Not so late tonight

We have had a very quiet, fairly uneventful Labor Day. What at one time would have been filled with family fun and the last minute scrambling to get school clothes and supplies all lid out, was instead a laid back day. Baking bread, watching the hummingbird circus in the back yard. The dill pickles are all finished and put away. I must admit, the final batch looks really good. It surprises me when I hear people talk about cooking as a structured activity. Here is the recipe, measure exactly and heaven forbid, don't vary the ingredients, don't experiment... My pickle recipe called for white vinegar, salt, dill and garlic.. Oh yeah, and cucumbers. They were pretty darned good. But what if I used cider vinegar? I like the idea of that slight fruity flavor. And what about pickling spices? They smell so good, that might be a good idea. Well, we will find out in two or three days. If I can wait that long before I crack the seal on those babies! And then there are those beautiful, fermented sweet pickles. Three more days and I can pack them in jars and layer them with sugar. And a few more days after that before they will be ready to eat. I can't wait!! Look at those pickles!!!

As I wandered thru the yard today I noticed that the grapes are slowly beginning to turn purple. It won't be long and they will be ready to pick, and then there will be wonderful, sweet grape juice. This year there will be more juice and less jelly. I still have three or four half pints of jelly left from last year. I love grape juice! I remember visiting my grandparents as a little girl. Gramma always had grape juice for me. She knew... My mother said that before I was a year old, she wanted me off the bottle. My sister was due soon. It was not going well. Milk in a cup would dribble right down my little chin. But fill that cup with grape juice and not a drop was spilled or dribbled! Yup, I love grape juice, always have!!