Filling the Larder

The last week has found an abundance of food in our house... It has taken a lot of work to take care of it all and I go to bed bone weary - but I love it! What a wonderful time of year!!!

First there were the apples...

They made jelly and over 200 muffins!

I have the best husband! He spent the morning helping me peel, chop and prepare apples for baking and then helped me bake them even though he had tonnes of stuff that he needed to do as well. He is such a blessing in my home.

Then there were the tomatoes...

This is what they made! Yummy salsa and I even got it as thick as it is supposed to be this year in half the time that it took last year!

Chad spent a morning helping me prepare vegetables for the salsa too. He is an absolute blessing in the way he helps me. It is so nice to spend a morning with him as we work together. I love it!

The salsa used up a bunch of these...

Then we dug our vegetables and brought them in...

When the first frost came we picked gallons of these...

This year we had both red grapes and green grapes. The kids loved eating them!!! I love to blend off grape juice with raspberry juice. It is YUMMY!!!

I LOVE this time of year!!! It feels so good to bring in the harvest that the Lord has so generously provided us with and put it up for the winter in ways that make it usable all year long. Not only are we blessed with fresh fruits and vegetables right now, but by canning, storing and preserving them, we are blessed to be able to enjoy them all year long.

Life is so much like putting up produce. It takes work, effort and focus to accomplish the goal. In life, the sweetest relationships take the most work, effort and focus. We have to really want them to be worth the effort we put forth as we seek to preserve them. Sometimes contaminants will spoil a whole batch of preserves.(That is a nasty mess and such a waste!) If we let contaminants like bitterness, pride and criticism enter into those sweet relationships, they likely will begin to spoil and so much is lost. A new batch has to be made from scratch to replace the old and with relationships there has to be a lot of forgiveness to ensure that old contaminants don't corrupt the new batch.

Life is wonderful, the more I do preserves the more I have learned how to avoid contaminants that destroy lots of hard work and effort. I love to can. I love to watch my shelves fill with tasty food and treats. It is such a joy to help provide for my family as I work in the home where I am so needed. The blessings of life are so abundant - Heavenly Father is incredibly generous.