Adventures in canning

Last week sometime, I stumbled upon Erin from $5 Dinners tweeting about picking berries at a local farm.  I was intrigued.  We have gone berry picking for the last several years with the kids for fun.  Usually we don't pick a lot, but it's the experience we are after.  This year, the farm we usually pick from had so much rain that the weren't offering u-pick.  I was scampering to find another farm when I came across Erin's tweet.  I ask her where she was and she was kind enough to share.  She was at Stokes Berry Farm, which isn't too far from me.  Once I looked it up I realized it was just one main road with two turns.  My kind of directions!

[caption id="attachment_4593" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Look at those bright berries!"][/caption]

We picked our day, which happened to be last Saturday and invited our friends who love berries like we do, to go along.  Saturday morning, we took off.  I liked this farm a lot better than our usual one, so I think we will be heading back to Stokes next year!  Yay!  All told we picked 10 pounds of strawberries, red raspberries and black raspberries.  My van smelled heavenly on the way home!

Once we got home we rinsed and cut all the berries.  Some headed into the freezer for flash freezing, but the bulk of them went right into a bowl to be mashed for jam.  I have been wanting to attempt canning for the last several years.  Call me weird, domestic, whatever, but the idea of canning something seemed like a lot of fun!  We mashed the berries and put them into the fridge for the next night (which actually turned out to be 3, but hey, life gets busy).

Tuesday night I gathered all the supplies while Chuck took care of tucking the kids in bed.  You see, Chuck was just as excited to try this as I was.  Then it was canning time!  We got out all the berries and began our first adventure in canning.  To be honest, it went pretty well.  We had read all about what it takes to make good jam.  We thought we were ready.  I mean, we had the pectin measured out.

Chuck was stirring the mixture of berries, sugar and pectin.

Then I had the bright idea to send off a tweet about what we were doing.  That's when the berry mixture boiled over the pan and got all over the stove.  This was followed up by a few "choice" words and a comedy show right in our kitchen.  Imagine me trying to pull the hot pan off the stove while the mixture is spilling everywhere.  Chuck scurrying to get the mix off of the burner.  Me almost dropping the pan in the floor.  Both of quietly yelling at one another, because all heck would break loose if the kids woke up.  Oh, did I mention this scene played out twice?  Yeah.  Twice.  Two different batches, same scenario.  We could have won $10,000 if we had put up a camera in our kitchen that night.  Really.  Sorry, no pictures for this mess.  A camera was the last thing on my mind.

Finally though, we did get the stuff into the jars and using the "water boil method" got all the jars to "set".  We now have around 24 half pint jars of jam and we are thrilled!  We are so thrilled with our result that we don't want to open a single jar.  Ever.  That defeats the point though doesn't it?  Right now, we are just happy to look at our jars lined up in the pantry.  I'm sure we will open a couple of them soon though.  A has already complained that she is out of strawberry jam and wants a new jar.  

Have you ever canned anything?  What are some of your adventures?

Cirque du Soleil OVO performance (and winner announcement)

Oh my goodness!  Last night I had the privilege of attending dress rehearsal night for Cirque du Soleil OVO.  It was amazing!  I'm going to try and describe what I saw, how it made me feel and how great the show was, using only words.

First rule of the Cirque show, no photographs allowed inside the big yellow and blue Grand Chapiteau!  It could potentially distract the performers from what they are doing and I wasn't going to be the person responsible for an injury.  I did get a picture of the kids after the show, just to prove we were there! 

The show itself was fantastic.  Honestly, I've never seen anything like this.  The performers were amazing!  The show centers around an OVO (egg for those of you who don't know), but has so much more involved.  The performers are all dressed as insects.  There were spiders, grasshoppers, the cutest ladybug ever, a snail, ants and several others.  It was in a word, mesmerizing!

The performance we attended last night we technically a "dress rehearsal".  How do I know?  We were told so at the beginning of the show.  Followed closely by, "the show may be stopped at any time".  If what I saw was a dress rehearsal, that was the best rehearsal I've ever seen! The lighting truly reminded me of something from a stage production.  The performers were outstanding.  The part that truly blew me away was the vocalist.  I didn't notice until right before intermission that the music and vocals for the show were live as well!  They were so good it sounded canned!

The different acts were amazing as well!  From the ants playing with the slices of kiwi and corn, to the grasshoppers jumping around at the end, it was hard not to look away.  A and Ren rarely looked away or spoke during the entire performance!  Since you all read this blog, you know that's a huge statement about Ren! 

When asking the kids (and Grammy who also went) what their favorite part was.  According to Grammy, it was the whole thing.  She just loves events like this.  Ren loved the grasshoppers.  A said her favorite part was the man who rode the bike on the wire.  Trust me, you'd have to see it to understand that!

All together and even without being able to share pictures with all of you, we had a fantastic time! 

Now onto the announcement I know you've all been waiting for....THE WINNER OF THE CIRQUE DU SOLEIL OVO TICKETS....is Jen Heindl!  Jen, I've sent you an email, so check your inbox!

We had a Princess night!

A while back, Andrea posted about Disney Princesses on Ice coming to our area.  My mind immediately said "oh yeah, we are so there!" Just let me say, Disney knows how to put on a show!  We all went.  Yes, all of us including hubs and Ren.  Ren loved it.  His favorite part was the "fight scene" between Beast and Gaston, oh and singing "Hi Ho, It's off to work we go" with the 7 dwarfs.  All the kids loved that part actually.  The dwarfs appear on stage and the you hear a "Hi Hoooooo". CS stood up, spread her arms and yelled "Hi Hoooooo" right back!  So adorable!

Now, I won't go and spoil the whole show for you, but let's just say that Tinkerbell and Fairy Godmother make the show extra magical.  On a personal level, I adored it!  I mean, what little girl didn't grow up wanting to be a princess?  I know I did!  Snow White and Cinderella were my favorites growing up.  For this one magical night, I caught myself smiling, participating, laughing and generally acting like my little girls were.  It felt wonderful.  I was at a show that made my kids eyes sparkle.  They participated by clapping, singing and waving.  They laughed at the evil step-sisters in Cinderella (who are hilarious btw).  We gasped when Fairy Godmother appeared and cried when the evil step-sisters tore Cinderella's dress apart (which is a little harder to watch in real life than on a movie).

The finale is phenomenal!  I'm not giving that away here, but it took my breath away!  The dresses, the princes, the shear talent of ice skating in those dresses are all awe-inspiring!  If you get an opportunity to attend a Disney on Ice show, don't pass it up!  In true Disney style, they are fantastic!  Here are a few pictures I took

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You can follow this link to find a Disney on Ice show in your area.  For those of you in the Cincinnati area though, the Princesses will be arriving tomorrow!  Here is the information.

Disney's Princess Classics is coming to US Bank Arena Oct 6-10 you get to SAVE $4 ON ALL PERFORMANCES! by using CODE: MOM2 Restrictions: Not valid on Front Row or VIP seats; limit 4 per transaction; no double discounts. Here is the Ticketmaster Link to Cincinnati Disney On Ice: http://www.ticketmaster.com/venueartist/180631/821550

***I received tickets from Feld Entertainment for providing the discount information and review of Disney on Ice presents Princess Classics.  The opinion of the fantastic, exciting and awe inspiring show are my own!***

I want to add in our experience also. ~

I (Andrea) took my oldest 2 on Sunday and all I have to say is WOW.  Scarlett dressed up Cinderella. She was so excited just to have a reason to wear it out. We kept it a BIG secret from her. Once we got there you should have seen her eyes. Both Evan and Scarlett sat so focused on the show. You never heard a peep from them.  At one point Scarlett looked at me and said "Mommy I love this. It is so beautiful. " Nothing like the perspective of a 5 yr old. It just brought tears to my eyes.

I was a little skeptical of taking Evan to it as it was Princesses. But Evan LOVED it also. It was a great show. And for all the men out there complaining that they don't want to go you will not be lacking in EYE CANDY on the stage.

I am sure you will enjoy it as much as we did. Thanks Feld for this chance to make some AWESOME memories with our kids.