of course my tomatoes were ready to be processed on the hottest day of the week. of course i had to go pick apples to can apple pie filling this week. ugh. the kids and i enjoyed a wonderful morning of picking and picknicking followed by a sweltering afternoon of canning and baking. not the best plan ever, but the fruits of our labors were well worth the effort!
we’ve had some strangely-cool weather, which has put an abrupt end to the feeling of summer. thanfully, we’ve found solace in the kitchen. it’s so hard to justify cooking and adding more heat to the house in hot weather, and we’ve really missed baking! back in the kitchen now, there has been an explosion of cooking, baking, and a little canning.
salsa with fresh tomatoes and onions from our garden.
sweet rolls and cinnamon raisin bread. (and not pictured: cinnamon buns with walnuts, rye/spelt dinner rolls and plain bread)
baked beans with some Duclose-Thompson bacon on top. i like the flavor it adds, and cris likes the actual bacon.
oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with walnuts. every now and then i like to mix the cookie dough by hand. it’s such a quiet and meditative act to just sit down and stir.
and finally, for dinner tonight: a baked chicken that we raised, fresh-dug baked potatoes from the garden, homemade stuffing from my leftover bread, a maple-oatmeal pie (cris’s favorite), and fresh corn from the garden. mmm…
a day at the fair:
the kids loved the corn-boxes!
what is there to say? the kids had fun. cris and i had fun. we saw lots of old friends. had maple ice cream and maple cotton candy. cooled down with rainbow ice from the same husband and wife that was serving it 20 years ago when i was a kid. enjoyed the kids enjoying the rides. and we all slept really well when we got home!