• Around home - Blog - Kitchen

    T Tuesday: apple days edition

    September 20, 2016 - By 

    Happy Tuesday everyone! This past weekend is one I both love and hate each year. It’s the weekend we help pick apples at our neighbors house. They have 5 trees that are HUGE!! As in you need an extension ladder huge.

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    (This is just a 6 foot ladder…)

    Some of their family comes over as well as several of us neighbors. We spend  the morning picking then bring our bags of apples home and usually the afternoon or next day processing.

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    This year we didn’t make time for processing over the weekend. Everyone was going here and there it seemed. Sleepover, Manhattan choir fundraiser, fabricating and 3D printing in the garage and of course, leaving time to watch our Vikings play the Packers (the big border battle) in the inaugural game in the new stadium…SKOL Vikings! Our Vikings won-BTW!!!

    On to Monday…this was my morning view complete with coffee as fuel for the day ahead….

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    Normally I process in the garage for more room but since I was doing it solo I brought the garage can inside.

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    After hours of peeling I had every extra large container I own full of sliced apples.

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    As well as a stock pot full cooking down to sauce. And the dehydrator with 6 trays loaded.

    I ended up with 7 quarts that I canned…

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    The rest went into gallon freezer bags to be made into sauce at a later date.

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    As you can see by this photo it was now after 3pm and I was exhausted,

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    I also managed to get two loads of laundry washed during that time.

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    So my grand total for the day was: 7 quarts apple sauce canned, 2 quarts in fridge, 4 gallon bags of prepped apples in freezer, and a quart bag of dehydrated slices.

    So like I said when I started…apple days…I have  a love/hate relationship with them.

    Today I’m going to have coffee with some friends then likely come home and can a few pints of diced tomatoes…or else pull up the garden and do the tomatoes tomorrow before the next round of rain.

    T stands for Tuesday

    What are you doing today?

  • Blog - Outdoors

    Hazy day

    May 7, 2016 - By 

    After record breaking heat yesterday, I awoke about 1:00 am to the strong smell of smoke. We’d left our bedroom window open since the weather reports said a cool front was going to be blowing through. The wind blew in the smoke from both the Canadian wildfires and some in Northern MN.

    I jumped out of bed worried that something close by was one fire. As I looked out the window, all I saw was thick smoke in the low light from the street lights. I wish I could have taken a photo but I know the light was too low.

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    This morning, before the sun crested over the neighboring houses, all we could see was a thick haze of smoke.

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    As the sun appeared over the houses we saw the orange glow of the sun filtering through the smoke.

    There is this special weather statement for much of Minnesota today.

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    Yard work was on the list for today but we’ll postpone for health sake. Mini-me and I are going shopping today though and picking up birthday/Mother’s Day sushi for a late lunch. Can’t wait!!

    Lets keep all the families and firefighters in our thoughts as the fires still rage.

  • Blog

    Messy kids stuff

    March 27, 2014 - By 

    Ok, in the grand scheme of things…this wasn’t that messy at all.  Little J spotted this recipe for homemade flubber on Pinterest.20140325_4531I was careful to use glass bowls and disposable plastic spoons to begin with.

    20140325_4532After pouring off the excess water…it was time to dig in with my hands…at least I remembered to take off my wedding ring. 😉

    20140325_4534Little J thought it looked like I was having way too much fun with her flubber so she traded off the camera to me.

    20140325_4537We made the flubber a pale lavender color that doesn’t show terribly well in the photos.20140325_4538Finally it was time to play. The flubber is more viscus than silly putty and a little wetter feeling. It’s a solid that behaves as a liquid. Some cool science going on there.

    Of course, I had to show the kids that when stuck in a jar with any air gap, pushing on it makes the most satisfying “toot” noise.  You know…passing gas…breaking wind. I’ve always used the word “toot” instead of the version of that word that starts with and f and ends with a t.  I hate that word….not sure why but it just irks me…even more so when I hear young kids saying it. There, now you’ve just learned another quirk of Halle…you’re welcome.