Author Archives: Maria

Something I’ve wanted for a really long time!

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This was our major summer project, and  I just realized, after all these months, that I still hadn’t published these pictures.  Behold, the new rock wall, walkway, and patio!!

 

 

 

 

 

Now, 6 months after the installation, things aren’t as lush and green during the winter, but you can see how the rocks have settled in.  (Oh, those white ghosts behind the patio are my figs, wrapped up for the winter):

I can’t wait to hang out on the patio in the warm sun this spring.  I hope it will become a favorite space for schooling and play!

 

 

I DID IT!

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After almost a year of taking aerial silks classes, I have finally graduated to level 2!  I’m very excited!  I had a long year dealing with pain in my fore arms and attributed it to week muscles.  After every 5 or 6 classes, my forearms would become so tight I would have to stop class and take a few weeks off.  I finally went to see a doctor and he said I have exercise-induced compartment syndrome.  The muscles in my forearms would turn on and would not release.  The doctor said I could try using heat before I stretched, but that I would probably have to have the fascia surrounding the muscles cut to get any relief.  I said, “um, no thanks!”  Especially since it only happens when I’m doing aerials.  Instead, I went to see a woman who does trigger point therapy.  She massaged my arms and said they were way too tight.  She showed me how to massage them myself and I did this every day for a while.  When I went back to aerials, guess what… no pain!  I’ve been able, finally, to do aerials without having to stop mid class or take any breaks, and I didn’t have to have surgery.  (Yes, I did tell the doc about this so he would know that cutting the fascia in the arms is not the only option!)

Anyhoo… today, as a new year’s gift to myself, I tested for level two and passed.  I had to complete two forms that are laid out by the teacher and also perform one of my own.  This is my personal form.  I was a bit shaky in the beginning (and the music is just a tiny bit off in the video, but I couldn’t figure out how to fix that when it uploaded).  Still, I’m proud of myself! 🙂

 

 

Hand Made Holidays

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What beautiful holiday celebrations we have had this year!  I am so grateful for the time that I have been able to spend with my friends and family.  We’ve spent many days traveling to others houses to participate in their revelry and had a wonderful time!  At our own home, we had a small Winter Solstice dinner with friends, old and new.

Followed by a decadent, chocolate yule log cake, of course.

 

Ok, and I have definitely been feeling uber-crafty this year.  I love to give hand made gifts!!  I feel like they ooze with love and comfort… I hope the recipients feel that, too, cause this year, we couldn’t help ourselves.  There was…

Rum infused with Banana and Vanilla

A Car Shirt for Dad to enjoy massages more often

And even when Toby sat up, Leif just kept on driving!

Toby turned a magic wand for Kaia

We all got some new flannel or fleece pajama pants

And Leif also got some winter pants.  Both were corduroy on the outside.  One was lined with flannel and the other with fleece.  (and in case you are wondering, Leif did chose the cupcake fabric!!  In fact, he begged me for it!)

There was also a puppet theater that you can hang in a door way.

The other side has pockets to keep your puppets in.

Holiday Cards

Wintermint Lotion Bars

Vanilla and Candy Cane sugar scrubs (made by Kaia)

Sea Glass Pendants

Hand knitted hat with velcro detachable hair for a little friend going through Chemo.

Hand turned wood bowls by Toby

Flannel pajama pants for Pop and a knitted purse for Mom

Now that the holidays are over, I don’t know what to do with myself.  I feel like I should be crafting when ever I have a spare moment.  Guess I need to learn to try to put my feet up.  Ha!

3+ months

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This video was passed along to me today and I thought it was a great explanation of why the hunter/gatherer diet feeds our bodies in such a healthy way.  I’ve been eating this way for a little over three months now and I feel fabulous.  My changes have not been as dramatic as the woman in the video, but they have created a dramatic change in my life.  I’m not tired anymore, my brain feels calmer, less chaotic, my skin is clearer, I’m not clearing my throat all the time from allergies, I’ve dropped 2% body fat and 10 pounds, I look and feel fit and capable…  There is so much more, but it’s not easy to put it all into words.  I just love how I feel these days.

Dr. Terry Wahls – Minding Your Mitochondria

Leif’s crafting

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It’s not just Kaia who’s been crafty lately.  Leif has been holding his own.  Aside from helping me create a parking garage for all of his cars:

He has recently had his hands in lots of gloop!  We discovered a recipe during a science lesson and he can’t get enough of it.  His little hands have been busy playing, making me gloop pancakes, gloop eggs, gloop on a stick…  It’s more addictive than play dough!

 

Here’s the recipe if you’d like to try it yourself.

Sewing Lessons

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Kaia has been begging me for sewing lessons lately.  She’s done a simple square purse on my machine before, but this time she decided to do something with a real pattern.  She chose a fabulous owl pillow.  I had to stop my hands from taking over and really let her do it all.  I gave her instructions on choosing the fabric and how to cut the pattern, how to change your stitch and how to make your seams…. but she took off and made an amazing pillow!  So proud of her!  I love to see how her mind opens to the possibilities when she learns a new talent.

 


 

Yes, the pajamas have changed… we started the project late at night, so she had to finish the next day.

 

The back has a little pocket.

Renaissance Faire

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Kaia and I have been planning and looking forward to this trip for many months!  I knew as soon as we decided to study the Middle Ages that we would need to go to a Renaissance fair!  The Renn Faire in NC is one of the biggest around.  The village is built on 20+ acres in beautiful woods.  We planned to spend the weekend there so we could see everything.

Kaia quickly settled into her own queen bed. (Oh, let me tell you, it was such luxury sleeping in my own squishy bed, all by myself.  We almost skipped the festival so that I could just sleep all day!)

Kaia quickly discovered the joys of the ice machine.

We thought it was important to dress the part in order to get the full Renaissance experience.

Many, many more pictures to follow:

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The Healthier, Happier, Stronger Me!

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Two months ago, I took the huge step of clearing my house of all grains, legumes, processed sugars, and processed/prepackaged foods.  From now on, my family and I were going to eat only meats (including fish, fowl, and eggs), veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, herbs and spices.  We were going Paleo.  For most Americans, (especially us former vegetarians) this would be a huge and daunting task, but I felt like it was needed.  We had become so use to grabbing a quick carb-loaded snack from the pantry and forgetting about the veggies in the fridge.  Our daily intake was super high in grains (mostly processed) and very lacking in vegetables and digestible protein.  I say ‘digestible’ because Toby and I have food allergies/sensitivities, and imagine we’ve probably passed these on to our kids.  Toby and I are both sensitive to dairy, soy, and beans, which doesn’t leave much in the way of protein if you are vegetarian.  I was vegetarian for almost 20 years and began eating meat during my pregnancy with Kaia.  WOW!  Did I feel good!  My body had seriously been lacking in protein!  Still, even after we added meat and eggs back to our diet, those made up a very small portion of it.  The carbs led the way and with them came the frequent blood sugar roller coasters, anxiety, depression, temper tantrums, bowel issues, acne, weight ups and downs, PMS, bloating… (Obviously, the kids had the temper tantrums and I had the PMS…. OK, and the occasional tantrum).  For many people symptoms run even deeper and they develop inflammatory and auto immune diseases, and more.

I saw and felt immediate changes, my energy was up and my moodiness was down, my blood sugar stabilized while I lost weight and inches.  Really, I feel fabulous!  I feel strong and healthy!  I use to work out here or there occasionally, but I found that I needed a place to put all of my new found energy and decided to start doing workouts at home.  This only increased the feelings of strength!

Since it was my decision to clean out the house and change my lifestyle, Toby and the kids can choose to eat as they please when they are out of the house.  However, in the house we are strictly paleo.  Nothing comes in that doesn’t fit into our new food pyramid and the whole family follows this lifestyle when we are at home.   (Well, unless a certain Nana comes to visit and brings along tempting tasties.  You know who you are!)  But, I’ve found that I’m not tempted to eat any other way.  I feel so nourished, and I don’t want to go back to the way I was.  Our meals are nutrient dense and toxin free.

Now, I know many of you are saying “Oh, I could Never go without my morning toast!” or “I just LOVE muffins too much to give them up”.  Well, here’s the kicker.  I can still have toast and muffins, but I make them myself and I make them without grains.  I use nuts, seeds, and coconut in most of my ‘bread’ recipes and love the results.  That being said, I eat those bread-ish type of things much less than I use to.

I know I’ve not talked about the science behind paleo… I’m still trying to wrap my head around all the research and science behind the benefits of living the paleo lifestyle. (How the insulin and glucose are processed in the body from one type of food or another, the gastrointestinal inflammation caused by grains and legumes,…)  But, there are many fabulous blogs and cookbooks out there to get you started if you are interested.

Mark’s Daily Apple

Everyday Paleo and her super, fabulous cookbook

Nom Nom Paleo

Primal Palate and their scrumptious cookbook

Paleo Comfort Foods and their delicious cookbook

Paleo Parents

The Primal Parent

The Primal Home

The Crunchy Pickle

The Foodie and the Family

The Paleo Home

Practical Paleo

And this is just a short list!  There is so much information out there and so many recipes!  I felt like it was a pretty easy change because of all of this support.

So, what do I eat, you ask?

Well, breakfast usually consists of eggs (fried, scrambled, omelets, egg muffins…), sometimes pancakes/waffles (yes, without grain and usually with veggies shredded up and added in),  sausage or bacon, muffins, or leftovers.  Lunch varies greatly and often consists partly of leftovers.  Dinner… well, for the next few weeks are dinners look like this: Tex/Mex Chicken and veggies, Biscuits and gravy with mashed ‘potatoes’ and green beans (yes, all without grains or dairy), Farmer’s Pie, egg salad sandwiches (with paleo bread), chicken and vegetable ‘lo mein’, mini-egg pizzas , lasagna (ok, this one does have cheese, but zucchini instead of noodles), red curry beef stew,  gingered butternut squash soup and lots of carrots, broccoli, other veggies and salads.  Yes, we eat well!!  No, I don’t feel deprived!

Oh, and please don’t worry about that fabulous new ice cream maker I just bought this summer.  It will still get good use!

Vacuum Wars

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If you come to my house and it hasn’t been vacuumed, it’s because someone likes to play war with the vacuum!  Check out the happiness on his face.

Creating

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When Kaia and I were at the conference this past weekend, we both entered a raffle for various fun prizes.  Kaia has a hard time with raffles because she gets herself very worked up about winning.  So, she was pretty devastated when she didn’t win the wire tree that she’d hoped for.  And it didn’t help that I did win the two prizes that I’d hoped for.  She begged me to buy her a similar tree from a vendor.  But, I really wanted her to understand that she was completely capable of either earning the money herself, or of actually making her own tree.  (I feel like I placate her too often by buying her things she wants.)  The vendor heard how upset Kaia was about the tree she didn’t win and offered to teach us how to make them.  This was extremely generous of her considering she was giving up her time and the money she could have made if I’d bought a tree.  So, for the past two days, Kaia has been working diligently on her own personal tree.

She wanted a white tree.

Check out the concentration on her face:

I’m so proud of her!  She finished her tree and glued it to a piece of Amethyst.  It now adorns her bedside table where she can meditate on it as she goes to sleep.  I think this is a craft that we will do over and over!


My newest addition

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I can’t tell you how excited I am about my newest knit!!  I love drinking out of a quart mason jar, but I always worry about dropping it.  So, I’ve made myself a jar ‘cozy’.  The pattern came from ravelry.

I’ve had a number of people approach me about it and some even ask me to make them one.  Who wouldn’t want one??  It’s awesome!! Keeps the tea warm, the water cool, and protects it from falls. 🙂

Here it is pre-felting.

Leif was my ‘felter man’.

Southeast Women’s Herb Conference

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I spent this last weekend with Kaia at the Southeast Women’s Herb Conference.  And what a wonderful weekend it was!!  Though the wind threatened to blow our tent away a few times, Kaia came through her first conference with a big smile on her face and asked to go again next year.  She went with me to learn about aromatherapy and candle making, and then headed off to play with friends while I went to classes on fermentation, the respiratory system, biodynamic gardening, and more.  We danced the night away at a bhangra/bollywood party.  We fell in love the Rising Appalachia (if you haven’t heard their music, you should get a CD right now!!!).  It was a great mother/daughter weekend!


 

I know…

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I’ve been seriously slack in posting here.  That’s because I’ve not been slack in the rest of my life.  We are working hard in homeschool, playing hard in the beautiful fall weather, reading great books, picking apples, eating well, and enjoying life!  That’s how it should be, right?!  I have a feeling new posts will continue to be sporadic.  I love you sweet blog friends, but once the kids are in bed and there is little time to blog, I just don’t want to be on the computer.  I’m trying to make it work, though, because I want to keep in touch with you all.  I will often post new homeschool, craft, and food ideas on pinterest.  You are welcome to come find me there!

So, here are a few pictures of what fills out life lately:

Late night dance parties with crazy dad.

Woah!  Step back!  He’s going turbo!

Acorn crafts of all sorts

Life from the perspective of a 2 year old (Leif spent an hour with my camera this afternoon to show you what he’s been up to.  I think he’s a fabulous photographer!)

 

First day of Anatomy

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We were super excited to start Anatomy this year.  I have so many fun experiments planned.  But, of course, we had to start with the Jello Cell.  Did you create one of these in school?  I remember doing it at least twice!

You can use all kinds of things to create your cell.  This just happened to be what I chose: jello (Cytoplasm – I would advise using a light color if you want to see the details), Whoppers (nucleus), M&M’s (Lysosomes – I think Lemon Heads or jelly beans would have worked better here.  The M&M’s bled their color into the jello and made it a bit murky), Fruit by the foot (we used two different kinds for the Mitochondria and the Golgi Complex), Fruit twists (Endoplasmic Reticulum – I was looking for licorice, but this is what I found).

We read a bit about what it means to be human and then about how cells work in the body.  I found a book with a nice color picture of a cell that we could refer to as we built our jello cell.

I was surprised how much of the fruit and candy actually ended up in Leif’s bowl and not in his mouth…

“Mom, my nuculus won’t stop floating!”

Just as fun to eat as it was to make! (though, not as pretty!)

DONE!

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Here it is!  My first quilt!!  I’m so excited!  And I love how it turned out!  We spent much of the afternoon playing I-Spy, building forts, and snuggling under it.  Kaia really wants to keep it on her bed, but I think it will be a while before I want to hide it away in her bedroom.  I got the basic idea for the blocks from this video.

I had a friend attach the front, back, and batting.  She did a freehand swirl with a rainbow colored yarn.  Very cool!

She even put Kaia and Leif’s names on the side.  It’s easier to see from the back, but the names are backwards in this photo.

“Look Mommy, hop grassers!”

Yes, they were attempting to make faces here!

I LOVE IT!

Lady Suki, Defender of the Realm

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This week has been a bit hellacious.  I woke up Monday morning to find two puddles of blood by the back door where Suki usually sleeps, and Suki was no where to be seen.  I whistled and called for her but she didn’t come.  Toby and I started looking for her.  We found that a bear had broken into the fenced chicken coop area and emptied the barrel of scratch (I hadn’t yet cleaned up since we got rid of the chickens last week).  The bear also broke into the compost bin on the other side of the house from the coop.  About 10 feet from the front door was a few clumps of Suki’s fur.  Our neighbors came up with their dog to sniff around, and we all searched for hours, with no sign of her.  I thought she was gone.  I figured she had fought with the bear and then went off into the woods to die.  My only hope was that she died quickly, without much pain.  I was fidgety all morning, trying to keep my hands busy while my mind spiraled with thoughts of my poor, sweet dog.

Mid-day, a neighbor who lives way down the hill (and who we’ve only talked with once in the past 5 years) drove up to our house and said they found our dog in the woods by their house.  She was alive, but injured.  Toby went down there and wrapped her up in a blanket to get her in the car.   I didn’t even look at her injuries, I just drove straight to the vet’s.

The vet was fabulous, saw to her immediately, and even let me come in the back for the procedures.  Her left hind leg was badly injured.  Either the claw or the jaws of the bear had gotten a good swipe at her.  There was a lot of bruising and some very deep punctures.  Drains were placed to help keep the fluid flowing out (and not building up under the skin), and the vet stitched up what she could.  Once she was stable, I brought her home.

For the first two days, she wouldn’t pee, though she was walking well considering her injuries.  For the first 3 days, she wouldn’t eat.  I had to force feed her by putting liquid food in a syringe and squirting it in her mouth.  Today, she has begun eating well and is peeing on her own.  Her drains were taken out yesterday and her wounds have begun to heal, though there is still a lot of bruising.  Her stitches will remain for another week.  She is on lots of meds and herbs, but I am truly amazed at the strength of my sweet, old Suki.  She never complains.  My sweet Suki is an 11 year old Akita (that’s like 90 in human years for an Akita), and yet she will defend her home and her family against a full sized black bear!  What an amazing protector!!! From now on, she will have more loving, more treats, and more snuggles!!!

On a bit of a side note, Suki was diagnosed with heart worm 4 months ago.  I was very surprised, because we aren’t supposed to have that much in our area.  But, apparently I was wrong.  I’ve been using herbs for her instead of the very harsh meds that are available through the vet right now.  I’m happy to say that they did a heart worm test when she was at the vet this week and she is heart worm negative now!!!  The herbs did their job.  Now, she just needs to work on healing that leg and living to a happy, spoiled old age.

There are a couple of pictures to follow, but they aren’t for the squeamish.  So, be warned.

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The princess and the cowboy get hitched

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Yesterday, we had a wedding at our house.  Everyone was required to wear hats.  I’m not in any of the pictures, so I’ll tell you, I was a flower girl and I had a viking hat on.  (Yes, Kaia is holding a glass graduated cylinder of flowers!)

Toby officiated, and read from the holy dictionary.  I believe he defined the word “mush” for us.

The ceremony got a bit long for Leif, so he had to take a load off.

“Now you may kiss your cowboy!”

It was a lovely ceremony.  We were all in tears!

My little splurge

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I brought in a little bit of money last month with some herb sales.  So, I bought myself a fancy, new ice cream maker.  I’ve never had one and boy, have I been missing out!!!  So far, we’ve tried mint chip, peach yogurt, and strawberry.  Leif waits patiently as the ice cream maker finishing churning…

You can no longer call me a Chicken Tender

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Yep, yesterday morning I loaded up all of the chickens and brought them to my friends farm where they will hopefully have a long life munching on lots of bugs and greens.  Though I hemmed and hawed about getting rid of them, the final decision was made for me when the raccoon shimmied his way into the 2″ eaves above the garden shed, across the barrier wall into the chicken coop, and got into their sleeping quarters to attack them while they rested.  I’d now lost 9 chickens (out of 20) to the critter and it was time to cut my losses.  I packed them up in large totes (since they couldn’t safely sleep in the coop) and brought them inside until the morning (it was about 1 am at this point).

They seemed very happy to be on lush green grass in a big open field when I dropped them off.

Maybe, in a few years, I will feel like tending chickens again.  But, I’m coming to realize that trying to live sustainably doesn’t mean doing it all myself.  Especially in a city like Asheville, where there are so many like minded souls, it’s pretty easy to share my goods and knowledge for what others might have.

 

Toby wants to turn the massive coop into a play house…. he’s always looking for his next project.

 

Done with chickens!

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Yep, you read that right.  I think I’m done!  We build them their fabulous new predator  proof coop, fenced in a fabulous run, and spend many many hours feeding them, cleaning their space, keeping them disease and pest free, and worrying about them.  Well, two weeks ago the bear was back and tried to break in.  Suki (the ‘farm’ dog), in her old age, has decided to chase and attack the chickens instead of guard them.  So, they can no longer free range.  And last night, a raccoon pushed it’s way past the wood block guarding the gate, moved another wooded block in front of the chicken coop door, and was able to open the door just enough (about 2 1/2 inches) to squeeze through and kill 3 of my pullets, including my absolute favorite little white sizzle.

We got chickens to be able to produce some of our own food, but that production is minimal in the scheme of things.  We got them for companionship, but now that they have to stay in the fenced area, we don’t really ‘hang out’ much.  We got them to teach the kids a little about homesteading with farm animals, but Kaia could care less about them and Leif is really to young to understand.  So now we buy food, scratch, and pine shavings.  We spend time (far too much) worrying about their safety and health.  We go out every morning and every night to feed and care for them.  We spend money each winter heating their water.  We feed the local wild life with them.  And we get maybe a couple of dozen eggs a week.

There is a tremendous amount of pride that I take in showing off the beautiful eggs they lay.  I love to hear their bocking and crowing throughout the day.  And I do love to cook up a ‘home grown’ omelet for visiting friends.  And, yes, I know it’s the ‘in’ thing to have your own chickens right now.  But, I ask you, why should I keep them???

Crafting flowers out of seeds

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Somehow, I’ve ended up with a bag full of extra garden seeds.  Many are years old and some are just varieties that I didn’t care for and don’t plan on using again.  So, I thought I’d use some up in a craft.  Here’s what you need:

  • Seeds Pumpkin and squashes are best, but you can also use melon seeds and tiny seeds, like mustard
  • food coloring
  • rubbing alcohol
  • colored felt or fleece (this will be the background color of our flowers)
  • thin cardboard box, such as a cracker or cereal box
  • buttons for flower centers
  • hot glue gun
  • Elmer’s type white school glue
  • Optional: magnets, longer fleece strips for bracelets and headbands, velcro, sticks/floral wire…

First, pour a tiny amount (1/2 tsp or so) of rubbing alcohol into a bowl and mix with another tiny amount of food coloring.  I have the gel type of food coloring and I simply stuck a fork into the gel and pulled it out again.  What was stuck to the fork is what I then mixed into the alcohol.  (You could also use water, but I like how quickly the alcohol dries on the seeds.)

Pour some of your seeds into the mixture and coat them in coloring.

Doesn’t the purple look lovely?

I ended up using 6 colors for the squash seeds and put a few cantaloupe seeds in green.  I thought these would make nice leaves if I decided to use them.  Place your seeds on paper towels (or in my case, just plain paper) to dry.  I gave them a little toss every so often just to make sure they weren’t sitting in a puddle of fluid.

It takes a few hours for them to fully dry.  So, while that happens you can take this opportunity to visit with the local merboys,

Or have a chat with the viking who lives at the bottom of your stairs.

You can also take this time to get out your felting supplies and cut up some flower backgrounds

Cut 1-2 inch circles out of your felt and glue it (I used Elmer’s type glue, but the glue gun works also) onto circles of the same size that you cut out of the cardboard box.  Let this dry.

Now, once everything has dried, you can start assembling your flowers.

Pick out your petal colors and arrange them on your felt circle.  Then decide what kind of center you would like.  It helps to lay it out before gluing anything down so you can be sure you like the arrangement and that you have enough petals.

Then you begin gluing.  We have a fairly ‘cool’ hot glue gun, but it can still give you a nasty burn.  If you are working with younger kids, it’s best to let the adults use the glue guns.

Kaia liked the look of laying the seeds flat in a circle.  I went for the layered look.  With the layering, be sure to angle your first seed up a bit so that there is room to slide the last seed underneath it.

Once you have arranged your outer petals, you can do another layer of smaller petals, or use small seeds or a button for the center.  (We really liked the buttons!)

And while the older kids are working with the glue gun, the little ones can make circle trains. 🙂

Kaia and I spent ALL afternoon with this craft.  In fact, we were up until way past bedtime finishing off the last ones.  It was so much fun!  There are endless possibilities of what you can create with your flowers and they make fabulous gifts.

Use them as they are and tape them on presents.  Glue magnets on the back to hang your favorite artwork or projects on the fridge.

Glue them onto felt strips to make bracelets, chokers, or headbands.  A little strip of velcro makes the perfect closure.

Glue them onto barrettes.

Glue them onto a stick and create magic with your new wand.

You could also glue it onto a pin and make a broach.  What about attaching the flowers to green floral wire and making a bouquet for your table?  What would you make??

 

Peaches, Blueberries, and Ginger… what a perfect combination

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Our kitchen is full of ripe peaches and blueberries, and what better way to dispose of those nasty critters, than to eat them… in pastries and jam!!!

I started off by canning up some peaches and blueberries and thought I’d throw in some crystallized ginger for a little punch.

PEACH – BLUEBERRY – GINGER JAM

2lbs Peaches – peeled and sliced (for me, this turned out to be 12 large peaches
1lb Blueberries
1 cup sugar (I used organic sugar, but I bet honey or maple syrup would be nice here too)
1 cup crystallized ginger – chopped
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice (fresh is best)
2 tsp. Nutmeg, freshly grated
1 Tbsp Cinnamon powder

–Put all of your ingredients in a large pot and stir it up.
–Cover and put in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight
–Remove from fridge and heat until the liquid thickens a bit. I used my candy thermometer and got it to 215 F degrees.  (If you are at a lower elevation you may want to bring it up to 225 degrees.  I’m at 3000 feet.)
–Ladle into sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
This turned out to be a thin jam, but boy is it YUM!!!  I doubled the recipe and made 14 pints.
But I couldn’t stop here.  No, no!  There was still way too much fruit on my counter tops and I needed that room to prepare meals.  So, I moved on to the Peach, Blueberry, and Ginger pie!!
  • 1+ pounds peaches, pitted and sliced (this was 7 large peaches for me)
  • 2 pints blueberries
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup crystallized ginger, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch

–Move the oven rack to the bottom third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400F degrees F.

–Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.

–Divide the pie filling into two pie shells.  You can make your own or use store bought.

–Put the pies on a baking sheet (I beat one egg and brushed it on the edge of the pie shell to glaze it a bit) and bake about 50 minutes. Cover the pie with aluminum foil if needed to prevent the crust edges from burning.

–Cool and serve it up.  Vanilla ice cream goes best with this, but we didn’t have any.  So, I whipped some cream with maple syrup and vanilla extract and topped it up.  I have to say, I think this was the best pie I’ve ever made!  SOOOO delicious!