Last canning of the season

     To finish off the last of the jalapeños that my parents grew I made some pepper jelly. I made two different batches. One was all green bell peppers and jalapeños and the second had red bell peppers and a jalapeño or two that had turned red.
     The first batch was runny so I ended up having to fix it, but the second batch turned out great.  

      This was the first batch that I fixed up. It is perfect now!

     This was the second batch that turned out just right the first time!

     I've never actually had pepper jelly so I had my family try it and they said it tastes good/just ad it should. I was glad to hear it turned out right for a first try. 

     The recipe was in the booklet that came with my FreshTech jam&jelly maker. It is also online at:  http://www.freshpreserving.com/pepper-jelly-%7C-pepper-jelly-recipe---ball-fresh-preserving-br1308.html

    I'll have a new post soon about our trip to the pumpkin patch. We're carving tomorrow, so it'll probably be Thursday or Friday.

Officially diagnosed

     My youngest finally got in for his tests back at the end of September to see if/where he is on the spectrum. He was diagnosed with a moderate level of autism, but with a prognosis that improvement is likely with therapy.

     I expected to be emotional after the appointment. I just didn't know if it would be hopeful or sorrow. It wasn't a surprise that he is, in fact, on the spectrum. My biggest fear was that he'd always be nonverbal and I'd never get to hear him say "Mommy I love you!" This appointment gave our family both a plan and hope.

     Right now the plan is to get an EEG, a hearing test, a vision test, and to start dental visits. The dentist isn't part of his therapy it's just time. They recommended a genetic test as well. We are going to see about getting him into speech therapy and possibly an eating group to improve the range of foods he will eat. 

     He's been thriving at school. Sleeping better. Not necessarily eating better, but eating more. He does seem willing to try more new foods. Recently he ate ground beef, an apple with the peel on, and a pear. He actually points at something when he wants it, where he used to excitedly wave his arms in the items direction. He also seems to be making more purposeful sounds as opposed to just noise. Like he is trying to say actual words instead of just monotone sounds. He has even started giving hugs and kisses!

     For now we just get him all the help he needs and hopefully before long I'll finally get to hear his voice. Hopefully he'll finally be able to get out of his own head and tell us what he's feeling, what's he's thinking, what makes him happy, what makes him sad. 

     Hope. It's what we needed, and it's what we have. Even if it's all we have for now. We will get through this together.

CordaRoy's corduroy beanbag chair-full sleeper

     My husband recently started the program for his master's degree, and he set his computer up on a low table in our bedroom. He can close the door and get work done, but sitting on the floor was uncomfortable to say the least. He knew he was going to have to go the beanbag route because a chair would be too high. We checked out tons of brands over several weeks when I came across the one we ultimately chose.
     I read lots of reviews talking about how the company really stands by its product and if the beanbag isn't fluffy to your standards they send more fluff, free of charge. So few companies do this, so I knew we had a winner.
     There are so many great positives to this chair. The best being the inside is actually a full size sleeper. The whole thing is machine washable  (though I'm not sure how you'd fit the inside inside a standard washing machine.) There are a few different sizes and fabrics for the cover. Lots of colors and patterns to choose from. There is something for everybody.

      Comes packed in a surprisingly compact box considering how big this thing gets. Around 20"x20" and fluffs up to over 40" wide.

     Some details about what is covered under warranty should an issue arise. We chose the corduroy to help prevent certain issues. We have a cat who scratches everything but his scratching posts.

      This was before it reached full fluffiness, but it is obviously still pretty large.

     This was the cat I mentioned earlier. So far no scratching *fingers crossed*

     Couldn't get the whole measurement in the picture because it was just too big. 

     So far the beanbag chair is working pretty well. He can sit and be supported while doing stuff for school. All of the kids and animals love it, so I'd say it's a win/win! Definitely recommend this chair to anybody who is looking.

Compost tumbler and canning jars!

     I've had a certain compost tumbler on my amazon wish list for at least 6 months and the reviews were great, but the price was hoverify between $90-$100. I checked my list and it was on sale for $67 and some change. I hopped on that right away and I'm super excited. The instructions weren't great, but luckily it was pretty easy to figure out with the help of a YouTube video I searched for. It is the yimby brand and I've already put egg shells, coffee grounds, apple peels and cores, a paper egg carton, and a whole bunch of other stuff in it.

     In addition to the sale on the tumbler ball jars were also on sale (on amazon as well.) I got 12 half pint, 12 pints, and 12 quart for around $26. If I'd been thinking I would have used my gift card and gotten $5 off. 

     I bought some more Jonathan apples and turned the caramel apple jam I made before into a recipe for pie filling. It looks good and I'll get to see how it turned out later this fall.

Lots more canning to finish off the summer

                               From this:

To this: 

In just about 4 hours. 

     First I cut an "x" into the bottom of each tomato and put them one at a time into boiling water. After about a minute to a minute and a half I moved them into an ice bath. I peeled them and then cored them with my handy dandy tomato corer (made it much faster!) I cut them into quarters and pureed them in my ninja blender. 

   

    I moved them to my big old stock pot, added my ball pasta sauce spice mix, and brought it to a boil. I reduced the temp to a simmer on medium in order to reduce the liquid. I'm not sure exactly how long I ended up on the stove for, but it was at least an hour. 

    I them put them into warm quart jars and processed them for 65 minutes in my electric water bath canner. I feel like the sauce could/should have been reduced a little more (probably at least another 30 minutes) but overall I'm satisfied. I can doctor it up a little bit when I actually cook dinner with it. Maybe add a little tomato paste and a bit more spices.

     Back in June I made some pickles and they were a big hit, so I wanted to get a whole bunch more made for the winter. I made 4 pint jars of bread and butter pickles and over 20 quarts of dill pickles. Most if them were slices but I made some spears as well.

     A couple of weekends ago I went to the local pick your own place and picked 20 pounds of Jonathan apples. It was way more than I intended to get, but I quickly had 3 ways to use them all up. I decided to make caramel apple jam: http://www.alattewithotta.com/2013/09/carmel-apple-jam-in-ball-freshtech-jam.html?m=1

Applesauce: http://www.freshpreserving.com/applesauce-recipe-%7C-how-to-make-applesauce---ball-fresh-preserving-br1126.html

And Apple butter: http://kristagilbert.com/amish-crock-pot-apple-butter/
     With the apple butter I ended up having to reduce the liquid in the oven at 250-300 for about an hour. Next time I will just remove some liquid before pureeing the apples. I also altered the caramel apple jam recipe by prepping the apples in lemon juice and water before hand and adding 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the actual recipe as it was cooking.

     I am going back to pick some Granny Smith apples in October. I'll be using them to make apple pie filling, but canning season is winding down for now. I've made a lot of new recipes this summer and the results have been pretty good so far!

More fruit picking, canning, and a vacation!

     Since my last post I've gone blackberry picking twice and once to pick peaches. The blackberries were a bit bitter, but perfect for cooking with. I made jam, pie filling, fruit snacks, and then froze the rest. I picked way too many peaches (25.5 lbs!) so I made a lot of food. I made peach salsa, peach jam, fruit snacks, pie filling, and peach cobbler.
      Back in May and June I made sweet pickles, dill pickles, and bread and butter pickles. I let them pickle until vacation so they'd taste the best they could. Everybody kept telling me how good they were, so I guess I did an ok job. I accidentally switched the labels for the dill and bread and butter, so that led to me trying b&b pickles for the first time. They were actually pretty good!
      Speaking of vacation, we had so much fun! We went to Branson and stayed in the best lodge. It was so nice to spend a whole week with my whole family without the hubby having to go to work. We spent a lot more time at Silver Dollar City than White Water because it rained and was a bit cool for a water park.
      We got a ton of taffy in a bunch of different flavors and kettle corn. My oldest rode two bigger rides that he refused to go near only two years ago. Granted he said he'll never ride them again, but he still got on and rode! The youngest rode a few kiddie rides, but he loved water the most.
      Every year we go to Branson we pick out a hand-blown glass ornament from the glass shop at SDC and this year I got a pretty orange one that looks like it has flames. We already have next year booked, so I can't wait to pick out the next ome!

It has been crazy lately!

     My youngest got sick last week, so I haven't had time to write recently. He was so bad he ended up in the ER on IV fluids. He is doing worlds better now, but we have to fix his sleep schedule again.
     We bought him a hammock swing because it seems to sooth him so much. When he is actually ready for bed he falls asleep within 10 minutes or so. It is by far the best investment we could have made. Granted it wasn't even $50, including the mounting hardware.
     Here in a little bit we are getting him a new bed. Right now he will only sleep in his "pack and play." We found a bed at IKEA that I think will help him move away from that. It has stairs and you can put a tent/canopy over it. He loves his older brother's bed because of the stairs, but this bed is much lower so I'll feel safer.
     I have a new post coming up in the next couple of days about my first adventure with making sweet pickles. They are complete, I'm just waiting for them to sit for a bit before opening. I'm making dill and bread and butter pickles now that I've got my new electric water bath canner! That way I can process more at one time without water getting everywhere.
     More to come soon, I hope anybody reading is having a blessed day!