Canning with a Companion

A couple of weeks ago, we adopted a pet.  His name is Mocha, and there has been a steep learning curve on everyone's part, including his.  He can now leap onto a rather high window seat in one bound, and trot along the back of the couch without falling most of the time and I think he now recognizes that the music stand is collapsable and he shouldn't jump on it.  The humans are learning that you can't just grab a bunny and pick it up, and that kevlar gloves are essential when you need to approach him when he's not in the mood.  (Do we remember the rabbit scene in Monty Python?  Yeah.  That.)

Today I'm home for the first time in a while and I had a peck of apples to make into applesauce.  So I dug out a baby gate and brought Mocha into the kitchen for the first time.  (He's litter trained and very good at it so I wasn't worried.)  He explored a fair amount while I cooked down the apples but once the motor on the food mill started going he stayed in a corner.  By the time I was ready to take him back, he was ready, too.  He didn't even try to run away when I went to pick him up.  I'm not sure he's going to want to repeat this adventure for a while but at least now we have another room in the house where he could roam.

I tried something different which was to try to put an entire peck of apples into one pot, so I'd cook some down and add some more.  It took way longer than if I'd just made 2 batches in series, so I won't be doing that again.  Regardless, I have 5 more quarts of applesauce and that might be it for the season; I won't know until I go back to the farm tomorrow and see if they have more apples.

Mocha likes almost any green we give him, especially arugula, so it's good that they have plenty in the farm share!