Full of It....

Home-canned goodies that is. It was another really successful weekend canning and the like. It started on Wednesday with another 15# box of green beans from Yoder's fruit stand. It yielded 21 pts and 7 qts. We had green beans on Saturday and boy were they delicious. I placed an order today for the Wednesday. The prices are even better if you buy the whole box. I ordered canning tomatoes (25#), Walla Walla onions (50#), Yukon gold potatoes (50#), and another box of green beans (15#). I'm really beginning to get alot of yellow summer squash and zucchini from my garden. Send all your awesome recipes my way. My squash casserole and fried squash are the families current favorites. If anyone wants the squash casserole recipe, I will be glad to post it, just let me know.

On Friday, the kids and I went huckleberry picking with our friends the Meyers. If you don't know what a huckleberry is, it is a wild blueberry. They are plentiful in Idaho and are really yummy. This was my first year to ever pick huckleberries. Last year I bought 3 gallons at $32.00 a gallon. Not this year. The kids and I probably picked close to that much. I made 14 half-pints of jam and froze 4 - 1 qt bags. The jam is so good. We had some this weekend on top of home-made ice-cream. A Homesteading Neophyte inspired me to dust off the old ice-cream freezer. I made two freezers full this weekend. Needless to say, it was a huge hit. This is a picture of Katlyn's bowl of home-made vanilla ice cream with

huckleberry jam drizzled over the top. It was so good. After picking the huckleberries, I picked two pails full of raspberries off Jen's bushes. They are loaded and are so sweet and delicious. The raspberries became jam, 2 fresh raspberry pies, and a raspberry cobbler. Thanks Jen for sharing with us. You guys are a blessing to our family.

It feels really good to be in the kitchen fixing real home-made food for my family. I love being creative and trying new things. I want to continue to stretch myself and learn new things. For example, this is my first year to ever pressure can. Previous I only had a water bath canner. I feel proud to have gained some mastery over that scary rattling monolith and to have even shared the skill with my kids. They have been a huge help - both in watching, timing, moving the heavy pot, moving the newly canned jars into long-term storage, and well you get the picture. In every facet we approach things as a family. In my opinion that is how a homesteader does things.....together.

Please share your creations with me. I believe that is also part of being a homesteader and that is community. Belonging and sharing. Being a giver. I look forward to your comments.