Linda Nelson

A busy day is always a good day. Today was one of them.

A friend/coworker of mine has fruit trees, peaches, pears, and crabapples. She asked me to take some of the fruit. I left her house with bags of peaches, pears and a few weeks ago crabapples. The rest of today was spent making something of them.

I started off with the crabapples. Two weeks ago, I used half the bag to make crabapple jelly. Today I turned the rest of them into applesauce. I did add one apple and a pear to the mix. I made enough for two pint jars – which is a serving for four in my house. We love applesauce, especially homemade.

Next, I started on the peaches. I had peaches left over from last year that I had sitting in the freezer. I decided to use these up first. Peaches are great keepers in the freezer. There’s no need to peel them, just pop them into a freezer bag with their skins intact and seal. The skin acts as a freezer burn barrier. These peaches are best used for cooking, of course. They keep very well.

I turned last year peaches into peach pie filling and canned two quarts worth. Each quart will fill 8 or 9-inch pie. It was very yummy. I had a bit leftover after canning and it was used for peach shortcakes. I’m thinking of making up a batch to use just for shortcake. I could can it in pint jars instead.

Next month will be apples and applesauce, probably made with Macs and Cortlands. Maybe I’ll even make some apple pie filling too.

Peach Pie Filling

6 pounds of peaches ½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 ¼ cups sugar 2 teaspoons lemon peel

½ cup flour ¼ cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Peel, pit and slice peaches. If you freeze them, just put the peaches in boiling water for a minute or two and then plunge them into cold water. The peels pop right off, just like when you do the same for tomatoes. Treat with stay fresh citric acid to prevent darkening. I used fruit fresh. You can buy this where pectin is sold in the grocery store. Combine sugar, flour and spices. Rinse and drain; stir into sugar mixture. Leave this to stand for 30 minutes. Stir in the lemon peel and lemon juice. Cook over medium heat until mixture begins to thicken. I cooked mine for almost 30 minutes. My peaches were pretty juicy to start. Ladle pie filling into two-quart jars and leave 1-inch headspace. Boil in a water bath with the water being one inch above the caps for 30 minutes. Let cool in water bath for 5 minutes before removing to finish cooling. Don’t tighten the screw bands down for 24 hours. That way you will be able to see if you have a proper seal.

Don’t forget to the label before storing away. I like to put the date on my labels too. I go to avery.com and print labels out on copy paper. Cut them out to the proper size – just a bit bigger than the screw on cap. Cover the labels with a piece of clear packing tape. This helps to keep them somewhat water resistant and readable. Slip under the screw on ring and you’re all set. No worry of taking labels off the jars when your filling is gone.

Do you can? What’s your favorite flavor? Do you use a water bath or pressure canners?

Sam, he wants nothing to do with pipsqueak Keelaa

Gracie recently departed at the age of 19. She lived a great life.

I’m an animal lover. Our home is blessed with two dogs, one cat and a flock of laying hens. We, not just the pets, are firm believers in table scraps for pets.
I’m not one for eating leftovers. Except for the special occasion of either pizza or Chinese food. I can eat the Chinese food cold, but the pizza has to be warmed up a bit to soften the cheese.
We don’t feed our dogs, or our cat can food. Do you know what goes into this stuff? Maybe the cat food is a bit safer if it is of the fish variety, but should he snub his nose at it, he’s done so for a good reason.
The dog food has gotten scary. Too many recalls have happened over the past ten years. The recalls aren’t all for canned food either. When dry food is recalled, there’s a problem. Many pets died a few years ago when food companies in China were using a product in the food that was banned in the United States. How these products were able to make it on the shelf in the first place with the added ingredient is beyond my understanding. Many pets died because of this food.
When something like this happens to human/people food, you better believe, the recall is quick. And if health problems related to the recall happen, the food company reimburses the individual promptly and adequately. This doesn’t happen where pets are concerned. Feed this food to your pets at yours and their own risks.

Have you ever taken a good look at what the canned dog food looks like? The stuff is nasty. You can see chunks of stuff in it that isn’t recognizable. Was that a piece of an intestine? I’m not sure. I wouldn’t eat that. How could you feed it to your loved one, your pet? They are part of your family too, aren’t they?
Recently a woman posted a picture of kibble she served to her dog. It had what she thought were strings coming out of the dry food kibble. Upon closer inspection, she found this to be not string but wires. Since when do we need to wire our pets? I wonder why Fido recently died in his sleep? Had he been suffering from a severe case of indigestion?
When did the pet food industry decide they needed to kill off their best customers? How is that good for business? It just doesn’t make sense.

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We feed our pets table scraps. Even when the vet says not to. If I eat it and it is good for me, then it has to be good for my pet. Except for those items that my pet is allergic to, like chocolate, avocados, grapes, and such. I tell my dogs they will break out in hives and get horrible bumps on their faces. They pout but accept the fact that these foods look delicious, but it’s just something we can’t share with them.
Our table scrap ratio is: older dog is 100 pounds there for she gets the equal portion to a five-year-old child. That’s not very much. Our other dog is no more than 25 pounds. She gets a portion equal to that of a one-year-old child. That’s even less, but enough to be equal to that of a meal.
We feed dry kibble on the side. – I know, yes. But I do look at it and make sure there are no foreign objects hiding within. This is their free for all food. They can eat as much as they like. Usually, they snack on it over the course of the day and wait for supper every night.
Hot days they’ve been getting to share a dish of vanilla ice cream. They love their ice cream. Other days their snack is popcorn. Don’t forget the seasoning, with olive oil and salt. They like it fixed the way you eat it.
We used to heat up our pets table scraps. Recently our little dog decided she would only eat cold food. That’s fine, it’s summer time anyway. She may change her mind when the cold weather comes rolling in, within the next few months.

Our pets are our family and we will always treat them as such. What we eat, they eat, because we love them so.