New Camera!

Alrighty! No more excuses! We just reaped the benefits of Denis' passion for photography. He gave us a ridiculous discount on his "old" camera (which is younger than Emmanuelle). Thanks Grand-Papa!

Happy Birthday Grandma

Grandma's even further away than usual, but that doesn't mean we're not thinking of her on her birthday. This was filmed on the 13th, but there was a one day delay for post-production. (Sorry Grandma.)

My belly is jiggling like a bowl full of jelly...

because, of course, you are what you eat. An update on the apple jelly. It worked out perfectly. Not too firm at all, just right. Who knows how these things happen, sometimes they just do. Even more surprising was that my wild grape jelly also worked out pretty much perfectly, although I have to admit that I've never eaten wild grape jelly before, so I'm not much of a judge.
Emma and I walked to Parc Jarry and cut a few bunches of grapes that were growing on the fence of the park. We were not the first ones, so it took a while to find 3 lbs worth, and I have to admit that I tested the limits of little Emma's patience. At home, I picked through them to get rid of the nasty ones. There were quite a few stow-aways, too: about a dozen snails, 3 or 4 spiders, and one worm. Well, that's what I found at least. All the rest went into a pot with a few crabapples and some leftover Paula Reds, and 24 short hours (and one emergency trip to Grand-Papa's) later, the finished product was on the counter.

You'll just have to trust me that this was very tasty indeed. Grape jelly (top) and strawberry-rhubarb jam (bottom) on St-Viateur bagels.

Apple Jelly

Ok, I have to admit that these weren't the apples we picked on the weekend, and that I think the final product might be a little too firm, but I just wanted to say: 8 lbs of apples = 10 jars of jelly at about $1/jar, including cost of cheesecloth.

My little apple blossoms

Sure, it's fall, and the sun is setting a little earlier, the wind is blowing a little cooler, and the park is a little quieter as the school year curfews have set in, but don't forget that it's harvest time. Still lots of fun to be had before it snows.
On Saturday, September 1st, (before which school should not start for the fall, at least in my books), we rented a Communauto and drove off the island to Mont-St-Bruno, about 25 minutes away. We picked a peck of pommes and picnicked in the park. I suppose I'll be making apple jelly this weekend.