If my camera cord wasn’t lost I could post a real photo of the things we have canned in the last couple of weeks. But alas, it is still MIA (military term for missing in action for those of you that go blank with abbreviations…I know the blankness because I use to experience it ALOT!) so you will have to make do with this photo I found on Microsoft Office in their image gallery. Boo hoo….

Two weeks ago a friend had us over to can 5 bushels of tomatoes. We had a great time spending time with them and have been enjoying the fruits of our labor in spaghetti, chili and pinto beans. We made canned tomatoes and a few jars of salsa.

Since we enjoyed canning so much we came home and made several jars of grape and strawberry jelly and applesauce….yummy!

We are hoping to make more applesauce this week with friends coming to our house if schedules allow for it.

Due to laws changing in Illinois in regards to farmers selling homemade baked and canned goods made in their own kitchens, we are hoping to sell some of our wares next year. Farmers use to have to use commercial kitchens to do this sort of thing. I even looked into using one this summer but it never panned out and I am glad now since we can do it all in our own kitchen. There are stipulations though…of course.

When I get into the whole kitchen thing, my husband likes to call me “Suzy Homemaker”….well that’s what I use to be before 2008 when I started working from home. I love all the so called lost arts. Love to cook, love to bake, love to can, love to sew, love to knit (even though I am not very good at it) and now we are getting into dehydrating since that does not kill all the nutrition in the food. It is very satisfying being able to provide my family with healthy, homemade food and clothes. What can I say? I am from the old school where I believe a woman’s place is in the home taking care of her family and house. It gives me great joy to fulfill my calling as a wife and mother. Not that I don’t enjoy my other “work”, as it helps pay the bills, but my greatest joy is being a wife and mom.

I know you all aren’t going to agree with me, so what is your calling? What gives you joy as a woman?

Disclaimer: This does not mean that I do not enjoy being a small business woman, I do. The thing is it would not be nearly as satisfying doing it on my own. I love the look on my husband’s face when I can say, “Honey, I made XXXX amount of dollars today/this week/this month.” And I love being able to include my children in my work. Just saying…;-)