WARNING: Contents Under Pressure

Today I have been canning - all day long. I started out with potatoes. We're canning potatoes because we have way too many to eat (without becoming human potato chips) and no really good place to store them. Potatoes require pressure canning, which I've always found a bit tedious. Who wants to spend all day keeping the little dial at exactly 10 lbs. pressure when there are more exciting things to do? Anyway - I got the canner going and sat down to read instructions for canning peaches (my next project for the day) and completely forgot about watching the canner. Well...the phone rang and I got up to answer it. As I did, I happened to glance over at the canner and it was over 20 lbs. pressure! It was in the DANGER zone (I've always wondered what would happen when a canner gets into the danger zone...would it blow up or what?) Well, I got it off the heat and thankfully the pressure dropped quickly back into the safe zone and my potatoes (and the house) were safe!

I am now processing peaches, which is a much more interesting project that does not require use of the pressure canner. Besides, peaches are much prettier in the jar than potatoes.

There is a moral to the story though - make sure when using a pressure canner to actually check the pressure and not assume it will regulate itself. It won't.

Gotta run - the peaches are just about done.

Monster Cookies

1 lb butter - softened
2 lbs brown sugar
4 cups white sugar
12 eggs
¼ cup vanilla extract
3 lbs crunchy peanut butter
8 tsp baking soda
18 cups quick oats
1 lb chocolate chips
1 lb M&M’s

Preheat oven to 350. In a large bowl, cream together sugars, butter, and peanut butter. Add eggs and vanilla and whip until light and fluffy. (At this point I have to take it out of my large Kitchen Aid and finish mixing remaining ingredients in a very large bowl.) Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Drop by teaspoon-fulls onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes.

Yield – an enormous number of cookies.

I first made these cookies when I was visiting my Aunt Sheryle a while back. I've never seen so much cookie-dough! They were fun though, even if I did spend an entire afternoon baking cookies. The best part was when Uncle Dale got home....he was very happy that I'd been baking cookies....and he said mine were better than Sheryle's. Of course that could be because she discovered that every time she made them, she hadn't been putting in enough oats so hers didn't turn out as well. Guess that's what happens when you've made the recipe 1000 times...it takes someone else to look at it to figure out what the problem is.

And now let the work begin.....

Since they're officially engaged, thought I'd post this photo. It was taken by our special friend, Mrs. Harrison, when the whole family was back for a cousin's wedding in June.

As someone who has planned/coordinated several weddings, I have to admit that I find it extremely entertaining to have my little brother calling me saying things like, "How do we make the PHC dining hall look different from all the other wedding receptions that have been there?" and "Will you do the rehearsal dinner?" Ahh...yes....a wedding planner's life is never dull. And for the question of making the PHC dining hall look different, may I suggest, for starters, no white tulle with white lights? Just a thought. :)

This should be an interesting few months.

New Addition

Just a quick post to say that the Cole girls will be welcoming a new addition in a few months. Jeremy has proposed to Jessica - and she said yes! (that's the real miracle - brave woman!)

So, congratulations to Jeremy and Jessica and hopefully we'll be hearing from Jessica now and then as a contributor to the Cole-inary artists.