But at Least I Got a Ton of Applesauce Out of it...

I bought something.

"You were only 3 days in! You gave already?" "What the heck, lady!" "So lame!" "I could do this better than you!" (yes, you very likely could.)

Yes, ok, chill. Hear me out. Yes, I bought something. What did I buy? Mason jars. Why? Because every single year, my family buys an obscene amount of apples and we make massive quantities of applesauce which we then can and use to build massive towers in our respective panties. The fact is, my family has grown from the last year, and in order to store the shocking amount of applesauce, we had to buy more jars. 

The fact is this was a planned expense that I forgot to post about. And I more or less count it as a grocery. Kinda. Well maybe it isn't strictly a necessity. So I'm self justifying a little. But the applesauce was gonna happen either way.

For the past several years, my family has gone apple picking every fall in order to have some yummy, sweet, crunch-able, seasonal goodness to much on and to make applesauce with. My 6 siblings and I all grew up eating my grandfather's (to us) famous applesauce. What makes it so good? A secret ingredient... I'll never tell! (ok, the secret ingredient is vanilla extract. Make applesauce, right now, and add cinnamon and vanilla. It will change your life.) And applesauce became a family tradition.

So yesterday, my husband, me, Amelia and Bini climbed into the car with our canning supplies and drove to the market to buy apples. (We would normally pick them ourselves, but it was just gross out yesterday. Cold, rainy, windy... I am dedicated, not crazy!) We cleaned the surprised cashiers out of all of their "second class" apples (applesauce doesn't care if your apples are a bit bruised) and packed the bags and bags of them into the car and went to "Josie, Baba's house!" and began peeling, chopping and cooking 'em up. It is a lot of sticky, somewhat dangerous work (The peelers and knives present somewhat of a hazard) But it is a wonderful, cozy time of family togetherness. And I love it!

So, judge if you want. I don't care. At least I got a ton of applesauce out of it.

On a much more important, though shorter note... My son, Bini, who my husband and I adopted from Ethiopia, has been home for one month.. TODAY! We are so blessed to have him in our lives! Maybe one day I will be more comfortable sharing more personal family stuff on here (you know, if there is a one day.) But today is not that day, people. But I still want you all to know that Bini is wonderful and we all adore him! That's all for now, folks.