Construction Chaos

After a decade of my endless whining about getting rid of our carpet, Superman has come through! And I love him even more! You see, our carpet is the original carpet from when the house was built for Superman in the 80's. After almost twenty years, two children (boys none the less) it's had it!

So Superman has been doing this...

and this...
And my joys have been doing this...and this...and this...I've been busy, too! Let's see, I've been- well, basically I've just been taking a lot of pictures. Oh yeah, and bidding farewell to my wretched carpet!

I've also been encouraging the joys to express their inner creative genius.

***WARNING*** Extremely UNCONVENTIONAL Method of expressing creativity***

The wall that held Superman's 125 gallon bachelor pad built-in aquarium is now gone. Before the new paint color is put on the walls, we decided to have a little fun.
The joys were only allowed to use pencils for their artwork. That way, it'll be easy enough to cover up their designs with the new paint. I'm thinking about using a much softer (read 'generic' here) shade of paint than my current red, so I didn't want to risk the colors bleeding through the new paint.
My favorite artwork has been this...It literally put a huge smile on my face!
His, too!I promise, I'm not suffering from temporary insanity! Although I just might go bonkers before we're finished! Ten years from now, I truly believe my children will remember being able to draw on the walls and color on the carpet with Sharpies! I like to look at it like we're making memories! In fact, I have every intention of scribbling all over the carpet in my room before it gets ripped out, too! Even Superman helped us draw on the wall! This has been a lot of fun! And yes, we've made sure that the boys understand where and when this is allowed!

BON VOYAGE WRETCHED CARPET!
ARRIVEDERCI

AUF WIEDERSEHEN

ADIóS

doviđenja

FARVEL

αντίο

AU REVOIR

GOODBYE

Busy, Busy Birthdays!

Just checking in and letting you know we're still here! We've just been busy celebrating!
This little monkey turned 2 on Saturday!
And this little monkey turned 10 on Sunday!
Some monkeys never grow up!

New Blog Look

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The current one?
Or this one?

Canning Tutorial: Basil-Garlic Tomato Sauce

It took someone (Inspired) showing me how to can- before I was brave enough to try it myself. Hopefully this will inspire someone else to give it a try!

I used this recipe for Basil-Garlic Tomato Sauce to process my first 25-pound box of tomatoes. With the second box, I changed the recipe around a little. Changes are noted in this tutorial.

I started with a 25-pound box of Roma tomatoes from our local Farmer's Market.

Drop them in boiling water for a couple of minutes.Then transfer them to icy cold water. This helps the skin peel off easily.

After moving this batch from the boiling water to the icy water, put your next batch of raw tomatoes in the boiling water.Cut out the stem area from the top of the tomatoes, as well as any blemishes.Then peel off the skin.With so many tomatoes, I have to work in batches. I get to this point with each batch from the icy water, then start again moving the next batch that is in the boiling water to the icy water.After all the tomatoes have been peeled, I cut them in half and remove the seeds. I love Romas because they have very little seeds, and are much meatier than most tomatoes.Place the tomato halves in a stock pot (or blender or food processor.)Puree tomatoes. Bring tomatoes to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until they have cooked down some. Saute onions and garlic in olive oil. (I used coconut oil.) I doubled the amount of garlic in my second batch of this recipe. I wanted more flavor. I also added a tablespoon of crushed red pepper flakes.Chop basil. Add garlic, onions, and basil to simmering tomato mixture. While the tomatoes are simmering, start preparing jars. I use the Sanitize setting on the dishwasher, then leave the jars in the hot dishwasher until I'm ready to use them.
Wash and rise lids and bands. I've tried leaving the lids in warm/hot water, and just leaving them on the towel to dry. So far, it seems like the jars seal faster when I start with warm lids. Maybe it's just me! But, the last two batches I've used warm lids on were 'popping' as soon as I took them out of the canner.
(This recipe called for one tablespoon of lemon juice per jar, before adding the sauce.) Once the mixture has cooked down 1/4- 1/2 of the volume, begin filling the jars with a funnel.
Remove all air bubbles from the sides and bottoms of the jars. Top jars with lids and bands. Tighten bands fingertip tight. Jars will be very hot!Place jars in canning rack and submerge. Cover the tops of the jars with 1-2 inches of water.
Process/boil for 35 minutes, then turn off the stove. I let the jars remain in the canner another 5-10 minutes. Then, I lift the rack onto the handles.Using a jar lifter, remove each jar onto a cutting board or cooling rack.Cover the jars so that they can cool gradually overnight. You will hear 'popping' sounds as the seals set. Label and put away!