Friday, May 24

Today, Great-Grandson graduated from kindergarten. Congratulations, Great-Grandson!

Slept late again, until around 8 a.m., and did stair stepping, resistance bands, and weights exercises right after breakfast. Sis accompanied Mother to our house, and they went to work on another jigsaw puzzle, while I got ready for the day.

Once I was dressed, I gathered ingredients and supplies we would need for making a batch of blueberry jelly, using the new automatic jelly maker I recently purchased.

Hubbie ran errands this morning, and as soon as he returned at noon, we had a sandwich lunch. Hubbie changed clothes and went into the yard to work, and Mother, Sis, and I made the jelly.

We were not convinced the appliance was working correctly, as we watched the paddle slowly turn the juice, pectin, and sugar. Even the half teaspoon of margarine didn't melt for the longest time, and the liquid never came to a full rolling boil, as we are accustomed to when we prepare jellies on the stove.

It cooked for 25 minutes, though, and eventually the margarine did melt, and the liquid gently bubbled. When it was done, Mother ladled it into the jars, and I put them in the water-bath canner and timed it for ten minutes, plus five minutes after the canner is removed from the heat.

At the end of this process, the foam that Mother had skimmed from the jelly and put in a bowl was jelled. So we knew the jelly maker had worked properly.

Note: I very nearly dropped one of the hot jars onto the floor while trying to remove it from the water bath. But somehow, I managed to awkwardly fumble it onto the table, where it rolled around until Sis caught it and set it upright. She and Mother both feared I might have scalded myself in the process, but thankfully, I did not. The dish towel I held under the jar prevented it. This was just another incidence of my klutz mode in action. I really would have hated to smash that jar on the floor and have to  try to get staining blueberry jelly off that white kitchen floor!

Once the jelly was made, we cleared away the mess from that project, and began supper preparations. I started by crumbing dried hamburger buns in the blender. Then Mother seasoned the crumbs with Parmesan cheese, parsley, oregano, basil, pepper, and paprika, and dredged talapia fish in the mixture. She put the fish in a Pam-sprayed dish, which I put in the refrigerator until later.

Then Hubbie peeled potatoes, which Mother diced. Mother also sliced an onion, and Sis put together a dish using the potatoes, and various seasonings, including dill. We set the dish aside until later.

Lastly, Mother mixed a slaw dressing, using salad dressing and sugar substitute.  Then she and Sis went to their jigsaw puzzle, which they soon finished. It was only a 300-piece puzzle, so they had time to begin another one.

Later, I put the potatoes and fish in the oven. At 5 p.m., we were ready to sit down to the meal, which included the slaw, and slices of homemade bread that Sis brought with her.

Around 6:30, we all went to the movie theater to see "Star Trek" in 3-D. Mother was enthusiastic about going, but that didn't keep her from sleeping through most of it.

Outside the theater, I teased her by commenting that there would be a test on it. Sis joked that it had better be on the part she was awake for. Mother laughed and said she could have slept better if the movie hadn't been so loud.

The rest of us enjoyed it. The main characters are played by different actors from the ones we were familiar with in the old TV series, naturally, but it's still basic Star Trek stuff, though a little more exciting in 3-D (more exciting for everyone but Mother, of course).

Back home, Sis accompanied Mother to her house, and then she came to our house to get servings of the pineapple/angel food cake, and some whipped topping, for Mother and herself to have for a snack. Hubbie and I enjoyed helpings of it, too, which finished that cake off. Tomorrow, I'll bake a chocolate cake.

It was a good day, and an excellent beginning to the Memorial Day weekend.