Good News for Johnny Smiles

I am smiling from ear to ear. It has been a great week.  Two wonderful things happened.

Our grandson, Johnny, turned 17  and got a call from the President of the  USA Gymnastic  committee telling him……

….That he was being put on the USA National team.

Johnny and all of us are thrilled.

Even though he came in 7th in the nation at the P & G Championships in August, he did not find out that he had made the team until last week.

Johnny has worked  hard for this every since he was a little boy.

Johnny about 7

Johnny at 17. 

Since he was a young boy, it has been his goal to be on the USA Olympic team.

He is well on his way. If he can continue on this path, hopefully he will see his lifelong dream come true in 2016.

WELL DONE DEAR JOHNNY!

 I ‘m sending hugs and best wishes to all of you.

Remembering 9/11 with Apple Pie

We will never forget the terrible events of 9/11 that took place twelve years ago in NYC or last year in Benghazi . I have been watching replays on T.V. for the past few days. My heart is saddened as I think of the lives that were lost and all the pain caused by these events.  None of us will ever be the same as we were before the attacks.

My heart is tender today…. I’ve been touched as I’ve seen flags flying. I love the United States of America. I’m sad that some countries hate us and want to destroy us.  But, instead of sitting around being sad today, I decided to do something American….

… Bake apple pie…. what is more American than that?

If you read my last post you know that our apples ripened early this year and I canned a lot of them last week. Smelling the applesauce cooking made John hungry for apple pie but after working 2 days canning, I couldn’t look another apple in the face until today.

 

So we got out the peeler again and got busy.

Apple pie is easy to make. I used 7 apples for each pie. I added 3/4 cup sugar, 2 Tbl. of flour, 2 tsp. of cinnamon, dash of nutmeg and a dash of salt.

I wanted to do a crumb crust so I mixed a cup of flour with 1/2 sugar, 1 tsp. of cinnamon and 3/4 cube of butter until crumbly

My neighbor, Katie, wanted to learn how to make pie so I got to pretend I was back at school teaching cooking again.

I wish all of my students had been as good as Katie at following directions and working hard. She is a fast learner!

We each made one crumb crust and one regular crust pie. We baked them at 400 degrees for 50 minutes.

They look good…..And they taste better!

I ask earlier what was more American than apple pie????

The answer is--- Apple pie and ice cream.

And my friends… that was my patriotic contribution on this day of 9/11 remembering. It might not seem like much of a way to be patriotic but it left a sweet taste in my mouth.

Hugs, Lura

The apple of my eye…. how to can apples smiles

Actually I should say…..

Apples of my eye because we got two big trash cans full of them from our trees. They usually ripen around November just in time for Thanksgiving applesauce and pies but not this year…no…no…no…

They had to ripen during the hottest week of the year and could not wait to be canned.

So with it scorching hot outside, Grampy and I set out to can our apples.

It is really easy to can applesauce or pie apples but it takes quite a bit of time if you are doing a lot of apples.

1. Wash your apples

2. Peel , core and slice them. We like to use our Pampered Chef peeler which does all 3 of these tasks at one time and saves lots of your energy.

3. Put peeled apples into a vinegar/ salt bath to prevent them from darkening. I put 2 T. of each for each gallon of water.  Rinse apples in clear water before cooking.

4. Put about 3 cups of water in the bottom of a large cooking pot and then add your apples. I always fill the pot as full as I can get it since I am canning hundreds of apples. Cook on high but stir to be sure there is enough water in the bottom to prevent scorching. Add water as needed.

5. Cook until the apples are soft. If you are cooking a large pan full this will take several minute. When the apples are soft, use a hand blender or mixer to mash them up. We like uneven texture so I don’t worry about getting all of the lumps out.  Add sugar and cinnamon to taste. The amount of sugar you add depends on the tartness of your apples. Our apples are pretty tart so I added a little less than 1/4 cup sugar to each qt. (About 1 3/4 cups sugar to each pan of applesauce.)

6. Have your clean canning jars ready to fill. Always use regular canning jars. I use both Ball and Kerr. Don’t use left over mayonnaise jars because they may crack during the canning process. Fill your jars up to 1 inch from the top of the bottle with the hot applesauce. Wipe off each jar rim before you put the lid on.

7. Screw the lids on firmly but not hard. If you screw them on too hard the lids will not seal.

8. Put the filled jars into a water-bath canner or a steam canner.  We use this steam canner because it is much faster than using a water-bath canner and does not make the kitchen nearly as hot. You can not use a steam canner for everything but it is OK for apples. Do not cover up the steam holes with your bottles. After you put the lid over the bottles watch for the steam to come out. Let the jars steam for 20 minutes.  Be careful when you take off the lid because the steam and jars are very hot.

After canning all day yesterday we still had 1/2 our apples left. We invited our cute little neighbor, Katie, and a friend from church, Susan, to come over and can.  I didn’t get a picture of Susan but this is Katie. She was a great student and learned fast. Her little family is excited to get her delicious apple sauce.

We canned 58 qts.  Don’t they look yummy??

After getting all of the applesauce done, John said…..”Wouldn’t apple pie taste good” Oh no…. I’m tired….. I can’t look another apple in the eye tonight….

However, Katie does want to learn how to make apple pies…. so… that is on the agenda for tomorrow or Friday. Come on over and have a piece with us.

(or as my friend Nancy suggested we could go to Marie Callenders)

They say “An apple a day keeps the doctor away” …. but I can tell you that hundreds of apples a day can put  you in the hospital! lol

Have a great week.  Hugs, Grammy Lura