No lazy summer days here!

I know I haven't posted anything of substance recently. There is a lot of posts rattling around in my head but I haven't been sitting down at the keyboard much these days.

I think I may spend more hours in the kitchen in August then any other month. Here is a glimpse of what has been happening around my house and kitchen.

Our tomatoes are doing surprising well. I just love the smell salsa and tomato sauce.

But if the lid to the blender isn't quite on, I get a mess like this! It actually was far worse then it appears. I'm still finding tomato splatters!

Baking has been at a minimum but we were totally out of bread and granola -necessities at our house. I did a double batch of sourdough bread and three batches of granola. Hopefully that will get us at least part way through August.

The first week of the Preserve the Bounty Challenge was on fermentation. I really wanted to join in but my garden didn't contain anything good to use this preserving technique. I decided to buy some cabbage and make some sauerkraut.

I had made sauerkraut once maybe six or seven years ago. At the time, it seemed like a huge job, possible because I had something like eight  large heads of cabbage which made a huge amount of sauerkraut! I canned the results and we only finished eating it last winter!

I was interested in reading some of the health benefits of fermented vegetables. I definitely shouldn't have canned the sauerkraut! Since you can make any amount, this time I only used one cabbage head, about 1 quart worth. I now have it sitting in the basement in a crock, hopefully doing it's thing. Watch for an update.

I started sewing for my brother's wedding. It isn't until October but I have five dresses to make, so I thought I should get started. I love to sew but it takes longer then it used to!

In my spare moments, I've been doing some organizing and cleaning to prepare for school. We haven't really quit during the summer, but I want to become more consistent in  September. The back-to-school sales make a great time to stock up on supplies. The children are as excited at freshly sharpened pencils, clean notebooks, and new crayons as I remember being at their age. I so excited about all we will learn this coming year.