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?

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? 

Peaches!

The First Peaches

I picked the first peaches from my tree today.  This is an early ripening variety of freestone peach, with the peaches ripening well before the heat of our summer burns them up.  But, this might be the earliest I've picked them as I am trying to get to them before the birds get to them!  This year's peaches are small in size, but, they are a blessing and I am grateful to have them.

According to a news article I read a couple of days ago, peach farmers in California are considering destroying about 3,000 acres planted with peaches, amounting to some 420,000 clingstone peach trees, because a certain well-known canned fruit company closed its canneries in California, in March of this year, and cancelled more than $550 million in long term contracts with the farmers.  The company had filed for bankruptcy last year, in July 2025, due in part to changing consumer habits as more people preferred fresh fruits and vegetable over canned and in part due to rising manufacturing costs.  

Fresh Peaches

I agree that there's nothing quite as good as freshly picked peaches, especially when they are from your own tree and still warm from the sun.  

According to the news article, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved $9 million dollars in aid to the peach growers to help them destroy the peach trees and transition from growing peaches to other fruits and/or nuts.  Which is something, I suppose. 

I am guilty of not buying a lot of canned fruits and vegetables for daily consumption, but, I do like to have canned items in the pantry for emergencies.  The thought that canned goods might become scarce due to manufacturers going out of business is a bit sobering.  We can no longer take it for granted that the stores will always have canned fruit available whenever we want to buy some.

We will definitely enjoy our fresh peaches in the coming days and weeks.  And I will try to can and preserve some of them to enjoy later.

Yum!

 Today, I am grateful for:

- Fresh peaches from the garden

On Thursday

 

Rose Petals Marinating in Lemon Juice and Sugar

Today (Thursday), I went to the store to buy the small 4 oz. canning jars.  I have some 8 oz. jars, but, I wanted the smaller jars for the rose jam I was planning to make.  Since I give a lot of my jams as holiday gifts, I was thinking that an assortment of 3 or so smaller jars of jam, maybe one each of rose petal, blueberry, and peach, in a small basket or container with perhaps a packet of tea and crackers might make a nice gift. 

The store had  a box of a dozen 4 oz. quilted canning jars on sale for $11.98 (a different store I checked had them for $13.50, according to their store website).  I bought two boxes plus a small box of 12 canning jar lids only (no rings) for $2.97 (for the store brand; the name brand was $3.98).  The jar lids are to use on the 8 oz. jars I will be reusing for my peach chutney, etc.  

I walked around the grocery section of the store, checking out the prices of items, and I bought a bunch of four bananas at $0.50/lb. which is cheaper than at the grocery store I regularly buy from.  I was out of bananas and it is a fruit that I am supposed to eat on a regular basis for the potassium.  They came to $0.63.

In addition, I bought a small container of cat food, "salmon pâté", for $1.18 for  Dancer to try (he's been off his regular canned cat food for weeks now and this is a brand we haven't tried yet), but, he sniffed at it and walked away.  Eventually, he was persuaded to try a little bit of it, but, not more than one or two nibbles.  He's ignored it since then.  

I spent a total of $31.69 at the store, including taxes. 

I had mistakenly stood in the self check out line as the sign simply said, "15 items or less" and I hate those self check out machines.  I never seem to be able to figure them out.  But, there was a store clerk stationed in the self-check out section and he helped me, although I could sense his impatience at having to put his phone down and help me. 

After I came home, I had a banana and a roast beef sandwich for brunch.

Last night, I had put the washed and trimmed rose petals to marinate in lemon juice and a cup of sugar.  Today, in the evening, I decided to make the jam.  I boiled the 4 cups of water, added the rose petal and lemon juice mixture, with another two cups of sugar and a little more lemon juice (went by taste), and simmered that for about 20 minutes.  One look at the boiled rose petal mixture and I knew that I will be making a rose jelly rather than a jam!

Boiled Rose Petals

The cooked petals looked unappetizing to say the least!  But the syrup was a lovely color.  So, I skimmed out most of the petals and left just a few, almost translucent ones.  Then, added a package of powdered pectin and boiled for another minute or two and poured the syrup into the jars and processed them in a water bath.  Unless the syrup thickens as it cools and "gels", the contents of the jars will be called a "pourable topping" for ice creams or a syrup for making faluda!  Maybe I should have used two boxes of pectin!  

Rose Syrup!

The kitchen lighting isn't the best, but, the syrup is a dark red.  I made 12 of the 4 oz. jars and half filled an 8 oz. jar which I didn't process.

I am a little disappointed with the results, but, at this point in time, I am not planning to open all the jars and re-boil the syrup with more pectin.  Daughter and I love rose syrup faluda, especially in the summer, and I haven't seen the bottled rose syrup I used to buy in the ethnic stores, lately, so the contents of the jars will not be wasted.  But, they may not be given as gifts!  Maybe I'll try making another batch of rose petal jam when the pink roses bloom again.  Or, accept M's offer of some of his roses!

I managed to get everything washed and the counters and stove top wiped down before my hands started to cramp.  Afterwards, I was tired and done for the day!  I was going to cook some rice to have with the ground beef mixture for my dinner, but, I decided to reheat some of the pasta my friend's daughter brought me.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- Being able to find the 4 oz. canning jars at a reasonable price
- A safe drive to the store and back and being able to drive
- Helpful store clerks 

- Working appliances
- 12 small jars of homemade rose syrup!

Today's joyful activity was making rose syrup.  

Plans for tomorrow (Friday) include doing some paperwork, making a couple of phone calls, and tending to the garden with M.

How was your Thursday?  What do you do when your jellies don't really gel?  What are your plans for Friday?

Calamondin Marmalade on Thursday

Calamondin Marmalade 

On Thursday, I decided to make a small batch of calamondin marmalade with the fruit I picked off the branches that were cut on Wednesday.  I meant to take a picture of the calamondin fruits, but, I forgot to.  But, here is a picture of some calamondins that I took a few years ago when I made a batch of calamondin marmalade:

Calamondin Fruit (picture from 2021)

I had far fewer fruit, this time.  There were about 40 fruit and most of them were fairly small.  By the time I seeded them and sliced them up, there was about one and a half cups of the prepared fruit.  Today's batch of fruit wasn't very juicy and I added 1 1/2 cups water and 3 cups of sugar and brought it all to a boil and stirred the mixture until it reached a setting point.  I was able to get three half pint jars of the marmalade (at least one of which will be given as a gift).

There was a little bit leftover, which I put into a small bowl:

Just a bit extra marmalade

Later, I warmed up some frozen meat balls and the little bit of extra marmalade made a nice glaze for them.  Breakfast had been oatmeal and the meat balls were lunch, with some leftover ramen noodles.  For dinner, I cooked a half a bag of frozen General Tso's chicken that I had in the freezer long with some broccoli and we had that with leftover rice and cucumber salad.

I also cooked the dhal curry I had been planning to make and froze most of it for the almsgiving.  I put the rest of it in the fridge to have over the next couple of days.  

I called friend R in the evening to check on her and we had a nice chat.  I also called Dancer's vet clinic and made an appointment for his arthritis injection for Saturday morning.  

In between making marmalade, cooking, and doing some housecleaning, I crocheted.  Borders take me a long time to crochet!  While I crocheted, I watched some news and online videos.

On Wednesday, I was grateful for:

- Calamondin from the garden and three jars of marmalade
- Another warm day of 80F
- Texts, emails, and phone calls with family and friends

- Working appliances
- What I was able to accomplish

Thursday's joyful activities included crocheting and making marmalade to preserve the garden bounty.

Plans for Friday include making some gifts and getting the living room decorated for Christmas.

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

 

More Canning on Tuesday

Tuesday's Canning

On Tuesday, I processed the peaches I picked on Monday.  I was able to can four and a half pints of sliced peaches.  The one good thing about canning the peaches as opposed to making jam is you don't have to stand over a hot stove stirring the mixture until it sets.  Even so, the preparations take time - to wash and sterilize the jars, to make the sugar syrup, to blanch and peel the peaches and slice them, and then to cook the peach slices in the sugar syrup (because I chose to hot pack them) and fill the jars and, finally, to can them in a water bath for 20 minutes.

I was filling the jars when one or two slices of peaches fell on the floor.  I picked up one and tossed it, but, didn't notice the other.  Needless to say I stepped on that one piece by accident and got smashed peach globs all over the kitchen floor before I noticed it!  Some syrup dripped on the stove, too, and I was wiping the top of the stove when my hands began to cramp!  I was glad that I had managed to get all the peaches into the jars and put the jars to can before the cramps started.  I drank water and rested for awhile.  I had washed the bowls and other items I used when prepping the peaches as I finished using them, so there wasn't a big amount of washing up to do, afterwards.  Later in the evening, I swept and mopped the kitchen floor.

There are more peaches on the tree; I will ask M to pick the ones that are too high for me to pick, tomorrow. 

In addition to canning peaches, I did a load of laundry, cleaned the washing machine, changed the bed sheets on my daughter's bed (if all goes well, she will come down for a visit, tomorrow!), brought the trash cans in (the recycling bin had not been collected as someone had parked their vehicle too close to it and I guess the trash pick up truck couldn't reach the recycling bin, safely), swept my bathroom, and cleaned Dancer's litter box.  

I had tuna salad on crackers for brunch and the same, again, for dinner as I was too tired to cook!  Apples and dried palmyra plant sprouts for snacks. 

Today, I am grateful for:

- Peaches from the garden
- What I was able to accomplish
- My hands didn't cramp until the peaches were processed
- A slightly cooler day (a high of only 87F)
- Working appliances

Today's joyful activity was canning peaches and preserving what I can of my garden fruit.

Plans for tomorrow include tending to the garden with M, picking more peaches, ordering groceries for pick up, and picking up my daughter from the airport.

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

Warm on Sunday

 

Three Pints Full

It was two degrees cooler, today, with a high of only 97F.  It was cooler inside than outside when I woke up, so I kept the windows closed to keep the house cool.  I waited until it was 86F/30C inside the house before I turned on the ceiling fan, and then, waited until the outside temperature had gone down to 87F or so to open the windows.  It is 77F outside at 9:30 p.m. as I write this and the windows are still open and the ceiling fan is still on.  The temperature inside is 85F.  The neighbors are taking down the tents.  

I canned the peaches, today, and I could have cried.  Almost every single peach M picked for me on Friday evening had spoiled!  I had kept them out on the dining table, instead of putting them in the fridge, and it had been too hot for them!  I had to compost so many peaches that I thought I wouldn't be able to can any peaches.  But, I had a few other peaches in the fridge which were slightly bruised, but, not spoiled, and I managed to fill three pint jars.  I hot canned them by cooking them in the hot sugar syrup for a few minutes, as doing so enabled me to pack more of the fruit into the jars.  There were a few additional slices of peaches that were partially bruised - I cut off the bruised parts and cooked the rest of them in some of the sugar syrup to make a peach compote (the pieces weren't good enough to can).  

There are a few more peaches on the tree and my plan is to pick them, tomorrow, and can them.  

I borrowed another ebook from the library, today, and read that in the evening, when it was too hot to do anything else.  Later, I put water to the fruit trees and the vegetables in the back garden.  I watered the few houseplants, too.

Brunch was a salad with the last of the lettuce, some green grapes, and a few slices of chicken cold cuts.  Dinner will be the last yogurt flat bread and the last of the chicken curry.  I will have some of the peach compote for dessert.  

One of the highlights of my day was a lovely email from a blog reader, who is reading my blog from the very beginning!  How wonderful is that?  In July, it will be 10 years since I started this blog!  I'm so glad that I let my daughter persuade me to start blogging.  I have made so many wonderful friends through this blog and everyone has been so kind with their comments.  Thank you!

Today, I am grateful for:

- A truly lovely email from a blog reader
- Being able to open the windows to cool off the house
- Three pints of canned peaches
- Ceiling fans and electricity to run them
- Water for the garden

Today's joyful activities included canning what peaches I could and reading another ebook.  

Plans for tomorrow include picking more peaches and canning them, changing my bed sheets and doing a load of laundry, and making a meal plan.

How was your Sunday?  What are your plans for Monday?  How is the weather where you are and are you managing to stay cool if the temperature is hot?