My Goodness, IS It Only Tuesday?

You'd think that with Dearest Husband home yesterday that today would feel like a Monday- but it didn't. It feels like a Thursday that is at an end. Weekend in sight. I have all my classes graded, caught up on email, laundry, and dishes, tended a sick babe all day AND cooked a new recipe (scalloped potatoes from a CI book).

Now, my back aches and my feet are tingly so I am putting my feet up and messing around on the computer. Tot is in the bath, soon to be in bed, and I am likely up for the night as she wakes every 20 minutes asking for a drink or a hug because she doesn't feel good. Just. Like. Last. Night. I'm ready for it. Water is stationed, hugs are at full capacity. Germs, get ready for a fight.

Oh, and it snowed another 2 inches. Someone (not me) will have to shovel our 35'+75'+135'+10' of sidewalk soon or the City will fine us. This snow makes for a lot of work when you live on a corner lot! The upside is that snow is insulating so we are warmer inside.

Last week we went on a field trip to the Neal Smith Prairie Refuge. I love this museum and I love the vast prairie restoration that surrounds it. Lil'Bug became really upset in the seed lab and refused to stay in that room, opted to stand outside the door and watch her friends while they built seed throwers. She was very patient about waiting, but her aversion to the lab room was very odd. But then she had a blast! I could barely keep up. (Also, I played with the action settings on my camera...)

We also went to a rockin' awesome birthday party for one of Lil'Bug's favorite friends. K. is 5! Such a little gentleman too. Lil'Bug adores him. So much that she talked her Nana into getting her dressed up in party clothes and dress shoes so K. would think she's adorable. THAT was adorable! (Yes, he did in fact compliment her on her outfit! She grinned so big that she looked like a muppet!)
Update on the baby: I feel great. Hungry all the time, but still watching food for protein and nutrients- no junk, no caffeine. She kicks me all the time and I know where her head and feet are. I look more like 7 months instead of 20 weeks- or so EVERY stranger informs me. Or they tell me I am having twins- which I'm not (verified by the THREE ultrasounds we have had already. One. She's a girl). Also, the ultrasounds found a fibroid. It is tiny, but reason enough to continue monitoring. Fibroids caused complication with Lil'Bug's birth and led to the C-Section. Anyway, here's my first attempt at a mirror assisted belly photo at the museum. Unfortunately the mirror was less than ideal!

Reflections a bit

I had an itch to review my first three blog posts ever. Wow was that a trip. Funny thing is at the end of the third one I was craving the decaf hazelnut tea gifted to me by my dear friend Mama B.- and so it is this morning as well. I've been hiding a bit of hazelnut chocolate to devour with it. This morning will have to do. Lil'Bug is feverish and cranky and nested in on the couch watching PBS. Next up is a DVD of Bambi and maybe Muppet's Treasure Island.

We had an incredibly busy weekend. I'm still processing all that we did: field trip, birthday party, trip to Grandma's, actual in person work for the local college that employs me.....I'll write more later.

Delight

Raspberry Jam

Sunshine. These raspberries are made from pure sunshine and they taste like it too. This is warmth. In the late summer (our Spring crop was killed by an end of May frost) Lil'Bug and I would head out in the morning and eat breakfast right off the canes. Mmmmmm. Through the harvest season, I gathered about 1 cup every 4-5 days. I froze them as I went, hoping to accumulate enough to make jam eventually. I got about 7 cups total.

When we make it into jam it is like bubbling, boiling lava. I leave it with the seeds. Since we didn't get as much this last summer, we are canning most of it in smaller jars.

It is dangerous for Lil'Bug to help with the boiling and canning, but she helps with the prep work and labeling and keeps me company while watching the hot process. She gathered the tools, mashed the berries, and nibbled.

It is a 1/1 ratio of berry to sugar, boiled until the right consistency. Then hot poured into prepared glass jars. This year we actually have a pressure canner (didn't use it), but last year we just stored in the fridge and they kept as long as they lasted (about 6 months). One thing I learned last year was that the pot to boil the berries should be much larger than you think you need because the berries double in volume once they start boiling and then the sugar gets added. I also learned to stir constantly or the bottom will scorch. Luckily there is nothing more heavenly and warming than standing over a pot of boiling raspberry jam. Mmmmmm.

We are finally getting this done today because I need jam for the cupcakes! Um, yes, for FIL's birthday that was two weeks ago? We'll get it done. Better late than never.

I do wish there had been enough to put some away for the State Fair. My jam is truly awesome. I know I'd win! :) So much for modestly, I'm still a buzz from all the spoon licking goodness.
*edited to add: It is my Dearest Husband who first suggested this..... though I can't take much credit for the product- it really is the berries that do the work.

When we finished up, we had 12 little jars and 2 big ones (2 cup jars). I toasted a whole wheat ciabatta roll and slathered it with local dairy fresh cream butter THEN I scraped all the jam I could from the pot, the scoop, and the spoons and piled it on. Crazy delicious.

Yup. I took a bite BEFORE I got the camera. It was too good not to. When I put Lil'Bug in jammies I found she had jam behind her ears. I have no idea how it got there.