Friday, September 10, 2010

Still Here

Just a quick post to say yes, I'm still here, and no, I'm not ready to come back yet..at least not on a regular basis.  My posts here will be sporadic for the foreseeable future.

There's so much to do lately and so little time, it seems. Our garden is still producing some tomatoes, some acorn squash and oddly enough, some bell peppers that didn't do a thing until just a couple of weeks ago. I already have a freezer full of whole tomatoes and whole peaches that need to be canned so that I have room in my freezer again. Deer season will be here before we know it, and this year Shane has a good place to hunt with a high deer population, so we're anticipating a freezer full of venison.

Also, I have a good supply of chicken breast halves in my freezer, too. I'm thinking of canning some of it like Quiltgranny Sharon likes to do. It would be so nice sometimes to simply grab a jar of canned chicken for enchiladas or chicken salad instead of having to thaw and cook it each time. So that's on my to-do list, too.

The fishing bug has bitten Shane, so there may be fish for the freezer as well. We have been invited to fish in a nearby pond owned by the parents of a friend of mine, and my understanding is that it's well-stocked.

Meanwhile, here's a pic or three of Kat's fishing endeavors from last weekend at our friend John's pond. This was Kat's first catch ever, and boy, was she proud of it. Shane caught one just a little bigger, so alas, no fish dinner that night. But John made us a wonderful steak dinner instead. All's well that ends well.


14 comments:

Janelle said...

Sounds like a lot of time in the kitchen for you! :-) I think I'm going to be picking my brother's Granny Smith apple tree this weekend, so next week will be freezing and canning for me.....but it sure will be nice to have apple butter again, along with apple pie filling and homemade applesauce. Fall is coming!

Sonya Ann said...

Great pics!
I really am thinking about backing off writing on the blog. I just don't know. I stopped writing my book this summer and I got really grumpy. The book is my relaxation so my guess is so is the blog. But I don't know. If I take a break for a while, I would be giving it up for what. I would probably just do more chores so that isn't real appealing either. Maybe it is just time management I need to work on.
Maybe I need a shrink!
Have a great weekend!

Annie Jones said...

Janelle: Apple butter sounds great! It's been a few years since I made any.

SonyaAnn: I know better than to say that I'm quitting the blog entirely. On an old blog, I had the worst case of writer's block and about two days after I deleted it, I'd thought of a dozen or more things I wanted to write about.

slugmama said...

Glad you are enjoying your time away from us all....sniff, sniff....lol

Tell Kat she did a great job fishing!
Heck, I'd be thrilled with her catch even at my age.lol
But it's all about the process in fishing not the end product...see? You made me get all Zen on you.

As for your chicken dilemna, why don't you cook the chicken before you freeze it? That way you lessen the prep time once it's thawed or in some recipes you can throw the chicken in frozen along the recipe's way.
It might be worth seeing along side a list of the possible recipes if pre-cooked chicken will work...

Frances said...

I hope you are enjoying your time away. Fishing sounds like a very relaxing way to fill a freezer!

Have fun canning! Unless you don't really enjoy it. If that is the case then I hope it goes quickly for you.

Miranda said...

We understand!! Enjoy getting all that work done and then later this fall and winter you will be able to reap the reward of all that yummy goodness. Wish my garden had done as well. I didn't get much of anything.
Take care!

Jill said...

Love the pictures and glad to see you are having a great time. My peppers are the same, just started really taking off! Canning chicken.. that sounds interesting. Can you post how to do it? I've never tried that before. (When you have a spare minute, LOL) Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings,
Jill

Unknown said...

Lovely photos of Kat, I'd love to take Chloe fishing, but wouldn't really know where to start, my brother has been promising to take her for over a year now, think it might be time to remind him again:) Luckily he has a license to fish at Movilla which is just round the corner. I have taken her crabbing and cockling though, even though she won't eat either of those thingd:)

I haven't really been feeling th eblog thing myself lately so I'm just taking a bit of a break too.

Lisa B. said...

I hope you fish more than can chicken! lol I need to go out to my garden and see what it's doing. I took a break all last week, I was getting so tired of it. The only thing I wish I had more of is tomatoes. What little salsa I canned is going QUICK!

Kat looks like she had a great time. Wish hubby would eat fish here. I put it on my weekly menu this week for the first time in 10 years. I guess I'll have to make a tuna sandwich if he doesnt like it. lol

McVal said...

Wow! You're having a very productive and fun end of the summer bash! I'm jealous for your energy!

Annie Jones said...

Sluggy: Sometimes I do cook and freeze the chicken, but I'd like to have some canned, too. Shane fixes his own lunches, so it would be readily available for him to use.

Frances: I do enjoy canning, as long as I don't feel rushed.

Miranda: Exactly! I want to squirrel away some food so we have it later if Shane gets laid off again or if there are a lot of missed (unpaid) days because of the weather this year.

Jill: When I get to it, I will def. post about it. I haven't done it yet, either, but Quiltgranny says it's easy.

Leanne: I love both crabs and clams, but the only places to get those around here are at the grocery or a restaurant. :)

Lisa B: Kat and Shane went Saturday morning but didn't catch anything...again. I was surprised that Kat really likes eating fish. We went out to eat a couple of weekends ago and she ignored the kids' menu in favor of an adult-size catfish sandwich...and ate the whole thing!

McVal: What energy? I'm just fakin' it 'til I make it.

Sonya Ann said...

I feel bad about stopping by and saying hi. But then I feel bad about making you respond to me saying Hi cuz you are on a break! What to do, what to do?

Alea Milham said...

Great pics! Way to go Kat! Enjoy your break, I know how important they are!

Shelli said...

This seems to be the busiest time of year for me, too, and I don't even do all that gardening and canning type stuff. I don't know why it's so dang crazy.