Labor Day Labors

It was sort of "spur of the moment" but we decided to beat the heat and take a "little" day trip to "Apple Annie's", a nice little orchard and farm to pick some apples and vegies. The kids loved it....apple picking, tractor ride, apple smoked hamburgers and all. They were completely worn out and fell asleep the second we were on the road home. That left 2 1/2 hours of uninterrupted "talk time" for Erik and I which made it completely worth the tank of gas.

All that harvesting made me wish I had some canning equipment (hint, hint momacita). Now I have a stash of apples, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes and clearly not enough time nor the proper tools to do anything with our loot of food. We did come home and made eggplant parmesan, tomato basil bruschetta and apple crisp. Delish!

It was a nice way to try and capture that "fall feeling" since we clearly won't be feeling any of that here in Maricopa for at least another month and a half. I concluded that if I could recreate any of my childhood experiences for my children it would be that "fall feeling". The specifics? Well, every year my Pa and Nana (my mom's parents) would arrive for a 4-6 week visit bringing with them peaches, pears, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes and gobs of other food. I remember coming home from school every day to bottles simmering on the stove, the pressure cooker working it's magic and the smell of peaches and pears weaving throughout the house. And amongst all of the washing and peeling and slicing and boiling there would be a pot of autumn stew and fresh rolls for dinner. And then Sunday would roll around and Pa would make his famous caramel corn. I don't know why it took so long for him to boil that darn caramel. I make it now in no time at all, but it sure seemed like his caramel simmered for hours. Oh how the passing of time changes as an adult.

I can buy the equipment and do the canning. All I need now are the grandparents who are willing to come for more than an overnight stay and the cooler climate. One can dream, right? Someday, if I have anything to do with it, Sadie and Deklan will come home bundled up in their coats, darkness will settle in by 6:30 p.m. and they too will watch with amazement as the kitchen fills with bottles of food....and in the end they will look back and realize how much more they learned and experienced beyond the art of canning.