ANOTHER Iowa Visit!

Last Sunday, I drove to Iowa...AGAIN...but this time to go to mom and dad's on the WEST side of the state. Dad had gone back to the doctor for a checkup, and they found that the aorta in one leg had become 65% blocked, and the aorta in the other leg had become 85% blocked, so he was scheduled to go into the hospital in Des Moines on Monday. They were going to "hydrate" him for six hours, then do the dye test to see whether angioplasty and stents would solve the problem, or if he'd need bypass surgery again.

So...we spent the day at Mercy Hospital again (SO would be fine NEVER seeing that place again!), and, after long hours of hydration and the angioplasty, they discovered that one leg was FINE, but that the other was 95% blocked.

They determined that a bypass was not necessary, but, instead will do some sort of "scraping" after Labor Day, in which they will scrape out scar tissue and some cholesterol, and then he SHOULD be good to go for awhile.

After the day in Des Moines, we all headed back to Tingley to recover (dad mostly, but the rest of us from the long day of waiting!).

Tuesday, I spent most of the day in dad's pickup, driving. Duane had purchased an 8 foot X 2 foot Northwest Airlines sign on e-bay. It was a "pickup only", which was fine, because the seller was in Des Moines.

A few weeks ago, I attempted to cram the sign into my Alero...it SO didn't fit, so I made arrangements to come back this past week, with a pickup, to pick it up. PROBLEM was that the seller moved to West Des Moines between visits, and, for reasons UNKNOWN, sent the sign to his mom's house in FORT DODGE (100 miles from Des Moines).

So...I ended up driving TWO AND A HALF HOURS from Tingley to Ft. Dodge, in dad's HUGE pickup, IN THE RAIN THE ENTIRE WAY, and spent 10 minutes there loading it into the back of the pickup, then drove TWO AND A HALF HOURS back to Tingley...ugh!

The sign is now in mom and dad's storage unit in Tingley (see above picture)...NO IDEA how it's going to get from there to here...that's a problem for another day!

The rest of Tuesday was spent making wild plum jelly. Dad and I had gone out looking for wild plum trees Sunday night when I got there. Someone else had been out foraging, so the "leftovers" were small and sad looking. Nevertheless, we managed to find a bunch, and I was able to make 20 jars of jelly.  I took the following photos with my cell phone.

After making jelly, I headed next door to pick crabapples to make a few batches of crabapple jelly.

Wednesday, I got up, packed, and headed back to the cities.  I stopped at Cost Plus World Market in Des Moines, since the THREE stores in the twin cities closed a couple of years ago, and that's the closest one now....(grrrr...), and stopped at an antique mall in Des Moines as well, where I found a cool rooster coloring book (vintage, of course!), and a Wolverine tin barbecue toy. 

I didn't even know Wolverine MADE a tin barbecue!  OF COURSE I had to buy it to add to my collection.  I've never seen it on e-bay, and, when trying to find a picture online to post...couldn't.  Here's another substandard photo from my cell phone...

                           

When I got back to the cities, I was getting ready to make the crabapple jelly, I checked the cupboard, and found that I still had about 18 jars left from last year, so decided to do something else with them.  After looking for recipes online, decided to slice and core them to "set up" as pie/crisp filling.  I found an EXCELLENT recipe:

6 cups of sliced unpeeled crabapples

1/3 cup water

1 cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Add all ingredients to large kettle.  Boil on high for 1-2 minutes.  Place in sterilized jars and seal with canning lids.

When getting ready to bake (in pie or crisp):  Add 1 1/2 tablespoons butter to filling.

For crisp:  Mix 2 cups rolled oats, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons butter.  Pour crabapple filling into greased glass baking dish.  Combine topping ingredients and pour over tip.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

For pie:  Place bottom crust in pie pan.  Add filling.  Place top crust over filling.  Slit top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, covering edges with foil until last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning of crust.

Here are a couple of photos of the "fruits of my labor" (pun indended!):

It's COMPLETELY sad to admit, but canning stuff is really THERAPUTIC for me...and I really feel like I've accomplished something when I'm finished!  The wild plum jelly is also something I do to honor my grandmother, who, for YEARS AND YEARS had jars and jars of it stored in her basement for all of us to enjoy!

Here's hoping YOU were able to spend time with family (although hopefully NOT because of a medical issue!) recently, and that YOU had a chance to "put up" some yummy produce to enjoy during the dark, cold days of winter!!