tar, Bondo the holes (of course they did not match where we needed holes) and then paint and hang. We only did the top section and it took us all day. Now most of the day it was just me, hubby and son. It looks so nice, but I kinda dread doing the rest. If the weather is cool, it won't be so bad. What did you do for the holiday?

Sorry for the bad picture-my camera is still ailing!

Pretty in Purple

I finished my purple scarf this weekend.  I really like this color of yarn.  It has several colors in it and somehow that gives it a pretty cool sheen. I am looking forward to some cooler weather and then I can wear it instead of my body double. I have decided that my next knitting challenge will be cables.  They scare me, but I don't want to just keep knitting and purling.  Have you done cables?

Eating at Noshville

When the girls and I went to Nashville, we ate at Noshville. I believe it is a Jewish deli and they had pretty good food and a wide variety of choices. The food is BIG, so you can definitely split. It was packed the whole time we were there and Jen said it is always like that. I had a breakfast sandwich on homemade sourdough bread. Bacon, eggs and tomato piled high between two wonderful pieces of bread. Katy had chicken soup and Alli had a pretty hefty hamburger on sourdough as well. If in Nashville, you might try Noshville!

PJ Pants-Hot off the serger!

I had co-op today and usually I come home a little tired. I love teaching writing and seeing all the kids every other Thursday. My kids enjoy being with friends and I love the moms. We are like one big family. I came home today and washed all the water bottles and coffee cups and unloaded bags and the cooler, but I wasn't tired like I usually am after a long day at co-op. We had a special treat today. We had 2 very old cars for the kids to look at and ride in (we are learning about Henry Ford). Hopefully I can post a pic soon. Oh well, I decided to cut out Simplicity 2721 for my 12 year old. I haven't finished her pj shorts yet (she hasn't tried them on), but she now has a new pair of pj pants out of some cool vintage flannel I got from nanny. This is a really neat pattern. I have never sewn pants by placing one leg inside the other. Pretty cool trick. Here they are. She actually likes them. Have a great evening.