Monday, September 26, 2016

Low key weekend

     I had a rough week, with Phi's demise and some other difficulties (which can't be explained on the blog right now), so I tried to take it easy on the weekend.
     On Saturday I had the perfect frugal day. First, there was a neighborhood-wide garage sale nearby. I didn't find anything I wanted to buy, but on my way out of the area, I drove by some stuff on the side of the road with a "free sign" and scored three things I really wanted - a wheelbarrow (for hauling compost), a bucket, and some very high quality hoses for watering the garden. Next, my friend D and I went to a new museum to take advantage of the annual free museum day held in DC. This museum is the perfectly-preserved 60's era home of some philanthropists, filled with their personal art collection. I felt a bit awed by people who could afford to decorate their personal living area with Renoirs, Van Goghs, and Picassos. I had brought some apples and what turned out to be perfectly-toasted walnuts as a snack, so we drove to the grounds of the nearby National Cathedral and listened to a whole series of songs played on their bells while we snacked.
     Sunday I made apple butter and pesto. This turned out to be more work than I expected, but it feels like the perfect fall activity to be stockpiling foods for the winter. My enthusiasm for the pesto was aided by my personal dislike of purchased jarred pesto, and my friend E's contribution of her extra basil. In a few cold months, it will be a nice taste of summer.

3 comments:

Gill - UK said...

Your low key weekend was very busy and sometimes it helps to keep busy when you have to sort out difficulties.

alexis said...

oh oh will you share your apple butter recipe with me? We're going apple picking this weekend.

Renee Michelle Goertzen said...

Alexis - this is the recipe I used, but if you're going to eat the apple butter fresh or freeze it, I'd cut the sugar way down. You have to use a lot of sugar when canning to keep the jam safe, but that's not needed for stuff you'll eat fresh.
https://www.freshpreserving.com/apple-butter---ball-recipes-br3446.html

Didn't you have a recipe for making it in the oven? I can see the advantage of that - I have a really great pan, so only needed to stir every 20 minutes or so, but otherwise it can be a pain to avoid burning it.