RTT- can't. stop. canning.

Well it's Tuesday and the best way to get everything out there is to pull out the Un Mom's Random Tuesday Thoughts badge and get to it.

Shall we?

Well, my car broke down AGAIN. Last Thursday Binny and I made a quick egg run and found ourselves stranded at the Egg lady's house. The car was fine when I left home, started right up but when I went to start it to come back home, the gauges went nuts flopping all over the place and making terrifying clicking sounds. I called the Gardener and before he even arrived the egg lady's husband took a look and determined that the battery was not dead but broken and leaking acid all over the engine compartment. The Gardener and the other guy were able to rig it enough for me to drive the 3 miles back to our house, then the Gardener went and bought a new battery. Not as bad as it could have been, but still another 80 bucks.

My dad and younger brother came over for lunch Saturday to celebrate my Dad's b-day. I served Pork chops, green beans from the garden and my family's favorite... Popovers. I was promptly given the stink eye as I tried to season the pork chops with salt, pepper and a sprinkling of fresh sage. My dad likes his food very plain, and will send anything back in a restaurant that comes out with any type of sauce on it. Of course I only sprinkled salt and pepper on his and he loved it. My brother who is normally a vegetarian even ate a pork chop and practically licked the the serving tray after mentioned that it was local pork. What is it with men and a good piece of meat?

The garden is officially done. Over the weekend temperatures dipped well below freezing and killed off the what was left of my pepper plants and flowers. It will really hit me when I have to start buying produce from the grocery store again, especially tomatoes. Nothing beats a fresh homegrown tomato! The garden may be done but I'm still coming up with things to can. My father-in-law gave me a huge bucket full of grapes and a big bag full of apples. I spent all day yesterday cooking, straining, pressing and canning the grapes to make 6 quarts of grape juice and 3 big sheets of dried grape fruit leather. (Fruit leather is similar to a fruit roll-up but leather actually contains only REAL FRUIT and NO high fructose corn syrup) It was a lot of work but the juice and the leather are delicious. Today I will try to tackle all of the apples. Since I already have lots of applesauce, I think I'm going to make jars of apple pie filling or apple butter, I can't decide. Or spiced apple rings... Too many choices!

Finally, my blog friend Sheila from Ma Vie Folle (My Crazy Life) awarded me with the Over The Top blog award. How sweet is that? Sheila cracks me up on a daily basis. If you haven't already, go check out her blog, it's so worth it. Now for the award rules.

Answer the survey below…you can only use one word answers!

Pass this along to 6 of your favorite bloggers!

Where is your cell phone? pocket

Your hair? wild

Your mother? Minnesota

Your father? no sage

Your favorite food? cheese

Your dream last night? no

Your favorite drink? grapefruitini

Your dream/goal? healthy kids

What room are you in? kitchen!!!

Your hobby? food

Your Fear? scary stuff

Where do you want to be in 6 years? here

Where were you last night? sofa

Something that you aren’t? tall

Muffins? pumpkin

Wish list item? food processor

Where did you grow up? North Dakota and Wisconsin

Last thing you did? eat

What are you wearing? sweats

Your TV? off

Your pets? clean!

Friends? love

Your life? full

Your mood? happy

Missing someone? always

Vehicle? don't ask

Something you’re not wearing? bra

Your favorite store? Costco

Your favorite color? green

When was the last time you laughed? yesterday

Last time you cried? May

Your best friend? loyal

One place that I go to over and over? supermarket

One person who emails me regularly? Grandma N

Favorite place to eat? Artcafe

Now to pass this award on to 6 other bloggers. Riot Kitty, Secret Mom Thoughts, Kelly, Sidhe, Joe, and Wild Child. Congrats all, because I really do think that all of your blogs are over the top!