The birthday hike with applesauce

The guys headed out today for a special birthday hike with our new 8 year old… It really does seem just a short while ago that I was holding this little boy in my arms.  He always wants to go on a hike on his birthday.  It is a perfect time — the woods are clear of snakes and poison ivy.  They headed out with their weapons and set out for the hike. 

While they were out, I decided I would start canning applesauce. I’m not sure what got a hold of my good reason and common sense.  The majority of the children left at the house were under 6 years old. 

After over 2 hours of canning… I now have 4 whole jars of applesauce sitting on my counter.  That’s alright, you can laugh.  I called it a day and retired the canning until tomorrow. 

The boys walked in just about that time and said they didn’t see anything but a small wren and a red headed woodpecker.  We aren’t doing too well— 4 jars of apple sauce and birds wouldn’t go far if we were depending on our “skills” to help us survive. 

I have apple butter cooking down in the crock-pot tonight that I hope to get canned tomorrow in the smaller jelly jars.  Then I might make more applesauce and can a decent amount of jars. 

I found a canning tutorial with detailed pictures on the Southern Plate website  very helpful.