The Big...Really Big City

Elizabeth and I are on an adventure in the big big city of Dallas/Ft. Worth living it up with lots of swimming and sight seeing. For the first time ever we are staying in an extended stay hotel. Our room has sliding doors with a lovely view of the pool.We are cooking in a miniature kitchen which has been fun and a little like camping.
We have had to improvise and make do with what we have. While making pancakes I had to use a pot as a mixing bowl for pancake batter.
Why are we on this adventure? Well, it's a long story but basically Jonathan needed me while he finishes up his internship/job; so Elizabeth and I are taking in local attractions and having a blast.

Mini Make Over

We have needed to replace our old worn out pull shades for quite some time. They work well for keeping out the afternoon sun/heat but I was tired of dealing with the brittle faded fabric/plastic and wanted a better solution.My mom suggested I go visit Big Lots to see what they offer and I found bamboo shades for 7-dollars each! I love how they let in light and so far they seem to be blocking the heat from the sun; but I'm not positive yet since yesterday was a little cloudy.

Next I grouped all of my plants on a woven table runner that I picked up used last year. Then I trimmed back one of my over sized plants, wrapped another plant around a piece of bamboo that Elizabeth brought into the house and lastly hung the very long vines of two ivy plants along the ceiling.Now the porch has an "outdoors" feel to it and I am pretty excited about the transformations.

Summer Cooking

I always dread cooking in the kitchen during hot summer days. The thought of heating up the house while slaving over a hot stove is so unappealing. However, I never mind standing over a hot fire while getting covered in smoke.It must be because the food is so much better!

Our Peachy Bounty

My week long peach harvest is coming to an end. Along with many, many jars of peaches, preserves and jelly I also have many, many quart bags of peaches in the freezer.We have one tree left to be harvested but the peaches are not ready yet and I have several container of peach juice in the freezer to be used for jelly or syrup when I have extra time to work with it.

Peach Jelly

I have been working on jelly which is one of my favorite parts about canning.The darker jelly is from the boiled skins and the lighter jelly is more of a fruit preserve. They are both fantastic!

Peach Milk Shake

To vanilla ice ream add fresh chopped peaches;A little peach syrup;

And blend.

This is absolutely the best milk shake ever!

Peach Progress

This year, along with canning, I have decided to freeze some of the peaches. Freezing is very fast and I am curious which will make a better cobbler; canned or frozen?Instead of feeding the peach peels right away to the chickens I decided to make juice with them first. Simply place peelings into a large pot, be sure to discard the pits, add water and simmer.

I like to simmer until the skins are very limp and have lost most of their color.

Drain; I use a colander for this.

This juice will be used to make jelly.