Therapy Thursday...

It has been way too long since I got my hair done, it was great therapy yesterday to catch up with Katie and get a fresh "do".
Ahhhhhh!

PeAr wOrDs...

I was still looking at fruit in my kitchen... I might have let my eyes at the orchard overload my schedule!

Yesterday, I just hit the ground running when I got up and decided I would not stop until every last pear was canned.

I canned pears...

then I canned some caramel pear filling...

you start with this...

then make the caramel sauce...

I left out the yellow food coloring, seems to be a pretty caramel color without it.

I could drink this stuff... but I didn't :)

and pour it over the pears (or apples)...

Easy desserts for our family for a year!


I still had tons of pears left... so I started another recipe of just pear sauce (like applesauce, but with pears)...

I thought I would never see the bottom of this box of pears!!
Even the last 8 or 10 seemed to take FOREVER!!!
My back was so sore...
But very shortly after I was done... I stood back and admired the work!

That is such a reward for me... it makes it all worthwhile and I get really happy feet when I can put this on my shelf!

.

I think I am done, until I have time to find and can some tomatoes for spaghetti sauce!

Apple Crisp...

I call this my apple crisp recipe... only because it was one of the first things I made when I was first married that my own family started to request I make again and again... and it was THE very first recipe that my MIL called "Beth's" recipe and asked for a copy of it. You know it's good when your MIL approves!

But I really shouldn't take credit for it... I think I got it off of a corn starch box in my first year of marriage. I guess it can be mine now since I was the one that wrote it down and kept it going long after print was over on the corn starch box. But even that is a stretch to call it mine I suppose.

Either way, I have made this for years and we love it!

Apple Crisp
4 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 - 9" pie crust (I use the Pillsbury frozen that you roll out and put it in an 8x8 pan)
Toss and coat the apples in this mixture and place inside the pie crust.

Top with this yummy crumbly topping:
Topping
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional, I like pecans)

Bake 15 min. on 400 degrees; and then bake 35 min. on 350 degrees

Notes: If the topping looks dry in places when it starts to cook, you can put a few little pieces of butter during cooking to help it out... when I first started making it, I had this happen until I learned how to cut the butter into the dry ingredients and spread it out evenly. I have a handy little round hand biscuit cutter/chopper thing that poses as a pastry knife (or if you know how to use two butter knives like a pastry knife) and I cut the butter cold, and it helps allot. This might have been why it was a big hit... you know what Paula Dean says about butter, LOL.

-------------------------------------
Fast forward about 16 years and a friend taught me how to can a caramel apple pie filling... and now I keep that on my shelf and just dump it into the pie crust from the jar, and put the topping over it! EVEN BETTER RECIPE!!!! And super easy, only time it takes is to dump and cook basically!

Caramel Apple Pie Filling...

7 Quarts of Apples peeled/cored and sliced

Fill jars with apples (leave 2” space from top of jars)

Prepare sauce:

5 Cups Sugar

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Nutmeg

2 Tblsp. Cinnamon

1 Cup Corn Starch

10 Cups Water

Boil until thick, stirring constantly

Remove from stove and add:

3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

3 drops Yellow Food Coloring

Pour sauce over apples in jars

Prepare jars = 5 min at 10lbs pressure OR 20 min. water bath

Peaches...

I was able to can some more peaches...

And since there was a few left over...
Peach Cobbler...

If it looks like my apple crisp but with peaches inside... it's because it is.

I didn't really have a peach cobbler recipe, so I just decided to wing it.

Edible, but next time I will try and find an actual recipe designed for peaches.

Hey, canning makes me very tired.

That is my excuse.

My brain hurt.

Gmaw and Gpaw...

My Strong Silent Mysterious Man and his Mom :)

They were super tired when we saw them Thursday night when they got into town... but we refreshed, recouped and they took us to lunch Saturday.

What a wonderful time with them. And her sister and her Husband... Aunt Fay and Uncle Gene.

We giggle but always have to measure the teenager against gmaw... well now it is measuring gmaw against the teenager :)
She's down to the second button on his shirt now.

We love them and are so grateful to get to see them anytime we can!!

We love you two!! Thanks so much for coming up to see us :)

We haven't been to see their new home in Southern Utah since they moved!

But now that we have a good doggie daycare... we HAVE to plan a trip!!