Open for Business!

We opened one jar of bread and butter pickles today. Almost ate the entire jar. Crispy, tangy and crunchy, just the way we like 'em. I haven't made pickles before in my entire life and even though I'm giving myself a pat on the back... Dang! I can make some great pickles!

Needless to say, I'm guessing the floodgates have opened and we will be munching and crunching our way through our basement shelves now!!

So, What Now?

I don't know what to eat. Or if I should eat. I mean, I worked all summer slaving to put up food for the winter, but now... Should I eat it? It's funny, really. There's a light blanket of snow on the ground. It's 27 degrees right now and even colder with the wind chill. Still... Is it time?

I haven't made a pie with all the peaches that almost brought me to tears, there were so many.

Not a single muffin has been made with the tens of pounds of blueberries picked by hand by my boys.

Carrots are frozen, waiting for soup and stew.

Pickles have been canned in their tangy bread and butter brine, but they sit on a shelf in my basement gathering dust.

Row after row of crushed tomatoes are soldiered together on the shelf below, waiting to weather the lasagna brigade sure to come.

Save for a few cupfuls of corn tossed into the soup I made on Sunday and the single can of blueberry cherry sauce I cracked open to serve with crepes during a brunch I was hosting, I haven't touched a thing.

What is wrong with me? Am I hoarding food? Squirreling it away like the furry critters still racing around my backyard furiously trying to hide just one more nut?

I think it's knowing all of that hard work, the precious hours, the late nights and the memory of the farmer's markets will be gone in an instant. I like looking at the rows of shiny jars, the perfectly stacked freezer storage bags labeled so neatly in my deep freezer and the funny root cellar contraption I cobbled together in my garage holding my boxed apples, potatoes and onions. I feel well stocked, ready and prepared.

So, what now? Is it time? When do we eat?

How many uses can you find for canning water?

I finally ventured into canning, but am only dipping my toe in the water with basic water bath canning. Freezing and drying are right up there on my list, so when you add it all up I am storing a lot of food, but wasting a lot of water. While canning some blueberry sauce I was trying to think of all the ways I have been using the remaining water bath, blanching and sterilizing water.

1. Let pot cool on porch, water flower pots and container garden

2. Pour while still boiling-hot on spaces between the sidewalk pavers and driveway to kill weeds - Note to self, wear shoes next time - OUCH

3. Let cool for 5-10 minutes add a little soap and use it to kill stinky smell on Crocs and flip flops of sweaty boys. Also, note - make sure boys aren't wearing them at the time! ;o)

4. Let cool and use with soap to mop floors where stinky Crocs and flip flops hang out by the door
And then I realized... That's only four uses! There has got to be a ton more I am missing out on here. Anyone have any bright ideas?

Never say never

I was always vehement. I will NEVER can, I just can't. It's too much work, it's too hot and I just don't have any patience for it. Well, as you've noticed - I am getting a little geeked about all the changes happening these days.

On my search for a dehydrator, I found myself in an Ace Hardware store (thanks, Chile!) wandering up and down aisles loaded with canners, blanchers, food savers and food processors. Happily not a single cotton candy maker in sight. They happened to be sold out of dehydrators, but offered to have one sent from their warehouse to their store, free of charge. Yippee, I will be the proud owner of a dehydrator late next week. Problem solved!

However, while perusing the aisles I saw a canner and stacks of jars and accessories. I looked at the canner, "not for glass top stoves" it says. See, it wasn't meant to be, I think. I pass it again and think, that pot really isn't much larger than my largest soup pot, which is suitable for my stove. Nah, I didn't want to can anyway. Well, look at that, those cute little jars all packaged and ready to go would be just great for jam. Uh-uh, I don't even have anything to can. Oh, but I did see buckets of the cutest cucumbers at the Farmer's Market and it is just right across the street from where I am now. And, I have always wanted to learn to make jam.

So, never say never. Here is the first look at my first experience with canning. Eight 16 oz. jars of bread and butter pickles. Every single can sealed. Though, I missed the pinging, darn it. I was vacuuming and by the time I was done, every single jar was sealed. Rats. For some reason, that would have really made my day. So, what's next on my list? Jam, of course. Maybe some peach halves. Oh, yes and some homemade pasta sauce. And more pickles, I still have enough cukes for at least 6 more jars. Can you believe it? I am a canner. Sheesh, don't tell my mother, she'll just say, "I told you so."