Practicing being an “Underacheiver”

Remember my last post about the summer vortex?

Well the summer vortex is officially taking over every nook and cranny of our household lately. So I’ve decided to take another tactic for the rest of the summer weeks that I have remaining before fall kicks in and we start down a whole new path in life that has no road map.

Its called “Underachieving”.

I can’t take credit for it, I have to give that to a co-worker of mine, but I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t mind me borrowing it for this purpose. (Thanks Kathi!)

See- its about lowering your expectations. Especially for those of us who generally set our expectations bar higher than Gabby Douglas even would be comfortable with.

We have to practice bringing it down to a “normal” height, or at least to the Olympic standards.

So here is my plan to implement some normalcy for the rest of the summer. To prevent breaking my neck (or my unborn son’s neck) and also preventing swelling in my ankles.

I’ve decided not to offer a peach canning or pickle class.

I know, I know! It’s just a class! What’s the big deal?

Well, honestly- I’m out of weekends. As in THIS weekend I would have to offer both classes if we want to try and get product that’s in season and local from sources I trust. And I don’t know about you, but I need more than 5 days notice to be able to prep for a class that is going to suck up more time from that summer vortex AND cost me some bucks that I need to budget for.

So. I’m sorry- and I promise that I will be back to my OVERacheiving self next year. So much so that I’ve already decided this winter during Bubba and I’s annual planning retreat to lay out the ENTIRE year’s class schedule seasons in advance.

Alright then, if I’m going to leave you hanging out there for the rest of the summer WITHOUT a pickle or peach canning class, the least I can do is provide you with some excellent resources so that you can still be the overachiever and do these projects either on your own or with a group of friends (I highly recommend the later since many hands make light work, and its usually a lot more fun). So here they are:

Peaches:

Melcher’s Peaches in St. Paul is currently offering Red Haven peaches and starting next week will have Veterans. Red Havens are awesome for freezing and eating out of hand since they are a free-stone variety which means they cut up fast and easy into slices. Veterans are my personal favorite for canning, they are beautiful packed into quart jars, sliced in halves and topped with a very light syrup and processed in a hot water bath. If you want to fancy some up, add a bit of a vanilla bean or part of a cinnamon stick and serve them over hot biscuits this winter for dessert.

Peaches CANNOT sit out in the hot weather for more than a day or two, so plan your processing accordingly- otherwise you are going to have a bunch of rotten peaches on your hands and a lot of wasted money.

Pickles:

Gramma’s Place in Sherwood is where I picked up my pickling cucs this year. They using farming practices that I’m comfortable with (cucumbers require a lot of pesticides generally) and they had a great price for us. I would call and get your orders in now since the season is well underway and will soon be over.

Want some recipes: Go here. Cathy at Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen is a friend of mine via my little escapade to France last year and I’m just finishing her recipe for Luvey’s Seven Day Pickles today. Cathy is a wealth of information for all things canning and preserving.

So go on! You can do it! Be an overachiever and take advantage of the summer bounty!