Our week in the kitchen...

We have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen the past week. Last Monday I went down to Branstool Orchards. I was looking for some peaches and apples and found just that. I however was very surprised at the price, $58 for a bushel of peaches! Needless to say I didn't get the full bushel as intended. They were delicious peaches, but maybe I will shop around for a better price in the future. Or it might have been cheaper if I had picked the peaches. I also picked up a bushel of apples.

So (if I remember correctly) Tuesday I froze the 1/2 bushel of peaches. Thursday I bought a bushel of canning tomatoes and used 1/2 a bushel to make spaghetti sauce. This was the first time I made spaghetti sauce. I decided to make it because we were given a bag of green peppers from some friends at church. I asked them what they do with all their peppers and she gave me here spaghetti sauce recipe. Next time I make this I will start it earlier than 3 pm. I was still up at midnight ladeling it into jars!! Friday I used the other 1/2 bushel of tomatoes to make tomato juice. Saturday morning I baked 4 loaves of Oatmeal bread. Then when Chad got home from seeing a few patients we made applesauce. After that I cut up the rest of green peppers and froze them. Sometime in there I also I froze a couple more pounds of green beans.

Monday we did 6 dozen more ears of corn. A friend from church, his parents had an over abundance of corn, so we took some off their hands. We also were given another bushel of apples from our transitional pastor at church, who also had an over abundance of apples. Today I made applesauce. When will the other housework get done? I do not know!!

Andrew enjoyed helping turn the handle of the victorian strainer when we made tomato juice and applesauce.

I like to look in our freezer, at all the local produce we have in there for this winter. It is quite colorful! Hope we don't lose power!! From top to bottom we have beef from my uncle Fred, peaches, strawberry jam, green peppers, some pork, corn, applesauce, strawberries, green beans and blueberries. Our freezer is quite full, thankfully I think we are pretty much done with what we have to freeze.

The spaghetti sauce and tomato juice. YUM!

I still want to do salsa and quartered tomatoes, some more tomato juice and perhaps pizza sauce. And maybe freeze so more peaches, but I think I am done in the kitchen for now! I need a break.