farmgirl photo...

Honeybee in the Tomato Soup...coneflower, that is!

I love the striking color of this variety...so glad I found it!

farmgirl phone photos...

I try to keep my camera handy, it seems there's always something that just needs to be saved for the memories...old barns with chippy paint, glorious flower gardens, centuries old farmhouses, and regional eye-catchers like the hundreds of wind turbines we came across on our last road trip...they seemed to fill the fields for miles. 

However; there are times I just run out the door and don't bring my camera along...those are the days I see the most beautiful sights, and I'm left with only my phone camera. Ugh...and so it goes.

Such was the case last week...this sunset was so beautiful that my daughter and I just had to pull the truck off to the side of the road and really enjoy it. The shape of the clouds, the intense colors, the dramatic shadows...no photo trickery here, this is what we actually saw. And yet, the camera couldn't capture all of the beauty we saw with our own eyes.

I'm sorry to say, all I had was my phone, but I snapped some pictures anyway and wanted to share them.

(At least I didn't run out the door without my phone...which happens more than I'd like to admit!)

apples + apples = applesauce!

This week is applesauce week here on the farm. Our Yellow Transparent apple tree is loaded with apples, and they're ready to pick.

NOW!

To be honest, it takes longer to pick, peel, and slice apples than to turn them into applesauce, and there are two really easy ways to make applesauce...no more keeping watch over them while stirring on top of the stove for hours.

One...pull out your handy slow cooker, it just couldn't be easier!

Slow Cooker Applesauce

10 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/2 c. water
1/2 to 1 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker; stir to blend. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours, or high setting 3 to 4 hours.

OR...

Electric Pressure Cooker Applesauce

8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

1/2 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients into the inner pot, close the vent, and press STEAM/CANNING button and set it at 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, slide the steam release valve and allow the steam to escape, remove the lid.

Now yes, I do have an "old-fashioned" slow cooker, BUT this was made in an Power Cooker brand electric pressure cooker my family gifted me with at Christmas. 

And if yours isn't a Power Cooker, no matter which brand of pressure cooker you own, you'll find oodles of applesauce recipes online.

No electric pressure cooker? The slow cooker works perfectly as well...it gives you not time to slip outside to do a bit of gardening, curl up with a favorite book, or wrangle a few goats for hoof trimming! (see what we have planned?)

What to do with all your yummy applesauce? Well, it freezes perfectly, so once it's cooled, simply spoon it into freezer containers.  

Or, preserve jars for yourself as well as to share with your family & friends. I'll be spooning extra applesauce into jars and canning them...ready in only 15 minutes!

Enjoy the day, friends!

a day to pause and reflect...

"Whereas it is the duty of all Nations

to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,

to obey his will, to be grateful for His benefits,

and humbly to implore His protection and favor."

~George Washington
October 3, 1789