This afternoon Olof put the baby down for a nap so I figured it was a good time to go tackle a couple of the mountains of clean laundry that are taking up space in our downstairs bathroom. I soon discovered, however, that Lydia had set up housekeeping in there–that’s where the shower is–so I couldn’t get at the clothes. Still wanting to occupy my time with something more productive than Facebook games, I decided I might as well cook up a little applesauce for Yrsa.

I went out to our two trees and gathered an armful of the ripest apples I could find–this far north we’re still a bit away from full-on ripeness–then took them upstairs to the kitchen where Asbjørn helped me core, peel, and slice them (in truth, his only contribution was eating the peels I handed his way, but he was good company and that counts for something). That done, I tossed them in a pot with a cup or two of water, a good dose of cinnamon, and a couple of mango chunks for variety. Fifteen minutes or so of simmering on the stove and a quick meet-up with the immersion blender later, I had a nice little jar of homemade tastiness to tuck away in the fridge. Not bad for a half-hour’s work.