Grape Jelly!

Yesterday we were at mom's for most of the day, helping get several cords of wood put up. One of the big old maples on the west side of the property had been taken down last January and we finally got around to moving and stacking it all. Long morning, but we got it all done! Mom is psyched and will have wood for a few winters yet.

Along with some leftover chocolate cake from lunch, Mom also sent me home with a half-gallon jar of grape juice from the grapes that they have growing on an arbor near the barn. I used about three cups of it today to make some grape jelly, ending up with seven small jars.

Seven jars of jelly and a whole bunch more juice to use up

Adventures in Applesauce

I'm not always one for New Years' resolutions because I tend to forget them when life starts happening, but one thing I've mentally committed to since I (mostly) finished grad school was to finish things I had started or use up stuff that's been lying around waiting to become something.  I have several knitting and crafting projects that are nearly done and I've since acquired (or am in the process of acquiring) the materials needed to finish them.  More to follow on those!

One project I've been meaning to do for a while is to make some applesauce.  And by "a while" I mean since the late fall I've had a fridge-drawer full of apples awaiting consumption in some form other than straight out snacking on.  There were a couple of varieties in there, one bought from the orchard of a family friend over in Middlebury and the other from the local grocery here in town which happened to also be sourced from  an orchard on the other side of the mountain, in Shoreham. 

Homemade Christmas

The family decided at some point this past year to do homemade christmas, and keep it lowkey. Most of us followed the rules, and most of us waited until the last minute. Mom still hasn't completely finished a few things, but we got to see the assorted makings of said gifts.

Several of the things I made were requests or suggestions, and a few I had to come up with because the recipients were being most unhelpful ("I have no ideas. I just want to get rid of stuff"). I didn't wait until the last minute to get started, but I was definitely finishing at nearly the last mintute.

Without further ado, here are 2010's homemade christmas gifts.