One of those days...

Yesterday was one of those very productive days for me.  I love days like yesterday, when I spend most of it in the kitchen, making various food items for my family.  I didn't have anything else that had to be done, so I could just enjoy myself and putter all day long in the kitchen.

I made jelly from our first ever picking of grapes from our 2 vines!  I had 5.5 cups of jelly, but somehow, only got 3 half-pint jars of jelly out of it.  I used a "low sugar" pectin and it took f.o.r.e.v.e.r to jell!  So, I guess some boiled away.  However, there are more grapes out there to ripen, so maybe I'll get more grapes for another and larger batch.  (Early taste tests say that the jelly is just scrumptious!)

We were running low on bread, so I made a batch of bread.  Not sure if I'll break open a jar of jelly now, or if I'll wait for a later date.  I really like this wheat flour I've been using, and I love this bread recipe.  It uses honey instead of sugar.  I've always loved baking bread and having a recipe for whole wheat bread that has never failed me yet makes bread making more enjoyable.    Someday soon, I'm going to try sourdough and a wholegrain bread and a rye.  I've got the recipes, just haven't taking the time to try them out.

Since my chickens are laying like crazy, I decided to make a couple of pies.  Mom is our expert baker, and I'd like to someday be as good of a pie maker as she is.  In addition, I also want to improve my pie dough skills.  Many years ago, when I was in 4-H, I could make an excellent pie dough...in recent years, it hasn't been good, and I've taken the easy road and used store-bought pie dough.  Well, yesterday, I tried it again, and came out with a couple of pretty good crusts.  Not quite where I want them to be, but definitely better than store-bought! 

I made a coconut cream pie for Kev and a butterscotch pie for Andy.  (Miss Kat doesn't like pie, so she didn't care what kind I made.)  Both recipes came from Mom.  The Butterscotch recipe came from my Great Grandma Woodruff.  Kev and I tried both pies...and both are just pretty tasty!

Now, I'd have taken pictures, but my allergies kicked in yesterday something fierce.  To be honest, I was afraid I'd sneeze all over my food, or sneeze while taking pictures.  Besides, you'd just get hungry from the photos!

Yesterday was one of my favorite kinds of days.  The best part was sitting down to enjoy the fruits of my labors.  Bon Appetite!