Patchwork Memoirs: Week #42 Buttered Up

Try as I might, it's never quite the same.

Whether it's grilled cheese or thanksgiving turkey, doesn't everyone have a recipe that "mom" just makes better? True as can be, when it comes to canning, no one makes it like my Nana. Pickled relish, beets, applesauce, and my personal favorite apple butter. I've tried others, award winners even, but none compare.

I Just Wanna Know How To Make It

THERE ARE NO RECIPES

Nana has been making her delicacies for so long she just adds a bag of this and a handful of that. There may be one other small problem. She makes batches like she's doom's day prepping. I only want a few jars for the season. The last time I signed up to learn how to make pickled relish it was an eight day process that produced 30 plus jars of finished product.

I Want Apple butter!

Not to mention I still had two large bags of apples that needed to be used and fast. So I googled and pintrest'ed. In the end I opted for a recipe I found on a lovely blog that had one ingredient that cinched it. Cinnamon red hots. Nana's "secret" ingredient.
I remember the little candies would only show up once a year. They magically disappeared and apple butter would appear in it's place. After 18 hours of simmering, I ended up with four glorious jars of my very own Apple Butter.

This Week We Purchased The Following:

Elbow macaroni, whole chicken, milk, flour, ketchup,
oil, mayo, hot sauce, steak sauce, shrimp, broccoli, cucumber,
cream cheese, butter, corn flakes, cheddar, mushrooms, ice cream,
bread, eggs, cranberry sauce, cream of celery soup,
green onions, radishes

The total spent was $65.11

Our allotted budget is $130 but the goal is to stay under $100

We were getting pretty low on basic condiments. Still managed to
stay under the mark. Putting the difference away for future restock needs.

Breakfast Options For The Week

Cereal/Oatmeal

Morning Sunrise

Egg over easy with fresh sliced garden tomato & slice of cheese

Blueberry Scones

Toast & Apple butter

Bagels

Fruit & Yogurt

It's another rainy weekend but the only baking
I plan on doing is some quicky scones and an
angel food cake. Looks like I might have to
curl up on the couch and read.

Monday:

Lunch - Black Bean Smothered Sweet Potatoes

Dinner - Fall-apart Chicken, Macaroni Salad

Tuesday:

Lunch - Chicken Salad Wraps (use LO)

Dinner - Pork Loin, Mashed (Sweet) Potatoes, Pickled Beets

Wednesday:

Lunch - Hot Cranberry Tuna Sandwich

Dinner - Grilled Honey Chiptole Shrimp, Baked (Sweet) Potato, Salad

Thursday:

Lunch - Curried Egg Salad Wrap

Dinner - Buffalo Chicken Bites, Salad