Canning

This year my sister drove 6 hours with her 2 children to spend the weekend with me canning. We had lots help from Grandma Hopkin, Mom, and Dad which makes the process go faster. First, Grandma Hopkin caught Riley throwing his sword off his bed into the boxes grrrr, notice the cute little jack-o-lantern pear below. We had to keep the boxes of fruit in his room because it's the warmest room in the house. I was trying to incubate them so they would be ready when Fara got here. I can't blame it all on Riley though, Lauryn had her kitchen set out and left many fork and knife marks in them too. It was pretty humorous when we found the jack-o-lantern though, we will never forget the battle wounds of canning this year.

I also canned apple butter for the first time and it was quite the experience. I had no idea what I was doing and about dumped the first batch down the drain because it was so running. Grandma Hopkin convinced me to keep cooking it, so I cooked it uncovered, on low, overnight in my crock pot and finally in the morning it was thick. I'm so glad I listened to her. After the first batch I made some changes and the next two batches were much faster. Riley absolutely loves it, so I guess it was worth all of my time.