Canning Applesauce

On Tuesday, Jeff got a message from a friend with a home orchard asking if he'd like to come pick some apples. He came home with this.

So, we've been busy the last couple of days. Mostly, we're canning applesauce for use this winter. I'm not going to give a tutorial; there are already plenty available. We are making unsweetened applesauce and cooking down the apples, and then finishing them off by running them through our Vitamix to get a nice smooth applesauce.

We still have the two four-gallon tubs at this point and this is how much we've finished. This is sort of a motley collection of mismatched jars as most of our canning supplies already moved to Prineville. LOL

Today, Jeff saved the peels and cores so he could experiment with making apple jelly, for the first time ever. It worked great! I wish we'd figured it out sooner as all the peels and cores from the last two days just went out into the compost. Oh well. We'll make a jar of jelly from now on from the scraps.

For that recipe, he used Apple Jelly Canning Low Sugar from Rural Mom. We used water instead of apple juice and it still worked well.

Update later: Final tally was 37 jars of applesauce, and several jars of jelly.

Puttering Thru Summer

I had hoped to finish all my painting projects by the end of July, but the projects are going slower than I expected.

This week I've been painting the metal patio set. The primer is taking a lot longer to dry than the can says. Perhaps I'm putting on coats that are too thick, or it's too humid. It seems like I spend most of my time waiting for primer to dry. And I only have space to work on one piece at a time. I've finished the table and now I'm working on the chairs. I'd never done a project this large, so I didn't have a good idea about how much paint to buy. I've run through four cans and I need to get more. LOL

On a whim, I decided to paint the flowers with copper paint. I like it. It's fun.

Yesterday, I made another batch of canned peaches.

I've finished the front porch wicker and ended up buying cushions for them. I could have made them myself, but while I was shopping for fabric and foam, I realized it was cheaper to just buy these from Target. They work well enough for our needs and they'll likely last the two years we plan to use them.

The patio table has been finished, but we've decided to move the pieces to Prineville unassembled. It will fit in the back of the truck a lot more easily in pieces. We've gotten all the hardware/screws to assemble them again, and we'll bundle them all up so we can easily locate all the pieces to put it back together on the other end.

And we water plants daily. We have a lot of plants sitting around in pots and I'd like them to make it until September, when we plan to plant the hidden garden behind the garage.

Yes We Can!

One of my favorite parts of summer.

Keeping Busy

I've now finished sifting all the old file boxes. I still have a bunch of shredding left to do, but I now have a stack of 14 empty plastic file tubs. Woo hoo! I figure I'll shred stuff until my shredder dies, and then I'll bring the rest into a commercial shredder and pay to have the project finished.

I've already spent three days scanning old photographs. I had about five tubs of old family photos I wanted to digitize. I've mostly finished scanning the photos in two of them. I'm also planning to disassemble the majority of my old photo albums and scan those photos too then discard the albums. It's not like we ever look at them. Most of them never even got unpacked in our current house. I'll probably keep our wedding album, but most of the rest of them will be discarded. I have to admit, I'm rather enjoying this project. It's fun to remember so many old memories.

Our first pet as a married couple: a rabbit named Chacko.

Jeff cuddled up with our beloved dog named Lady. She was our
first border collie mix and she was adored by everyone who met her.

I've also started listing stuff for sale. It feels like I've been selling books for forever and we've probably downsized our book collection by more than 50%, but now I'm also looking around and doing the easy stuff. I realized I could list most of my cross stitch pattern books on Amazon, so I worked on that over the weekend. I had 57 cross stitch patterns; 25 of them were designed by Teresa Wentzler. Even if I spent the rest of my life doing cross stitch, I doubt I would have finished all those projects, so I've decided to keep three or four of them and get rid of the rest.

I wish I'd been more motivated to work on the Teresa Wentzler designs during my life because they really are beautiful projects, but they're just so damn time-consuming.  My current cross stitch project I started way back in the 90s and I pull it out occasionally and work on it almost full-time for a week or two until I get distracted and it's still only maybe halfway done. It looks like the last time I blogged about working on it was in July 2016. Here it is in its current state. I think I'll take it to Prineville for our next visit because we haven't yet turned on the internet so there's actually a slim chance I'll work on it there.

"The Storyteller" by Teresa Wentzler. Work in progress.

Our apple tree in the front yard is covered in apples. They've started falling on the ground and we really need to start using them. It would be a shame for them to go to waste because they really are quite good. So we're also trying to squeeze in time this week to make apple butter. It sounds like it's faster to make it in the Instant Pot, so we're going to try that.

I've been really impressed with how many apples this small Liberty apple tree has made.
If we can, we're going to buy the same variety for the new house.

Preserving Peaches

I was about to title this post canning peaches, but it has never made sense to me why it is called canning when we are using jars! Maybe we should call it jarring peaches?

Jeff and I went off on an unscheduled adventure with friends yesterday to Sauvie Island. Sauvie Island is where Portlanders go when they want to buy locally-grown fresh produce in bulk quantities. We came home with 40 pounds of peaches, 20 pounds of heirloom tomatoes, 25 pounds of red beets and a few other vegetables in smaller quantities.

Today, Jeff decided he wanted to start off the day by defrosting the freezer before we made a bunch of new containers to go into it. In the process, he rediscovered a bunch of food he wants to use right away. Let's just say I'm going to be happy about having pie and baked ham for the next several weeks. :D

We processed two batches of jars of sliced peaches, which was more than one box of fruit. I don't normally talk about how to can. With so many excellent websites out there, I don't see the point of adding my meager skills to the pack. But I will point out a website I frequently visit when I do set about doing some preserving, called PickYourOwn.org. It's a great resource for general recipes and photos about how to preserve food. I've been visiting the website for years, as I mostly learned these skills after I was an adult and my family lived too far away to teach me.

The other box, we've sliced and Jeff is making Peach Salsa again. We're big fans of Trader Joe's Spicy, Smoky Peach Salsa and we're trying to come up with a recipe we can make ourselves. Jeff found a recipe a couple years ago that was pretty close, but it was just a little too hot, so we're going to give it a try this year with a little less HOT. This year he is trying this recipe, mostly. (He never follows recipes exactly.)

Update: We tried the salsa with our dinner tonight and it's really good. I think we found our recipe. :D Jeff posted his version of the recipe at his food blog here.

We're going to do another batch of the salsa. It's really good and it will be nice to have it through the winter.

Non-House Update

OK, I've now heard from three folks asking what we're up to, so I guess I'll throw in an update. I did finish shellacking the closets and we moved in the next day. We also went out to storage and brought back what clothing boxes we could find so we could unpack and sift stuff. Our closets are not photogenic enough yet for photos.

Over the last couple of weeks, Jeff and I also preserved four 26-pound boxes of peaches. We ended up with at least 21 jars of sliced peaches, six pie fillings plus a number of containers of frozen peaches for making smoothies.

Jeff has been spending a lot of time with his friend Eric (who helped us build the fence and closets), helping him out on big projects. He helped repair a deck and demo a bathroom. This weekend, Jeff went off with Eric to a World War 2 reenactment. It sounds like he took a bunch of pictures so perhaps he'll do an update when he gets home.

I (in a moment of ?insanity) volunteered to be the newsletter editor for the Laurelhurst Neighborhood Association. My first issue is due in early-September, so I've been working on it. I decided I didn't want to use the software that came with the job, so I've been retyping it all into Publisher which takes time.

I've also been poking around my downloaded Oregonian pdf files looking for "clip art" that I could use in the Laurelhurst newsletter and I've been cleaning up the images using CorelDraw. I haven't really learned CorelDraw yet, so the project goes pretty slowly as I struggle with the learning curve.

I am deeply annoyed with our 2009 Toyota Highlander. We've had to call out the tow truck about four times since moving here and we've had to replace the starter battery twice. It is sitting in front of our house right now unwilling to move, giving all kinds of warnings, waiting for the damn tow truck again. I think it is time to figure out a reliable replacement. This stupid vehicle cost twice as much as any of our earlier vehicles and has been more than twice the trouble.

Stupid vehicle off to the repair shop

Mmmm...Peaches

We found a good deal on peaches so we stocked up—54 pounds!

They've taken a few days to get ripe, so we're spending part of today and tomorrow processing the fruit. Jeff is the foodie in this house, so he blogged about it over at his food blog.

I am NOT loving these reusable jar lids. The rubber seals seem to be just slightly larger than the plastic lid so when you screw on the metal twist ring, sometimes it catches on the rubber ring and pulls it off the jar rim and ruins the seal. You can already tell the jar on the left side of the picture didn't seal (fruit isn't at the top). Sigh. I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Losing a jar out of every batch is not going to be acceptable.

Anyway, our plan for this round is mostly to can peach slices, several pie fillings, a small amount of jam, and I think this year Jeff is going to try and make peach salsa. He's been buying peach salsa from Trader Joe's and we love it—we go through probably a jar a week—and we'd like to figure out how to make our own.

Fresh Apricots!

While in California I binged on fruit. We stopped by farm stands on the way from the SF Bay Area to Pioneer (where my Mom lives). My Mom made cherry jam. I made peach-strawberry jam. I'm looking forward to enjoying the three jars of jam I brought home.

Then, on our way home to Portland yesterday, we stopped and bought a flat of apricots from one of the farms along I-5. These apricots are delicious!

Today Jeff made apricot coffee cake and I started making apricot pie fillings (to freeze).

I was also planning to make a couple of batches of apricot jam, but I discovered our canning tools are still in storage. So, we need to make it to storage in the next day or two before this fruit goes bad.

Making Pear Butter

We found this recipe for Caramel Spice Pear Butter over a decade ago, and Jeff just loves it!

We found a good deal on pears at Grocery Outlet last week so today we're making a batch of pear butter because I'm pretty sure we've gone through everything we had in our pantry.

Here is the recipe for anyone else who might be interested; from Sunset Home Canning, 1993 edition:

Caramel Spice Pear Butter

Caramelized sugar and a trio of sweet spices lend this fragrant pear butter its distinctive flavor. It's perfect for cool-weather breakfasts; try it on hot toast or English muffins.

7½ pounds (about 15 large) firm-ripe Bartlett pears
2 cups water
6 cups sugar
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Core pears, but do not peel them. Slice pears and place in a heavy-bottomed 8- to 10-quart pan. Add water; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Then reduce heat to low, cover and cook until pears are tender when pierced (about 30 minutes). Let cool slightly, then whirl in a food processor, a portion at a time, until finely chopped. Return to pan.

Place 1½ cups of the sugar in a wide frying pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar carmelizes to a medium-brown syrup. Immediately pour syrup into a pan with chopped pears (syrup will sizzle and harden, but dissolve again as the mixture cooks). Stir in remaining 4½ cups sugar, cinnamon, cloves and ginger until well blended.

Bring mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, stirring often, until thickened (about 45 minutes); as mixture thickens, reduce heat and stir more often to prevent sticking. Stir in lemon juice just before removing from heat.

Ladle hot pear butter into hot, sterilized half-pint jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe rims and threads clean; top with hot lids, then firmly screw on bands. Process in boiling water canner for 5 minutes. Or omit processing and ladle into freezer jars or freezer containers, leaving ½-inch headspace; apply lids. Let stand for 12 to 24 hours at room temperature; freeze or refrigerate. Makes about 9 half-pints.

Storage time. Processed: Up to 1 year. Unprocessed: Up to 1 month in refrigerator; up to 1 year in freezer.

Per tablespoon: 45 calories, 0 g protein, 12 g carbohydrates, 0 g total fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium

It's a lot of work, but well worth it in Jeff's opinion. =)

We usually reduce the sugar; today we're trying 4 cups total. We've found jams and butters to be plenty sweet with sugar reduced by up to ½ the recipe calls for. I've also successfully tried substituting Splenda for sugar, but we're not doing that today. We have a lot of sugar on hand so I'm trying to reduce that oversupply.

Peaches Finished!

We finished canning the last of the peaches this morning. Final tally: 16 almost-quarts (ex-Classico pasta jars), 4 pints of jam and 4 pie fillings. We're pretty proud of ourselves because we had never before canned sliced peaches before this year. And we were getting pretty efficient by the end.

More Peaches!

We bought 34 pounds of peaches earlier in the week and today the fruit was finally ripe enough to can. We put up four pie fillings, one batch of jam, and a large batch of peach slices in jars. We should have finished them all, but we actually only managed to finish one full box and part of the other. Tomorrow morning we'll have to finish up canning the rest of the fruit before it spoils.

I have been poring over so many home repair and bungalow books lately that my brain has gotten quite tired of focusing on the house. I actually picked up a "brain candy" book today I brought from my grandmother's house and read it. It was sort of an odd love story, but it was fairly entertaining and a quick read and now it will move along on its way (out of our house).

Jeff got a new toy in the mail today! (I thought I had ordered green, but it came and it's sort of a turquoise color. Oh well.)

I'm still trying to plot my plan for curtains and shower curtain in our upstairs master bathroom. I think I figured out what I want to do and have started sketching it and drawing out pattern pieces. Pictures may follow tomorrow, if I have a chance to get started.

Though, we may have to spend the afternoon painting. We still have a bit of fence to paint and it's possible it won't be raining, so that probably needs to be a priority. Sigh. (I'd rather sew!)

Yes We Canned!

We have been canning and baking up a storm this weekend. We found a good deal on local apricots so we ended up buying 2 full boxes (about 30 pounds worth). We actually would have bought more, but the store realized they were undercharging for the fruit and raised the price right after us.
We finished up the last of the peaches in a batch of apricot-peach-blueberry jam. That batch was a really pretty color.

Jeff also baked up one the six apricot pie fillings with the addition of a handful of blueberries and this morning he made jam cookies. We are eating good food this weekend! Yum.

We're thinking about going Monday morning and doing some U-Pick to get some more peaches. We'd really like to try doing more canning of fruit slices.

Canning Today

Jeff brought back a big tub of peaches with him from Redwood City. They are off the tree in the backyard at Upton. Even though I didn't particularly feel like canning today, with fruit you use it or you lose it. So, canning we are. =)

This is the first time we've tried canning peach slices. We only had 4 pint jars of peaches that were "perfect" enough. The rest of the peaches are being made into jam and coffee cake. Jeff is still working on the coffee cake, so there's no pictures yet.

I ended up doing three batches of jam, and unfortunately, I lost a jar in the hot water bath, probably because there wasn't a metal tray in the bottom of the pot and the jar was right above the flame. Oh well. My tray went AWOL a couple moves ago.

Peach Jam!

Tonight, after the temperature cooled off, we decided to do some canning. The peach tree in the backyard is pretty full and the peaches are starting to fall on the ground. We managed to do two batches before we got tired of processing fruit and stirring the pot. We still have to do another couple of batches, but not tonight, we're too tired.

Apple has finally discontinued dinners at work, so Jeff should be home for dinner much more often. That will definitely improve the nutritional content of my dinners! Tonight we had a barley dish experiment; it was pretty good.

On another topic, we're pretty disappointed with our friend who was going to buy our Ford Ranger pickup. We had promised to sell our pickup to her when we were planning to travel for a year and when that plan changed we wanted to back out of the deal, but I couldn't make myself do it. We even called her last month to double-check that, yes, she still wanted the truck and was planning to come pick it up in August. So, we went ahead and bought the Toyota. Well, we finally call her yesterday because we haven't heard from her and she says she doesn't want it anymore! Grrr. So, now I guess we need to figure out what to do.

This morning we dropped the Ranger off at the auto shop. It needed its air conditioning recharged and a few other minor items worked on. If we do end up selling it to a stranger, it will likely fetch more dollars if the A/C is in working order. Though, we're actually considering selling our Honda Civic Hybrid instead. Jeff mostly commutes on CalTrain and I'm not commuting either, so the car just sits there. Though, I am concerned about if I get a job that's a bit of a drive... But we really don't need three cars. I guess we'll figure out what to do in a few weeks.

Fruit Season!

We're having a really productive day today. Jeff went and picked the rest of the plums off the tree in the backyard (about two lunch size ice chests) and we have the flat of apricots he bought at farmers market yesterday. We decided that today would be a good day to get through the fruit.


Yesterday, we grabbed the last of the packed canning jars out of storage and got the last of the cabinet in the garage unpacked. I had expected we would need to sell some, but they all fit. I think we're set for jars, at least until we start canning fruit slices. We mostly can jams, butters and syrups. We tend to just buy canned fruit, probably because we've never had a cheap and plentiful source of fruit (excluding blueberries, that I only like in very small quantities).

We mixed up four apricot pie fillings and put them in the freezer. Plus, Jeff is going to make up a pie this afternoon for us to enjoy this week, as a reward.

We've also worked through two batches of jam. One batch was just plum and the other we did about half plum and half apricot. That batch actually cooked much faster and looks better (less foamy), so I think that's what we'll do for the rest of the batches.

We're taking a well-deserved break for a couple of hours this afternoon and then we'll resume our canning efforts. We'll probably do another two batches today, and if there is anything left, I'll do some more tomorrow.

We've also got two small peach trees in the backyard, and they're starting to look close to being ripe. Maybe we'll have a batch of peaches for next weekend.

This morning, the last of our furniture sold on craigslist. Now we're mostly down to the vintage old stuff left from my grandmother and my Dad's stuff. I'm still trying to decide between having another garage sale and just donating it all. I guess we'll see.

Update later in the day. Jeff's Pie: