Thursday Mocktails and Canning

 

Peach Mocktails

On Thursday, we had a lovely, warm day with the daytime high being 82F.  The air quality was stil poor due to the area wild fires, but, it wasn't as bad as it was a couple of days ago when we could smell the smoke in the air and I needed to take my asthma inhaler and run the air purifiers.  

Daughter had a busy day of meetings and I did a few things around the house including emptying the dishwasher and dish drainer and putting away some laundry.  

In the evening, after daughter finished work and we had our tea, we picked more peaches and blueberries.  The blueberries were washed and put in the fridge to have over the week.  Some of the peaches were put aside for one of daughter's friends to come and pick them up, on Friday.  The rest of the peaches were peeled, sliced, and canned:

Canned Peaches

My daughter helped with the blanching, peeling, and slicing of the peaches, making the sugar syrup, sterilizing the canning jars, filling them, and canning them in a water bath.  We made six jars of canned peaches (although only four are shown in the photo above).  Six pint sized jars are not a lot, but, it's six jars more than what I had before I started!  

There was a small amount of sliced peaches leftover (not enough for another jar) and some sugar syrup.  I blended the leftover peaches, added the remaining sugar syrup and lemon juice and poured the resulting peach lemonade into glasses.  We called them peach mocktails and enjoyed them after dinner (rice, chicken curry, green beans, dhal, and peach chutney).  I had some yogurt for dessert.

On Thursday, I was grateful for:

- Fruit from the garden
- Daughter helping me with picking the fruit and canning the peaches
- Being able to share some of the garden bounty with friends
- Being able to preserve some of the fruit to enjoy later
- Peach lemonade mocktails

Thursday's joyful activities included picking fruit and canning with my daughter.

On Friday, I have a doctor's appointment in the afternoon.  M had requested Friday off to celebrate the long weekend, so daughter and I will have to water the garden in the evening.  

How was your Thursday?  What are your plans for Friday?

Reading and a Book Review

 

The Latest Book Read

I am hopelessly behind with my reading, this year.  I just haven't been in the mood to read, although I looked through a few magazines I'd borrowed from the library.  However, I checked this book out from the library earlier this year.  It took me a while to read it and I renewed it the maximum number of times I could renew it, but, I found it very interesting.

Here is the synopsis from the back of the book:

Description of the Book and the Author

The author traces the family history of his mother, her sister, their parents, and grandparents in Germany and describes how the family relocated to Holland seeking safety during World War 2 and how they hid with the help of their Dutch friends for the duration of the Nazi occupation of Holland. The author provided a detailed history of the war as it pertained to Holland which I found very interesting.  

This Frank family was not related to the other, more well-known Frank family who were also in hiding in Holland at the time, but, they had a lot in common in addition to the same last name.  Both families were German Jews who moved to Holland thinking they'd be safe there, both families had two daughters, both families lived in the same neighborhood in Holland at first although they didn't know each other, both families went into hiding with the help of their Dutch friends.  But, they hid in different cities and they experienced different outcomes.

I found this book to be very interesting.  

I returned the book to the library on Monday. 

Have you read this book?  If so, did you find it interesting?  If you haven't read it, is it the type of book you might be interested in reading?

A Jam Session on Tuesday

 

Jars of Peach Jam

Tuesday evening, after daughter finished her work day, we had a jam session!  Yes, we made a batch of peach jam for  gifting this holiday season.  I like the 4 oz. jars when making jam to give as gifts as I plan to make about three varieties of jams from homegrown fruit and a set of three small jars filled with three varieties of jam makes a nice gift, I think.  Daughter helped with the jam making and I'm pretty sure that she will be taking over the jam making in the future.

In addition to making jam, I did a load of laundry, made some phone calls to schedule a medical appointment and to have our damaged yard waste bin (the lid has broken off) picked up and a replacement yard waste bin delivered, next week, and cooked a dhal curry.

I had toast with peanut butter and pineapple jam for brunch on Tuesday and daughter finished the fried rice I made on Sunday.  Dinner was rice, chicken curry, green beans, the last of the okra, dhal, and peach chutney (a previous year's batch).  

We were both tired after making the jam and washing up and cleaning the kitchen, afterwards.  But, we are happy to have all the jars of jam cooling on the dining table and listening to the pings as the jars sealed.  

On Tuesday, I was grateful for:

- Several jars of peach jam
- Daughter's help with making the jam
- Getting several tasks crossed off my to do list
- Getting started on making my holiday gifts
- Working appliances

Tuesday's joyful activities included jam making with my daughter.

Plans for Wednesday include going for a lab test, M tending to the garden, and processing more peaches!

How was your Tuesday?  What are your plans for Wednesday? 

May Groceries

May 18 Groceries

I had an order of groceries delivered on Monday.  .

I needed half and half for my daughter's coffee , a loaf of bread, some chicken, some vegetables, ginger and garlic for the chutney I am planning to make, and I wanted to stock up on rice.  I also wanted bottled water that was on sale, but, apparently, they were out of stock.  So, that will have to wait for another time.  Also, the store was out of the half gallon of half and half I had ordered and out of the quart size I had listed as a substitute; instead, I was asked if a pint size would do and I said yes.  We will definitely have to buy more half and half before the end of the week, though. Without the bottled water, everything I bought was the regular price; that's the first time in a long time that has happened.

Here's the receipt:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$36.77

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.60

Sales Tax$0.00

Order Total$37.37

---

Item Details

10 Items

Broccoli Bunch, 1 ct$4.41

1.77 lbs x $2.49 each (approx.)

Cucumber, 1 ct$1.29

1 x $1.29 each

Fresh Green Beans, 1 lb$2.84

0.95 lbs x $2.98 each (approx.)

Ginger Root, 1 ct$1.08

0.31 lbs x $3.48 each (approx.)

Kroger® Fresh Uncooked Chicken Drumsticks, 4.5 lb$5.00

1 x $5.00 each

Kroger® Half and Half Pint, 1 pt$2.69

1 x $2.69 each

Kroger® Long Grain Rice, 10 lb$14.98

2 x $7.49 each

Kroger® White Sandwich Bread, 20 oz$1.99

1 x $1.99 each

Kroger® Whole Garlic Bulbs, 5 ct$2.49

1 x $2.49 each

---

Other Fees

$0.60

Bag Fee$0.60

6 x $0.10 each

My total came to:  $37.37

My May grocery budget is $250 + $19.09 carried forward from April = $269.09

I spent $150 of that at the Sri Lankan store on the groceries such as red lentils, mung beans, chick peas, barley, curry powder, tea, chili for chutney making, etc.  

Which left me with $119.09 in the May grocery for the rest of the month.

Balance remaining in the budget after Monday's grocery delivery:

$269.09 - $150 - $37.37 = $81.72

I will be stocking up on a few things, including bottled water, with the balance remaining in the May grocery budget.

As always, I am grateful for:

- The availability of groceries
- Daughter's gift of the membership with enables me to get groceries delivered
- Freezers and refrigerators that enable me to store groceries for longer periods of time
- Electricity to run the freezer and fridge
- Being able to stock up

How are you coming along with your grocery shopping?

We had tuna salad sandwiches for brunch on Monday; for dinner, we had rice, chicken curry, sauteed curried green beans, peach chutney, and peach pie for dessert.

What Meal Plans?

Pancake Breakfast

 

The week of May 11 to May 17 turned out to be a "no meal plan" week!  Not by design, but, I neglected to make a list of meal plan options at the beginning of the week and it turned out to be a make it up as you go sort of week.  Partly because I had gone to the Sri Lankan store on Monday and while I bought some frozen meals and stocked up on some ingredients like curry powder, red lentils, mung beans, etc., plus a lot of treats, I didn't buy any regular groceries. Instead, I cooked from what I had in the freezer, fridge, and pantry.  

So, here's how that worked out:

Monday: 

Brunch Late Lunch - Frozen rice and seafood curry meal from the Sri Lankan store
Dinner - Sri Lankan "roast pan" - a type of pull apart bread that gets "roasted" in the oven and eaten with curry or seeni sambol or butter and jam; I had half of my piece of bread with seeni sambol and the other half with pineapple jam.  Delicious!

Frozen Rice and Curry Meal

Tuesday:

Brunch - Leftovers from the frozen rice and seafood curry meal
Dinner - Macaroni and cheese from a boxed mix with canned chicken breast amd chili sauce and leftover broccoli from the weekend.

Wednesday:

Brunch -  Assorted leftovers - I had leftover friedrice from Friday's early Mother's Day meal and daughter had leftover mac & cheese

Dinner - Fish curry  (from the freezer) with rice and leftover broccoli

Thursday:

Brunch - Scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, fresh sliced peaches

Dinner -  Teriyaki pork chops (from the freezer) with rice and a carrots, onions, broccoli stems stir-fry 

Rice with Pork Chop and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Friday:

Brunch -Pancakes, with leftover bacon and fresh peaches

Dinner - Leftover fish curry with freshly cooked rice amd okra (from the freezer - what I grew last year) sauteed with curry powder and curry leaves, etc., and peach chutney

Saturday:

Brunch - Leftover pancakes with fresh peaches

Dinner - Leftover pork chops with the vegetable stir fry and corn (from the freezer); peach pie for dessert

Sunday:

Brunch - Leftover breadpudding with fresh peaches (me); leftover mac & cheese (daughter)

Dinner -  End-of-the-week Fried Rice (leftover rice, leftover smoked sausages, leftover vegetables from the stir fry)

End of the Week Fried Rice

The fried rice was my attempt to finish up bits and pieces of leftovers from the week, but, of course, there was more fried rice leftover to carry into next week!  LOL.  Just enough for one person's brunch.

The week's snacks and desserts included peaches and lots of treats from the Sri Lankan store.

I ordered groceries to be delivered on Monday afternoon: a tray of chicken drumsticks, more broccoli, green beans, and a cucumber, bread for sandwiches and toast, half and half for my daughter's coffee, rice, and bottled water.  I hope I will get everything I ordered (they were out of bottled water).  If not, I will make some adjustments to this week's meal plan options:

Brunches:  Scrambled eggs, sausages, and toast, Uppuma (Indian style cream of wheat/semolina), Onion pancakes (with frozen onion pancakes), Waffles, Mung beans; Tuna salad  or egg salad sandwiches; Leftovers

Dinners:  Rice and chicken curry with dhal and vegetables; Ground beef keema curry with rice or onion pancakes; Omelet curry with rice and vegetables; Smoked sausage and kale stir fry with rice; Leftovers.  

Snacks/Desserts: Fresh peaches, avocado pudding, peach pie, Sri Lankan treats

Meal plan options are subject to change and that's fine, too.  

As always, I am grateful to be able to have a variety of meals.

Are you making a meal plan for this week?

The Great Peach Race is On!

Peaches 

The birds have discovered the peaches!  The peaches are not quite ripe, yet, but, the house finches and the mockingbirds don't seem to care!  They will peck at a fruit and if it isn't quite to their taste, they will move on to another to see if that one has reached the peak of ripeness!

On Friday, I was sitting in the garden and I watched at least half a dozen house finches and several mockingbirds perched on the higher branches of the peach tree, enjoying the peaches.  Later on Friday evening, when M came to tend to the garden, I told him it was time to pick the peaches before the birds got them all and the great peach race was on!

M brought out the ladder and we might have picked some peaches:

Friday's Peach Harvest

I gave M some peaches to take home.  The rest was brought in, washed, and spread out on towels to dry off.

Today, Saturday, I gave neighbor S a dozen peaches and we set aside another two dozen peaches to give daughter's friends A and V; her friend A is on her way to collect her peaches as I type this.  

Then, I cut up enough peaches to make up 3 lbs. of diced peaches to freeze to make into jam or chutney, later on.  

I also cut up some peaches to make this:

Peach Pie

Daughter helped with the pie making, cutting up the last few peaches to add to it and adding the sugar and cinnamon, etc. to the pie filling while I made the pie crust.  

A Piece of Pie

We were too impatient to wait until the pie cooled to try it!  Still no ice cream or whipped cream to serve with it, but, the pie was delicious.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Peaches from the garden
- M's help with picking the peaches
- Being able to share the fruit with M and friends
- Daughter's help with the pie making
- Fresh peach pie!

Today's joyful activities included sharing the peaches with friends and baking and eating peach pie!

Plans for tomorrow (Sunday) include processing more of the peaches for the freezer and accompanying my daughter to the open gym at the community college in the evening.

May Flowers

 

Iris 

I took a stroll in my own garden, this week, on Tuesday, to see what was in bloom.  No sculptures of pollinators or model trains in my garden, but, the majority of these flowers have a story behind them (many of them are rescued plants that M has rehomed in my garden) and sometimes, a flower can hold a secret!  

Neptune Rose  

The Neptune Rose plant was a birthday gift to me from my gardener friend M.

Iceberg Rose 

The iceberg rose grown as a standard was rescued by M and rehomed in my garden.

And Friend (Earwig)

Rescued Pink English Rose with Anise Scent

This is the first flower to appear on the rescued rose that M rehomed in my garden.  I found the rose  on the ground when I was watering the garden on Tuesday; it had not broken off, but, it was blooming on such a slender stem that the flower was too heavy for the stem.  I propped it up on another stem to take this picture.  The next day (Wednesday), when M was here, I saw that there was a second rose on the same plant, but, I didn't take a picture of that one.  M doesn't know the name of the rose.  I am wondering if it is a climber and might need some support?

Double Petalled Kalanchoe (another rescued plant)

Daylily

Chive Flowers

Nasturtium

Four O'Clocks/Mirabilis

Scaredy Cat (Coleus Caninas)

The flowers on the scaredy cat plant (which doesn't seem to scare any of the garden cats) are nearing the end of their blooming period, but, there are still enough flowers to keep the bees happy.

Gaura

Potato Flowers

For the first time since I've tried growing potatoes, I've flowers on one of my potato plants!  I am thrilled to bits!  I've three potato plants growing, this year, from some supermarket russet potatoes that started to sprout before I could eat them.  

Calla Lily

And Friend (Grasshopper)

And those are some of the flowers blooming in my garden in May.

I am grateful for:

- May flowers

- For M bringing me bulbs and rescued plants

- For M's help with the garden
- For the joy these flowers bring to me
- For water for the garden