Do the Can-Can...that has a double meaning here:)

So, about 4-6 months ago, I had the brilliant idea to start preserving or canning or jarring, whatever. I LOVE fresh jellies and jams and have a strange obsession with blueberries and pomegranates and mangoes, all seasonal fruits. I figured, if I learn to preserve, I can have them all year long! I ordered a starter kit on Amazon so I'd have some idea of what I was doing. Seriously, the boiling pot is big enough to cook a small child in. Not that I would do that. Ok it depends on the child. Not the point. I had to find a place to store it. I did. It fit nicely into a nook on a bookshelf in my family room. In fact, it looked so lovely, that I allowed it to remain there. I tried to dust it now and then but the spiders seemed really comfortable and they'd worked so diligently to build their home. I'm sure it was a journey much like that of the pioneers. How could I just evict them because I HAD to have jam or jelly? Really. I'm just not that selfish of a person.

Then, last week (Thursday to be exact) I woke up and declared (that word is to be spoken with a southern accent)to myself, (if I just awakened and declared it out loud, Danny may have thought me crazy-er) am I going to talk about the way I want to live or am I going to live? Then I went back to sleep until 10. We'd gotten to bed really late the night before. And when I woke up, the second time, I said yes, I am going to live! So, I made a plan with my neighbor Kami that we were going to have fresh jelly by the end of the weekend, no matter what.

I started the process late afternoon on Friday and had everything ready to stir by the time Kami arrived. She stirred and stirred and stirred (I offered to stir but she said something about tightening the flab on her underarms which she doesn't actually have). Finally, it was finished, we knew this because there was a slight burning odor about it, and ready to be placed in the jars for further boiling. It was around this time that we realized the "jelly" was cementing itself to the side of the funnel. Hmmm...it's not supposed to do that right? Maybe the boiling will help. No such luck. What we had? Apple brittle, only not as easy to chew. We put it on some wax paper thinking we could use it as candy. That would've been a good idea if we liked to eat wax paper, or if my ultimate goal in life is to have dentures before I turn 30.

We tossed the first batch and started over. By the end of the night, we had Apple soup. It was just too darn watery! I awoke Saturday morning like a crazed woman on a mission. I took that soup and added a bit of this and that and stirred and stirred and stirred and stirred and boiled and stuck it in the refrigerator to sit. Sunday morning, we had toast and the best darn apple jelly I've every eaten! And in the long run, I really enjoyed making it. I think I have a new love and you know, it's time I did start living my life instead of just planning it. Even if all I get it wax paper apple brittle and apple soup. At least my diet won't be lacking in fiber:)