Aug. 17, 2006 - And the pears have it!
So this past week has been fun. My in-laws (whom I love dearly) are gone so I can pretend it's my house for a bit. Being able to converse with my dh in any room we choose has been nice, and I get to have the kitchen all to myself! Typically, it's rather hard to keep up on kitchen duty with another person using it, but this week it's been only me. :)
We had a jillion pears in the fridge from a recent pear picking. It was driving me a little nuts because things were shoved in haphazardly to make room for the pears. I like things organized and in their place. The fridge was not neat, and certainly not organized. So, since I had the kitchen to myself I decided to experiment and make some pear butter. My MIL had made some but, I didn't really care for it. I had never had pear butter before trying hers, so I decided to hit "All Recipes" and see if they had a recipe I could reference- MIL doesn't "do" recipes so I could not reference hers.
The pears were breeding in the drawers- SOMEthing had to be done. So while the baby was napping I was happily reaquainting myself with my more creative side.
I had never "canned" anything before, though I had seen it done. It worked! The pear butter turned out quite good with the hint of OJ and orange zest xand the jars all sealed. I now have a "jump" on Christmas! I prefer baking and giving such items, thoguht i don't tend to when I am not in my own house. So the thought of giving a little of myself is a fun. In fact, I have enough pears for more butter.... :)
I enjoy cooking but I don't do things here as I would do in my own kitchen such as making wheat bread regularly, and cooking the more involved recipes. The kitchen just isn't set up for how I cook, so at times it feel like I'm trying to run in sand when cooking. It's more of a chore. (I'm truly not complaining, just expressing the little emotional/spatial vacation I'm feeling :)
Now- if I could only feel and get organized mentally and emotionally to get back in the swing of Home Schooling..... :) I am working on it. I am getting some long ignored tasks done. Since I am an "everything in it's place " type person, freeing my brain up from my mental task list is very helpful- I feel freer to begin new things, such as Home School. I am a photo hobbiest (read: I photograph a TON of things) and one of my meantal tasks was to back up all my photos/ videos. I'm a lot less stressed that my photos will disappear into neverland now. It's amazing how much better I feel having done that chore.
And now... I must go fold laundry.
