Hanging Out

Other than learning how to sit up, crawl, pull up, and get into everything this summer, Avery has just been hanging out.

With stickers on her head...

In the pool...

In the tub...

In empty diaper boxes...

On the stairs...

And with her sister!

Baking on Tree Farm Road

I picked a bunch of blueberries from the bushes in the yard a few weeks ago. I wanted to bake something with them, so I found a recipe online for blueberry buckle. I had never had it before, but it sounded great!

It was similar to coffee cake and had a cinnamon butter crumble topping. Doesn't it look good!

It tasted good, too!

The Canning Experience

The pears have started to fall off the trees at the house. They make such a mess, and if you leave them on the ground, you end up with a rotten stinking mess and a yard full of yellow jackets! So, I decided that I would try my hand at canning and make a batch of pear butter. If you asked me five years ago if I ever wanted to try canning, I would have laughed. It's just something that I never thought I would do. It was a lot of hard work, but I actually really enjoyed it. And, as a bonus, the pear butter is delicious!

I had to buy a little canning kit and some jars. The canning kit was inexpensive, about $7. I bought pint jars so I could just use my large boiler for the water bath and not have to purchase a canner (extremely large pot that I have no place to store).

While Sydney was still asleep Saturday morning, Avery and I picked a laundry basket full of pears. Well, I picked. She watched and squealed because she loves being outside.

Then, I had to peel all those pears and cut them up into chunks. I don't think my hands have ever been that tired. Feet either, for that matter. I stood up the whole time, and I really wanted a stool. When I got finished, I was left with a sink full of mess to clean up and...

Two big pots of pear chunks!

I cooked the pears until they were soft and squishy.

Then, I drained the excess liquid and pureed them in the blender.

That made one LARGE bowl of pearsauce!

After I added the spices and other ingredients (allspice, ground cloves, nutmeg, orange zest, orange juice, and sugar), I put it back on the stove to cook down. As it cooks, the liquid evaporates, and it gets thicker.

I didn't know how much of a mess this was going to make, but it smelled so good. The whole house smelled like Christmas!

While the pear butter was cooking, I boiled the lids for the jars. I had already washed the jars earlier in the day.

After it had cooked down to the consistency I wanted, I used my nifty little canning utensil set to fill the jars. I am so glad I had that funnel! I wiped off the rims of the jars and put the lids and rings on.

Then, it was time for the water bath. The boiling water and pot full of glass jars scared me a little!

After 10 minutes in the canning hot tub, I removed the jars and put them on a towel to cool. I was so afraid that the jars wouldn't seal after all of my hard work. I just can't explain the joy I felt when I heard those lids start popping as they sealed!

And here is the finished product... 12 pints of delicious pear butter... canned, sealed, and cooled!

Yay me! I had some in my oatmeal this morning, and it was really good.

What an experience!