What is it with me.. and Peaches

Last year... on the last day before I started back to school I spent an entire day making Peach Ice Cream.  Not only did I make this peach ice cream, but I planned it, dreamt about it, researched it.. and then finally spent an entire day making it.  Please see what I mean ..here..

So, here it is the first week of school again.. and this time... I was surprised with a huge bowl of tiny peaches fresh off Sarah Robicheau's organic Peach tree from her front yard.  I forgot them at school yesterday and last night I was dreaming of peaches.. and researched some cool peach recipes.  I decided on making peach Jam and "Pinned" several different recipes... most including some form of alcohol. (Is this a sign of something).

After a long, and nerve wrecking day (first day of school, I mean)... it was with a smile on my face, that I sat at the diningroom table with my large bowl of peaches and started peeling and pitting them.  I did parboil them for about 2 minutes first, then plunged them in ice water for a few minutes first.. which made the skins come off fairly easily.. and then I just crushed the peaches with my hands to get all the flesh off the stones.

12 lbs of little peaches... and it makes about 8 lbs of peach meat.  I mixed lemon juice with the peaches and divided them in bags and popped them in the freezer for a day.. because I wasn't ready to make jam right away.  I "googled"  peaches and they freeze fine.. especially if they are for making Jam.

I will try to make a few different types of peach jam.  Two different kinds of Peach Jam, each with some sort of alcohol in it.. white wine in one.. and vanilla bourbon in the other.  Plus, Debbie says she has a great recipe for Peach something, and I also got a recipe from another friend for Peach Marmalade.. so.. here's thinking positive!

First Day of School 2012

 Always believe....   Today was the first day of school for 2012 at my big Elementary School in my little village of Kingston.   I have had 21 "first days of school" at this very school, and there has never been one as RAINY as today.  It was a miserable day for those new primaries to wait on the side of the road for there big yellow bus and then for them to hop off at school  ... and for moms' and dads' to huddle under umbrella's with camera's ready to capture the first leap off the steps of the bus.

 We have 11 new teachers and staff members this year... and about 50 new families to the school, not including all the new primaries..   Today was a BIG day for a lot of people.   We had indoor recess AND indoor lunch time play... we had no gym.. because we have to stay out of the gym for 2 weeks because we have a brand new gym floor... and it needs to "cure".   For the kids.. it was exciting but for the teachers.. it was a really tough day.

After school... it POURED... absolutely poured.  Our dismissal ran about 35 minutes later than usual, but very NORMAL for the first day.  We have 16 buses, with several brand new drivers.  We had many who forgot their bus numbers, and many who didn't know if its a "going home" day, or a going to babysitter day. .. we had some who got on the wrong bus, and some who fell asleep on the bus and didn't get off the bus.  New bus drivers confused their bus order, and then confused our kids..  Several phone calls, several rescues... thank God for Martin and his walkie talkies and GPS's on the buses.

  Tomorrow will be way better...  

Always believe something WONDERFUL is about to happen.  

Always believe!

Happy Labor Day

 How is that for a summer that breezed by so fast, I am 
wondering if it really happened.  Thank goodness I took lots of pictures to remind me.. 

When I look back at my amazing summer, there are so many things I need to share... but all of them are so over the top exciting, that I just don't have the writing ability to handle it, as my first blog entry in two months.... 

so I am blogging a very cool thing I saw while I was at the Fredericton Superstore.  I had been there several times over the couple of weeks I spent in the city but this one particular time, it was the rare occasion that it was just Michelle and I stopping by for a few things for that day's supper.  As we were heading to the check out.. Michelle ran back to a bin in the middle of the aisle in front of all the cashes.    She came scurrying back with a couple of cellophane bags, all tied up with a couple of tags on them.. and inside were some bottles of baby food.. in each little bag.   Now, Michelle has spent the spring and summer making all Jack's baby food from scratch so it really surprised me that she was buying jarred baby food, almost as an afterthought... not taking the time to read the labels and she didn't even care what flavor the baby food was.  

When I looked at her with a "non-judgemental but quizzical" look that only a mother/grandmother can get away with... she said.. "oh, I buy them for the food bank box".  

 Then I read the tags and noticed that they were priced at about .25 cents cheaper than if you bought them yourself.  I left the line up and went to the bin that she got them in, and I noticed all kinds of things bundled together in cellophane bags, with similar price reductions.  There were noodles and canned meats,  spagetti and sauce, there were fruit snacks and juice boxes...

Michelle explained that the food bank in Fredericton gives Superstore a list of the things they are short on, and Superstore takes the time to bundle the items, give them a nice little price reduction and then parks them in the bin right in front of the cash... usually where the chocolate bars and discount flowers are located.
I thought this was an ingenious idea and took a few pictures to show our Kingston Superstore... and YIKES.... the Cash manager zipped over to me and sternly told me NO TAKING PICTURES while in the store.   Thats when I sugared her up with all kinds of compliments on the great idea, and I showed her on my camera that I only took pictures of the food bank bin, and their sign to share with our Superstore... my sugaring worked because then she told me that its her job to contact the food bank each week and she bags over 300 bags a week of items.   She said generally, they discount the bags of goodies by .20 to .50 a bag... so you think about that.. that is over $100 a week that Fredericton Superstore contributes to the Food bank... besides making it SUPER easy to donate.   She was very proud of her efforts and that of Symthe Street Superstore!

I struggle with remembering to buy sugar, or pasta, or canned meats in my grocery to bring to church, or school or any other Food Bank drop off point...  

Kingston Superstore... I want you to do this too!