Enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor

We have been busy canning these last few weeks. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to can any of our own vegetables or fruit because we had very little grow this year. The weather just didn't cooperate. So, we went to the orchards and the farmers markets to get what we needed. Because of the cost we ended up canning just a few things. At the end we had applesauce, green beans, pickles, and blackberry and raspberry jam. Cerah did manage to coax two pie pumpkins to maturity so we pureed and froze the meat from those and will be making pumpkin bread with it over the holidays.

Applesauce:

First, we had to cut, core, and then peel all the apples. Cerah did the coring, I cut and then peeled, and Hannah helped peel.

Once it was all cooked Cerah had to mash them up so they didn't have big chunks in them.

Next we put them in the jars

And they were done. They just had to sit for two weeks before we could start opening them.

Rob made the pickles. I didn't because I don't like dill pickles and that's what everyone else wanted this year.

I did do the green beans though. I love fresh picked green beans. There is nothing in the store that compares to them.

 Finished products:

Applesauce

Dill pickles

and green beans.



Somehow I have lost the pictures of my jam. I took pictures of the girls making it and of the finished product but I can't seem to find the pictures anywhere. So you'll just have to trust me when I say they look (and taste) really good.

Here's a picture of Cerah's two pumpkins that made it:

I wasn't home when she prepared them so I don't have any pictures of that either.

Next year we are hoping for a better yield from our own garden. Growing it is just as fun as harvesting but not quite as fun as eating!



Time For The Fair

We went to the Michigan State Fair yesterday. It has been six years since we have been to a state fair so this was a big deal for us. We used to go every year but, unfortunately, the Michigan State Fair has been shut down the last several years due to budget concerns. This year it was able to open again and we had to go. We had a lot of fun and we can't wait for the next one.

 There were plenty of animals

 Just kidding!

We watched the Shriners Circus

 It was actually under the big top.

We ate yummy fair food

And waited for rides.

Some of us didn't mind the wait

 as much as others

 There were some much needed breaks along the way

And a few sibling arguments

until they figured out Dad had the camera

Mostly though, there were lots and lots of smiles!



Detroit Autorama

We went to Autorama yesterday in Detroit. 



There were so many people there it was hard to walk around.  

Then there were the cars.  Some looked like they wanted to eat you

Others made us hungry

Picnic anyone?

This poor guy must think I'm serious....he looks awfully worried

I think we should fill this one up with water and make it a hot tub

 There was even a car or two for the kids

Some were ready to make music

How bout a little Motown?

We found some one of a kind cars

and some shiny cars

 Then it was time to head downstairs where the best cars were.  These are the daily drivers, and the ones not quite show ready. Kinda like the weird cousin you keep hidden in the basement.

I like the Jetson look of this one

We saw lots of cars with really cool paint jobs

and some old motorcycles

Moonshine for the picnic anyone?

And this one?  I'm not really sure why anyone would need this kind of storage, or why you would advertise it if you did but we like quirky so it made our picture list.



My story about Saturday

Saturday we took the kids to the Detroit Institute of Art to see the special "Faces of Jesus" exhibit by Rembrandt they have open right now.

 

At first we were all excited to be there.  We started out by looking at some of the other exhibits they had while we were waiting for our tour time.



Finally, it was time to go see Rembrandt's pictures of Jesus.  Right in the middle of the tour I became quite ill and we ended up having to leave it.  We thought that maybe I was just hungry so we headed back to the car to eat our lunch that we had brought with us.

I was feeling better after lunch so we headed back inside to explore the rest of the building.

We were all happy again and saw some paintings from different artists.

Right in the middle of our exploring I became violently ill again and had to keep running to the bathroom.  Luckily, there was no waiting in line or they would have had a new, unwanted exhibit.  The kids were good sports about it though.

So we just went home.

The end.