Canning

So we have been doing a lot of canning this year thanks to not having a newborn and not being pregnant. It is amazing how productive you can be without those 2 things. :) Also, I inherited a bunch of jars from my Grandma who passed away just over a year ago, and I know some people with fruit trees they are not using this year. We have canned cherry pie filling, peaches, peach pie filling, applesauce, apple butter, apple pie filling and now pears. I'm about ready to be done. I will end up with over 170 jars of fruit, though. Plus, my mom just got a dehydrator that I am using to finish off my apples and I attempted fruit leather for the first time last night.... It tastes good, it just didn't come off the trays. hmmm. :( Apparently you are supposed to use plastic wrap. but I was afraid it would melt... Anyway, here are some pictures from our adventures from the past month.

We canned peaches on my birthday a couple weeks ago. Here are some friends over -Tami and Allison. My mom was really sweet and brought a cake. We had a good time. I figured if I am going to be canning, I might as well teach other people and have friends to do it with. :) We ordered seconds peaches from McMullin farms in Payson and they brought them up to the farmer's marked in Sandy for us. We ordered 14 bushels (28 boxes) and Tuesday morning (the day after my birthday) we canned 70 jars of peaches in 4 hours. A lot of work, but a lot of fun. The peaches are SOOOOOO good.

Jes has been a super big helper. :) On Saturday I was canning some pears to see how they would go and she peeled a bunch on my apple peeler. She loves to help in the kitchen. In this picture I think she was eating more than helping, but the peach pie filling was REALLY good.

See? I tried to not let her double dip.

Is there anything more beautiful that jars of peaches cooling on the counter (since all the work is done and cleaned up)?

Here the girls are helping with applesauce, and eating as many as they could get their mouths on. Jes was washing them, and Kelsi was actually putting them up on the counter for me. In many ways it is easier to have them help in the kitchen rather than feel neglected, but sometimes it just adds to the stress level. This particular morning they were both really sweet and it was really fun to have them helping.

In the middle of applesaucing. I thought Jes's smile was cute.

It has been a very productive month, but I ready to be done with the perpetual mess. I should go finish my pears...