Tally

The count so far:

-Seven quarts of canned pears. I know, not a good count. I still have two bushels of pears slowly rotting on the porch.

-Eighteen quarts of frozen apple slices. That's pretty good.

I've decided that if I have to choose-- which it looks like I am having to-- I will go after apples and let the pears rot. Apples are much more versatile come winter time. Think of all the things you can make out of apples:

apple pie
apple crunch
apple cake
apple prieschka
applesauce
fried apples
apple compote

Now think of all the things you can make out of pears:

pears in green jello

(*crickets chirping*)

Now my comments will probably possibly be flooded with ideas for using pears.

Actually, bring it on. I need some ideas.

That is, I will if I get to the pears before they rot. Tomorrow I am going to pick and pick up the apples off of our other apple tree. It's a Golden Delicious, and those apples keep their shape when you cook them, and they are fairly sweet, so they work great canned or baked.

The apples I did today and earlier this summer are pretty tart, and get mushy/saucy when they cook, so they make good applesauce and, in my opinion, great pie.

So there you have it-- my points toward being a good Mennonite housewife this week.

(Also adding points are the foods I've been cooking (while preserving): whole wheat bread, apple prieschka, chicken soup with rice, cherry pan kooka (sort of like crepes, or creeps as Swede and MandoNut call them), baked potatoes with greva/cracklings.)

Oh, and by the way, to keep my mind occupied while cutting apples, I have been watching slideshows online of the fall fashion trends. (Why? I don't know. Seems a little inconsistent, doesn't it?)

I've come up with a great all-purpose caption for those pictures of those poor starving girls in those ridiculous outfits:

"Why do you hate me?"