Saturday morning Avery and I tackled the 40 pounds of apples that had been sitting in our garage waiting to become applesauce. I'd been putting it off because I've never canned on my own before. I watched my mom when I was growing up, but I don't remember helping her. My aunt and I canned jam a few summers ago but I did more observing than actual work. Doing it on my own was a little intimidating, so I recruited my best helper.
When I got married I hardly knew how to boil an egg. I am determined to make sure Avery is more prepared than I was, so I try to include her in as many of my household responsibilities as possible. And you know what? She loves it! She's good at it! And she's actually helping to lessen my load!
She wanted to be involved in every step of the process, so I let her do everything but transfer the boiling applesauce into the hot jars.
She wanted to be involved in every step of the process, so I let her do everything but transfer the boiling applesauce into the hot jars.
She peeled...
She chopped...
She recruited (and critiqued) help...
She prepped jars (and graciously shared her spare apron with her little brother!)...
She stirred...
She called for quality control...
And supervision...
And the best part...she tasted...YUMMY!!!...
Taking pride in the finished product...
Every jar sealed and we were so excited. We ended up with 12 quarts of applesauce and had so much fun that we decided next year we want to do a lot more!