Summer Lovin'

The girls LOVE the beach!

Suburbia

I don't think that our town qualifies as a suburb, exactly, since we don't live remotely close to any major urban area. However, suburbia was what I thought of when I...wait for it...borrowed two eggs from the neighbor across the street.

Friends, this is not something I would normally do. In fact, it took me about 10 minutes of debating (with myself) to work up the nerve to go ask. Factors to consider included: 1) I had already put the butter and sugar in the bowl, 2) The grocery store is about 10 minutes away, 3) I've already been to the grocery store today (grrrr), 3) I am on a strict time schedule getting ready for the big vaca, and 5) I instensly dislike borrowing things. I don't know why. I don't mind lending things to people at all. Number 5 is what held me back for 10 minutes...it almost trumped Nos 1-4. I tell you, it's a sickness.

Now, my gal Rhonda would be all over this egg situation. It would've taken her two seconds to deal with it -- she would've looked in the fridge, realized she had no eggs, and gone next door without thinking twice. Rhonda DOES live in a suburb, by the way. But she also just has the right personality for this type of situation. In the future, I am going to stop and say to myself WWRD...What Would Rhonda Do?

Adventures in Canning, continued

I thought that you all might want to know that homemade strawberry jam is better than most candy. Yum! Last summer, the girls and I made freezer jam and that was mighty tasty. This summer, I decided to go the more traditional canning route (water bath) for my jam so my freezer won't be overrun by jars. So I wasn't sure if it would be as fabulous this time (different recipe). FYI -- it's just as fabulous! Could it be the SEVEN cups of sugar in the recipe?

Still on my list of things to can this summer ... tomatoes (sauce, crushed, diced, paste) ... peaches ... applesauce. I need to get my hands on an apple corer/peeler because, after my "how bad could it be" cherry pitting experience, I am not going to try to core and peel a million pounds of apples by hand if I can avoid it.

Canning and a virus

Luckily, the two are not necessarily related. Our computer has a virus...but I've outsmarted it for now. I figured out a way to open our programs. However, I think I better get it fixed ASAP. Pain in the arse, I tell you.

Canning. Oh how I love thee. It makes me feel 1) nerdy and 2) accomplished. Funny, huh? In hindsight, I think I should have picked easier things to start with, but I was trying to be "in season." So I started with pickled asparagus. According to Andre and Olivia, the first batch is good stuff, but could be spiced up. I made a second batch and tried a different method and added more jalapenos, so we'll see how it turns out. They haven't gotten to it yet. Pickled asparagus is actually a pain, as I discovered. Making sure all the spears are the rigth length, cooking them just enough but not too much and then packing them into the jars got a little old, I'll admit. I am done with asparagus for the year.

So cherries. That was my project for today. I forgot about the invention known as a cherry pitter. I remembered it right as I was getting ready to start slicing and pitting the cherries by hand. I thought, "how bad could it be?"

Friends, if you ever want to can cherries, buy a pitter.