Apple Rings

My dehydrator is getting a work out at the moment. I have been drying orange  rounds purely for decoration, and apple rings for eating.

My children love eating  apple rings by themselves or on cereal in the mornings for breakfast. I love them in my muesli. With the season of Gala apples so short, it is also a great way to preserve them for the rest of the year ( if they last that long!) . My next job is to get my Granny Smiths into jars as apple sauce, and maybe as a chutney or relish.

 I am trying to replace our store bought sauces, like tomato, BBQ, and Steak, with homemade relishes and preserves, so I need to find recipes while it is apple season, because apples seem to be a staple ingredient in many homemade sauces. When I was growing up we didn't use many condiments at all, so making them is all very new to me. So  my challenge for this autumn is to try out new recipes.

  God Bless,

 Jenny

I am a career homemaker. I originally studied Nursing, and worked as a nurse for some years at a little country hospital. When I married Andrew, my career changed, and I became a stay at home wife and mum.

 I love homemaking, I love the potential that it holds. Potential to develop so many different skills. I sew and knit, make quilts for all our beds, I make candles and soap, but the majority of my time is spent in the kitchen. I want to give my family the best meals that I can, so I cook from scratch using the best ingredients that I can find. Sometimes I go to the local markets and buy locally produced fruit and vegetables. I try to buy organic where I can. I am fortunate that I have access to reasonably priced apples and pears, and seasonal stone fruit, that I buy in bulk and are organic, but on the whole, organic food is expensive food!

 In  Australia it seems that our grocery prices are climbing higher and higher, and in a large family like my own, my grocery money is often our largest 'bill' in our fortnight. So I am trying to reduce it.

  I could easily buy processed foods. They seem to be cheaper than whole foods, but I don't want to give my family all those additives.  The next best thing  would be to make our vegetable garden more productive.

  In summer we have bumper crops of corn and beans, which is wonderful. But as the colder weather approaches, my enthusiasm for gardening decreases. It shouldn't. Our winters are quite mild, and we can grow many things, but the lure of quilting gets me every time. There is nothing like snuggling under a quilt that you're in the process of quilting!

  So my goal for this Autumn/winter is to keep our vegie garden going, and to produce as much of our own food as possible.  Red and green cabbages, Savoy cabbages ( I always think that those crinkly leaves look so lovely on a plate), beetroot, and maybe parsnips. Peas to eat and sweet peas for flowers because they smell so nice!   Probably some winter lettuce, and definitely broccoli and cauliflower. If I can grow all that, I will be pleased.

  God Bless,

  Jenny

Weekend

What a weekend we have had in our busy household. Easter celebrations and a birthday!

 I love easter, seeing the excited faces of my little ones as they come out first thing on easter morning and see their chocolate bunny sitting on the table. I love seeing their little bodies wiggle in anticipation of the easter egg hunt. But most of all I love reading the easter story. On Good Friday, reading how Jesus died on the cross for us so that we could go to heaven to live with him, and on Easter Sunday, reading how He came back to life.

 This year, as an added extra to our celebrations, the children made easter hats. (Actually, I made the hats, they just decorated them!)

  We also had a birthday this weekend. In the middle of all the easter hoohaa  Nicholas turned six!

    Blowing out the candles!

 What a blessed weekend.

  God Bless,

    Jenny

Our Days

Today. Our lives are full of Todays. Days that are full of ordinary happenings... getting up, making up beds (or washing sheets because your 5 year old wet the bed!), getting meals for hungry tummies, both old and young, sweeping the floor for the 3rd time because you served rice and we all know how that spills all over the floor :)

But Today is also full of cuddles and kisses from both young and old,  questions and wonderings, and bunches of flowers from fat little hands.

  I have been reading the book of Ecclesiastes of late, and it has reminded me that our lives are a gift from God, and we are to enjoy our days, especially the ordinary ones, because gifts are meant to be enjoyed.

  Have a lovely day,

  Jenny

Summer...

Summer is such a beautiful season, and bountiful too. This morning, the children and I helped Andrew in the garden. First we shucked corn, we had 40 cobs from about 30 plants. These are now in the freezer ready to be boiled and buttered  for future dinners.

  We then pulled the french beans out of the ground, and Emily and Nicholas went over them to get the last of the beans off. Just enough for dinner! The calendulas have finished flowering, so we picked the last flower heads for soap making. I made some calendula cream last week, but it smelt so bad, that nobody will want to use it. I really need to find a better recipe!

 

God bless,

 Jenny

Christmas

  I love this time of year! The christmas tree is up and the house is decorated.  The little ones had so much fun putting baubles on the tree - non breakable ones of course. Jess does the glass ones whilst the kids have their rest after lunch. Although this year, she was at uni so it was left to me.

  I haven't looked properly at our decorations for the last few christmas'. They bring back memories of where we got each one...the christmas shop in Mittagong, or the little  shop we found in Launceston. It seems where ever we go we find these little shops, chock full of christmas wonders, and now with the internet the world is my oyster........

  With the big day only a few days away, I have last minute sewing to do for stocking stuffers. We are giving the school aged children pencils and textas in their stocking this year, so I thought that I would make pencil cases toy go with them. Just simple rectangular bags, quilted with button closures. The boys also want "super capes" to play super heros in the backyard, so I will be doing them tonight.

  My christmas cooking is almost finished, I think I have made a least 10 doz. fruit mince tarts! Andrew does love them. The pudding is ready to be steamed tomorrow, and the turkey and ham should be delivered on thursday.

  Christmas can seem like a lot of work, but when I think about the childrens faces as they watch Andrew and I do a nativity play with puppets on christmas eve, or see their eyes sparkle as they watch the christmas lights display at our local park, it is all worth it.

  Merry Christmas from my family to yours,

  God Bless,

  Jenny
 

 

God made the little boys for fun, for rough and tumble times of play;

He made their little legs to run and race and scamper through the day.

He made them strong for climbing trees, He suited them for horns and drums,

And filled them full of revelries so they could be their father's chums.

   Edgar Guest