Canning applesauce

 I was at the local farmers market grocery store and ran across a great deal on apples. Every one of their varieties of apples were just 88 cents per pound. I ran over and asked the produce man to round me up a bushel. APPLESAUCE!!

Last year I canned a few pints of applesauce using our tart apples, and it was really good once I sweetened it sufficiently. This year, our trees failed to produce a single apple so we went without the usual canned apple treats, until I ran across this screaming deal. After reading up on the best apples for sauce, I ended up purchasing about 30 pounds of MacIntosh and 30 pounds of Golden Delicious apples...which I got for around $35.00. The Golden Delicious are sweet enough that you won't have to add sugar at the end, and the MacIntosh adds just a hint of tartness without puckering you up.

Applesauce is the easiest thing in the world to make...if you have the right tools. One of the tools no home should be without is the Victorio food strainer. My aunt bought me mine a few years ago when she found out I was canning (she has an apple orchard in California) and I have used it for so many canning projects since then that I'm not sure how I ever lived without it. With the special screens, you can make perfect, pain-free applesauce, tomato sauce, grape juice, pumpkin puree, and that's just what I've used it for. Countless other options are available.

So here's what I did.

Wash and sort the apples. Little Sister peeled the stickers off for me. We are learning patterns in math so I had her hand me apples in order...yellow, red, yellow, red. . Not exactly scientific, but this way, each pot I put on the stove had the same general apple distribution in it, and it was a great way to reinforce our homeschool lesson!

Cut the apples into quarters, removing the stems.

Put the apples into a large stock pot until full. Add water (or apple juice).

Boil apples for about 10 minutes, or until they are soft.

 Spoon them into the Victorio and turn the handle. Presto! Applesauce emerges. Little Sister also helped turn the crank on a few batches, but it's a lot of work for a 5-year-old so she pooped out pretty quickly.

Because I had so many apples, I just kept rotating stockpots full of apples onto the stove. As one was boiling, I ran the previous pot through the Victorio and filled it back up with cut apples, reusing the hot water from the previous batch so it wouldn't take as long to bring the new batch to a boil. I always say that for canning you can't have too many large plastic bowls or large heavy stock pots. I was glad I had several pots for this project, or this simple process could have taken all day!

Once the boiled apples have been turned into hot applesauce, pour the applesauce into a heavy stockpot and keep it warm. Meanwhile, prep and sterilize your jars, and fire up your waterbath canner.

Check consistency of your applesauce. You do NOT need to cook down your applesauce if you make it with the Victorio, as it will come out really thick already. You may, however, need to add some liquid to thin your sauce. I canned my first 6 quarts and they overflowed badly when I pulled them out of the canner, and had all kinds of air bubbles in the jars. Apparently, this is because the sauce is too thick once they lose all of their moisture in processing. So in the other batches, I added a little of the strained cooking water and a bit of all-natural, unsweetened apple juice. To test moisture, look for a thin line of liquid to appear around a spoonful of your sauce, and it should be a soft mound on the spoon. After I made this quick adjustment, my subsequent jars also had a little spillage, but not enough to worry about, and every jar had a nice tight seal.

Taste and season the sauce to your liking. My first batch was au naturel, with no added sweetener or spices. I use this to cook with, or for baby food, or for kids with tummy aches. To the next batch, I added 4 tablespoons of cinnamon,  plus a shake of nutmeg and a sprinkle of ground clove. That's it! No added sugar necessary! Delicious!!

Spoon the warm sauce into your hot, sterilized quart jars and process about 25 minutes (at sea level, 30 minutes at altitude). If you get any spillage like I did, make sure you remove the rings after the lid seals and clean the jars with soapy warm water. You don't want mold growing on the top! My ~60 pounds of apples yielded 18 quarts of applesauce, with enough left over to feed the family each a big bowl as an after dinner treat.

Little Sister announced that this was the best cooking project EVER, and the end result was definitely worth the effort. Eighteen jars of the best applesauce you have ever eaten worked out to be about $1.95 per jar. Happy canning!

No Dairy Necessary Hot Cocoa

 A mom's group I attend issued us moms a Christmastime challenge: celebrate each of the 12 (or 10 or 5) days leading up to Christmas by doing something special and unique with the family. I like the idea of creating special seasonal memories for my kiddos so I decided I'd give it a whirl. They gave us a list of more than 40 ideas, some simple and some more elaborate and set us off to work.

The kids loved the idea of a special holiday celebration each day leading up to Christmas, so we put stars next to the ones we liked and have checked them off as we do them. Our top choices included:

• Set up a nativity set and talk about baby Jesus
• Make & decorate Christmas cookies
• Make red & green play dough
• Have hot chocolate and toast before bed
• Perform one random act of kindness
• Listen to Christmas music
• Dance to Christmas music
• Watch a Christmas movie
• Read a Christmas book
• Drive around at night to see Christmas lights in the neighborhood

We haven't been all that structured about doing one every day, but we have managed check a few off the list in the past several days. Today, we arrived at "Have hot chocolate..." and I had to pause. Making hot cocoa may not sound all that monumental, especially in comparison to whipping up a batch of colored play dough, but Little Sister has a major problem with dairy, so hot cocoa is not something we've ever enjoyed at our house before.

Little Sister's dairy issue is not what would be commonly referred to as "lactose intolerance". It's more like a pre-anaphalactic reaction to the protein structure resulting from the high-heat pasteurization process in most commercially sold milk products...see what I'm saying...nothing to be trifled with. When she was an infant, her entire face would inflate, her eyes swelling to the point that she couldn't see...and that was second hand dairy, if you catch my meaning (yes, I'm talking about breast feeding). The dairy effect is cumulative, in that if she has a tiny amount by accident, she's usually ok. Two tiny amounts, and she starts to get red around the eyes and mouth, three, and well, it's off to the ER. Strangely, she has no reaction to raw, unpasteurized dairy, but we lack the financial resources to spend $13 on a gallon of milk, not including cow shares and dues, so, we just avoid milk all together for Little Sister, and do rice milk or coconut milk instead wherever possible.

In addition to the dairy problem, I'm not all that nuts about hot cocoa, but my darling Boy reminded me that this time of year is not all about me. He was strongly in favor of the "Have hot chocolate and toast" suggestion, so I finally agreed to look in to it.

I started my search in the grocery store where I read the ingredients on several boxes of commercially sold hot chocolate mix. Yuck. In addition to containing milk or milk products, most of them are also loaded with a long list of ingredients that we generally try to stay away from. So I hit the internet. After finding many recipes that made batches for a dozen or more people (do people have hot cocoa parties, or own chalets in the Alps where cocoa is required by law, or what?), I finally came across a recipe for creamy vegan hot cocoa, which appealed both because it used ingredients I readily had on hand, and it made just one cup. By making it in one-cup batches, I could make Little Sister her dairy-free version, and the rest of us could enjoy our creamy dairy filled recipe. I altered it as follows:

No Dairy Necessary Hot Cocoa

3 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp rice milk, coconut milk, almond milk, or cow's milk (Why shouldn't I use soy milk?)
4 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa
Splash of vanilla extract (I used about 1/4 tsp)
Tiny pinch of salt
1 cup boiling water

Combine sugar, milk, cocoa, vanilla, and salt in a large mug. Pour in boiling water into mug and stir until dry ingredients dissolve. Top with mini marshmallows, and/or whipped cream (for dairy friendly consumers). Ok, I know marshmallows aren't exactly health food, but really, sometimes sacrifices must be made in favor of fun.

To me, hot chocolate is painfully sweet and this recipe is no exception, however, the flavor of this cocoa was wonderful and it was indeed creamy, as advertised. The kids got their fix of chocolate and sugar, and felt like mini-grown ups with their coffee mugs and toast. Overall, the chocolate coated smiles made it worth every minute of the resulting sugar high.

Fried chicken is my favorite animal...

I found this joke in my email inbox this morning:

"Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken." She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right, because everyone else in the class laughed. My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. Especially chicken, pork and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office.I told him what happened, and he laughed, too. Then he told me not to do it again.

The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was. I told her it was chicken. She asked me why, just like she'd asked the other children. So I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken. She sent me back to the principal's office again. He laughed, and told me not to do it again. I don't understand.

My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am.Today, my teacher asked us to tell her what famous person we admire most. I told her, "Colonel Sanders." Guess where I am now..."

Yes, this is a joke, but let's face it, this kind of indoctrination is rampant in our schools, and is one of the many reasons I homeschool my kids. Somehow, entire generations of kids, now adults have lost an appreciation for where their food comes from...and it's only getting worse. I read an article recently about kids in the UK who thought bacon came from sheep. I can honestly say that my children know, without a doubt, where their food comes from, whether it's meat, veggies, milk or eggs.

We spent all Saturday morning harvesting our meat chickens. It was good family fun where the kids get to see their once cute, fuzzy chicks turn into....well...fried chicken. Sure, there are some aspects that are less than glamourous, but as we watched our kids spend an hour dissecting a chicken heart, it was hard not to recognize the irreplaceable value of real life exploration and discovery, and the long term effect it will have on their world view and awareness. Of course, many people (many more these days) do not share in our view that raising and harvesting your own food is a valuable learning opportunity for children. Most of my husband's family, for instance, live the PETA hypocrisy of swatting flies while they wolf down tofu burgers...

We chatted about these unfortunates as we plucked broilers on Saturday, laughing about friends who refuse to eat anything that didn't come from the grocery store, and what that trend has brought us in the way of food quality and safety. It's a sad state of affairs in this country where food is concerned. And kids get the worst of it. Even my farm-raised kids came rushing in halfway through an episode of Sesame Street last week to say that they desperately needed some vegetables for breakfast because they wanted to be 'healthy'...uh, really?

Folks, there's only One Authority when it comes to our food, as He designed the entire system. For now, I think I'll let His words end this post.

Genesis 1:26-30
26: And God said, "Let us make man in our image after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created  them.

28: And God blessed them, and God said unto them, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."

29: And God said, "Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for food," and it was so.

30: And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.

Family Safety Homeschool Unit-Part 2

Part 2 of our Safety Unit started this morning with a visit to a local preschool, where Officer Bobby from our town's police department was scheduled to speak to the class. Officer Bobby took the kids through the basics...don't talk to strangers, say "no" to drugs, and tell the police if you see something bad. Then he moved on to the most compelling part of his presentation (besides the obligatory giveaways at the end) where he showed us his Kevlar vest and described what he carried on his belt: gun, tazer, handcuffs (in two sizes), baton, knife, radio, 2 extra magazines loaded with .40 caliber hollow-point bullets (Officer Bobby made a point to share that it was far better to have too much ammo than not enough, and I couldn't agree with him more). And finally, he took the band of preschoolers outside to take turns sitting in the squad SUV, and beeping its siren...ooooh, ahhhh!

As the 15 or so preschoolers attempted to demonstrate their "good listening skills" for Officer Bobby, my head filled with a thousand leading questions with which to ambush this police spokesman, but as I looked around the preschool at the shiny little indoctrinated faces of children and teachers alike, I thought better of it and asked instead, "So, how much does all that gear you wear weigh?" LAME.

Ok, so I chickened out, but let's face it, friends, in our current political climate, if I had asked half the questions that came to mind, I'm sure I would have pulled into my driveway to find social workers on my doorstep ready to ask a few questions of their own.

After all, who really cares if a citizen's constitutional rights are violated if it means the rest of us feel safer? Who cares that police routinely operate outside the constraints of the law in order to provide us with the appearance of "security"? No one even notices that "law enforcement officer" has now somehow mutated into "community safety officer" encouraging us to abdicate our divine right to protect ourselves and our property to a disinterested third party.

But I digress...let's just say that, in spite of my inability to ask the probing questions during the preschool safety lecture, this portion of the Safety Unit I have edited very carefully for my own kids. In fact, the bundle of free schwagg we left the presentation with was chock full of implications about our dependence on police for personal safety and the supposition that all people arrested by the police are indeed guilty, so we will refrain from using them for their coloring book magnificence, and instead use them as fodder for the firepit.

In defense of poor Officer Bobby, who was on "Preschool Education Detail" in part because of a recent knee surgery, he never did hit upon any of the red flagged buzzwords I was primed to pounce on. I never heard him say "Police are here to keep you safe", and he didn't come across like a roided out nutcase with a power complex. Quite the opposite. He was a soft spoken, humble, Iraq vet who told the kids he became a police officer because he liked to help people. Kudos to the Department for employing one of the good guys.

Family Safety Homeschool Unit-Part 1

This week we decided to do our homeschool unit on Safety. Last fall, we went through some fire safety basics, but as the kids get older, I find they're more able to grasp the concepts so I believe it's important to reinforce and expand on what they already know...especially in the life-saving skills arena. 

After reading several books from the library on fire safety we discussed each kid's evacuation plan.  We learned how to touch a doorknob to see if it was hot, and talked about the options if it was. I took them over to each window in their rooms and, while I may regret this later, demonstrated how to open it & pop the screen so they could jump out. We agreed that in an emergency, we would meet down at the playground, some 50 yards from our house and well out of the path of any fire-related traffic.

Once I figured the kids knew how to get out in an emergency, we decided to do some "drills" to practice leaving the house in heavy smoke conditions. Each kid took turns being blind folded and then finding their way from their room to the front door on hands and knees. I even did it once from my room. They had a blast.

While Boy was able to cruise around and ultimately find the exit, he did bump his head a few times on the furniture...this was a very effective way for him to learn to get his hands out in front of him. Little Sister, on the other hand was brilliant at this game...so good, in fact that I kept checking to see if she was peeking.

After we all had a chance to practice, I pulled out the stopwatch and started timing them. Boy ran it in about a minute, less time if I was coaching. Little Sister went from her room to the front door, on hands and knees, BLINDFOLDED in 34 seconds. I have to admit it makes me feel much better to know that my kids can get out that fast in the smoke and dark if they needed to.

To wrap up our lesson, we discussed the two things fire needs to keep burning and methods that grown ups use to put fires out.  Sadly, while we had a tour of the fire station scheduled for today, Little Sister woke up with a sniffle this morning so we rescheduled.

Tomorrow, we address "personal safety" and get to meet a real police officer. I'm excited to ask him a few choice gun-related, personal defense questions, since in my experience, police officers usually prefer gun control to bunches of well armed citizens. It should be interesting to hear what he says, and of course, I will share my findings.