Making Applesauce at The Parris House

Hi.  It's Beth blogging today and it's fall in Paris, Maine!  Here at The Parris House we have several apple trees which bear copious fruit every other year.  It's an "on" year and so we are faced with apple overload.  My husband picked about 24 pounds of apples from the trees last weekend, and of that, I cooked down about 18 pounds which yielded four quarts - one gallon! - of delicious applesauce.  It's a super simple process which I will outline in this post.

So here are the apples.  Those little itty bitty green things on top of the pile are pears from a positively ancient tree we also have in the yard, and which my husband subsequently made a pie with, but those don't figure in to our applesauce!

To give credit where it's due, the applesauce recipe comes from the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving.  I have used this small but amazing book for making pickles, jams, and other preserved foods for several years now and every recipe has been bomb proof.  It also explains the very important steps for a variety of preserving methods, and I have to say right up front:  always follow the preserving directions for a recipe meticulously!  Jen is a microbiologist and can attest to what happens if nasty critters (my very unscientific term - hey, I'm not the scientist...) get in to your food.  So please, whenever you can or preserve, get a solid book like this one and follow the directions to a T.

I had to weigh the apples.  The recipe said 2.5 to 3 pounds of apples per quart, although I don't think it quite worked out exactly that way.  I got 4 and about 3/4 quarts (I didn't preserve the last 3/4 quart) out of about 18 pounds of apples.  

Next it was time to peel and core the apples, much to the delight of...

our hens!  Do you know what it looks like when you walk outside with a bowl full of fruit or veggie scraps here at The Parris House?  It looks like this...

Those would be stampeding chickens.  Too bad I wasn't taking video with sound.

While I was peeling, coring, and cutting up the apples, I ran the quart jars through the dishwasher.  Even though I had done this, I also put them in to simmering water prior to filling them.  Again...please follow the directions in your canning book precisely.

The apples went in to a large stock pot on the stove and cooked down in to a very soft state.  Here is where  you have some options.  I chose not to add sugar or spices to my applesauce and leave it just 100% apples.  I did this because I use applesauce for a variety of recipes and wanted it to be just apples to leave it versatile.  Sugar or spices can be added upon opening if desired.  Honestly, I like the pure taste of apples in my applesauce and choose to eat it just like this, but you can do as you desire. The Ball recipe book has the suggested amount of sugar if you'd like it sweetened.

Once cooked, it was time to puree the extremely hot - be careful! - apples in the food processor.  You could also use an old fashioned crank food mill.  I lined it up so that I could take the hot apples, put them through the processor, and in to a clean pot for a little further simmering.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!  Please don't mind the messiness on the handle and down the side.  =/

At this point I was bringing water in my hot water boiler canner up to the boiling point.  The pots behind my enamel canner hold the simmering empty jars and the lids and tools, all sterilized.  Again...I know you're sick of hearing it...follow your canner's instructions.

Time to fill the jars using the sterilized equipment!

Once filled, I carefully lowered the jars in to the boiling water in the canner, and put the lid on.  Putting the lid on helps insure that the water will remain at the boiling point.  These jars are completely immersed with 1 to 2 inches of boiling water over the lids. This particularly recipe called for a 20 minute boiling/processing time.   I'm sure processing time may vary according to your recipe and/or jar sizes.

While they were boiling I admired the eating apples we'd reserved out.  Yum.  Some of these went in to an apple cranberry crisp for our studio hookers a couple of days later.

OK!  Once the processing time was up I super carefully, using my canning tongs, removed the jars from the boiling water bath and set them carefully on the counter.  After a few minutes you'll hear the tell tale "PLINK!" of the jar seal lids popping down from the vacuum created as they cool.  This must happen.  If you have a jar that fails to do this, and therefore fails to properly seal, the contents must be either refrigerated and eaten in a reasonable amount of time, or you could try reprocessing that jar with a new seal lid.  Again, follow your instructions!  Do not touch or disturb your cooling jars for about 24 hours.  Just let them rest before storing them in a nice, cool dry place.  

As you can see, there are plenty of apples still on our trees.  There are even a few on our ancient tree that probably remembers the 19th century Parris family, who now rest just beyond its branches.

I know this much.  When it's time to peel another 18 pounds or so of apples, someone will be ready to take care of the scraps!

Thanks for reading and we'd love to hear about your fall preserving adventures too!  Happy harvest and happy hooking!  - Beth

Cold Process Lavender Soap

Hi!  Jen from Parris House Wool Works here.  I have been wanting to try my hand at homemade cold process soap for several years now but haven't summed up the courage until recently.  Since there is lye involved, the thought of blowing up my kitchen or melting my skin off, kept me from taking the plunge.  What changed?  I turned 40.  I have crossed the threshold and entered the land of I-Could-Die-Any-Day-Now.  Life is really too short to worry so much.  Don't you think?

I STILL didn't start immediately.  It took me about 3 weeks or so to choose a recipe, order the supplies, and watch about 200 YouTube videos....and then watch them all over again.

As you can see, I was PREPARED and probably bought too much.  Don't tell my husband.

One of my favorite scents is lavender.  I just planted it in my garden this year so it hasn't taken off yet so I ordered this French Grade 1 lavender from www.brambleberry.com . Bramble Berry is where I ordered most of my soap supplies including a great 2 lb mold with silicon liner.

I also used lavender essential oil, shea butter, virgin coconut oil, sustainable palm oil, and extra virgin olive oil.

It's very important to measure the ingredients very carefully so I used this digital scale that I purchased from Wal-Mart.

Measuring out the palm, shea, and coconut oil.  I read that you don't want to add too much coconut oil as some people may be sensitive to it.

One of my favorite things in the world EVOO.  I was concerned this would cause my soap to turn a green color but it didn't effect the final product.

It is important to wear gloves, use safety goggles, and also keep a container of white vinegar nearby in case you splash some lye on yourself because it stops the burning.

I ordered lye flakes from Bramble Berry.  It was so easy to pour and measure.  Remember to always add LYE TO THE WATER.  Never add water to the lye as it can cause an explosion.  Make sure when you mix the lye water to do so outside or in a well ventilated area and avoid breathing in the fumes.

I sprinkled lavender buds in the bottom of my mold so that they would coat the bottom of the bars.

Melting the hard oils.

I put the lye water in a cold water bath.  You want your hard oil and lye water temperatures to be within 5 degrees of one another before mixing.

Cooling the hard oils.

After mixing the oils and the lye water with a stick blender, I added the lavender essential oil and the buds.  You know the soap is ready to pour in the mold when you trace.  Trace is the the trails on the top of the soap that form when you drizzle some over the surface of the mixture. 

Poured in the mold and sprinkled lavender buds over the surface. I also sprayed the top of my soap with 91% alcohol to prevent soda ash from forming after it hardens. 

It's time to put the soap to bed.  It must sit for at least 24 hours before cutting. 

The final bars! Cold process soap needs to cure for 4-6 weeks before using. 

The soap recipe I used can be found at www.how2soap.com.

Check Parris House Wool Works for homemade, 100% natural, no dye or artificial fragrance soap for sale later this fall!

Time to Register for the Paris Hill Hook-In!

     

Mark your calendars and register today for the

First Annual Paris Hill Hook-In!

Sponsored by Parris House Wool Works

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Paris Hill Academy Building

Academy Street, Paris, Maine

• Registration Deadline:  October 10th up to 80 person maximum
• Ticket Price: $28.00

• Breakfast & Lunch included, provided by Cafe Nomad of Norway, ME
• Informal Rug Show - Bring your favorites to share!
• Vendors & Door Prizes
  
  FMI and Registration Form contact: Beth Miller, 207-890-8490 or parrishousewoolworks@gmail.com.  Visit us at http://www.parrishousewoolworks.com. Or, click here to download a form!

Open Farm Day at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community

Shaker Meeting House, New Gloucester, Maine

It's been a long, busy time since we last updated the blog, but I thought it was time to do so!  The Maine studio is now up and running, open for hooking Tuesdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursdays 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with more hours likely to be announced in the fall.  Yesterday, however, I got a little break from the routine and participated in Open Farm Day at the Sabbathday Lake Shaker community in New Gloucester, Maine.   For those who do not know, this community is home to the last living Shakers in America, and they are wonderful and incredibly kind people.  I felt very fortunate to be part of their event.

The Shakers put on a lovely day for Open Farm Day with hay rides, barn tours, museum tours, an explanation of their herb gardens and bee keeping facilities, wonderful food, crafters, and so much more.  It's a real treat - I'd recommend book marking their website and referring back to it often, because not only do they host events like this one, they also have classes ongoing throughout the year on a variety of skills.

I set up my table next to Donna's Greenhouse's.  She had an amazing array of plants and some hand made items.  Donna herself was really fun to meet and chat with, and is even considering taking up rug hooking. Also there were wonderful wood workers and the New Gloucester Historical Society.

Donna's table, left and mine, right, from behind.

My table from the front.

The variety of people I met was amazing and their stories were fantastic.  So many times during the day I heard accounts of people's grandmothers teaching them hooking, or of the types of rugs previous generations had left to the future.  I met knitters, spinners, applique artists, felters, & quilters, to name a few.  I had two young boys, the oldest could not have been more than eight, try their hands at hooking.  The older boy was very enthusiastic about it and I found out that he is already an accomplished knitter!  I also met a woman whose mother and aunt, who had been orphans, had been raised by the Shakers.  I encouraged her to write down as many of their stories, and her own - the Shakers were like family to her - as possible and seek a publisher.

What follows are the additional pictures I was able to take, which, unfortunately are limited by the fact that I was tethered to my table and not able to photograph the many events taking place around the village.  When in Maine, I highly recommend a visit to this historic place, and then pop in to our Maine studio about another half hour north!

Hay rides at the village.

Side view of the Shaker store - lots of wonderful goods and goodies in there.

Herb garden area.

Shaker museum.

This was my view from my table.  Not bad!

Maine Open House - April 27th!

Going to be in or around Western Maine on April 27th, 2013?  If so, please join us at 546 Paris Hill Road, Paris from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for an Open House in celebration of the opening of our Maine hooking studio!  We'll have refreshments and a drawing for a $25 gift certificate.  Plus, you may feel free to bring your hooking or other fiber art project and stay a while.  Here are some preview photos of our Maine location:

Stay tuned for more news from our Tennessee location - Jen has just moved and is organizing her space!

Spammers...

Just a general announcement about a comment policy change to our blog that I regretfully had to make this morning.  I have had this blog set to allow all comments without moderation because I like the instant gratification for our readers of posting a comment and having it immediately go to the page.  I also think that setting invites better conversation on the page.  However, one of our posts got spammed today by an individual promoting a web site selling, albeit very nice, handmade woven wool rugs from around the world.  These were woven rugs on cotton foundations, hand made though not one of a kind, appearing to be of good quality, but very inexpensive.  The first question that came to me was what the actual artisans making these rugs could possibly be getting paid.

As a general practice, Parris House Wool Works does promote the work of other artisans on our various social media sites.  We believe in cross promotion and both do it and have benefited by it when others promote our work.  We are very grateful to our artisan community, both on line and in "3D" for all of the nice ways they have put our work out there, and we strive to reciprocate.  What occurred on our page today was not in the spirit of small artisans cross promoting one another's work.

As a result, I have regretfully made the decision to moderate all comments on this page.  I will make every effort to get your comments up ASAP when I receive an email notification that you have made one.  If I see that spamming is a once or twice a year occurrence, I will most certainly turn the settings back to just allowing all comments to go directly to the page.  I had been warned by other small businesses who run social media sites, however, that moderating comments is the best policy because of internet spamming.

Life in 21st century cyberspace - more good aspects than bad - but this is one of the bad ones.  As always, happy hooking!      ~ Beth

Sometimes you gotta get up out of that chair!

Earlier this week I posed the question on our Facebook page, "What do you do to make up for the sedentary hours spent hooking?"  I enjoy rug hooking so much that it's pretty easy for me to get absorbed in a project and not realize how long I've been sitting.  Since I literally become ill over time if I don't get enough exercise, I just thought I'd pose the question.  The responses seemed centered around making time for it, especially in the morning before the day can get away from you.

Well, today I had planned to go out for a run because spring has definitely got a toe hold up here - it was warm enough out today to go in just maybe running pants and a sweatshirt.  In Maine this doesn't mean we'll have green lawns and flowers tomorrow.  In fact, we could have a blizzard next week, but the signs are strong that winter is taking its last real gasps.  When I got home from my office around noon, however, and asked my sons what they might be interested in doing with the day, my 17 year old, Peter, suggested cross country skiing.  I am not graceful on skis of any kind, but fortunately we have a nature preserve nearby that has XC and snowshoeing trails.  Snowshoeing is a zero skill activity and Peter is such an accomplished skier I had no qualms about us taking separate trails, so we got in the car and headed out to the Roberts Farm Preserve in neighboring Norway, Maine.

Getting out on a trail in any season is a great way to just let your mind wander and be creative.  In the nearly two hours we were out on the trails, I got a lot of great ideas for future rug designs just from my surroundings and also realized how much I'd just needed to get up and get moving.  I took some photos from our outing today and thought I'd share them here.

This is toward the beginning of the snowshoe trail.

Along the way I saw quite a few of the big old Maples already running sap.

At one point along the trail there is an overlook out over Norway Lake (Pennesseewassee) and the mountains beyond.

Usually when our paths crossed, Peter was zinging by too fast for me to take a photo, but I was able to stop him for a few moments of conversation here.

This is the old Roberts Farm home.  It is in need of major restoration.  I don't know what the plans are for it, but it has beautiful Federal period lines and would make a great hooked rug design!

So that was what I did this afternoon.  Tonight it's time to hit the comfy chair again and continue working on a rug for a customer that has to ship on Friday.  I feel pretty refreshed.  What do you do to stay healthy and fit, and what are some of your favorite places and spaces for recreation?  We'd love to hear from you and see your photos as well.  Happy hooking!