The Canning Experiment

On Friday, I tried my hand at canning for the very first time. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. I don't know why, but if you've ever thought about canning, you probably have felt the same twinge of fear. There are so many things that you hear about going wrong with home canning...people getting sick from careless canning or the pressure canner exploding! It is terrifying! But if you actually sit down and read a few books about it (which I did to calm my nerves about the whole process) it really isn't that scary. Especially if you are just using the hot water bath canning method and not the pressure canner. I'm sure I'll have a nervous breakdown the first time I try to pressure can something.

For starters, as long as things are kept exceptionally clean and you follow the instructions, there is virtually no risk of sickness. As long as you get a good seal on the jars, they will be fine kept in a cool dark place for a few months. I was worried about the jars not sealing, one of them cracking and exploding in the boiling water, if I left enough head space, if I left too much head space, what did fingertip tight really mean? But I trudged on through and made my first batch of Pear Butter. It was quite tasty - I had to try it before I put it up, what if it was gross? It's a nice cinnamon pear flavor, much like a thick, sweet cinnamon applesauce. It will be very tasty heated on toast this winter. Mmmm. And did I mention that though it's not very pretty, it looks glorious in it's little jars all lined up on my shelf?

It took quite a while to make...about 3 hours for the pear butter, then another 30 minutes to can it, then 12 hours of sitting to let it seal. I did it at night, so the 12 hours sitting time I mostly spent sleeping. But in the end, I have 8 half pints of deliciousness sitting in my pantry that I am oh so happy with. If for no other reason, you have to give canning a try for the sweet satisfaction of doing something older than your grandmother. People have canned forever and really, it just recently went "out of fashion". My mom remembers helping her mom can. Now that I know how to do it, I will teach Moo someday. There is nothing like the feeling of pride that jumps to your heart when you hear the "ping" of that little button on the lid of a jar being sucked down, creating the vacuum you need for your preserves to keep. I literally laughed out loud when my first jar went "ping!" followed shortly by seven other "ping, ping, PING, ping!"s. It is a wonderful thing.

Cowgirl Moo

When asked to strike a pose in her new Cowgirl boots and hat (courtesy of the local Boot Barn) this is what she did. Such a ham. Perhaps I should call her Oink instead of Moo...

The Fair...again

Well, it's that time again! But this Fair was awesome...well, if you like the whole 4H part of the fair. Which is what we're all about. I just don't trust those fair rides.

As soon as we got there, we watched the Pet Parade, full of people and their dogs dressed in costume. My favorite, though it was kind of cheating since the dog wasn't really in a costume, was Mary and her Little Lamb. The girl was dressed just as the story book pictures always make Mary look staff and all, and the pup was this tiny little bichon frise (I really have no idea how to spell that). They had put a little bow and bell on her. It was darling. Moo liked the girl dressed as a picnic table complete with a dog dressed as, well, a hot dog. Also pretty cute.

We got to see all kinds of animals - goats, sheep, rabbits, horses, cows, pigs and poultry of all types. Oh there were even guinea pigs. I liked seeing all the different types of foul - average and ornamental chicken, game foul, turkey...you name it, they had it. I also have a soft spot for sheep, always have, and the little black faced are my favorite. We met a very nice 4H girl who let us pet her sheep as she was bringing her back in from showing in the ring. Moo thought she didn't feel too soft, but was very nice. She felt like a shorn sheep to me, but what do I know. If we ever get enough land, I'm getting sheep. Another treat was seeing the "messy" pony. Moo said she looked like she spilled paint allover.

Then we came to the rabbits. Moo loved the rabbits and I have to say I can't blame her. They were all so cute. We met a nice family who owns the bunny pictured and since our daughters share the same name, we were allowed to pet the cutie.

That really made Moo's day and we stood there for maybe twenty minutes petting that little doe. I have been reading up on raising rabbits for fiber, since sheep just aren't an option and may never be one for me. To see Moo so happy interacting with them is wonderful. Hmmmm...

Surprisingly, Moo wanted to sit and watch the dwarf goats in the show ring, so that's what we did. We sat and watched the judge examine each animal and their 4H girls walk them around the ring. Moo and I each took a guess as to who we though would win and guess who got it right? Moo appears to be a natural goat judge. Who knew?

After wandering around a bit more, we made it up to the rodeo ring where Moo caught up with a few of her friends and we got to watch a timed shooting event on horseback. The riders would start at one end of the course and race around a

U-shaped set-up of balloons tied to cones. The goal was to pop all the balloons in the fastest time. The girls had fun for a while, but Moo was totally into it the whole time. She even threw a fit when we had to leave while the show was still going. Her friends were long gone by then, but we had stayed until I couldn't take it anymore...did I mention that it was 108* F that day and we had already gone through two big water bottles? Oh and I'm 9 months pregnant? So Moo was a little bummed when we had to leave, but I was excited that she had enjoyed herself so much that she didn't want to leave. At least for now, she's still her Mama's girl.