Homemade Applegate Apple Butter
Homemade Applegate Apple Butter
Yum! My mom and I made homemade apple butter this weekend from apples we picked in our orchard. We slow cooked them using a very cool and super easy recipe. The apple butter turned out amazing! One note, though, we almost totally blew it on the whole canning thing. Dude. Botulism. Bad. So, I have to say that we were pretty pleased with ourselves. It’s one thing to talk about all the things you want to do, it’s another thing altogether to actually do it.
I’ll post a more descriptive recipe and how to on my craft blog, but here are some links in the meantime:
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art2816.asp
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Acres/1012/canning.html
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/he174w.htm
http://www.gopresto.com/recipes/canning/boiling.php?PHPSESSID=6d4888
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-Fact/5000/5343.html
Modern, rural family life
We had a busy weekend full of normal family stuff. Although, I have to admit that I’m exhausted. I have designed my life in a way that requires help. When my parents are traveling and Jeff works late, I’m basically a screaming mimi. I’m sure I’ve said it before, but it takes a village to raise my kids.
Max went to his first track meet on Saturday and competed in his first race. I was so proud of his determination and attitude. This is a boy that looks like a runner, but gets winded pretty easily. He hates to lose, but he really wants to become a good runner. So he’s doing cross country at school. He also got his first “real” skateboard last week and is practicing every 
night. He said he was tired of looking like a skater, but not being one. His godmother, Melody (MoMo), says that I must be raising him right since he has no interest in being a poser. 
After Max’s meet, I took the kids up to John and Scott’s and checked out their little bird farm. They raise organic, range fed chickens and ducks (and eggs). Abby had a blast and Max clung to me the whole time (he’s a bit chicken of chickens). We’ll be buying several of their birds for cooking when they’re ready. I don’t eat meat, but the rest of the family does. I’d much rather have them eating chicken from a local organic farm than the grocery store bought meat with orgin unknown.
On Sunday, we went to breakfast with my Grandma. Sadly, my Gram’s sister Helen had passed that morning. Afterwards, I took the kiddos to a local farmer’s market for some whole grains and local fruits and veggies. We when finally made it home we discovered that our flippin’ chickens had finally laid some eggs. And if you ever had farm fresh eggs, you know there’s nothing tastier. And, actually, just like Madge said, the chickens are
a lot easier now that they’re older. It’s so funny to watch those silly birds with Abby. They love her and run to her when she walks by them. She’s my little Animal Girl.
That evening the kids talked the Grumpy Dad (aka Grumpy Husband) into whipping up some
smoothies from some of the fresh fruits we’d picked up at the farmer’s market. Max loves mixing up flavors, so they came up with a kiwi-peach-strawberry-banana smoothie. It was delicious. And other than a little ice and vanilla yogurt, it was all fresh fruit. Yum.
Tags:cooking, eggs, family, farm, rural, skateboard, track Filed under family, general, rural life | Comment (0)Chickens suck
For the record: chickens are a pain in the ass. Baby chickens, anyway. I might soon reconsider my stance on not eating poultry just to be rid of these little demons. Seriously, the kids did give them names like Nugget, Strips, Patty. These are more work than my cockatoos were! Thankfully, not as loud.
