Fall card with Tattered Leaves die, some ranting, and about canning peaches

Quick-ish card to share today, I used the fan folder from Stampin Up and my new leaf die (Tim Holtz tattered leaves).  I love the cover of the die which has the leaf cut from a dictionary page (you can pick up used dictionarys for next to nothing at garage sales).  So I copied that and then did some stitching  and used a Hero Arts stamp.

Pet Peeve moment:   I went to Joanns yesterday promising the boys we would buy the fabric for Daisy's Halloween costume (she is going to be a witch, she will not be happy about that as she prefers to just be a dog).  The boys and I had seen the fabric we wanted to use but it was spendy $12.99/yd, so armed with a 60% coupon I went to go get it.  Of course after she cut it she told me it was on sale 20% off, so I couldn't use my coupon, grrrrr.  I still had a 40% off coupon so I grabbed a die I had been wanting.  Normally I don't buy dies since I can buy an entire cartridge for about the same cost, but at 40% off and wanting to cut fabric with it, I went ahead...then at the check stand they tell me that is on sale, too, so again, can't use the coupon.  They lure you in with big savings, but watch out.  Neither item was marked as on sale on the shelf, or I wouldn't have gotten them, but by the time you've had it cut or are paying, its too late.  Sorry, ranting over.

ON TO PEACHES!

So the rest of the crafting for the weekend involved peaches...and lots of them.  My friend took a trip this weekend and brought me back some Yakama peaches which she said were the best for canning.  I also purchased one case at our local farm a couple days earlier.  I wish I knew what kind they were because they were AMAZING.  These ones I did  yesterday were Elberta, and compared to the ones from the farm, they were just OK (I will admit they were less than half the price, $11 for 24 lbs, whereas the others I paid $24 for about 24 lbs-but they were worth it!).  I had never done peaches because I though, ugh, peeling.  ITS SO SIMPLE, oh my, takes but a couple seconds to peal a peach after its blanched.  45 seconds in boiling, dunk in ice water, and the peach skin just slips off.   So here is something I didn't know: adding cinnamon to peaches is SO yummy.  On some I added it as an after though, I sprinkled the cinnamon sugar on top just before I processed.  The next batch I added it to the syrup.  Adding it on top was so much better tasting for the final product.  I don't know why but it was, and it looked nicer in the jar too.  So with two cases,  I ended up with two batches of jam, about 20 pints and 6 quarts of canned (a couple already eaten since I had to test the cinnamon thing), and then froze the rest for crisp (and made one batch of YUMMY peach crisp for now).

Whew.  I'm pooped.