Saturday Meanderings

What a week! Back to being busier than ever, I reflect back and long for the cool, relaxing summer days at our cabin. Oh well. Life does get in the way, doesn’t it? As we near the end of September, I hope you are experiencing touches of fall weather and hints of pumpkin and spice. Thank you for joining me this morning for another edition of Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things this week.

Fall Styling Workshop

October is just around the corner and it’s time to get new and exciting ideas on holiday decorating. Chloe Crabtree, from Celebrate and Decorate who has over 10 million monthly views on Pinterest, will be in Phoenix showing you all the tips and tricks of her amazing table and mantel decorations.

Here is one of Chloe’s fall tablescapes. Isn’t this elegant and beautiful? Truly, Chloe is so talented and her brain never stops working. I, personally have learned so much from her, and now you can too!

We will be having hands-on demonstrations of both fall and Christmas decorating ideas! The Fall to Holiday Styling Workshop will be held on two dates, October 20 and October 21st from 10:00 a.m to 4:00 p.m. so sign up with this link. We look forward to seeing you then!

Importance of Friendship

Lucky me as September is filled with great friend experiences. During the last Saturday Meanderings, I just returned from a 5 day trip to Newport Beach, California with my dear friend, Christine.

This week I am spending time with my gal friends in Florida. Yesterday we had an unexpected trip to Epcot where we walked 12 miles! Lots of laughter and fun memories as we visited the various countries of the world. I cannot stress enough the importance of having good friends. Making friend time is balm for the soul.

Annual Tomato Sauce Project

Two weeks ago, I finally tackle the 60 pounds of Roma tomatoes I purchased the previous week from a local farmer. The kitchen was beginning to smell a little organic so it was time to act. Most of the tomatoes are in great shape but a few were starting to show signs of deterioration. Making tomato sauce from scratch is easy with my friend, Rick’s tomato sauce recipe. You can see it here.

The time consuming part is prepping all those tomatoes (removing the seeds, core, cutting into smaller pieces) and cooking them down with olive oil, garlic and salt. Once that is cool enough to handle then it goes through a food mill to remove the skins and any seeds I missed.

The strained sauce goes back into the pan and then gets reduced to a thicker consistency. Processing tomato sauce is very important for healthy consumption and preparing it took all day Sunday. As much work as it is, it is very therapeutic ~all alone in my kitchen, listening to music and making tomato sauce that will last us for the next year.

Canning is not for everyone, and I am certainly glad it’s finished!

Peaches and more

Naturally, any time you are leaving on vacation or out of town, it seems to be a scramble before departure. This week, we receive a 65 lb. box of Utah peaches from a friend. Not only are the peaches delicious (Utah and Idaho peaches are best this time of year), but I know they will not stay fresh while I am gone.

Last Sunday, I spend the entire day making peach preserves, peach salsa, and a peach pie. The remaining peaches are cut in half, frozen and then stored in Ziplock bags. Albeit exhausting, it is a worthwhile effort!

For my fresh peach salsa recipe, click here. I am done with canning this year!

Favorite Shows to Watch

We just started watching, on Prime Video (also on PBS Masterpiece Theatre), The Durrells on Corfu. In this British comedy-drama, Keeley Hawkes stars as an intrepid widow decamping from dreary England to a sun-drenched Greek island with her four recalcitrant children, ages 11 to 21. There are 4 seasons but we’ve only completed the first one and so far, it is a winner.

Why Women Kill details the lives of three women living in three different decades: a housewife in the ’60s, a socialite in the ’80s, and a lawyer in 2019, each dealing with infidelity in their marriages. The series examines how the roles of women have changed, but how their reaction to betrayal – has not. Though the title is a bit daunting, I can assure you this isn’t a violent, bloody and disgusting show.

The setting is a gorgeous house is Pasadena. The same house is used through the different decades~1960s, 80s, and 2019 with 3 different families. If you love costumes and vintage attire/decor, this is the show for you. First season is very different than the second, but I found both interesting, enlightening and clever.

Recipe I Want to Try

I certainly don’t mean to make this post all about food, but it is finally nice to turn the oven/stove back on. Over the hot summer, we tend to eat cold food so I love fall which equals lots of cooking/baking.

Ambitious Kitchen is one of my go-to blogs for different, healthy recipes. Doesn’t this Ultimate Spicy Cheddar & Apple Fall Veggie Sandwich sound delicious?

Wishing you a wonderful weekend! Goodbye, September and looking forward to a cooler and exciting October.