I am a domestic goddess!

Don't let Kyle or my 4-year-old neighbor, Payton, tell you any different! Yes, I am storing up food for the winter. Last fall I canned tomatoes with my grandma (and loved it!) and this year I've canned peaches and frozen away corn and blueberries. Still to come this fall will be more tomatoes and applesauce.
My neighbor, Carol, cans just about anything she can pick. I was hanging out in their garage one evening and smelled the fabulous smell of bushels of peaches ripening. She and I started talking about canning and I decided I'd like to try it. A few days later she and I--along with two of her kids and her niece, Ashlyn and Maguire--went peach picking at a local orchard. I took home a whole bushel for less than $20! Then, the following weekend Carol and I spent almost an entire Saturday canning my peaches. So sweet of her to take that much time to teach me how to do it and let me use her canner. I ended up with 8 quart jars of peaches and 8 jars of jam. Mmmm! Of course, before canning them, I used some of the fresh peaches and made the most delicious fresh peach pie I've ever tasted...if I do say so myself ;) I can't wait to make another one!
Kyle claimed he didn't like peaches, but while feeding some to Maguire (who goes crazy for them!), he decided to be a "big boy" and try one...which led to another...which led to another. Guess he likes them! He's growing up ;)

At the orchard, playing in the crates and with the huge tractor tires

Maguire, Kayla, Payton, Heidi and Carol pickin' peaches

Maguire took his job very seriously! Nevermind that most of the peaches he "picked" were off the ground!

Child of the corn! The orchard had a little corn maze that Kayla and Heidi (the best neighbors/babysitters!) took the kids through.

The giant chair!

A cute little horse made of scrap wood--Carol, Maguire, Payton, Ashlyn, Heidi, Kayla

Today, while I was taking Ashlyn and Payton (Carol is Payton's aunt and she watches her while Payton's mom is at work. Carol and her family lives next door to us and Payton and her family live across the street from Carol. The dads are brothers.) to and from preschool, Carol went pear, plum and corn picking. She asked if I wanted any. I don't care for canned pears (too mushy!) and had no idea what I'd do with a bunch of plums, but I said I'd take some corn. She told me how to freeze it--cook as usual on the cob, cut the corn off the cob and stuff it in ziploc freezer bags. So simple! She asked if I wanted a bushel or half bushel. I said half. Good thing! A half bushel is 30 ears of corn, and all for just $6! We had some corn for lunch, then I gave a few ears to Kyle's uncle who came over tonight. When I cooked/bagged it all, I had 7 quart bags full to freeze!
I've always loved when Carol brings me a meal (for having a baby, because they have "extra", or whatever reason) because it usually includes her homemade applesauce. I'm not a huge fan of store bought applesauce--it's a texture thing for me. But homemade chunky applesauce is SO good! Well, this fall we're going to pick our own apples and then I'll spend another day with Carol making applesauce! So looking forward to it :)
I never thought I'd be a "canner", but it feels so good to have the finished product to show for your work. Not to mention the FRESH frozen/canned fruits/veggies we'll be able to eat throughout the winter! It's a lot of work, but I enjoy the process and enjoy spending the time with Carol, and with my grandma when we do tomatoes. That time is just as precious to me as the actual jars I end up with.
***Oh yeah, the reason I mentioned my neighbor Payton in the beginning is because of some things she said to me a week ago while at our house. She walked in, looked around at my "lived in" house and said, "This place is a mess!" Then she proceeded to point out things that were out and should've been put away! Now, I don't claim to be some master housekeeper--of wait, I did just claim to be a domestic goddess, crap--but next to Lisa, Payton's mom, I look like Peanuts' Pigpen!***