Saturday, July 18, 2009

Not bad for a day's work

Morgan(also referred to as Pooh Bear and the Little Princess) and I had a busy day. We had picked 3 gallons of blueberries at a friend's house the other day. Then we found a great deal on cherries and organic nectarines. So, we decided to make some jam. Here is Morgan chopping up cherries with her trusty butter knife. She felt like such a big girl helping with the chopping.
She carefully measures how much fruit we have. The older she gets, the happier I am that I have such a great helper. She is always so eager to help with anything I'm doing.
The end result was 7 jars of cherry blueberry jam, 7 jars of nectarine jam and 7 jars of blueberry. There was a little bit left from each batch that I put into little bowls for tasting. They were proclaimed delicious by all. You can also see today's harvest of zucchini on the side there and some extra nectarines for later.
Next was the chicken stock that I made up earlier in the week. It looks a little cloudy in the picture, but is actually the hard water leaving deposits on my jars. Chicken stock is one of those things I love to make and have. It always seems like magic to make something so wonderful from things that most people throw away. I use the carcasses from birds we've eaten and the pieces of onions, carrot peels and odd pieces of celery that I've thrown in the freezer. Throw it all in the crockpot with some water to cover and go to bed. You wake up to delicious smelling and perfectly cooked stock. It's one of the few things I like my crockpot for.
Lastly was the bread. I started this yesterday using a recipe I found for soaked grains. I halved the recipe since that much flour would kill my mixer. This is the second time I have made it. Hubby even liked it and he is a die hard white bread fan. I think it will taste wonderful with all that great jam we made.

5 comments:

kitsapFG said...

Now I am hungry for toast with jam! LOL! That looks wonderful. The bread is a nice looking loaf - care to share the recipe?

The jams are such a pretty mix of colors. Your helper is awfully pretty too. So serious at her work!

The Mom said...

Here is the link http://www.healthbanquet.com/homemade-bread.html

I hope you like it!

Michaela Dunn Leeper said...

How funny, I made cherry blueberry jam a week ago!!!

http://wyo-helpmeet.blogspot.com/2009/07/7-half-pints-of-blueberry-cherry-jam.html

Love the pics of Mini-Heather! She looks so focused on her work!

The Mom said...

Michaela, that must be where I got the idea! It sure is yummy.

kiwi gomes said...

M looks so cute and focused!!! She looks like a great helper!