Applesauce Making Time

Hello!  Do you love applesauce?  I sure do, and so does my whole family.  We go through a lot of this stuff, but we don't enjoy the commercial store bought stuff.  SO.....we make our own.  Above is the second day of applesauce making.  First day we did 14 quarts and 12pints.   

Seems like a lot, but when our family can polish off a quart jar in one sitting (there are 6 of us) then we need lots.  

Below you can see one set of apples.  Six bags from the bulk bins at the store.  I had my son climbing along the box so that he could pass us the biggest apples he could find. :)  If you think that was strange, we weren't the only ones. hehehe

All in total, we did just under 100 lbs this year. How I dream of having our own apple trees some day. 

The first batch of applesauce we made with my parents who were visiting. She had one of those wonderful sieve machines and so it went so much faster.  We cut up the apples and removed the seeds, cooked them down and put them through the machine.  Our came wonderful smooth applesauce and we mixed in some cinnamon.  Yes, no sugar in ours.  The apples are sweet enough. 

Below is a picture of my Mom's machine.  It was from her parents and I love that it has history to it.
Now I have my husband looking for one for me for next year. :)  We made cranberry sauce with it earlier and it sure saved on the arms working the berries through a regular sieve.

Do you love applesauce?  How do you make yours?  Mine us usually lumpy but works great in pie, crisps, oatmeal and just eating.  Well, I think my family would eat it anyway it was served. :)

Thanks for dropping by!  Praying you have a great fall day!

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Homemade Pickles

Hello!  I just wanted to share some pics of pickles that I made this year.  I have never made these kind of canned pickles and am so excited to have learned this skill.  These are bread and butter pickles and I used some of my own cucumbers, and some of the little mini ones from the grocery store.  Perhaps one day I'll have enough of my own to really make a good batch of them, but for now store bought does well enough.  

We packed them in really tight, but they still seemed to float?  They all sealed so I hope they are ok.  I did put a jar in the fridge that was only about half full and we opened them a couple days ago and wow, are they good!  They looked really wrinkled and I thought perhaps they were mushy, but no!  They were nice and crunchy. :)  Yum!  

I have always been kinda wary of making pickles, thinking that it was so hard, but they were easy and now I have a few jars in the panty to enjoy over the winter time.  So if you've been putting off trying because you thought they'd be a challenge,  give it a go! 

Do you like pickles?  If so, what is your favourite kind?

Thanks for dropping by!  

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Laundry Today

Hello!  I'd just like to share with you a little sign that I bought from my local Farmer's Market.  It was from a lady who used reclaimed Yukon wood and hand stencilled the sayings on them.  I loved so many of her signs, but this one just stood out to me.  I love the saying and as we do need to do lots of laundry in our home, I thought it would make a great sign for the laundry area.

Many people complain about laundry, but I don't mind it at all.  I am thankful to have the laundry for it's a sign that I have been blessed with a wonderful family.  I enjoy making laundry soap (although my younger daughter made it for me last time).  Folding laundry is fun with lots of helping hands, and even searching for those "missing" socks. :)  I even don't mind ironing....but I don't do much of that.

I absolutely love hanging clothes out on the clothesline and watching them dry in the sun and breeze. They have such a wonderful smell when they are dried that way.  Since we don't like to air our undergarments out in "public" I have been blessed with a small pull out clothesline thing indoors.

Laundry is a wonderful way to serve our families and we need to learn to enjoy the simple things and not to see them as a burden.   It is a wonderful calling that women have in being keepers at home.  Joy in the simple things, and if you're able...many hand make light work.  No matter how small the children are they like to be included in this task.  I love training up my kids to care for themselves and others in this simple pleasure called laundry.

Thanks for dropping by! May the Lord bless you and your laundry room!

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So Much Yarn, So Little Time

Hello!  I have a couple sweet blankets to share with you.  I was given this fantastic bag from a dear friend.  I had to fill it with something.....so I picked out some yarn that I wanted to crochet with.  My Mom just came to visit and taught me how to make this stitch, so I was inspired to use it.

Here is the pattern I used that I learned from my Mom.  

Slanted Shell Crochet Stitch

Row 1: Chain (x 5's) to desired length

Row 2 Do a single crochet along the chain for a foundation row.

Row 3: *DC in the first 3 stitches, chain 2 and SC into the last DC space.  Skip the next two stitch spaces* and repeat all the way to the end of the row.  Chain 2 and turn.

Row 4: DC 2 in the first chain space, chain 2 and SC into the same space as the DC's.  Then DC 3 in the next chain 2 space (which looks like the hole between the last two stitches.)  chain 2, SC in the same chain 2 space.  Carry this on to the end of the row.  

Row 5- desired length: Repeat row 4 and as you chain 2 and turn to repeat it makes a nice scallop along the edges. 

I had enough yarn to make two blankets, so one with the slanted shell pattern, and one in a granny square pattern.  They'll be tucked away until they are ready to find a new home.  

Thanks for dropping by!  I pray you have a beautiful day!

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T-Shirt Quilt

Hello!  I have a quilt to share with you today.  It's made with re-purposed t-shirt material and a re-purposed flannel sheet.  My Mom brought some squares of old t-shirt material with her when she came to visit and we sewed them together.  Layered some polyester quilting batting and the flannel sheet (that was my Dad's) together and quilted them together in rows.  For the edging we took and cut a couple inch allowance around it and then folded the material over to the edge and then over again over the top of the quilt and sewed it in place.  A very simple and quick quilt....and with the material used, it's oh so soft and snuggly! I'm sure she'll enjoy using it!

                            

I love how you can make quilts out of all sorts of things and enjoy having some of the material that may have sentimental value repurposed into something useful.

Thanks for dropping by!  Do share if you have done projects like this and let me know what you think!

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Fall Cranberries

Hello!  I hope this finds you enjoying a wonderful fall day.  Well for those in the northern hemisphere. :)  Here in the Yukon it's full on fall, with the leaves all full of colour and being blown speedily from the trees.  This past week my parents came to visit and we all went out cranberry picking.  A favourite fall activity, but this time was the first time that my Mom and I have gone out together since I was still living in their home.  SO, it's been awhile.  The Lord gave us an absolutely amazing day to go picking (we actually went for two) and there was no rain!  We've rained almost every day all August.

Below are wonderful sweet cranberries and they were great for picking!

We all had a bucket and we ended up with lots of berries...and extra forest debris that got cleaned out later. :)  The younger boys played in the trees and made forts while us older ones picked.  Our dogs kept us up with the local gophers and other people and dogs coming to the area to pick also.

We needed to clean out the debris so we sat down on the deck and worked together to take out the pine needles and extra leaves and twigs.  Soon they were all bagged up (in extra large zippered bags) and set in a cooler to await cooking the next day.

We ended up making 45 jars of cranberry sauce of varying sizes (some pictured below)  Yum!  Mom took a bunch, and the rest were tucked into the pantry.

I learned a new way (well an old way) to can jam.  That is called the open kettle canning method.  So if the jam is cooked it can go into hot sterilized jars and there is no need for water bathing.  This only applies to certain fruit, cranberries being one of them.  Something that I'm still learning about, but this is the way my Mom has always done it, but I had forgotten...SO it's being written down in my homemaking book so I don't forget!

Thank you for dropping by!  I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy some of the bounty that God has created!

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