Just because I haven't been canning, though, doesn't mean I haven't been preserving. This is the time of year I renew my supply of flavored oils and vinegars. I tend not to get to fancy with these - basil vinegar, garlic/pepper oil, garlic vinegar and so on - but I still like to have them around. It's very short work to delicious marinades and salad dressings once you've got a supply of this stuff on hand and it's much cheaper to make your own than buy them, even if you choose to get fancier than I. I use old Grolsch bottles or the kind from the fancy lemonade you buy at Whole Foods. My sister also made me a set of really great etched wine bottles, which I stop with a cork. So even though the applesauce remains undone, I still feel the warm glow of accomplishment.
I had a minor meltdown last weekend when I realized that I have roughly 15 weeks (give or take a fortnight) left of pregnancy. This made me very happy until I realized that these 15 weeks will have to encompass:
- The Biomed pigroast (those engineers sure can party)
Our bonfire party
Halloween (more specifically, completing my son's Race Car Driver costume)
A quick business trip to Philly
A 10 day trip to Florida with the extended family
Thanksgiving in Philly
Another quick business trip to Philly
Christmas
New Years in Philly
Wrapping up the project I'm working on
Preparing the nursery (paint, chair rail, moving the current furniture out, moving baby furniture in)
Painting the rocking chair
Other home improvement we really want to do: painting the bathrooms, buying a comfy chair for the TV room, finishing the bed my husband made for us)
Actually having the baby
And this doesn't take into account the stuff I've said "no" to (my soon-to-be-born nephew's Christening, Christmas in either Philly or Buffalo, a Christmas party the week prior in Philly). I simply do not have time - I'm just going to have to be pregnant for 50, maybe 55, weeks.