Sorry for the lack of posting this week. The kids and I have been sick all week. In spite of it, tho, I’ve managed to get some more canning done. This is probably the first August in Georgia it has felt good to work in a steamy kitchen.

I’ve canned 4 more lbs of pinto beans, but Slobo is making refried beans from them as fast as I can can them! I’m glad he likes them and I’m even more glad with the sickness, I don’t have a sense of smell! In addition to those beans, I’ve canned 15 pints of Boston baked beans, 24 1/2 pints + 5 pints Muscadine Jelly, 5 quarts of Grape Jelly, 8 pints + 5 qts Peaches, 8 pints + 5 qts Pears and 7 quarts of assorted Kidney Beans for chili this winter. Slobo cleaned out an underground basement closet for me and we have filled one bookshelf, so I need to scrounge more shelving as soon as we are well enough. With all of the freezing and canning, payday came and went, and the cupboards were still full except for meat. That was really nice! Now, If I only knew a butcher!

Notice the wierd looking tomatoes? The brandywines have gone from really big during the rainy week, to really strange looking shapes during the hot dry weather. They are as much fun to grow for their sculptural habit as for their taste! I’ve eaten so many tomato sandwiches that I think I’ve turned another shade of red. Just looking at that big one tho, makes me want another one!

Before we got sick, I made the kids some “Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies” using a recipe from a cookbook. They were just awful! The kids liked them, but they were small and puffed. Fatiqued from the medicine, I sat in bed one night and went through my recipe drawer and lo and behold, found my favorite peanut butter cookie recipe! It’s from a lady named Sylvia DeBaar and I believe it came from my first husband’s mother, which would date it between 1930 - 1950. Here’s a pic of the original recipe. I doubled the batch and made it with 1 c. vegetable oil and 1 c. melted butter. It made 4 1/2 dozen large cookies (approx. 2″ balls). I also added a bag of Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips because Slobo was craving them. They sure are good and smell heavenly! I’ve made this in the past with just chunky peanut butter. A tried and trusted recipe for sure!

If you make them, please let me know how you liked them. Thank you Sylvia, wherever you are!