BACK IN THE KITCHEN

Fall has come and settled itself in nicely here.  The long hot days of summer are but just a memory.

My tomatoes are in boxes and slowly ripening.  As they ripen.. this is what happens next:

When I have enough fresh (and frozen - I freeze them to get enough as they are not all ripening at the same speed) then I pile them in a stock pot, add salt and let them simmer away...

Once they have simmered and reduced to about half in size, and the sauce is thick and rich, they are ready for the blender.  I scoop enough tomatoes to put in my blender to fill half way.  One thing I have learned - the hard way of course - is that you NEVER fill the blender full of hot tomatoes.  The tomatoes have a way of blowing the lid off, and hot hot hot tomatoes come out, get everywhere... and burn!  So... no shortcuts here, and trying to do too much at once.  Trust me on this one! {smiles}



One stockpot full of tomatoes, makes this much canned tomatoes, a little over 6 quarts... you can see it takes a lot of tomatoes to can.  But really, there is no taste in the world like the tomatoes you can at home!  And so this is why I do it.  Just looking at those golden jars full of goodness makes my soul joyful!

While I was busy in the kitchen... this little fellow was snoozing, and I thought how nice it would be to take a cat nap in the middle of the day, lol!

But... no time for naps!

These lovely plums given to me by my dear friend GT were fully ripe and ready to be put to good use! 

First they needed to be pitted.  They filled my saucepot to overflowing! I froze most of them, and saved 8 pounds to make plum jelly.  The recipe I use calls for 4 pounds of plums for one batch, and I was going to make a double batch. I was able to get 2 batches of plum jelly, and 3 gallon zip lock bags full of plums out of just ONE brown bag of plums!  I will freeze the remainder of the plums... so our freezer will be well-stocked for winter smoothies. :)



Making the plum juice.... After cooking the plums, the juice is strained through cheesecloth to make the jelly.



With the plum jelly all plum done,  I was plum wore out... but from first taste test... the jelly sure is plum good! {smiles}

Next, it was time to strain the beans from my vanilla extract.  I started this extract back in March, and it takes about 6 months for the alcohol to extract the vanilla from the beans.

It was a beautiful rich color, and smelled oh so good of strong vanilla.  If you want to see how I make my own vanilla extract, you can see my post here on how I do it.



Next on my list was taking my dried raspberry leaves and putting them in storage.  I cut down all the raspberry branches that had bloomed this year, and hung the branches upside down to dry.  Once the leaves had dried, I collected them and put them in this ziplock bag.  I will add an oxygenizer to the bag to keep them from going moldy, should any of them have not completely dried.

You may wonder why would you save raspberry leaves?

There are so many health benefits to raspberry tea (especially for women)  that it really is a remarkable addition to your home health collection.  Drinking raspberry tea has been done for centuries, but it has been just recently that more research has been done on why it seems to be so beneficial.  Just a few of the benefits of raspberry tea:

1. The specific combination of nutrients in raspberry leaves (magnesium, potassium, vitamin B and iron) are highly beneficial to the female reproductive system, both in pregnant women, and those suffering from PMS, endometriosis, or those who are trying to conceive.

2.  It has a high concentration of vitamin C.

3. Because it is high in tannins, it can be used both internally and externally. It can be swished as a tincture tea for gum disease and gingivitis, and the tea can soothe sunburns, eczema and rashes.

You can read more on the raspberry tea here.   Since I grow my own raspberries, and the raspberry leaves are high in vitamin C, I like to make my own raspberry tea, and add it to smoothies, or drink as a hot tea sweetened with a little honey.

My next endeavor will be putting up the pumpkin.  This is the pumpkin that grew in my potato patch spontaneously.  It is turning orange rapidly, and once it is ready, I will be putting it up as well.

I still have flowers blooming in my garden, despite all the frosts and freezes we have gotten, and for that I am very thankful!  This verbena is still going strong, after being planted in an old metal oil can.

We have been enjoying absolutely amazing fall weather here... today it got up to the 80s, which was a nice treat!  Bright blue skies, brilliant foliage and the warm temps today made me glad that I got the canning done this past week when the temps were a bit cooler!  I hope that you are enjoying lovely fall weather too!

Here is a little poem I wrote today, as I marveled aloud in praise to the Lord who has created this beautiful world for us to enjoy.  May your day be blessed, in HIM!