Sunday, September 16, 2007

Domestic Diva

Okay, so I may not be a diva, but I sure feel domesticated this week! When I was younger I would always dread the late summer and early fall. Not only because it meant that summer was over and school was starting, but because the cool weather signaled the onset of canning season. Our kitchen was transformed into a fruit processing plant and all extra hands were recruited for peeling, slicing, filling and dicing (not only did I dread the work, but I also dreaded the fact that my mom used those quiet moments alone to discuss the birds and the bees. ha, ha, remember mom? I'm sure I'll be taking advantage of that quiet time with my own daughter some day too!)So this week I reached a huge milestone in my life (and a pivotal moment where I officially crossed the line from young to old!). I attempted something I swore I would never do and I was actually even excited about it. Canning. My friend, Mandy was so nice to teach me the ropes and we spent all day Saturday canning peaches and pears. It was a lot of fun and now I've got 26 beautiful jars lining my cupboard. The only problem is that they look so pretty and after all my hard work I don't dare open any of them! We did try some pears last night and they were delish, so I'm excited to have some fresh fruit to help us survive the harsh cold winter :). Thanks so much, Mandy! As if canning fruit wasn't enough to make me feel all Martha Stewartish, I even attempted strawberry freezer jam. Of course I had to make home made bread to go with the jam. It was funny because I was babysitting my next door neighbor's son the day I was doing it, and after watching me work for a while he came up to me and said "you're doing all this for ONE sandwich??" Yes, it would have been easier to pop open a jar of Smuckers and smear it on some sliced bread, but once you taste that warm homemade bread with fresh strawberry jam, there is no denying that it was worth every second! Of course I had to wrap up my domesticated week with some hand sewn (okay, machine sewn) throw pillows for my couches. I'm really digging the fabric that Chelsea helped me pick out (thanks!). So now I've got all that domestication out of my system and now it's back to the not-as-good-but-definately-simpler store bought versions.

Now for some other random bits from this week...

Kylie was using some scissors to open a package of cookies. AFTER she had opened them, Jason turns to me and asks if I ever washed the scissors. What a random question since usually I'm just lucky to get all the dishes washed, so I asked him why they needed to be washed. Apparently while Jason was watching the kids he let them use the scissors to cut up grasshoppers and crickets to keep them occupied while he did the yard work--a week earlier. EWWWW! Information that would have been nice to know BEFORE they were used to open cookies and who knows what else throughout the week.

We were at Jamba Juice and I was holding Jayden at the cash register while a nice African American gentleman with a rather large hair-do was helping us. We were only a couple of feet away from him when Jayden pointed right to him and said rather loudly "Scary!". At that moment I was grateful for his speech problem because it came out as "Cary!", so maybe, just maybe he didn't know what Jayden was talking about. Although the fact that he then buried his face in fear probably didn't help the situation much.

I was playing with Jayden one morning and told him that I needed to go and take a shower. He turned to me and said "yeah, mommy stink!" Thanks dude.

Jason introduced the kids to these cookie things from his mission. They're called Tim Tams and they are these chocolate covered wafer things that you eat by warming up milk and then biting two of the corners off and then sipping the milk through like a straw. It melts the chocolate and you are left with a mouthful of gooey chocolate deliciousness, it is soooo good! The kids had fun learing the art of Tim Tams and we had fun laughing as each person tried to eat it up before it melted and fell all over. It was a fun family bonding moment (although don't ask me why I didn't change the kids church clothes before we attempted the chocolate feat!). My new favorite thing that Jayden says is "I like Kyee, be-fre me". Meaning "I like Kylie, she's my best friend". Sometimes he'll substitute Kylie's name with Daddy or Mommy, it's so sweet.

20 comments:

Michelle Y. said...

That is so funny about the grasshoppers, I would die. I can't believe how domestic you are, you are making me feel really bad. I have no desire to do that stuff because I can barely keep up on my house. But my mom and Craig's mom did it so I feel like such a slacker. Hope you had fun last night too, I am so glad we are doing that, we always look forward to it. Also, I saw what you wrote on Shebas blog and let me know if you want to borrow my Stephanie Meyer books, I have the last 2.

Chelsea said...

Oo La La, Domestication at its finest! Go Jamie! Canning, bottling, freezer jam... I have no clue about any of it. Good for you. I know where I'm comin when there is a crisis! I LOVED the 'african american' guy story, thank heavens for the unclear words! HA!! The pillows turned out so cute, just the perfect amount of pattern for your family room!

Brooklyn said...

Jamie! I love the Damask print fabric. JoAnn's? Super Cute! I have the best recipe for stove jam. It takes 15 minutes. I make it a couple times a month becasue yes! it does make a difference. You'll have to teach me to can. My mom does peaches and they are MY FAVORITE! Warm tham up, put over ice cream with a sprinkly of cinnamon. Delish! You are little miss Susie Homemaker! Nothing more appealing to the hubby then a domesticated wifey! Go Jamie! I love your stories! the scissors, Yikes! Thats Hilar! Have a nice Sunday!

Suni said...

Oh my goodness you have been BUSY! Canning in hardwork and your peaches turned out beautiful! We love strawberry freezer jam too, its our favorite! And you sew...cute pillows!! Funny stories, that cracks me up about the scissors!

MommyRohner said...

Such pretty pictures of your peaches. We should have taken pictures of us in our aprons with sticky gooey pear peelings up to our elbows. I guess that wouldn't have been as pretty.
Oh, and TIM TAMS! We are HUGE tim tam lovers. When we were in Tahiti we found new Dulce De Leche ones. They were so yummy.
Congrats on your domesticness. Your pillows look great!

Jodee said...

Good job Jame! I am amazed with the domestication! The tim tams brought back a lot of good memories- I can still remember Jason trying to explain the art of tim tams to Ronnie and I in your kitchen at Harvest Hills, that was the best! And who lets their kids play with scissors and cut up bugs? Gross J!

Cammi said...

As always -- WOW JAMIE! Do you ever sit still? I LOVE that fabric you used for the pillows. I want to get going on canning too. Where do you get the fruit from? Good job!

Rohm Family said...

I have been meaning to tell you this forever- you should do photography as a side buisness- take pix of kids and stuff, you have a talent for it- your pix of your peach jam so carefully arranged reminded me :) I agree with everyone else- you are mom of the year :)

Marisa said...

You are awesome! I'm totally craving homemade jam and bread now. Wanna fedex some to me? I agree that you have crossed some threshold from child to adult having done canning!?! Welcome to adulthood (not that I could be the one to welcome you...I still haven't canned on my own yet) :-)

foreveryoung said...

Thank you all for encouraging my first attempt at being a "real Mormon Mom". Brooke, you must know your fabric well! Yes, it's JoAnns and I must be the last person in the world that didn't know what "Damask" was. Chelsea had to teach me all the technical terms, I thought they all just fell under the general catagory of "paisley". The peaches and ice cream sounds so yummy, thanks for the idea! Cammi, I got the fruit from our bishops wife who has some connections with farmers in Utah and Cali so she gets a good deal. Mandy, I can't believe you've had Tim Tam's too! I can't imagine my life before them (Jodee, were they as life changing for you too?). Thanks for all the comments, you guys make me laugh :)

Sheba Price said...

Okay I am a little late to comment because of a certain book that has kept me from my normal life. Anyway Jamie you are Martha! I would love to see the pillows, taste the jam and peaches, hint, hint!:) The scissor story is too funny and gross at the same time! I love the African American story as well! Man sakes alive! You have been busy! Do you ever sit still? All I can say is...."I will have what she is having!" (The movie-When Harry Met Sally)

Kristin said...

I am so into canning right now too! I'm so glad that you got to do fruit, I think peaches are my fav! I can't believe all the funny things kids say. It sounds like you got a lot of stuff done this week! Congrats to you!

Chelsea said...

p.s.
you better save me a "Tim Tam" gooey melty chocolate.... say no more.

AND to all the other ladies... NO, SHE NEVER SITS STILL! The first thing I am gonna do when my kids are in school is take a BIG FAT NAP!

and...
Sorry I got your message late & if you dont have any plans I will bring him over...thanks!

Melissa Stadler said...

You are sooo Martha Stewart Jamie. I am so impressed with your skills! Can I send my boys over for a PB&J since I am too lazy to make the "good" jam? You are amzing Jamie!

Jodee said...

Yes Jame, life changing! I don't think I have ever laughed so hard or had so much fun trying to slurp milk as fast as I could before the "cookie crumbled"! LOVE IT!

Jodee said...

oh, and ps. I had no idea what the heck "Damask" was, I guess we are the last 2 people on earth! But hey, whatever it is, it looks good!

Janessa said...

Domestic Diva indeed! I love your pictures. Very professional. Did you really tie ribbon on each of the strawberry jam containers or was that just for the pictures? Surely you have won the "Favorite Daughter" award now that you have carried on the traditon of canning. I'm sure you've made mom proud. I so love the pillows! I too had no idea what Damask was either. Thanks for the education. I was thinking that maybe we could hit JoAnn's when you come out in November (can't wait!) and you could help domseticate me while you're here. All your kid stories are great! I have some great Tim Tam memories with you guys too. You are such a fun family!

Janessa said...

p.s. I meant to apologize for not looking at your blog sooner. After I talked to you on Sunday and heard all about your canning adventures for some reason I was thinking that I had read your blog already. I just realized this morning that I hadn't actually read it yet. I got on the computer and checked it out as fast as I could.

Diana said...

I LOVE the pillows. They are fab--Joanns is right around the corner from me, I'm inspired to go take a look. I'd love to find a good fabric for my bedroom curtains or something.

kemptons said...

WOW IMPRESSIVE!!!