What we did on everyone else's first day of school.
Often I take advantage of the quiet and go to a museum. Pretty much on the first day of school the museums are completely empty and we have one of them all to ourselves. I think we'll try to hit one later in the week and it will probably be just as empty. But today we stayed home.
You see, J. went to the farmer's market for me on Saturday and I had bags of beans in my refrigerator and half a bushel of peaches on my counter which were joining the cucumbers I had already bought and had been waiting a little longer. I was starting to have stress dreams about all this produce going bad so today was the day to do something about it.
I pressed many people into service and we got a lot done. Total for today: 7 pints of peach jam, 5 pints of dilly beans, and 3 quarts of bread and butter pickles. I still want to peel and slice some more of the peaches to put in the dehydrator. that may have to wait for tomorrow because my enthusiasm for the project is quickly waning. It does feel good to have it done.
I'm not done for the season, I still want more peaches to can slices and freeze for pie. Plus B.'s garden has done extremely well this year and we have more than a few cherry tomatoes. I found a really good looking recipe for canning cherry tomatoes and turning them into pickles. Then, in the middle of winter - the time of year you have forgotten what a good tomato tastes like - you take your pint of pickles tomatoes, add some olive oil, puree it with an immersion blender and you have an instant vinaigrette. Sounds good, huh? Now that B. is at school, I can collect enough ripe cherry tomatoes to try it.
When I was out running to the store this morning for more supplies I was reminded how different the world is during school. No one is around. Anywhere. It's always a little odd at first, but then we get used to it and wonder where in the world all these people came from when school lets out. Doesn't it seem a little weird to anyone else? I mean, not every single person in the city can be affected by the school schedules, can they? Or is the whole population just so conditioned by them that they change their schedules as well whether they need to or not? Anyway, we're still observing summer and since the whole week will be in the 90's, I think that's a very good thing. I should also clarify a bit. While we didn't start school today, (I make it a point to never start on the same day the public schools do... because I can) A. did work quite a bit at her school work. I think she thought it sounded more interesting than peeling, cutting, and slicing.
You see, J. went to the farmer's market for me on Saturday and I had bags of beans in my refrigerator and half a bushel of peaches on my counter which were joining the cucumbers I had already bought and had been waiting a little longer. I was starting to have stress dreams about all this produce going bad so today was the day to do something about it.
I pressed many people into service and we got a lot done. Total for today: 7 pints of peach jam, 5 pints of dilly beans, and 3 quarts of bread and butter pickles. I still want to peel and slice some more of the peaches to put in the dehydrator. that may have to wait for tomorrow because my enthusiasm for the project is quickly waning. It does feel good to have it done.
I'm not done for the season, I still want more peaches to can slices and freeze for pie. Plus B.'s garden has done extremely well this year and we have more than a few cherry tomatoes. I found a really good looking recipe for canning cherry tomatoes and turning them into pickles. Then, in the middle of winter - the time of year you have forgotten what a good tomato tastes like - you take your pint of pickles tomatoes, add some olive oil, puree it with an immersion blender and you have an instant vinaigrette. Sounds good, huh? Now that B. is at school, I can collect enough ripe cherry tomatoes to try it.
When I was out running to the store this morning for more supplies I was reminded how different the world is during school. No one is around. Anywhere. It's always a little odd at first, but then we get used to it and wonder where in the world all these people came from when school lets out. Doesn't it seem a little weird to anyone else? I mean, not every single person in the city can be affected by the school schedules, can they? Or is the whole population just so conditioned by them that they change their schedules as well whether they need to or not? Anyway, we're still observing summer and since the whole week will be in the 90's, I think that's a very good thing. I should also clarify a bit. While we didn't start school today, (I make it a point to never start on the same day the public schools do... because I can) A. did work quite a bit at her school work. I think she thought it sounded more interesting than peeling, cutting, and slicing.
Comments