Corn, applesauce, the fair and family!

We've hit a few milestones around here - on the day our eldest turned 11 we also consumed the very last jar of salsa and pickles from 2013.  I'm glad to report that we have already remedied the pickle situation with dozens of new jars on the shelf becoming more dill-infused by the day and that I made the very first batch of salsa on Kali's birthday to start working on replenishing our stores of that essential component to our yearly diet!  I'm also happy to report that as of this year we are no longer using any bought tomato products to make a home canned tomato product.  Our favorite salsa recipe calls for 1 c. ketsup and 1 c. tomato sauce.  So we are blending and cooking down our tomatoes to make something similar to tomato sauce/paste. I just slightly up the vinegar and salt in the recipe and am 100% pleased with the result.  Now if only the deer would stop tromping around in and eating the roma tomatoes, we might be able to make a lot more!

The days between my last post and this one have a whole lot in common - harvesting and eating and processing.  Repeat!  But there have been a few new fun experiments.  It can be easy for me to get into a food rut at this time of year. In the interest of efficiency in a very hectic season, I go with what I'm used to doing and find it difficult to take the extra time to be creative and try new things.  So I'm feeling pleased with three mini-experiments.  I tried drying sweet corn in our electric dryer for the first time.  I'm happy with the result - in terms of how it dried out uniformly and that it looks pretty in the jar on the shelf with the other dried things - but don't yet know if we will actually like to eat it.  That's pretty important!  Eating it plain feels almost like eating caramel, as it is bound to get stuck in the grooves of your teeth. So we'll see if we like it re-hydrated in soups this winter.  I dried a large tray of cherry and drying tomatoes in our solar dryer, using the back up light bulbs over night to finish them off.  It worked amazingly well, staying consistently at 120 degrees overnight.  Several hundred little tomatoes were reduced to less than a pint jar.  And, finally, the most delicious experiment was making grape spread (and one I regret not having tried years ago).  Rachelle and I made juice together the other week and I ran the remaining pulp/seeds through the victoria strainer.  I added a bit of honey, stirred, and served. It disappeared rapidly!

One of the things I've enjoyed recently is the times when we have been doing food processing tasks together.  Both Jason and I have been solo on some canning projects this year and while we both can do it I enjoy so much when we get to work as a team.  Our applesauce and corn freezing day was one such day where we worked at it together, along with having Jonathan and Rachelle join us for part of the day.  I also love having Alida as my side kick, who currently fills every pocket of silence with her chatter.  In addition to chattering constantly, she is actually getting quite good at a number of tasks.  Besides "knowing about tomatoes" as she framed it, she is also decent at husking corn, cranking the victorian strainer, putting noodles on the drying rack, and finding squash on the vines that I've missed.

We've plowed through a lot of produce this past week, as we've enjoyed various celebrations for Kali's birthday and a fun Benner family weekend in Keezletown (minus just a few members who were missed!).  Kali's birthday party requests have become much less complicated (she no longer is interested in blending two holidays for a themed party), but one thing remains consistent: a yearly trip to the Rockingham County Fair!  It was a gorgeous day Wednesday and we spent a good 7 or so hours milling about looking at animals, riding rides, and enjoying a picnic.  I get majorly overstimulated there and noted to Jason that I never notice people's faces because I'm so focused on getting to a particular destination without running into people.  He noted that he is always watching people's faces so is usually running into people.  So we concluded that once again we make a pretty good team and he should just walk behind me so that I can get us where we need to go without collisions and he can spot people we know that we might like to greet or talk with.

Kali rode a few new rides this year but still didn't do the one that drops you from up high, leaving your stomach at the top. Jason and I did it together and we both vocalized our sheer terror during those 2 seconds of free falling.  I wasn't sure if Alida was going to get her "money's worth" out of her armband after her first ride. We all joined her on a little caterpillar roller coaster.  As it went down the one and only small hill she said, "this doesn't feel good" and I was hoping that she would not lose the contents of her stomach as they took us on two more rounds.  She didn't but as we got off, she said, "that was not fun."  The ferris wheel and carousel got better reviews, but her all time favorite was a large slide.  On one of our many trips to the top, the guy working at the top putting our feed sacks on the slide and sending us on our way noted, "I wish I liked this ride as much as she does."

We left Kali behind with Emily, Jonas and Rachelle to ride a few more rides while we took off for a home with a tired, but surprisingly good spirited, 3 year old.  We had just pulled out of the lane for the fair when I looked back and saw that she was already completely sacked out - arm sprawled to the side of her seat and her head hung over with her mouth open.  Clearly she was tuckered out!!

Friday was Kali's actual birthday and the Tangly Woods crew joined us, along with two of Kali's closest friends, for pizza pockets and s'mores over the fire.  Another picturesque evening with scrumptious food - which tastes so good eaten outside.  Kali spent most of her birthday reading some new books she was gifted and not talking much, since she almost lost her voice due to her cold.  But it didn't seem to slow her down much or keep her from enjoying crossing into a new year of life.

The celebrating continued, welcoming most of the Benner clan to Keezletown for the remainder of the weekend.  There was plenty of fun to be had, but clearly the highlight of the time was taking in all the new skills and cuteness of the youngest family member (who as of today is older than Nora was when she died).  She's growing so fast and doing so well and is clearly thriving under the wonderful care and adoration of her parents.

So the weekend was my last hurrah before new student orientation week.  I better sign off now and use the rest of Alida's nap and the quiet in the house to turn my attention to the week ahead.  It may be awhile before I'm back in this space...