My new hobby

I've been in canning mode . . . and loving it!

Shhhh! Don't tell my mom, but I think I've found a new hobby.

Today while the snow/sleet/hail fell (I know CRAZY; it's only the end of September),

I cut and cored and peeled apples to make applesauce. What I discovered is that applesauce is labor intensive if you do it the old-fashioned way. Next time I'm investing in a sauce maker. Erik, my applesauce lover, better be grateful for the love and time that went into these:

I hate to think about it, but he could down one of those jars in 5 minutes what took me about a 1/2 hour to get in that jar. I tried regular and cinnamon and yes, my bottles look hideously dirty; tomorrow I will make them sparkle.

In addition to my usual peaches and applesauce this year, I tried:

green beans -- first time using a pressure cooker myself

pears

I also came across the yummiest Pear Crisp. In my opinion, it's so much better than apple crisp. You'll have to try it (recipe's at the end). 

salsa -- oh, can't wait to open one of these up this winter

And, when chicken goes on sale, I want to try canning it.

Tyler has also worked hard the past couple of weeks putting together two of our five (or six) garden boxes. I'm so excited for spring planting and already bought the stuff to make my bean trellis. These garden boxes are a work of creative art. Tyler loves the game Tetris and that has been the catalyst for these boxes. You'll just have to wait until they're all done to see the final product.

And lest you think I have lazy children who enjoy watching their dad work, they are really putting their weight to work to hold those boxes together while he drills.

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Pear Crisp
The Pioneer Woman Cooks

4 to 5 large pears, peeled, cored, diced
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt

Topping:
1 1/2 c. flour
1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. pecans, very finely chopped
1 cube butter, melted (I tried 6 tablespoons and it worked just fine)

Place pears on bowl with sugar and salt. Coat the pears. In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans. Mix. Add butter until all combined. Pour pears in to a baking dish and sprinkle topping mixture over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream (or just plain tasted mighty good).