Busy Weekend

Yesterday, Saturday, J brought a bucket of peaches from two scrawny trees that we never thought would bear again, what with the spring freezes just when the trees have bloomed. Well, whatever else the weather has wrought this year, several things have outdone themselves with almost more than we can take care of. Hurriedly, I pared and sliced and put peaches in the freezer, hoping for some cobblers if nothing else. I can't believe it! The peaches were so nice that I am thinking it would be great to save the seeds and transplant the seedlings to the tree farm where they can do as they please or not. Anyway, as a lark, I dumped several seeds in the leaf bin where the leaves are still moist/wet, and as we see many oak seedlings sprouting there, we just hope to get a few trees from these heirloom peaches. Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess.

This afternoon, with the ox being in the ditch so to speak, I am making tomato paste from some tomatoes that I surely don't want to let waste. I am using the directions from the Ball Blue Book, and although that is fairly easy to do, it does take a little time to cook the juice down to about half volume. It is so delicious. I'm canning that in pints and didn't let it cook all the way to paste, so it will be delicious to heat a mug of that this winter, add a few spices, and enjoy! Admittedly, I am a tomato freak....

We're getting ready for a visit from our three children this coming weekend. Unfortunately, the spouses won't be able to be here and perhaps only three grandchildren, but we plan a feast of Southern veggies with a few extras thrown in. That will have to include cornbread, and I have a new bag of Sunflower cornmeal mix and a container of buttermilk all waiting to cook up a pone of bread. That is the only brand of mix I use, period. In one way it is sad that we don't have cornbread often, but on the other hand it saves us calories. J is diabetic and can't tolerate most breads, so I usually don't tempt him by having that around. We'll just have to go to Plan B here, because with certain veggies, you just do have cornbread.

I don't know how many veggies will be ready to "put up" this coming week. I will do something if I have to sit up at night and get that done; however, I canned a dozen pints of a combination of green beans and shelled beans--those that had gone on to mature. I think I am caught up on that for now, but probably there will be more cranberry beans and Christmas butterbeans, as well as a few lima beans. Maybe J will be able to help some with that. He has arthritis in his right shoulder, I have a left shoulder rotator cuff problem that failed surgical treatment, so we are a pair of bookends and it takes both of us to do some things. I will be collecting plenty of okra for family this week. I have marinated that in buttermilk and rolled in cornmeal and deep fried. It doesn't get better than that. We will have to go on a very limited fat diet right after this week!

I hear the timer, so it is time to remove the jars from the hot water canner. So pretty!