It all happens in the kitchen doesn't it! Whatever food we grow or raise or purchase, in the end, winds up in the kitchen, doesn't it?
Our kitchen area is the hub of much of our household activities. I just love the whole 'kitchen table' in the kitchen idea. Growing up we had a kitchen table in the center of the kitchen, and it was always the center of activity.
We ate off of it ...
We processed food on it ...
We had family discussions around it and even one on one discussions around it at times ...
My dad would enjoy a cup of coffee sitting around it when a friend would drop by for a visit. Of course, the friend enjoyed a cup of coffee too.
Big family meals with extended family and friends happened around that kitchen table.
Fast forward some 40 plus years and in my home today, apple preservation is happening around my kitchen table ...
We brought back a box of sun crisp apples from our travels and today I started work on preserving them.
I filled up the dehydrator with slices ...
I used the cores to make apple juice, but instead of making apple jelly with it, I opted to freeze it and use it in baking sweet breads later this fall ...
I set aside enough to make an apple cake which will be frozen for the holidays ...
I set aside a few for eating fresh ...
and I set aside one for adding to chicken salad I'll be making later this week.
This is my first time working with sun crisp apples, but it won't be the last. These apples are delicious and hold up well just sitting in a pretty bowl on the kitchen table while waiting to be used!
Yesterday, we ran errands all day, so I didn't get around to doing the laundry from our traveling. I tackled that today as well. Since I was going to have a day of doing laundry, I decided to wash our bed linens as well. Oh, my goodness, what was I thinking! By the time I got it all done, I was exhausted and had myself a sit down. (I did the apples in and around the laundry!)
At the end of the day though, I felt a great sense of satisfaction:
The laundry was done ...
The apples were in the process of being preserved and I had a plan of how I was going to use the ones not preserved ...
We would be able to sleep on clean, crisp sheets ... there's just something about sleeping on freshly laundered sheets that feels so right ...
And I paid bills and thought about our financial goals for the rest of September. (The next 'Hunkering Down' post is coming on Friday!)
All of this took place on and around our kitchen table! Our kitchen table isn't Pinterest worthy, nor does it sit idle with pretty decorations showcased on it while being relegated for holiday or 'company's coming' meals. Our kitchen table is a workhorse that bears the marks of having raised 3 active children; it has and continues to serve the family that lives here in many ways.
Our kitchen table and I go back a long way, lots of memories have been made at that table and I can't think of a single one that I would want to have happened anywhere else!
until next time,
mrs. patsi @ A Working Pantry
She looketh well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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So glad your back safe and sound. Just like my Mom's and grandmothers, our kitchen table has many uses as well just like yours. It's also where I work when baking or preserving, It's where I set up a portable ironing board to press quilt blocks, it's where I roll out dough, and it's also where we gather early in the morning for that first cup of tea or coffee. So many things get done there. Sitting around the kitchen table has created so many good memories for our entire immediate family, things that we still reminesce about when we're all together.
ReplyDeleteI homeschooled five at our kitchen table. There isn't much finish left on it but I don't want to wipe away those memories. I often sit at the table and do multiple food preps to last us several days. So, so many memories and people who have gone on before us have been at that table. Thanks for the reminder!
ReplyDeleteSeems the kitchen table has always carried the stories of life and family!
ReplyDeletenice to know you're back. i guess it's apple season in a lot of places. today i started apple rings in the dehydrator and made blueberry applesauce. tomorrow i guess i'll do strawberry applesauce. the flavors add a little variety to our winter menu. this year i would like to try mincemeat if i can find suet to add to it. we like honey crisp apples. it's nice to get away but it's also so nice to come home. we went to a cabin at a campground for 4 days for our 55th anniversary. it was nice and relaxing. we came home with a lot of produce too. onions, beets, cabbage and tomatoes. now my pantry is full- it's a nice feeling. until next time. bonnie in southern pa.
ReplyDeleteNot only do we enjoy my kitchen table for meals every night, but it serves as my desk, its where all serious discussions take place, and some serious game nights happen. The bonus is it is the kitchen table I grew up with.
ReplyDeleteMy old kitchen table is now in my daughter's keeping, waiting to be put in her newly enlarged dining room which is just off the kitchen. She's used it for ten years for her family and loves that table. She has crafted at it, we've mixed cookies and made cakes at it, etc. It was the center of our family life.
ReplyDeleteI have a 'new' table now that we've worn the finish off. It's family gathering spot, a coffee spot and often a work space. I often mend or sew or iron there and John keeps his computer on it.
When you mentioned adding apple to chicken salad, I wanted to share that we add apple to our tuna salad. It might sound odd, but it doesn't taste sweet, but just simple blends nicely with the tuna. It both extends it and it adds a little crispness to it, and it cuts the acidity of the tuna so that it's more digestible. Goodness! I think I just talked myself into having tuna salad for lunch tomorrow, lol.
We have a small bar height round table, at my insistence, that we bought used last year from a coworker. It works perfectly in our tiny kitchen and gives me back the satisfaction of eating a meal at a table. Over the years, we've had no kitchen table several times, at the insistence of my husband. Needless to say, I'm happy to have a table again, even if it's small. I don't do a lot of work at it, but I'm still glad to have it there. I do love apple in chicken and tuna salad. I have some lovely locally grown apples in my fridge I need to use up. I might make fried apples for our big breakfast this week. I also have a lot of potatoes to use up so maybe we shall have ham, scrambled eggs, hashbrown casserole and fried apples.
ReplyDelete