We have finished canning our applesauce now. We made 21 quarts total. And we also enjoyed just eating many of the apples as snacks. I like to use a variety of apples to make sauce. I think it makes for a better flavored sauce This time we used northern Spy, Cortland and Golden Delicious for our applesauce. I think we are now done with canning until this winter when we do our meat, unless Joe is lucky deer hunting next month.

Joe and the boys have been having fun setting up their pop-up tent for hunting season which, as I said, begins next month. Our neighbor has been so kind to let Joe use their woods for hunting deer. Yesterday Joe took me to their hunting spot to show me where they set it up. It was the first time I have been back there. It is fixed up pretty neat and has two folding chairs inside. He took an extra one in case the boys want to go along hunting with him sometime. Kevin sat in the little chair and looked so relaxed. He said he wants to come along and watch Dad shoot a deer. Benjamin, 11, and Joseph, 8, are also very excited and pretend they are deer hunting in the hay field with Benjamin’s bow and arrow. It is just a little small bow that we gave Benjamin for Christmas last year and not made to hunt deer. It is mostly used for target practice.

Meanwhile, our community was saddened to hear about the death of a 68-year-old Amish bishop from this area. He died suddenly while in Wisconsin with plans to attend his grandchild’s wedding the next day. This was the first of his grandchildren to get married. Our sympathy goes to the lonely widow and family.

We have so many leaves covering our yard. The children have been kept busy raking them up but more keep falling. We will probably have to go out one evening and get them all picked up at once. Like the saying goes many hands make light work. We have a lot of trees which I enjoy but when the leaves start falling it makes a lot of work.

I hope to get to my sewing this week. I started sewing Kevin a pair of pants a few weeks ago and never finished it yet. The mornings have been very chilly with the temperatures dropping to the low 30s Saturday morning. Some people have their stoves going but we are just letting our gas lights burn a little longer. I hope the cold weather holds off as we still haven’t bought our coal for the winter yet.

The children have been saying that they hope it snows soon. I am not ready to see that yet. Our gardens are history for 2010. I have green tomatoes that the girls picked that are gradually turning ripe on the back porch. Try this great recipe to use up some of your homemade applesauce (Editor’s note: the salad dressing in the recipe would be like a “Miracle Whip” found in stores, some also make their own homemade version)

Applesauce Cake

1 cup sugar

1 cup salad dressing

1/2 cup milk

2 cups unsweetened applesauce

3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat over to 350° F. Grease and flour a 9 by 13-inch pan and set aside.

Cream sugar, salad dressing, and milk together. Beat in applesauce and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine all dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients, a little at a time, to wet mixture. Batter will be thick and slightly lumpy. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.