Mrs. Suzy Homemaker (and Mr.)

Guess what we did today...??!  We are so productive!  Remember all those tomatoes that we picked from our garden?  We made them into pasta sauce and canned them!  The batch only made 8 half-pints (one of which busted open in the final boiling process), but we have tons more tomatoes outside on our vines for a second batch.  We'll just have to wait until they ripen!

First, we had to clean the canning jars.

After we peeled the frozen tomatoes that we 

had picked, we pureed them into a thin juice. 

We had a mix of spices that we added, along with some 

sugar, which we then boiled and simmered for a bit. 

Finished sauce!  Ready to can!

Belmont got the hot jars out of the oven.

We then used some fancy tools that I got today to 

fill the 8 jars with the delicious pasta sauce. 

Belmont lowered the jars into the final boiling pot.

They all fit in one batch!

Our seven final jars!  Can't wait to eat them!  :)

The sauce looked really tasty, although we didn't eat any of it before canning it.  We are planning to use it for Belmont's family birthday dinner next Thursday.  Hope it's delicious!  He wants to add some venison (or other meat) and pour it over homemade noodles.  I got a new recipe book today with lots of pasta dough options, and we are planning to make some homemade pasta for his birthday, too!  :)

This is the new recipe book I got today.

Check it out if you have a chance!

Lots of mouth-watering, traditional recipes.

In other news of birthday celebrations, we celebrated Belmont's grandmother's birthday on Saturday.  What a delicious meal!  I ordered salmon, and it was (hands down) the best salmon I have ever tasted!  After the meal, we enjoyed Bananas Foster.  Yum!

Here is our server concocting our dessert.

Awesome!

On Sunday, we spent more time with the grandparents at Cindy and Paul's house.  We enjoyed tea sandwiches and cookie cake.  Delicious!  It was good to spend time with family.

Well, if you can believe it, we are on the LAST episode of "Cheers."  275 episodes!  I have missed quite a few, but Belmont watched them all.  He's getting a little sad because it's going to be over in about 5 minutes.  Guess we'll have to watch "Frasier" next!  :)

In closing, here are some fun pictures that I've taken on my phone lately.  These are random, but enjoy!

 Here is Belmont playing with our adorable nephew.

He's just starting to crawl!  So fun!  :)

The other night we went to Belmont's parents' house.

While we were there, we looked through some old

pictures from his dad's childhood.  His dad is on the

far right, pictured with *his* dad and little brother.

I love old pictures!  :) 

Our fire pit is finished!  Can't wait to use it!

Happy Labor Day!  I hope you've enjoyed this update!