Yes I CAN!

I can. I can can the can! I'm canning at last. I'm so excited. Way back in April Michael ordered a pressure canner for me for my birthday. We were so excited about the garden and the abundance it was sure to provide that we thought we'd better get all 19th century on it and preserve those vittles.

Anyhow, the canner was back ordered forEVER. Finally, I was downtown at Colliers Hardware the other day (supporting my local business) when I saw their lovely canning selection. They had a 32 quart pressure canner for 1/2 the price of whatever website it was that we had ordered from.

Needless to say, I canceled that web order and ran right down and got my canner. Woopie! I read all sorts of canning guides and manuals for 24 hours and figured I was an expert. Well, not an expert ... but more prepared than I was.

I began rescuing the abundance of stone fruit that happened upon us in the last week. I canned some apricot halves and pitted about a million cherries from Sunsmile Farms and popped those babies in the mason jars. (Sterilized and pressure canned according to a recipe, of course!)

Today I'm venturing into pickle country. Apparently one cannot pressure can pickles successfully. So, I'm using my big-ass canner as a water bath canner today. Now the thing is, it takes a LONG time to bring a bathtub to boil. Seriously. I'm writing in this blog while waiting for that bad boy to boil. (Because everyone knows about that "watched pot"). Of course, after many previous disasters of boil overs with things like beans, I can tell you there are some problems with not watching a pot.

Anyhow, here is the recipe I am using (a hodge podge from other recipes I've found). I will find out in about 8 weeks whether or not this was a success. But since I had a big old pile of cukes from GRUB (our CSA) and this ginormous canner, I simply had to make some pickles!

This recipe fills 3 quart sized jars. (And I probably could have squeezed in one more pickle at least).

5 Big Old Pickles from CSA cut into spears
6 table spoons of sea salt (with no additives)
4 1/2 cups water
4 cups vinegar
Tons of fresh dill & flowers from garden
1 tsp whole mustard seed per jar
1/2 tsp celery seed per jar
1/2 tsp peppercorns per jar
1 garlic clove per jar

Soak cucumbers in ice water for 2 hours. Slice into spears and pop back into ice water while getting jars and water bath ready.

Combine salt, water and vinegar in big pot and bring to boil. Pack cucumber spears into hot jars (leaving 1/4" head space). Add dill, dill flowers, celery seed, peppercorns, mustard seed and garlic clove to each jar. Ladle boiling vinegar/salt solution over cucumbers. Remove air bubbles with plastic spatula. Adjust your two piece caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water canner.

So, tomorrow I will check the seals on the jars to make sure they vacuumed up properly and then find a cool place to store these ... and the cherries ... and the apricots ... then I will get more jars and begin to make jam from the plums and peaches I anticipate. Oh, and I have to rescue all those green and yellow bush beans I have in the garden ... I have big plans this summer. Michael's next big plan will be to build out a pantry so we can store all this stuff. If you are reading this, Michael, I would like to thank you in advance. You are my Mr. Greenjeans.

Seriously Summertime

I have actually been relishing summer vacation lately. I hope the kids have too. Since my boss has been out of town, work has been a little on the light side for me. So, I have made an attempt to leave the computer behind and jump on my bike and enjoy the great outdoors.

Our weather has been really beautiful. We haven't headed into the serious triple digit Chico heat yet. So, it's been especially nice to ride around town. Last Friday morning the kids and I rode our bikes down to the creek in Bidwell Park. There is an especially nice little swimming hole just up from the One Mile Area. I wish I had brought my camera. I packed a nice picnic and the kids and I parked our bikes next to the water. Immediately they jumped into the creek searching for pollywogs and fish. Much to their delight, there were tons. There was a half fallen tree hanging over the water that made a great structure. There were the delighted squeals of happy kids, trickling water in the creek, the buzz of insects and the croaking of a bull frog to play our background sounds. Lush vines covered the trees in the area and blackberry bushes lined the paths. Really, I wish I had thought to bring the camera!

Besides getting a picture of Rex lately is like trying to get a picture of Sean Penn back in the days he was dating Madonna.


After tiring of the water hole, the kids and I proceeded to bike downtown to the plaza where there is a water feature spraying up for all to enjoy. I bought them snow cones and watched them run through the fountain for a while. Then we headed back home.

On Saturday we took our annual trek up to Sunsmile Farms in Grass Valley. Our friends Mark and Suzanne go up there every year to help with the U-pick in cherry season. It's traditional for us to meet them up there and squeeze in a visit and pick lots of cherries for ourselves. Mmmmmm!



Here's Mark giving us the review in proper technique of picking a cherry so that the tree will be able to produce more fruit next year:


Here's Elizabeth and Valerie having a picnic under a tree at the farm:



Suzanne and I met in the trenches of video production. And here we meet again in the trenches of motherhood ... in front of a hydrangea at the farm:



I'm pretty sure I ate too much fruit. In addition to the cherries, I bought a box of blueberries/raspberries/black berries. That was finished before we even got into the car. And then we had to stop at the fruit stand on the way home to pick up strawberries and blackberries. There is nothing like fresh off the vine, super sweet berries. I ate more fruit on the way home. (I am not going to document the results of the vast fruit experience ...)

But another fun experience was the kids got to play in the pool at the farm. Here are Valerie, Amira and Elizabeth:


Here's Theo splashing in the shallow end:


Did I mention that we didn't bring our suits? So, the kids had a little underwear party at the pool:



Saturday evening the kids got to hang out with their favorite babysitter while Michael and I had a nice date downtown. (We even rode bikes again). We had a delightful dinner at Christian Michael's followed by a movie at the Pageant Theater. I love that place.

Sunday, of course, was Father's Day. The kids helped Michael clean out the garage and I mowed the lawn. He got to spend the afternoon playing games with his friends Matt & Eamonn. Then we took him to the Bear for dinner and finished off the evening with an Outlaws baseball game.

Those baseball games are a hoot! They play the Imperial March (Darth Vader theme music) when the umpires march onto the field. Then they announced that every time a certain player on the other team struck out that all drinks would be half price. I felt a little sorry for the guy on the other team ... because every time he got up to bat, you know everyone was cheering for a strike out a little harder than usual.

Of course while Michael and I watched the game, the kids roamed the park playing with other kids and getting their faces painted. Well, faces, arms, etc. There was also a clown making balloon animals, hats and swords for the kids. Love those Outlaws games!

Here's Amira with a Heart on her face:


Valerie got this cool alligator on her arm:


Once upon a time it was all butterflies and princesses ... now it's skulls and alligators for Valerie:


What a fun summer weekend! I have to remember to bring out that camera more often.

Lemonade Stand

Well, this week it officially feels like summer. For some reason, we weren't quite there yet last week. And I'm not talking about the weather. But I had the hangover from all the end of school tasks and schedule still looming over me last week.

Today the kids got up and had decided today was a lemonade stand day. Valerie's good friend, Ireland, actually has access to a pre-fab stand. So, since she was coming over anyway, she brought the storefront along.




Now, this wasn't just any old lemonade stand. First, let me say that our lemonade has real lemons and real sugar in it. None of that powdered stuff full of high fructose corn syrup. Next, the kids also decided to sell flowers. After Rex took down half of my hydrangea and headed for the roses, I stepped in to do a little snipping. The kids proudly displayed their blooms in water bottles, cannelloni cans and old pop bottles. It was actually quite attractive.

And last, but not least, they also decided to sell cookies. I thought they were actually going to bake the cookies, but the excitement of having the cut flowers, lemonade and stand took them out front right away.

Anyhow, I slaved away in the kitchen for a while so that their customers would have homemade frosted sugar cookies with sprinkles ... well, the people who showed up later when the lemonade ran out. Those first few suckers had to deal with store purchased sweets.

Those kids raked in $25 today. Can you believe it? I constantly saw cars driving up to the front of the house. And we don't live on a busy street. Valerie and Ireland stood down on the corner with a sign to lure people in. Smart kids.




I'll expect that visit from the Franchise Tax Board later this week!

Hey! I can ride a 2 Wheeler!

Well, Amira has probably been riding a "2 wheeler" for a good month or more. And because she is the third child, I didn't take the opportunity to record the date and mark the occasion the way I did with the first kid. Possibly the first two. Oh, there goes my mind again!

Anyhow, may I suggest to anyone who reads this blog who may have a kid learning to ride a bike, just skip the training wheels. It goes so much quicker and there is so much less anxiety. For Amira we lowered bike seat so she could touch the ground and removed the pedals from her bike. She had to "Flintstone" that thing around for ages. As she picked up speed, she began to balance on the bike without even realizing it. One day, Michael put the pedals on and Amira was off like a shot. It was pretty impressive.

Recently Valerie attended her first piano recital. Our neighbor, Terri Ogden, is her piano teacher. Rex's friend Porter also takes piano lessons. In the photo here you see Valerie playing a duet with Porter at the recital. It has been such a pleasure to listen to her play piano. And I am excited that she will also be picking up the violin again this fall as violin is part of the school day curriculum at her new school. I don't even have to beg Valerie to practice. She just sits at the piano and genuinely enjoys playing.




In other news, today marks the first day of summer vacation for the kids. I am so thrilled to not have to run around to scout meetings, volunteer in classrooms, drive on field trips and generally tour about the town on a daily basis. I have not signed the kids up for any camps either. I'm hoping we can all seriously relax and hang at home for a few weeks before taking up any more activities and projects.

Our lives have also taken on a simpler tone now that we have sent Boo Bunny on to another home. Gosh, we loved that bunny. But apparently she wasn't Turbo Fluff's type. We had some ferocious fur flinging fights around here and two depressed and jealous bunnies. Boo has gone to live with our friends Natalie & Esmerelda. I think they will all be so happy together.
Boo Bunny, we hardly knew ye.