Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Canning in the RV


Who would think that I would be canning in the RV! Well, I canned some pickled beets over the weekend. The last time I canned, I made jelly...which was a couple years ago...it was sort of funny. I didn't have a canner so I used a regular pot. I think I put knives on the bottom so the jars wouldn't touch the bottom and there were knives between the jars. Now that I look back at it it was so funny! There was water boiling over onto the little stove in the RV. There was not only jelly made but also jam. Boy, was I proud of myself. There were 18 jars when I was finished. Twisting a cheesecloth to get the juice out was another challenge.


Now, I have once again have a canner and all the other gadgets you need to can. Of course, I did have those when I was in our house but we sold them because there was no way I was ever going to be able to can in a motorhome.


The sweet corn is in so I will go out there on Saturday and pick some. I have never canned corn but I usually freeze it. Lots of blanching and with so little counter space it really can easily become cluttered. Since there isn't that much room in the RV freezer I may try to can some...we'll see. Skip has asked if I could make some bread and butter pickles so that will be a project next week. Of course, the jam still has to be made.



When I was younger I use to can tomatoes and even make tomatoe juice. Don't think I'll be that adventurous this year. It was wonderful when we had a garden...maybe we will put one on our lot in Oregon next year.


Still trying to cook as much as possible but tonight was a brat dinner at the clubhouse. Skip and a bunch of men did all the cooking. It was a nice break.









Friday, August 12, 2011

August 12, 2011



So much has happened to us since last year. We have a beautiful new Granddaughter named Ruby. She was born in May and we were lucky enough to be there for her birth. We miss her and her parents and can't wait to see them again. Thanks to the internet we can watch her grow in pictures.



The other 6 grandchildren are all getting ready to go back to school. Four will be in college and two are in high school. The ones in college will be in Arizona, Illinois, California and Ohio. The two in high school are in California. They sure grow up fast!


We did a lot of traveling last year when we left Oregon. We visited California, Nevada and Arizona where we were able to see all of our children. We spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas and Christmas in California. In November, we went to a taping of the Regis and Kelly show in Las Vegas. We also went to the Pawn Star shop...they have a show on TV. That was lots of fun. In April, we joined a friend at Harrah's in Las Vegas for a Birthday lunch at the Oyster Bar. It is always fun to get together with a good friend. We spent one week in the foothills of the Sierra's where it rained for 6 out of 7 days. We spent a month in Arizona and then went up to Nevada where we spent 4 months. After Ruby was born. we drove to California for Jessica's high school graduation. In June, we headed to Oregon for the summer.



Our time in Oregon has been very busy with volunteering and enjoying time with friends. There are so many activities to do at the park that we are constantly busy. We have a coffee group, a couple of happy hour groups, a craft group and a Friday night dinner group. Retirement is so very busy and we just love it. We took some time and went over to the coast for a day. The Oregon coast is just beautiful.



The Oregon farms are abundant with fresh produce right now. The farm I go to has lots of flowers and old furniture and farm implements. They also have a shop where you can buy jams, jellies and chutney. I picked beets, green beans and summer squash a couple weeks ago. Tomorrow we will go pick again. I have decided to can pickled beets and make bread and butter pickles. The blackberries grow wild up here and I will be making jelly and jam. I have already frozen blueberries. Sounds like I'll have my hands full.




There is a block party coming up the first part of September and a crab rally coming up the end of September on the coast. Then we will head back to California and maybe Nevada and Arizona. Nothing is for sure yet. You never know where we will end up. Once we went to Reno for a function and ended up in Maine. That was so much fun so you can never tell where we will go.