Pears anyone?

Well, last night was our pear canning extravaganza! We did not get started until 7:30 pm, because of course there was supper, and cleanup, a trip to camp to check on the cattle, baths, a bottle for the baby, and 4 other little ones to get ready for bed. We we did finally start we decided that everyone but the baby could stay up and "help", and what a great lesson for my kids. Now that I am not only their mom but their teacher as well, I really think about how everything we do is a lesson not only in schooling but in life! Anywho this is just a sampling of the pears we canned, we ended up with 32 quarts-woohoo way more than we expected. We also left the skins on the pears in the interest of not wanting to peel them, and of course my husband pointed out all the goodness of the skin, he even wanted to leave the seeds in, but I had to draw the line somewhere! If you want directions on how to can pears go here. In the middle of pears, I was struck by the fact that I needed to make my husband and kiddos a snack for today, so I made a batch of my amazing friend Aubrey's granola bars and still we had everything finished and cleaned up-I even mopped the floor all by 11:30pm. I am on such a canning and preparing for winter kick you would think I was a bear preparing for hibernation-lol! We have also made 21 quarts of wild applesauce from our own apple trees at camp and plan to can another 20 or so quarts tonight, and another batch of spaghetti sauce this weekend! Odd how with the years the things that bring you joy change so much, who would have ever thought I would LOVE to stay up half the night canning food? What have you canned this year?