you know...

...i'm the type of person that really seems to enjoy creating more work for myself. i made the entire thanksgiving dinner this year. lots of fanciness:
devils on horseback
ham and gruyere thumbprints
herb and cheese palmiers
caramelized onion tartlets
berry citrus punch----yes, even punch
maple brined turkey
gravy
creamed leeks with parmesan crumbs
herbed mashed potatoes
corn
green beans
baked beans
sweet potatoes
rolls
cranberry apple butter bars
maple pecan pie

i even went to the trouble of styling the food on carefully chosen plates. sounds good right? i then proceeded to not bother to take a single photograph, even though that was the entire plan.
so, i have no photos to show you, but everything was a major hit.
....in my defense, the appetizers did keep flying off the trays literally as fast as they came out of the oven...

this is the remnants of the cranberry apple butter bars

pears, pears, pears

i will be seeing pears in my sleep tonight. today i peeled, cleaned and diced the first pile of pears i picked the other day. 3/4 of a gallon bucket of tiny pears down, 3/4 of the tree still to harvest and prepare. decided to freeze them to make jelly, butter and other goodies later in the week maybe.
i've still got a crate full of apples to clean and three more trees to pick.
these projects always seem like a good idea before i'm actually in the middle of doing them...

pear crisps

started harvesting the pears and apples off the trees the other day. today i made pear crisps out of some of the pears. this was super quick and easy to make and so good still warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

a review of some recent new jellies i made this year

from l to r:

white clover jelly:
sweet and mild with just a bit of tang to it

cantaloupe jam:
i am not really a cantaloupe person, but i actually liked this jam. it is sweet and tasted to me somewhere between cantaloupe and apricot

red clover jelly:
this is sweet and reminded me of a cross between jelly and honey in flavor

queen anne's lace jelly:
this is sweet with just a hint of honey aftertaste

im declaring it official.
i prefer animals to people.
i keep trying, but people just keep disappointing me and animals never have,
except when the pee on my stuff..
but i think id still take that sometimes over what people do

things have changed..

this year isnt going as planned. want to talk about it but dont want to either

year end review

I thought I’d make my last blog of the year about some of the good things that happened this year.
I went from never having done a craft fair, to doing five this year.
My list of shops that carry my line of products keeps growing.
I got to hand raise six wonderful kittens. Hadn’t done that in a while.
My parents finally got a new dog after a few years without one.
I planted my biggest garden to date.
Made tons of pickles and other canned items.
Made elderberry jelly with my grandma.
Baked and baked tons of new things.
Finally taught myself to crochet.
Went camping for the first time in a long time.
Took tons of photographs again.
Did lots of paintings I was actually happy with.
Took several trips to hang out in Chicago.
Got to go to a bunch of the mr’s shows and even traveled a few times with the band.
Spent another great year hanging out with my grandma.
And of course, met my mister.
Lots of other things happened, but those were a few highlights.
Some things I’m looking forward to in the new year:
Marrying the mister.
My grandma turns 90.
Finally having our first place together with the mr.
Expanding my business to include new types of items.
Planting an even BIGGER garden this year.
Lots more pickling/canning/jelly making.
Tons of creating every day.
More camping with my favorite camping companion.
Spontaneous road trips.
A year full of more happiness and surprises than I can imagine.
Perhaps even a bambino.