Canning Adventures

Canning is hard work but with a great team and incredible ingredients it is totally worth it.

Tomato sauce was saturday. 30 lbs of tomatoes (aka 1 lug) blanched, peeled, hand seeded, and diced. Plus onion, garlic, oregano, basil, and green pepper. The best part is that the tomatoes, basil and peppers all came from a neighbors garden. About 4 hours of hand work and 10 hours of simmering produced 11 pints of sauce.



Sunday was peach canning day. One full bushel (plus a bag full) of peaches were blanched, peeled, cored, and jarred for winter bliss. Home made canned peaches are WAY better than store bought because they have less sugar, no preservatives, and actually still taste like summer.



Here is me pouring a batch of blanched peaches into a sink full of ice water where the peeling fun took place.



This was the jarring team. The jars go into a metal rack and get submerged into boiling water where they simmer for 30 minutes. It is a tricky balance of temperatures and time.



Finally after 7 hours of fun with 5 people in the kitchen at all times doing things we ended up with 27 quarts of jarred peaches. Not all of them are mine of course but I definitely have plenty to feed anyone a taste of summer in the dead of winter.

Green Fence

At the peak of the summer my green fence creates some much needed privacy. Thanks to Maryanne, expert gardener from Massachusetts, everything has filled in nicely.

New Rug

The living room is really coming together now that I rescued this huge rug from my parents basement. It is a perfect combo of greens, blues, reds, and purples to pull my multicolored house together.





You might also notice the crazy entertainment center over the mantel. I don't think I have posted about my new flat screen yet :) All are welcome for movie night any time.

Garden Produces

The tomatoes have taken over! Purple, yellow, and red tomatoes. Bruschetta, gazpacho, tomato sauce, salads, salsa, etc, etc, etc. Oh how I love the summer!

Crate Myrtle

My Crate Myrtles are late bloomers but when they break open it is quite a beautiful pink scene out my front door.



The boxwoods are also coming along nicely. They made the transition across the walkway and didn't suffer to much shock.

Bedroom Decorations

Jessie and Meghan (my cousins) helped me put up some bedroom decorations this weekend.



The tapestries and sari are from India. The Sari I bought on my first trip with my family. The tapestries are a specific handicraft from the state of Orissa (where my soon to be brother in law was born and raised) which I bought with Martha is past January in Hyderabad.

Increasing Functionality

The rather large new "master" bath created last year during the complete redo is an awkward "L" shape. Thus making this space functional has been a challenge. Just this last weekend I finally committed to an organizational plan because I finally found the perfect cabinet. On top of slightly bizarre general measurements, this cabinet had at least 6 other very specific requirements and Crate and Barrel came through for me! I'm so happy to now have a very functional bathroom that even has storage!





I also found some sleek shelves to put all of my bathroom stuff on so that my small sink counter top can stay clean! And yes, I can actually reach all of these shelves :)