A Fresh Start....Sort Of.

Ahhhhh...the smell of new pencils, notebooks, and sawdust of course!  So begins my September.  We have started our new school year with a bang and a whine.  I have been trying really hard to get organized, get a schedule, get sane.  It is kind of working, except for the morning mania...which then results in nothing getting done.  Then all my chores are still left and there goes our school for the morning.  Also, exercise is now the key to feeling better, at least that is what my doctor said.  So I have to squeeze in 1 Hour a day and do housework and teach the kids, and shave my legs.  Ok....Now I know this is possible, but I don't seem to do it very well. 


Ok, well some things have been done for my school year.  We have made the first two color boxes from the Montessori curriculum.  Also, the long red rods are done and so are the miniature number rods.  Phew.  It was many painful minutes of sawing with my miter saw and flying sawdust everywhere.  The kids kept rescuing the pieces as they fell off the porch into the mud.  They are not painted yet, and so far when not being used for school(which is never) they are used as bludgeoning weapons.  Grand.

Bell helping to make the 2nd Color Box

My little Bell really enjoys her sandpaper letters and cutting and making jewelry with her bead kit I got.  

She also likes to sew and do her workbook pages.  Little Tiri enjoys bothering her sister, and sometimes eating crayons.  She will do some activies like the little number rods.  She likes to line them up.  Marble transfer is a new favorite, and she has only eaten two marbles so far....

It is great to watch her little brain work and her tiny hands do their important work.She is also a climber so most of my school morning is spent keeping her off the counters and her windowsills.   I need to get one of those cat climbers for her so she can climb something she is allowed on.  My oldest is doing good in school, with a little trouble here and there.  He is testing the waters while dealing with his stuff we just discovered he has going on in his brilliant little brain.  That is a post in itself though!  So I will try to post more often, in case anyone is interested!  =)

Homeade Applesauce From My Overgrown and Wonderful Tree

Ok....I am 6 minutes late this month....I was supposed to get this done by the 14th....But I figure it is the 14th somewhere in the world?  No?  Ok....Well this month for the Daring Cooks was Food Preservation.  I have made jams, applesauce, tomatoes(once) and even apple butter.  Since I am familiar with canning, I decided to make applesauce because my family does NOT like apple butter and the last jar I had stayed in the fridge for almost a YEAR.  I hate to throw food out....but it had to be done.  Anyhoo...We have a McIntosh Tree in our backyard.  We used to have two, but we also have a teeny tiny yard and three wild children so one of the trees had to go.  Before we cut it down however, it had relations with the other tree and produced a WONDERFUL crop of baby apples.  One problem is that these trees were let go and are really tall so one of the only ways to get these beautiful apples is too wait for it to fall and bonk you on the head, spray them with a hose, OR whack them with a broom handle. So...we had to grab the seconds before the critters did.  But I still had a bumper crop in our backyard, which I guess was pretty common this year. I kept putting off using them and had two good size batches of apples go bad in the fridge and I have had a colony of fruit flies in my house, which I trapped in my awesome homemade fruit fly trap.  But I digress...back to applesauce.  Here goes...

The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation.

My recipe came from http://canning.falbepublishing.com where I saw what looked like a really good recipe and I had used one similar before.  The sauce came out great.  I just don't know what happened with my canning.  My lids have not popped yet and they always have before.  I am thinking it was because I used Quart size jars and they could not be submerged in my VERY large pot.  Hmmm.  Anyway.  I am going to risk it.  Maybe.  We will see.  So the recipe is below.  I pretty much just cooked the apples with a small amount of water and mashed them with my kids pretend potato masher(it has smaller holes) and then added the cinamon sugar and then cooked it all down some more(my husbands idea) until it was thicker.  YUM!~

How to make and can homemade applesauce

Warm homemade applesauce is a comforting delight of the harvest season. Nothing in a jar at the supermarket can compare to freshly stewed and spiced apples. For the ambitious apple lover, a weekend or two of effort with 10 or 20 pounds of apples will prolong the pleasure of homemade applesauce far past autumn.
You can make large batches of applesauce and preserve it by canning it in pint or quart jars that will last for up to a year. Canning applesauce can be done safely in the home with only a simple hot water bath.
Homemade applesauce canning recipe
Yields 5 to 6 pints
Start with approximately 12 pounds of fresh apples free of blemishes and bruises. Minor blemishing can be cut out but always make sure you are using high quality fruit.
Have ready a large water bath canning kettle (readily available at discount stores or hardware stores), pint sized Mason canning jars with brand new lids. You will also want a canning jar lifter and a candy thermometer.
Peel and core the apples. This is admittedly a lot of work and investing in a hand crank apple peeler is recommended. After peeling, slice the apples. Because it will take a while to get all the apples peeled have a large pan with about 1 gallon of water with 3/4 cup lemon juice in it. Put the apple slices in the lemon water as you work to prevent browning of the fruit.
Once all fruit is peeled and sliced drain it from the lemon water and add it to a large stock pot and heat on the stove over medium heat. Cover the stock pot, but check frequently to make sure that the fruit is not scorching on the bottom. Water will soon start cooking out of the fruit and this will protect against scorching after the first few minutes. Keep the pot covered so that the fruit simmers and steams. Check every couple minutes and stir the fruit. Depending on the firmness of the apple variety you selected, the apples should become noticeably softened in about 20 or 30 minutes. Once apples are softened and beginning to break apart when stirred, start mashing them with a potato masher. This speeds the saucing process. You can make the apples as smooth or as chunky as you want. Keep the applesauce cooking after you mash to cook out more liquid. You don't want the applesauce runny. Cook out the water until a thick sauce forms. During this time, you may add sugar and spice if you want.
Add, if desired:
1 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
dash of salt
You can add more sugar if you want it really sweet or not add any sugar. Having this control over the ingredients is one of the nice things about making your own applesauce. You don't have to worry about the high fructose corn syrup that is present in so many commercial varities.
While you are cooking the apples, get the water bath canner and the jars ready. Wash your jars, lids, and bands and fill the canner. Heat the water in the canner to at least 180 degrees F but less than boiling and submerge completely the jars and lids to sterilize. Use the candy thermometer to monitor water temperature. After the jars and lids have been sterilizing for a couple minutes, shut off the heat to the canner and cover it. The water and jars will stay hot while you're finishing the applesauce.
Once the applesauce achieves a thick consistency without any puddles of excess liquid, remove from heat. Take the sterilized jars and lids out of the water and fill with applesauce. Leave 1/2 inch headspace in jars. Carefully clean and wipe dry the rims of the jars and put on the lids. Secure the lids with the jar bands and screw tight with your hand. You don't have to make it really tight. Just screw it on without forcing it.
Bring the water in the canner to a full boil and carefully add the filled jars with the jar lifter. Make sure at least 1 or 2 inches of water are above the tops of the jars. Keeping the water at a boil, process the pints for 15 minutes. (If you used quart jars, process for 20 mintues.) Increase these times by 5 minutes if you are at elevations above 1,000 feet.
When processing time has elapsed, remove jars from water and place on a towel in a draft-free location. Do not disturb the jars for 12 to 24 hours while the seals cool and tighten. You may hear the lids pop down and make a seal within the first few minutes, but do not touch them.
The next day, remove the bands, wipe the jars and lids clean and store in a cool dark place for up to one year.
If you want to do both quart and pint jars at the same time, just use the processing time for the quarts. A little extra processing on the pint jars will not hurt anything.