10 Little Jars and 3 Little Girls

Well, I finally finished the last batch of grape jam last night. 5 batches yielded 10 little half-pint jars of jam, plus an extra half-jar that we've mostly eaten already. It was really a lot of work for a little bit of jam, but it sure tastes good. I learned a lot about jam-making in the process.

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I think making pectin- and sugar-free jam out of Concord grapes was a rather challenging task to choose for my first major canning project. But, as DH said, "We don't know anyone who tends to learn to swim by jumping in at the deep end, do we?" :)

I'll post instructions on my food blog when I get a chance.

Now I just have the grape juice to can. I think it will be much easier, since I don't have to cook it down to the jelling point. I'll just have to let it sit for another day or so, then strain out the tartrate crystals (a.k.a. cream of tartar) and then heat it to 180 degrees and can it. Then I'll start working on the apples.

DH and I have also been making some progress on getting the house and yard clean and organized. This weekend DH raked up leaves and I hired a neighbor boy to mow the lawn, and this afternoon I'm having a teenage girl come over to help with some housework (my kitchen floor definitely needs mopping after making jam!).

My hope is to get things all squared away in time to decorate for Christmas. Last year things were so crazy that we didn't even do that. I'm looking forward to making a doll nativity scene again with the girls. We really loved doing that the two years we put one up.

Here are photos of the two previous Nativity scenes. I'm hoping to find another boy doll to play Joseph this year, to better match the 37" Pamela Erff "Kerri" doll who plays Mary.





Marie Claire by Monica Levenig, who played Joseph the first year, is 27" tall. Sebastian by Pamela Erff, who played Joseph the second year, is actually an inch or so taller than Marie Claire, but he is thinner and has skinnier arms and legs, so a doll built like Marie actually looks bigger (and more proportional with Kerri) than Sebastian does.



I keep wondering if one of the Peter-Leicht big girls that I like so much would work redressed as a boy. :) I've been watching this cute little (big) Levenig guy, but DH doesn't like the idea of a blonde-blue-eyed Joseph. :)

Meanwhile, Baby E has been wanting to nurse a lot today after having waned down to about 3 times a day the last several days. She's been in full-out tantrum/fussy/clingy/whiny mode. Hopefully we won't have too much trouble getting the rest of school done today.