Thursday, July 22, 2010

This Week

Brayden has been at camp since Sunday afternoon. Bright and early tomorrow morning I will be driving to get him and I can't wait! I know I should be used to him being gone since he goes to his dad's all the time but it sure is different when we can't call and talk to him. We sent him letters yesterday and then a friend that was at that same camp the week before laughed and told me that for the campers to get their mail, they have to get up in front of everyone and sing a song or tell a joke. I know he will either tell them he doesn't want it or tell his all time favorite joke.

"Have you seen the movie Constipated?" And when you say no, he will say,"It hasn't come out yet. It has a really thick plot."

I am curious to know what his response will be! I hope he has had a great time and can't wait to hear all his fun stories. I loved going to Bible camp when I was young. So many great friends and great memories!

The last few days I have been blogging, but I have started another blog in addition to this one. When I was in high school, my grandpa sat down with paper and pencil and wrote about his life starting from birth. I started typing it out YEARS ago but didn't get very far. When I divorced I didn't have a computer anymore and everything that I had spent hours typing out went with the computer. No, I had not saved it. I know, stupid. So I decided this time that I could blog it and I don't have to worry about it getting lost. Family can read it as I go instead of waiting until it is all typed out so I could print copies. It has some very interesting information in it. And it is one of those things that may only be interesting to me because it is my grandpa. But I can sit and read this and can hear his voice telling it! You all are welcome to read it, but like I said, may be boring to others. But if you like history, you may like it.

This leads me to some questions....there are things and places in my grandpa's story that I have had to google because I have no idea what he was talking about. So I thought I could link back to the articles that I find so others can understand too. But I guess since I haven't been blogging much lately, blogger has changed some things? When I highlight the word to add a link all this garbage pops up in the middle of my sentences. So I just gave up. Is this the new way of doing things? It looks like the stuff when you change the background settings and stuff. Does anyone know what I am talking about? Please help me! I would really like to go back and add this to my grandpas story. And seeing how I can't figure out how to add a link anymore, if you would like to read this other blog I guess you will have to go to my info and find it yourself. Sorry! Thanks for any help! I am going to try to add it here and see if it works:

My Grandpa's Story


Sara

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Peppers, Peppers and More Peppers!

I have so many peppers on my table right now, I don't know what to do! We are giving them away, Stephen is eating them, I am canning them, and they are still there! Last night I canned hot pepper jelly for the first time. I was so excited when I found a recipe for it. Then realized it would only take 12 jalapenos, and then I realized how many batches I will be making this summer! Maybe these will make good teacher gifts this Christmas? Then I made another batch of pickled banana peppers. Stephen comes in and says, "I need to take some of these to...." and then he names more people than I have jars. I suggested maybe selling them to his friends, seeing as how it takes me a couple of hours to do this. At least pay for the jars that I won't get back. Doesn't that sound fair? Anyway, I don't know what to do with all the cayenne peppers. I haven't found any recipes for those peppers. Does anyone know of anything I can do with them?

Tonight...on to the tomatoes!

Sara

Monday, July 19, 2010

Weekend

I got a few things done this weekend, but you sure can't tell by looking at my house! I got a few boxes packed up for Purple Heart to pick up today. I made 3 quarts of pickled banana peppers. I was a little disappointed in those....the recipe said it would make 6 quarts. Now that I have tried it, I know I can double the recipe, seeing how I could have done that Saturday. I have a HUGE pile of peppers on my kitchen table. I also cleaned and sliced 4 gallons of cucumbers and started my 14 day sweet pickles. And yes, it takes 14 days. The first week I just let them set in the salt water. Then the second week I have to do something to them every day. On the 14Th day I can and water bath them. That is when all the boys stand around and beg for pickles because they know how good they are!

Hopefully this evening I will get to can some of the tomatoes. They are starting to take over! And then there is the laundry. With the big boys gone for the past week I didn't have enough laundry to do. So I have waited for them to come home and now there is definitely enough to do!

Sara

Friday, July 16, 2010

This Summer

Right now half of my kitchen table is covered with vegetables from our garden. I went to the grocery store last night to get the ingredients needed to start canning. First, I am going to can banana peppers. I found a new recipe on line to try. It is Emeril's so you know it will be good! Then I need to start canning tomatoes. We have been eating them with almost every meal. Stephen has never been a tomato person but when he started eating better at the beginning of the year he decided he would start eating them. He likes them brushed with olive oil, and salt and peppered, and then grilled on the Egg. I don't care much for them that way, but just about any other way I can eat them. I like the cucumber and tomato salad that I eat at Nothing But Noodles and I found a recipe the other day that sounded pretty close. I tried it two weeks ago and it was close, but needs to be tweaked a little. It was too sweet and needs a little heat to it. Next time I make it I am going to try to make it taste like the restaurant. If I succeed I will post it here.

I think I might make salsa, too. I don't have quite enough tomatoes that are ripe enough for that yet. But it won't be long! And then it will be time for the 14 day pickles that my kids would seriously eat with their breakfast if I would let them! We have to ration those out to make it through the year! I am hoping to make an extra batch this summer but it always gets right into the start of school and I have to do something to them every day so it can be hard after school and ball practices start.

I think I have read more books this summer than any other time in my life. My MIL brought me a handful of books that she was finished with. I have always said I really don't like to read, but if I can find a book that catches me right from the beginning then I like to read. It's those books that people say that you have to get to about the 6th chapter before it gets good that make me think I hate reading. There was only one that I almost put down thinking that it was going nowhere and then all of a sudden I liked it and finished it the next day. And just in case you all are wondering what I have read, I guess I can post them here.

The first series that I read was from Beverly Lewis and it was called Annie's People. There are three books in this set. I really liked this one. These books are about the Amish and it amazes me how they live like they do with people like me just around the corner. When reading this it was hard to remember what time period it was set in. Until they mentioned a Starbucks and you know it is recent.

The second series has been my favorite of all of the Amish books. Beverly Lewis wrote these also. The series is called Abram's daughters and there were five in this series. Very good! This one was set back in and after WWII.

The third series was Seasons of Grace with three books in this one. This one was very good, too. It was set in modern times also.

I took a break from the Amish and read a Nicholas Sparks book. This is the one I had a hard time getting into. Mainly because I was reading and I kept feeling like I had read it, but when I racked my brain to try to remember what was going to happen, I couldn't remember. So that made me want to read more to find out what I couldn't remember! And what is striking me funny now after typing all those remembers, it was called "A Walk to Remember". And like all Nicholas Sparks books that I have read, the end made me cry.

And then back to the Amish! And Beverly Lewis! The next two were The Postcard and The Crossroad. These were set in modern times also. I know I keep saying they are really good, but I am afraid that if I tell anything else I will give part of the story away. I don't want to ruin it for anyone that might want to read it, so, I guess that is all I can say about them.

I have fourteen more books sitting there waiting on me. I know I won't get them finished before the summer break is over with the garden getting like it is now. So maybe I will still have some left to read over fall break! Have you read any of these? I would love to hear what you thought.

And last but not least, I am working on a quilt. I know that really surprised you. Actually, I haven't quilted for quite some time. Or it seems that way to me. And guess who this one is for?!? ME!!! I am making one with all solid colors using the circle pattern that I used for Roman and JaneClaire's quilts. But it is weird how all three of these look so different because the fabric selection is so different. I will post some pictures of the blocks soon. It is all hand applique so it travels around with me. I like the fact that I don't have to have my sewing machine out on the table all the time with this one. If I did we really wouldn't have anywhere to eat with all the garden produce on the table too!

I hope you all are having a great summer! I can't believe the kids will be back in school in less than a month. The summers get shorter and shorter.

Sara

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