Blackberry recipes

We have had a lot of blackberries in the fridge since last weekend, and it was time I didn't something more permanent with them. First order of business was to make more jam. I'd crushed 5 cups worth when we picked them, but didn't have time to do anything with them all week. I had ordred a food mill/sauce maker last week and it arrived yesterday. I decided to give it a shot with the jam. My plan was to use it for half the berries and use crushed berries for the other half. I ran most of my crushed berries through the mill and it produced about half the sauce as I had expected. So I added more berries until I had enough. With the exception of one minor accident due to my poor first attempt to attach the mill to the counter top (that caused much of the highly staining liquid to splatter!), it went well.

When I had enough sauce, I made jam using the same recipe I'd used the first time. It made 5 pints of seedless jam. All 5 jars sealed perfectly and they are quietly resting in the pantry downstairs.

Then I set about using the balance of the berries. I pulled out a blackberry crisp recipe that I'd saved. It was super easy to make and it tasted absolutely amazing!

We worked together to harvest the last of the apples off the tree that has been dropping them like crazy. We picked about a bushel's worth. I set about sorting them and about 2/3rds of them went into the basement for storage for now. The last third is going to go towards applesauce. As soon as I have time, I'll give applesauce a shot. I may wait until I get more of another type of apple, but we'll see. This tree was the one of all of them with the least amount of apples, so we will be up to our ears, eventually. And the pears? We have way, way, way more of those!

Yesterday, we had the guy from the siding company by again. We signed the paperwork and got ourselves on the schedule. I'll have an official date sometime this week, but we expect it to be about 2 or 3 weeks. When I knew that the guy was coming over, it served as a catalyst to move 'cleaning the house' higher on my priority list. I felt like I'd really accomplished something when both bathrooms and the living room were spotless. I love having a clean house!

Oh, one last little update - I MADE YOGURT!! Yes, you read that right. I successfully made yogurt this morning! I actually followed the same procedure I'd tried one other time, but for whatever reason, it worked today. The bad news? I didn't like it much. Figures, huh? I decided to make yogurt cheese out of it. I strained it through my cheese cloth and then threw it in the fridge. I'm going to mix in some garlic and chives and make a cheese spread out of it.

Home improvement sticker shock

A 'before' siding photo

In order to ensure that our house will stay solid and strong for the next quarter century, we have been working towards improved siding. Our original plan was to replace a few boards of the existing siding, sand it all, and then repaint it. Upon further investigation, we discovered that it's not in very good shape at all. We set up a couple of appointments to have estimates for replacement done. The first one was this morning.

This company is top rated in the country. They do an extremely thorough job including sealing the house prior to applying the siding. This is very important in a wet environment like the PNW. If we want this job to last, it has to be done right.

The estimate for replacing all the siding was about double what we had expected! We will have to do some serious priority rearrangement in order to afford it. On Monday we have an appointment with another company to do the same job, so we'll see how that goes. It's a really, really difficult decision for us because of the price. We know this will GREATLY improve the value, life and appearance of the house. If we were planning to sell it, we'd do this in a heartbeat because we KNOW it'll pay for itself. But, since we plan on staying, it's hard to qualify the value when buying this now will be a financial burden. We also have to decide ASAP. This is becaue this company is about 5-6 weeks out in scheduling right now. If we get it done in that time frame, that may (or may not) leave us a weekend or two of clear weather in which to paint it before the rains start. We HAVE to get it painted before winter. Decisions, decisions...

Last night we had some friends come by to meet the animals and see the house. It was kind of last minute, so they had to see the house in all it's neglect. How embarrassing! At least we had one room unpacked and the kitchen was clean. We then all went out to a local place for sushi. Yum!

Prior to our company's arrival yesterday, we'd set about picking some of the apples on the one tree that is dropping them. H worked on picking up all the fallen ones while I climbed a step stool to pick them off the tree. I got about half a bag full before we had to call it quits. I couldn't reach them anymore anyway. I need a taller ladder and a fruit-picking thingamajig.

Our first (of many) apple harvest.

I put most of the apples in a cotton mesh bag and hung them in the basement pantry. I threw a few in the fridge for general eating and I washed, peeled and sliced 7 of them to make a baked apple french toast recipe I found online. I used fresh french bread, seven apples of unknown variety (good baking type), 3.5 cups of fresh goat milk, 8 eggs (from the store...boo), sugar and misc seasonings and spices. I assembled it all last night and this morning I threw it in the oven prior to starting my morning chores. It was done baking right about when we were ready for breakfast and YUM!!! It was delicious! (Good thing, too...since it made enough to feed an army!). The recipe is here: Apple & Spice Baked French Toast

Delicious! It reheats really well, too.