It's time to start locking our door!

Cameron and I had dentist appointments today.  When we got home, we found a huge pile of tomatoes on the doorstep in the garage.  I have enough to maybe make a batch of spaghetti sauce if I can find my Ball Blue Book of Canning and Freezing.  It disappeared on me after I froze pears a few weeks ago...or was it after the apples?  I'm not sure, but I do know that I have searched high and low for that book and I can't find it!

Yesterday Caleb and I spent the day with my friend Lorry of Kohls' Photography getting his senior pictures taken.  We had fun, and he did a great job (well...so did Lorry :-)  and we will have some difficult choices ahead of us!

Today was a Monday...and I'm coming down with some kind of sinus thing...so I'm feeling cruddy.  And it was a Monday.  And we had the dentist appointments.  The week HAS to get better right?

Harvey

Have any of you seen the movie Harvey?

 

It is a funny, classic movie about a man who has a 6'3 1/2" invisible white rabbit for a friend.  Jimmy Stewart played the main character in the 1950 movie.  Well, our community has put together a cast to perform this play on Oct. 9, 10 and 11.  The performances will be part of a dinner theater, and will be held at the Farmhouse Bed and Breakfast, just on the edge of town.  What a fun venture for the community! 

Ron was contacted and asked if he'd be willing to be in the play!  He will be playing the part of Dr. Chumley.  Rehearsals are keeping him quite busy, and he's been studying, studying, studying his lines! 

Click here to see the movie trailer  Ron's part is the "distinguished" older doctor.  In the movie it's the balding older fella with glasses...

Our family  can't WAIT to see this performance!  Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures to post after the big event!

My kids all ate zucchini tonight

And no one complained about it.  When ASKED, they all said something along the lines of "well...it wasn't my favorite..." but they did all eat it!  Thanks to my friend Julie for the recipe!

Oh, and of course we had to have bread and apple butter, too...oh, and apple pie for dessert :)

Zucchini Casserole

4-5 small zuchini , shredded to make 4-5 Cups

one large onion, shredded

1 1/2 Cups shredded sharp cheddar-(can add a bit of mozzarella, too)

2 eggs, beaten

1-2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning

salt and pepper

Place all in a greased shallow pan Bake at 350 for 40 minutes, covered.   Uncover and bake  another 20 minutes at 400.  It may need to bake a bit longer to get rid of some of the water/moisture.

Apples, Apples, Apples

OK, earlier this month (or was that last month?)  my friend Mary gave me a boatload of corn, and also some pears.  This week, my friend Denise gave me MORE than a boatload of apples!  I had a HUGE garbage bag, a 5 gallon bucket AND 3 walmart type bags of apples!  And they are beautiful and tart.  MMM....some are in the fridge for snacking on.  I am thanking God that I own a Pampered Chef apple/peeler/corer/slicer thingy.  I started at about 1 and finished at 7:30 tonight. 

I made 2 apple pies (one two crust, and one with a crumb topping). 

I made 7 quarts of cinnamon applesauce.   I filled my tupperware microwave bowl to the brim with apples.  Sprinkled on a few tablespoons of sugar, and microwaved them for 6-8 minutes.  Then, Rachel threw in a few handfuls of cinnamon red hots.  We cooked it for a few more minutes and then stirred like crazy to get it fairly smooth.  It is SUCH a pretty, pink color, and tastes GREAT!  We did this either 3 or 4 times.

I also have my 6 quart crock pot full to the very top with the ingredients for crock pot apple butter.  My family LOVES apple butter!  Here's the recipe.  I will freeze it rather than can it, though.

Crock Pot Apple Butter

Ingredients:

• 5-1/2 pounds apples, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 to 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Place apples in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Combine sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt; pour over apples and mix well. Cover and cook on high for 1 hour. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook for 9-11 hours or until thickened and dark brown, stirring occasionally (stir more frequently as it thickens to prevent sticking). Uncover and cook on low 1 hour longer. If desired, stir with a wire whisk until smooth. Spoon into freezer containers, leaving 1/2-in. headspace. Cover and refrigerate or freeze. 

And, I also used 24 cups of apple slices to make freezer apple pie filling.  It tastes GREAT, and will be a great item to have in the freezer.  I have 6 bags of the filling.  Here's the recipe for that.

Freezer Apple Pie Filling

• 18 cups thinly sliced apples (up to 24 cups)
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 4 1/2 cups white sugar  (1/2 brown sugar 1/2 white)
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 6-8 cups water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice and set aside. Pour water into a Dutch oven over medium heat. Combine sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to water, stir well, and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
2. Add apples and return to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until apples are tender, about 6 to 8 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.
3. Ladle into 5 freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Cool at room temperature no longer than 1 1/2 hours.
4. Seal and freeze. Can be stored for up to 12 months.

A Weekend in Nebraska

We had a great weekend!  We left on Friday after school and drove to Lincoln for the night.  Saturday morning, we had a tour of Concordia University in Seward.  It is a beautiful campus and is one of the colleges Caleb is considering attending next year. 

After the tour, we drove on to visit our friends Phil and Aubri, and we got to meet Lily!  She's BEAUTIFUL!

  

We really enjoyed getting to know this lovely gal.  Visiting with her mom and dad was fun for us, too...but c'mon...let's get our priorities straight!  We HAD to get to know Lily! 

On Sunday, Ron preached for Phil, and after church we had a wonderful pork sandwich dinner, and then Ron gave a GOOD NEWS presentation at Phil's church.  The presentation went well, and we really enjoyed visiting with the folks at Phil's church!

Rachel and Lily enjoyed quite the conversation!

Of course, I enjoyed getting to know her, too. 

He's SUCH a natural at this, isn't he?  No...we decided we are NOT quite ready for grandparenthood yet.  We'll just enjoy our friend's babies for a few more years!

Oh, and while we were there, we DID manage to take one picture of her mom and dad, too. 

Phil, Aubri and Lily. 

We had a wonderful time visiting with you!  And Aubri!  We forgot to say THANKS for the life savers on our pillows.  Everyone appreciated that touch. 

When we asked Caleb what his favorite part of the weekend was, he said "Phil's ribs!"  He made some awesome ribs for Saturday night dinner!  Yum!

Oh...and Rachel is STILL talking about that cole slaw! 

Cross Country Season is here again

And so far it's been a fairly successful season for both boys.  Caleb has been working hard and has been shaving his time each practice or meet.  We're proud of him and he's doing very well!

The start!

Cameron was in the newspaper this past week with the phrase "Sophomore Cameron Koch ran the best Cougar time, placing 25th with a time of 20:08"  GO Cameron!

We're proud of you!

Party House?

When you have two teen boys in the home, your home can become party central every once in a while.  Caleb and Cameron have great friends, and they were fun to be around last week when there was a whole crew of them here!  All it took was LOTS of food, a Wii, a couple of computers and an XBox 360 to keep them entertained all night long.  And yes...I do mean ALL night long!

 

Mama Mia! Soundtrack songs

Rachel and I have a new favorite movie! Here, you can enjoy one of my favorite songs from the movie Mama Mia!

Another one

that brings me to tears of laughter!

Have you Seen this You Tube video?

This is one that makes me laugh every time. Watch the whole thing...it's long, but it's worth watching!