Fall Canning

After some (crazed) success with summer jam and fruit canning, I decided to try at it again.

I had been hoping to can my own tomatoes, but the weather had other plans and so we got barely enough to chop over a few salads. I also grew up with home-canned pears and they were a great comfort when I was away at college.

In anticipation of some weekend canning, I made sure to buy my pears and tomatoes mid-week so they could ripen. By Friday the pears had my kitchen smelling soooooo good.

I followed the canning directions from the great resource PickYourOwn.org. I followed these pear directions and these tomato directions.

The flats were both about 20 pounds (then I bought about 5 pounds more of tomatoes, ya know, because I was worried it wouldn’t be enough….).

I used about 15 pounds of the pears and made 9 quart jars with a bit to spare for snacking :)

I also used about 20 pounds of the tomatoes (then ran out of jars!), making 12 pints of plain tomatoes.

And 12 jelly jars of Italian tomatoes (mixing in a few tablespoons of minced garlic and a few teaspoons of Italian herbs with each bowlful batch).

And I still have a ton pears and tomatoes left over. Hmmmm… looking into some pear butter and tomato basil sauce recipes for next weekend.

Curb Appeal Work-In-Progress

Finally, finally we have a presentable front yard. Our new neighbors, along with ourselves, couldn’t be happier.

Of course in examining the “after” photos, I quickly saw a bunch more projects and things to complete before we truly have the house front of our dreams.

Here’s what we got going on right now. Lush green grass, bushes, a  few flowers, and some baby lavender bushes under the bay window. A million times better than on move-in day, and about a billion times better than the day the Google Maps van drove by (ugh…. its like the  HORRIBLE driver’s license photo that you’re totally stuck with for years…).

Still a bunch to do to make it “dream home” status:

Repaint garage trim (maybe garage doors too- not sure)
Replace front lights and house numbers
Restain front door, add brushed nickel kickplate
Find a tall narrow planter for front step
Bookend front window with large evergreen bushes
Pressure wash ev-er-y-thing (driveway, siding, roof)
Lay mulch, bark chips, something down around bushes

In time, in time : )