the beast

A few days ago, our sweet neighbor gave us a bag full of delicious, juicy peaches that he picked from Gregg Farms. And that's when it happened.

That's when the canning beast inside of me came unleashed. The beast comes unleashed each summer, it's just a matter of time. I knew it would happen. I could feel the canning beast rising up in me, yearning to be free. Every time I went to Sprouts or Aldis and saw all the cheap produce, I just yearned to let the beast out. I knew it would happen before too long. And on Sunday, it happened.

The beast came unleashed. And it's wild and free.

In other words...

I've been canning. A lot.

When I'm not canning, I'm dreaming about canning. When i'm not dreaming about canning, i'm searching for new recipes for canning. And when I'm not searching for new recipes, I'm running to the store to buy pectin or lids or I'm sanitizing my jars or searching for the rings.

The boys love to can, too, which has been sweet. So the last few days, ever since the beast came unleashed, the littles and I have been canning a lot together. Granted, it takes 18 times as long and it always looks like a bomb exploded in my kitchen, but it's worth every ounce of extra work when I hear Jasper, on his own initiative, explain to Brody that the reason he's adding a tsp of butter to the homemade blueberry jam that he's stirring is to reduce the amount of foam on top. Or when Brody knows, on his own, what the next step in the jam process is. Jasper made the last batch of homemade jam, almost completely on his own, measuring out the correct amount of smashed blueberries and sugar and pectin and butter. I, and the beast inside of me, love passing on the canning passion to the next generation!

So, farewell for now, b/c I'm yearning to find the bourbon vanilla peach jam recipe that dearest Mo made for us last summer.