It's been a busy week here on the Central Coast! How can the days fly by so quickly! I enjoyed a visit from my sister-in-law (who lives too far away, IMHO), a scorching day on the beach, reading the classics with our girls, completing this year's math workbook (E) and getting closer to the end (V), games, new found friends at the newly joined gym, exercised, worked on The Book. (Have I said yet how MUCH stuff there is to do in Santa Barbara!? MY word I'm tired of this chapter!)
At farmers' market early this week I asked a local strawberry farmer where I might get some canning berries. He offered to deliver them to the following day's market just up the road. A flat, already topped, for 10 bucks. (Fresh-picked berries go for $2-$3.50 per basket here at this time of year.) So, today was a hallmark day in our kitchen - the girls and I made good use of all the canning equipment we received for Christmas to make our first big batches of strawberry squish!
We had a heyday in the kitchen making four batches of strawberries n' something: strawberry jam; strawberry-kiwi jam; strawberry-lemon marmalade; back to jam again. I have enough strawberries to make two more batches of straight jam in the morning. (I ran out of SUGAR so I couldn't finish tonight! WHEW! WHO KNEW how much SUGAR these recipes took!? WOWzer!)
The girls are doing really well with their horseback riding and are looking forward to their first gymkhana-style fun day this Saturday morning. Interested in watching? Give me a ring or drop me an e-mail and I'll give you the details. I got to ride this week, too, and really enjoyed being back in the saddle again, if only at a walk.
Last weekend, we celebrated Mother's Day with a camping trip to Lake San Antonio for a rally with the Fiberglass RV crew. Really nice people, but no other children, and most of the group members were retirees, so I felt a bit out of place. Still, they were friendly and full of ideas about what might be done with a trailer as old as ours. Mr. B, the girls and I spent most of our days on the shores of the lake, or swimming across its arms, or picking up bottles. Yep...lots of glass bottles!
More proof that I'm not "normal": On Mother's Day I enjoyed a spa treatment given me by my girls. Passers by would have seen little girls pouring bottle after bottle of beer on a woman lounging on shore. The 50+ bottles were covered in algae or mineral build up, clearly well aged. In fact, the girls and Mr. B had plotted together as we gathered the recyclables along shore. Through the course of the weekend, they rinsed the bottles in lake water, filled them, then lined them up on shore to warm in the sun. These were the staples for my Mother's Day Spa.
That's right...I allowed my small children to pour on me sun-warmed lake water and related flora and fauna collected in castoff bottles, and I ENJOYED it. Yes, truly enjoyed it. The birds were singing. The family was together. Everyone was relaxed and happy.
Plus, the water was warm.
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I would love to see some of your pectin-free jam recipes- how long do they last???
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