There aren’t too many apples on the trees this year, and honestly, they’re not the best apples we’ve had. But they’re still perfect for dehydrating and jellies and sauce. I wanted to put something up that I could send to Erik in Iraq, and since glass jars are definitely out, I thought some dried apple rings would fit the bill.

For the first batch of dried apples, I peeled them, then sliced apples about 1/4 inch thick (or slightly thinner) into lemony water. (I microwaved a lemon for a few seconds, chopped it, and squeezed the juice into a bowl with enough water to cover the apples.) I didn’t core the apples, but that’s just a matter of preference–I love the little “star” at the center of the apple. The apple slices went into the dehydrator for about 24 hours, until they were quite dry and leathery. Unfortunately for Erik, the rest of my family thought they were very good, so a second batch is in the dehydrator today (with apple skins left on–very pretty). I’ll hide them as soon as they’re dry, or else I fear that Erik may never get any.

I saved all of the leftover apple peels and ends, and I turned them into a quick jelly. There wasn’t much juice left in all of the trimmings, so I threw it all into the crock pot, covered the peels in an equal amount of water, and set the crock pot to low all day, then gently mashed the pulp, and proceeded as with any regular jelly recipe. I only ended up with three 1/2 pints of jelly, so I’m not sure it was worth the effort, but I’m sure it will be tasty, and it certainly is an economical recipe. There was even some pulp leftover for compost. Not bad!

The past few mornings have been crisp–not quite cold enough to light off the wood stoves, but we’re wearing extra layers and slippers now. Autumn is here right on schedule, and with it, thankfully, is the first crop of kale. We were all getting pretty impatient for our first batch of kale soup (the original recipe from John Silveira is in Backwoods Home Cooking). My dad adjusted the recipe a bit to be slightly lower in fat, and I think it may be even better than the original recipe now.

Kale Soup

6 cans vegetable stock
2 cans chicken stock
2 lbs. hot chicken or turkey sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large red onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced
4 medium red potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup parsley, no stems, chopped.
1 1/2 - 2 lbs. kale, stems and all, cut into manageable pieces. Be sure to use the really curly-leafed kale, not the decorative type, which doesn’t taste nearly as good.
2 15-oz. cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed well
2 15-oz. cans diced tomatoes, liquid and all
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Throw it all into the biggest pot you can find. You may have to add the kale in batches, let it cook down a bit, then add more on top. Bring to a boil, then turn down and simmer until the potatoes and kale are tender (check the kale stems) and the kale is not bitter, about 30 minutes. Then add:

8 cloves garlic, minced (garlic lover here–I put in a whole bulb)
8 to 12 ozs. elbow macaroni

Continue to simmer until the macaroni is done. You may need to add more liquid if the soup seems too thick.

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my post last week. Erik will deploy before the month is out, and we really don’t know what to expect of the next president. We’re told that this will be a typical, seven month deployment, but Erik and I are planning on a full year or so. I’m glad we decided to make the move to Oregon to be so close to family.

In the mean time, we’re all settling into our new pace and responsibilities. I’m still staying home with the children most days, and we’re discovering all sorts of fun things to do here at Grandma and Grandpa’s place. Olga is now the Official Gatherer of Fresh Eggs, and visits the hen house five or six times a day. Gavin is on the Poultry Cross Country Team, and chases the chickens around the yard.

I’ve been working a lot from home, getting a jump start on the new issue, fiddling about in the garden, laundry, meals, etcetera. Not a whole lot has changed, for me, except the size of the household. It’s a lot busier with eight people in the house, and that is taking some getting used to.

Lenie had quite a bit of dill volunteer in the garden this year, so I harvested quite a bit of dill seed over the weekend. One of the easiest ways is to cut the stalks after most of the seeds have set, and hang the stalks upside down inside a bag to dry. As the seeds dry out, they’ll drop neatly from the stem, leaving you with clean lovely seed. There are some lovely fat pickling cucumbers in the garden, so I’ll be using up some of this seed making dill pickles in the next day or two.

I took Erik down to the airport on Friday morning, and I only cried a little bit after I was back in the truck. I’ve been thinking about what I should write since then, and I can’t figure out how to put down what I mean, so I’ll just leave you with a picture of Erik from a few days ago, here in our big wood.