Domestic skills in a different realm

While I usually show my domestic greatness (haha, greatness!) with my sewing machine, this weekend, I'm using the kitchen.  A friend of mine has a large garden this year and had more corn than she had time to put up, so she offered some to us.  I figured I'd get enough for supper and a pint or two to put up.  Oh no, she had 2 buckets full when we got there and Oren and I filled another.  She also passed on a couple pounds worth of tomatoes, some eggplant, squash and cucumbers.  THANKS, Christie!!!

So we all shucked corn yesterday afternoon until Emma found a worm or two in them and she was done.  Screeching and hollering and in the house, done.  Wish I had a picture of that...  We had corn on the cob for supper last night and it was so delicious!  Then I put up the rest.  Chris used to love when his Mom would put up  whole ears so he could just get one out and eat it for a snack sometimes, so I froze 20 ears and cut the rest.  I ended up with 10 1/2 pints!  I'll take that any day.  Now in October or January we can still have that great fresh from the garden flavor.

This afternoon I took the tomatoes and stewed them down with some basil from my garden and am contemplating vegetable lasagna for supper...  but I could just sit down with some fried eggplant too, so we'll see.

I don't can and freeze like I should to take advantage of summer produce, but I like doing it.  I like knowing skills that have lasted families for generations are being preserved (haha, no pun intended) and where the food my family is eating was grown.  We've got blackberries ready to pick and I'll be making some jam in the next week or so.  Does anyone else love the sight of opening their freezer or pantry and seeing jars of homemade goodness rather than boxes of fruit snacks and frozen pizzas??

This is pumpkin, blackberry sorbet (a fancy way of saying mashed blackberries and sugar!!) and corn I've put up.  I'm running way low on blackberries.  Good thing they're ready to pick!

And here are my latest entries for the 30 Day Photo Fun Challenge.  I was a day late on the hands challenge because I was too busy being Mama.  Oren had pre-k graduation and Emma had her end-of-the-year party on Friday.  But I'm still happy with the result.  Today's challenge of clouds seemed easy enough till I realized it is hotter than blue blazes outside and dry as can be.  The sky is a light blue with only sad wispy little clouds.  I thought about waiting and hoping for rain or a good sunset, but didn't figure I should push my luck!  :)  Tomorrow's challenge is breakfast...what can I convince Chris to make???