First up, let me cover the business. The free read prequel that I posted as Friday Snippets is now ready to be downloaded in a pdf: Lie to You. I have an epub version but WordPress isn’t liking it — and I can’t find where to change the security rules to allow it to be updated. If you’d rather have epub, just drop me a note and I’ll e-mail it to you.
I’ve also posted Chapter One of HURT ME SO GOOD. As we get closer to release date, I’ll probably post a few more teaser excerpts, so stay tuned!
Now for apple escapades: we drove up to my mom’s (Granny’s) this weekend to pick apples and celebrate her birthday. She has two apple trees in their yard, one a cooking apple of some sort (I can’t remember–all those apples were gone) and a Red Delicious tree. We picked up at least 3 bags of apples and the kids had a ball.
The best part of the trip, though, was the canning lesson Mom gave me. I learned how to can applesauce (and brought home the pints we canned). When I was a kid, she had a pressure canner that always scared the crap out of me, but she showed me a different way to do it. She calls it “cold press” which makes no sense to me since we still boil it, but no hissing pressure build-up to freak me out. I bought a canner last year but was too scared to use it (and I couldn’t find any jars that late in the season). This week my goal will be to try some applesauce, and then I want to hit our local orchard and buy some cooking apples for apple butter.
If we have any of these apples left, that is. I made fresh juice this morning (which took about 12 apples), and then I made a “Puffy Apple Pancake” in my iron skillet that was pretty good. Of course the kids keep snatching them and munching away, too. They’re just too good and sweet to resist!
Aw, man! I hate that I missed it. I really wanted some applesauce and apple butter, but I more wanted to watch the girls pick to their little hearts’ content. After how ga-ga they went over the tiny little green baby apples, I wanted to see them actually snag one and eat it right off the tree.
oh there is NOTHING like an apple right off the tree! 🙂 totally different from store apples… and i hear ya on the Fear of the Pressure Cooker — my mom had one too. I never will. Ever. 😯
Oh! and a friend of mine made apple butter in her crock pot last year and it was FAB-U-LOUS! She said it was really easy. Will get the recipe, if you want it… 🙂
We sooo missed you, Sis! Maybe we can hook up later in Oct for a bonfire? Pleeeease?
Bethanie, that sounds like my Mom’s recipe! She makes hers in the crock pot too. I just need to get good cooking apples. These red delish probably won’t cook down very well for apple butter, but Mom said they’d be fine for applesauce (chunkier).
Makes me wish I could have been with you. I’d love to learn how to can applesauce.