2nd Annual Bike Trip

Here's my boy. Sometimes, he's still my baby 'cause he's my snuggler but he doesn't really want to be my "baby." When he's leaving me for a camping trip with Granddad, though, he really becomes my baby - but only to me. This isn't the lad's first motorcycle trip, either. No sirrey. Last year they went to Bruneau Sand Dunes and I guess I was so beside myself that I couldn't post about it??? I don't know, because that story isn't here. :( Anyway..... this one is!

Here's my boy. My big boy. Wearing my mother's helmet. The helmet I would wear if I wear going instead. Yes, he's 4. I tell ya what, the kid has a melon! It's gargateous!!! Don't tell him I said that - that could lead to a complex down the road. Isn't he cute? Those black eyes smiling at me? Cute chubby cheeks squished in the helmet foam... ahh. What a sight.

Since there are so many pictures here for your enjoyment, I'll keep the descriptions brief. Well, as brief as any mother can who just sent her baby off on a motorcycle trip without her!!!

Here are the bikers: Granddad and Paco. Note: You always take a shot in front of the bike. Kind of like a picture when you hunt and "get something." That's all I'll say about that. For now.

Then a close up so you can see who is in the photo: Same two people.

Adjusting the helmet:

Adjusting stuff. Gloves, helmets, armrests...

Visor down and ready to go! What do mom's do when their baby is leaving on a motorcycle trip without her??? She takes LOTS of pictures. For every single shot you see her, there are 2 or 3 taken seconds apart.... it's a nerve thing, I think. She, not I, has to do something to keep busy. And to keep from crying.

They're off!

They're off still!

Yes, they are on the street right in front of the house!

I told my Dad I wasn't going to follow them this year. Seems last year I was a little something and followed them for miles. And miles. And miles. I said, "Not this year! I'm a big girl!" And yet.... when it was time to let them go:

I followed.

For this shot, I ran, I mean drove, like a crazy woman and passed them so I could stop and get some shots of the riding towards me. They didn't turn out so well. Seems to work best when one is not nervous, moving/twitching AND looks through the peep hole to insure the subjects are in the photo... small details I don't want YOU to forget.

Here they come!

See that red ball attached to grey and blue sleeves? That's my boy. The other guy? My Dad.

"Dat you, Moma? Whatcha doin' back there?"

Time to wave good-bye.

Waving. I'm WAVING BACK HERE!!! HEY!

And to save you all the grief and tears, I will NOT show you the many many many shots I took from the stop sign as they drove West, away from me. I did not follow. I went forward, on my road. And, I did not cry. Til now. So, good-night.

How to... Oven Canned Tomatoes

I can't believe it's been 2 years since I told you about my basil jelly. And I've given you my mother-in-law's fresh salsa recipe... and I've hopefully given you a glimpse into my love of food and family!

Today, I want to share with you a tried and true, though NOT approved by the home extention office, NOR is this USDA approved, way to can tomatoes in the oven. As always, you are welcome to use the hot water bath method, as I have done in the past. This recipe comes to me from my Aunt Kay in Colorado and has been used my her... and her mother... and her mother.... you get the idea. Let's get to work, okay?

Here is the original recipe in Aunt Kay's writing on a handy notepad from "Ranchville Colorado." I added the 1 t canning salt line. It helps to have the recipe first so you can confirm that you have everything you need to actually can the desired product.

Here we have the desired product, raw and ready.


You need to blanch the tomatoes and the skin will just peel right off in your hands. To do this, boil water and drop the tomatoes into the boiling water for a bit and then scoop them out into a sink filled with cold water. Remove the skins. And hull the stem part out. I,of course, use the "core and more" from Pampered Chef. It has serrated round edges and works great for hulling anything that needs hulled. Boy, I am good with my words today, aren't I! That's okay because I am working. Canning. I can't use neat words while I am concentrating on preserving food. You understand this if you ever can. Pictured below is the core and more - careful, it is sharp.

Other ingredients besides tomatoes: lemon juice and salt. Oh, lemon juice was not on the original recipe. We've been adding that for years to canned tomatoes since they just aren't as acid as they used to be. "They ain't what they used to be... ain't what they used to be... ain't what they used to be. The poor ol' toms just ain't what they used to be - many ol years ago." Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice to each jar, along with 1 teaspoon of canning salt.

Fill the jars, leaving 1/2" headspace (space at the top of the jar.) Slide something long down the sides of the jars to let out any trapped air. I use the handle of my Pampered Chef silicone scraper as it is a "no-no" to use metal. Bamboo would work well, too.

Once jars are filled with peeled and quartered tomatoes and packed nicely, add the lemon juice and salt. THEN fill with boiling water.

Place hot jars in COOL oven. Close the door.

Set temperature to about 275, you need to make sure the contents boil. Set timer for 70 minutes. Now, go forget about them for about 15-20 hours. You don't open the door til the oven is completely cool.

Ta-Da! Every jar sealed and the tomatoes are still bright red and pretty looking.

Oh, that box of tomatoes gave me 7 quarts canned. Next time, I would pack them a bit tighter as some of the jars have more liquid than I want. The nice thing is, I will use these tomatoes in soups, chili and casseroles this winter. I can't wait.

Two Babies

Here's one of my babies. He has decided that he is the one who feels safe in the kennel, or tunnel as Paco calls it.

He feels safest when the door is closed, by him.

When the door is open, you never know who will invade your space.

My other baby, Zorro, thought this was his safe place.

And so I have two babies.

If you look close, you will see my babies are sharing the kennel.

That is, until one baby feels like perhaps he should leave.

There, that's better. I'll just sit on his blankie.

Okay, that isn't working either. Poor kids just can't figure out where to be.

What's amazing is watching all this transpire in minutes. And they usually get it figured out without any help from me.

I'd like to tell you that Javi didn't get back in the kennel.... but he did. Maybe I should get another one? I imagine Zorro will quickly outgrown this one and then maybe it can be Javi's for a while and Zorro can have a bigger one. I know, I know, that won't work either... there will just be more room for both of them. Love and acceptance is a powerful thing and I'm getting a big dose of it watching my little boys and Zorro interact.

What Every Boy Needs

Day 2 of Zorro's new life with a ton of kids running around. It is taking both Zorro and Paco some time to warm up to each other. I think Zorro thinks of Paco as his brother and wants to wrestle but Paco is too scared to actually do that. Again, enjoy the talking pictures taken this morning.

Here are the boys, sitting nicely together.

Zorro decides he wants to play with Paco

Paco cries, Zorro wins, Mom assists.

Here we are working on sitting on command and since Zorro minded,
he got a nice little piece of puppy food from Paco's hand.

Great work on both of their parts.

A little affection on Paco's terms.

Zorro

I've known we've needed a dog for some time. Paco is terrified of dogs and I don't know why. When my brother, Troy, was here for graduation with his new pup it became very clear - we needed a dog. Paco needed a dog. So we've been looking for a lab. A black lab to be exact. Because, you see, this little guy has been named long before we ever got him. His name, as you know from the title is: ZORRO. And to hear a 4 year old boy say it with a Spanish accent is just about the cutest thing you'll ever hear.

Bright and early this morning, okay bright and early for me, alright, at 8:00 this morning, Roy, Paco and I loaded into my parents' pickup to meet Zorro. I'll let the pictures do some talking...

The work has just begun. ;)

Summer Life

Hopefully, you are following Michael Phelps, I mean the Olympics - they are so good and exciting!!! My friend Heather certainley is. I'm sure this is one reason we maintain our friendship - because we both care about world events, come on now.

What else have we been up to?

Roaring Springs Water Park - twice. I might even go again...

Visiting the Public Library.

Watching the Snake River Stampede in which Paco has decided he wants to be a mutton buster next year. You have to be 5 years old so he'll be a young one. Is this not a frightful thing for a mother to endure?

We've also had swim lessons for Melynda, Sky and Paco at the YMCA.

Attended Vacation Bible School where the kids memorized Phillipians 4:13 NIV

Obviously, you know we went to Mexico... just read here a few times and you'll get that figured out...

We had our annual drive-in movie experience and saw Kung Fu Panda. I so love the drive-in.

Attended Yearly Meeting in Oregon.

Had snow cones on a hot July day.

Been to The Reel Theater many times already this summer.

Last night went to the Caldwell Night Rodeo and Chuckwagon Dinner... this morning hit the Buckaroo Breakfast to help ring in MELYNDA's 14th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

We had a camp out in our yard but leave soon for our family reunion that is a camp out for a long weekend. YEAH!!!

All that's left is a BBQ/Picnic at the lake, swimming at our friend Greg's, seeing a movie at Edwar'ds and watching Grease with my daughters.

Wow, that makes me tired just seeing all we've done! And school doesn't start til Sept 2nd!

Canning Green Beans

A month ago there was a post about canning and I instantly thought, "Oh yeah. Now we're talking! This I CAN do!" And then my friend Heather mentioned my canning craziness and finally, I was reminded last night why I got all excited when I read both of their posts. I love canning.

First off, clean your kitchen. It's so much nicer to prepare food in a clean space.

Wash the beans. I weighed myself then the beans and came to the conclusion that I had 10 pounds of green beans. The easiest way I have found to wash them is to dump them into a clean sink and fill it with water.

Make sure there is plenty of water so you can swoosh them around and get the dirt off 'em:

Now swoosh 'em and move 'em and push 'em and... you get the idea. Clean 'em.

In smaller batches, I put a couple handfulls in my awesome strainer and work from that:

Now get to snippin'! The fastest and easiest way is to use your hands to snip off each end and then snip them in twos or thirds: Putting newspaper under your work area will catch all the loose ends and make clean up a breeze.

Place the snipped beans in a clean container, like my stainless steel mixing bowl:

Get all abled (and not) bodies to help snip. Here you can see what happens when my Dad arrives unexpectedly during this process:

Boil lids.

Invite company over and don't tell them what you're going to do. Then put them to work. Here is one guest filling CLEAN jars with snipped beans. Pack them tightly, lady!

Leave 1' headspace. That's the space between the beans and the top of the jar.

Fill the jars with hot water. Please be careful and don't burn yourself. Remember, it's HOT water!

After you add the jars to the pressure cooker...following your cookers instructions carefully, get the cooker boiling and steam coming out of the release valve for a full 10 minutes. Once you have done that, you put the weight on, or however your cooker works, and bring it to a full 10 pounds of pressure:

Keep it at 10 pounds, adjusting the burner temperature as needed, for 25 minutes. Then, turn off the burner and let the pressure drop to 0. Or, be like me and turn off the burner and go to bed. It'll be fine come morning and you won't be worried about opening the lid. I do take off the weight once it's at 0 to release the pressure. (See your book for official instructions.)

Gorgeous home canned grean beans. I am happy to say they all sealed!