Smells Good

I finally filled my largest pot full of pear bits. Notice that I didn't say that I got all of my pears peeled and cut up. I still have pears left to process but since my pot was full and my arms were aching I quit peeling.

I am currently sitting here waiting on the pears to cook down. That will happen at about 3:00 in the morning. Then I can start canning them. Having to do this overnight was my own fault. I kept putting it off until I ran out of time. I should have been in the house working on the pears this evening instead of cutting weeds out from under the electric fence. It is just that I can't resist being outside.

I lost my pear preserve recipe from last year and it was a great recipe. So I had to find a new one for these pears. It is suppose to be an old pear preserve recipe but I am thinking that it will be more like pear butter.

Since the recipe was pretty boring, I decided to spice it up. I added lemon juice, cinnamon and allspice. It smells heavenly and I keep having to go over and spoon some out for tasting.

I'm Better Than This

I come before you in all humbleness, begging for your forgiveness. I have been pretty low as of late. A few weeks ago I finally had something to look forward to. I was so deliriously happy because things were looking up for us. I should have known that it was just a trick to bring me crashing down. I know that I should never look forward to a better life here on earth. It is a trap that always captures me, then I feel stupid because I am better than this, I have always known that I can't be optimistic.

I hope that I have finally learned my lesson and will try to remain true to myself and will not set myself up for anymore falls. I have always been a pessimist and I should not have been so foolish as to think that the light at the end of the tunnel was anything other than a train. It was just that this time it was a sure thing! All of the worry and waiting was over. Then it all just exploded in our faces.

So here we are, back where we are most comfortable, in the land of despair. Fields full of mouths to feed with no hay in sight for the winter. At least we have milk, eggs, tomatoes and pears (Thank you, Diane!) to eat. The good news is that I will probably never get osteoporosis because I get tons of calcium.

My Mother always said that I was a happy-go-lucky child, she didn't know the dark secret that I kept so well hidden.

With this post I have left my "feeling sorry for myself" behind and am ready to tackle the next struggle, pounds and pounds of pears to process and can.

Boiled Eggs

I haven't had the time to blog for a couple of days, my dear neighbor bought a new computer and I had to spent several hours at their house yesterday setting it up and installing things. Today I made pear jam, I canned 10 pints. The pears were wonderful this year, very abundant, healthy, worm free and sweet.

I finally got around to trying my fresh boiled egg experiment tonight. I read over my notes and tried a mixture of several methods. The eggs were very fresh, I boiled a pan of water with a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt added. Then I added two large eggs to the already boiling water with a pair of tongs. I boiled them for 12 minutes, then removed them to a bath of ice cold water with the tongs. After several minutes I removed them from the cold water and attempted to peel them.

The first egg was picture perfect, except for the fact that it needed another couple of minutes in the boiling water. It peeled very easily and looked nice, no discoloration and the shell had not cracked. I was thrilled that it had worked until I tried to peel the second egg. The shell did not want to let go this time. This was a great disappointment for me.

I am too tired to try it again tonight, so tomorrow I will try bringing the eggs to a boil and then removing them from the heat, covering them with a lid and let them set for 20 minutes. Then putting them in the freezer for 5 minutes.