Swimming in Sweetness

I use each and every summer to grow a garden that helps me have enough food to eat fresh and preserve for the coming winter.

Since I don't have any fruit trees of my own, however, I have to buy some of it elsewhere.

When I made my yearly call in April to the small orchard where I get my extra produce (Lodi apples for applesauce and peaches) I was told with the crazy spring we had, and all the freezes we had late in the season there would be NO apples, pears, OR peaches for me this year.

It's a matter of fact.

I heard the same thing about the concord grapes I make grape juice with.  I have my own vines, but we're just getting started, and I buy elsewhere to supplement all that I make.

What a blow.  What a shock.  Poor farmers who rely on this income yearly.

I felt slighted, and I had no reason to.

Each and everytime we heard the weatherman say there could be frost, Brent and I religiously went outside with the old sheets I keep for this very reason, and covered the strawberries and grapes.  It was a pain in the butt!

We covered every night but one.  Then we got a frost late in the morning, and it took all the grapes that I had started to get.  Everything was gone, shriveled up, brown.

I was heartbroken.  I was mad.  Just one time we didn't cover...

Fortunately, my grapes came back...but the apples, peaches, and pears are not in abundance for anyone this year.

I did find some the other day at one of the farmer's stands that I have frequented in the past.

They are from South Carolina and they are called Big Smile.  I tried them last year for the first time, and they were pretty much the same quality and taste as the Red Haven peaches I typically get in August.

Since I knew about the bad luck the farmers had this spring, I bought 1 bushel.  I knew I had to put something in my freezer for the winter.

Aren't they beautiful!

The smell when you walk in the kitchen is intoxicating!  And the peaches keep coming up missing.  I think I have peach thieves in my house!

So, for the last couple of days (that's right...peaches can't all be ripe at the same time unfortunately!)  I've been covered up to my elbows in peach juice, slicing and putting them in containers to freeze.

I have a secret recipe (that won't be secret any longer...) from one of my good friends.  She gave it to me a couple years ago, and I swear by it.  It's delicious, and when you pull the peaches out of the freezer in the middle of January, they taste completely fresh!

To get started, you'll need:

6 c water
4 c sugar
1 3oz. box peach jello (can be sugar free)

Warm this all together in a saucepot on the stove.  You don't have to get it boiling, but everything needs to be dissolved.  Then, you must let it cool completely!

Slice up your peaches and put them in whatever container your heart desires as long as it can be used in the freezer.  Leave at least 1/2" headroom at the top.  Pour your "peach juice" (above recipe) over the peaches,  leaving 1/2" headroom.  Put the lid on and pop in your freezer.  They taste amazing.  My son likes to eat them partially frozen, but I like mine thawed all the way.

We've been eating fresh lettuce, peas, zucchini (I also shred and freeze this) and soon cabbage, but the next I have to preserve is probably tomatoes and corn.

What are you enjoying eating right now?

P.P.S.  Somehow I totally screwed up my old format of my blog, and now it looks like this with a wonky header not in the middle.  If anyone knows how to help me fix this....PLEASE let me know!

-----signed,
           Desperate!

Cake...or Fruit anyone?

I finished another project. Check one off my ever growing list.

I really shouldn't look at magazines. They are my downfall....but I love them OH SO MUCH! Oh, and Pinterest.com. It's addicting.

Usually it goes like this. I see something in a magazine that catches my eye. Sometimes I will try to copy it exactly as is. Sometimes I'll put my own little spin on it. This was the case with this project.

I've had a dilemma surrounding my kitchen island (which is really the enamel-topped table I coveted of my sister's like forever...until she moved to South Carolina and gave it to me. Did I mention my sister is the best...YOU'RE the BEST JEN!) and the fruit/vegetables that are frequently laying around on it.

I have a fruit bowl, but it just holds the fruit. What about the avocados and tomatoes I often buy? Where do they go except all over the table!?

I've been seeing these 3-tiered plate stands for awhile now, in every possible configuration out there. Then I saw one made out of old cake pans. It was used for ribbon in a craft room, but a spark went off inside me, and I thought...THAT would make a great fruit/vegetable stand.

So, back to the Goodwill I went. I mean, when you're making a project, there really is NO WHERE CHEAPER than this place to go for supplies.

I got some cake pans and some candlesticks. $.50 each.

Then I painted the candlesticks my favorite aqua blue color to match the color scheme in my kitchen.
I found some scrapbook paper in my stash.

It looked very vintage to me, a little bit old lady-ish, so I knew it was the right choice. (Sometimes I feel like a depression-era lady in my body. Weird, I know.)

It's from the October Afternoon line which I LOVE. This one is aptly named Thrift Shop...Needs Paint.

I cut it into strips the size of the sides of the cake pans.
And I used THIS glue from Michaels. Craft glue. Clear. Very goopy. You could probably use mod podge too. Either would work fine.

Once I had the paper on the sides, it looked like this.

I loved the look instantly. Then I got the candlesticks, and using the glue I glued them to the middle of the pans.
After it dried, I added the fruit and vegetables that were laying haphazardly on the table.
It was a simple project to do. Not very time consuming either...unless you count painting the candlesticks and letting the glue dry. I love my original tiered caddy.

So, here's your challenge. Find something you like, and make your own spin on it, and let me know. Put a link in your comment to let me see it.

Have fun crafting!