Go to the Fair!

"Go to the fair...you will find that the conditions at a fair will surpass your wildest dreams." E.B. White Charlotte's Web

For most of the two days before my son's kindergarten class went to the fair he reminded me, "I am not going to school. I am not going to the fair. There will be a lot of animals there. They stink. Bad. I do not want to smell them."

Geesh. Just what every environmental educatin' nature lovin' mother wants to hear.

Well he went. And after getting to hold the flailing baby chickens that peered out inquisitively from his hands, he was, of course, totally smitten with their fluffiness.

Peach butter, peach ginger chicken, mustard green beans, baked apples

After having a kitchen filled with freshly picked peaches something had to be done with them immediately- eekk! Peaches have a zero tolerance for shelf life so I decided to do some canning. My childhood fears of monitoring an ancient pressure cooker that I was told (nonchalantly) had actually exploded, are certainly not the whole story of canning. Water bath canning is actually pretty easy. Phew, what a relief.

This is a two-part recipe. But so easy, I promise.

Crock pot peach butter with ginger and mint

(c) Can Stock Photo

Pickin' Peaches at a Polyface

It was a grueling hot day, when you step out of the car and sweat beads on your lip, when we went to pick peaches in mid July. I had hoped yearned for blackberries, but although the guides said they should be in season, there were none to be found. They had either shriveled or been knocked over by the recent golf ball to softball sized hail. Farming: Not for the faint of heart.