Fiddle Faddling

While Nola was visiting, she went to Wendover with our Dad.  It is something they started sharing together and love.  They offered me to join but that is so not  my thing!  So I drove Nola to North Salt Lake to meet  up with Dad and they jumped on the Wendover bus.  It is a great deal and you get to relax your whole way there and back. I have no stories to tell about that since I wasn't there.

I drove home and met with Mom and Chuck.  We decided to make Chili Sauce.  Yep....Grandma Anderson's tried and true.  It seems Mom and Chuck eat it like  no tomorrow and I like to have some on hand as well.  This time, we were more organized and we had Chuck, "The Master Tomato Peeler," with us.  Each batch takes 26 peeled tomatoes, 2 bell peppers and 4 onions.  Then the special spices that make it just so.  Within an hour, we had our first batch on the stove cooking.  We decided to just keep going and get the second batch started too.  Another hour later and the second batch was on the stove.  This concoction of deliciousness has to simmer for a few hours.  During that time, the flavors melt together and become a sort of chutney.  We ended up cooking ours for 3 hours each batch.  Then we turned to canning it. We've got quite the system down.  Mom filled the jars, I put the lids on and bundled the batch for the cold pack canner.  While we were going through the process, many jars sealed but I kept hearing Nola's voice in my head that we must cold pack them to make sure they are safe.  So we did just that.  All jars sealed and we had just a little left for dinner on Saturday night.

When we were done, Mom made a cherry pie!  That woman has more stamina!  We were done with time to spare.  Mom and Chuck went to meet their friend for dinner.  I went to get Nola from the Wendover bus.  Nola had great stories and came out ahead of where she started.  I'm so glad she got to spend time with Dad in Wendover!

Saturday, they all got going and went to Hogle Zoo.  I opted out of this one too.  I'm not a huge zoo person and the walking would be very difficult for me.  Instead, I rested and took it easy.  They had lots of fun and Nola took some fantastic photos.  After a rest and cooling off, us ladies went to get pedicures.  I took Mom and Nola to the place I've been going over by Brickyard.  There is no appointment needed and it seems to last awhile. Mom had never had a pedicure.  I suspect she is hooked.  Nola wanted soft heels and that is exactly what she got.  My feet got a nice tune up too and look beautiful.  After that, we headed home to have a family dinner.

Mom suggested we have a pot roast dinner to enjoy some fresh chili sauce.  Chuck has a way he makes pot roast that is just delicious.  We had roasted carrots and potatoes too.  We also enjoyed Mom's pie.  Mars and John joined us and brought a delicious and healthy salad.  We sat around and told stories and laughed.  We laughed so hard I think our sides hurt.  It was fun to do that after all the seriousness lately.  It was a great day for sure!