Foodstuffs...
I'm exhausted today... and I have a headache threatening to be something more if I don't pay very close attention and KILL IT soon. But, it's worth it. I spent over 9 hours making dill pickles and two kinds of jam over the weekend with my mom and my best friend Lar. My friend has never done any type of home canning before and wanted to try it. I told her it was stupid easy and made arrangements with my mom to have a "canning weekend".
My daughter and I set out at 6:30 am to pick up my friend by 7. (I had to harass her just a smidge because she thought 7 was early. *snort*) We loaded up all our equipment in my truck and headed out to my parent's place. Made it over the mountains and to our destination at around 9:15 am and unloaded everything. My mom and her friend Tanya jumped right in and started gathering ingredients to begin making pickles. Mmmmmmmm... I love these pickles. (insert pickle/cucumber jokes here) Mom and Lar got the brine cooking while Tanya peeled garlic. I cleaned the big pots and got the jars to boiling then cut some fresh dill. We had an assembly line going and in about an hour, we had loaded up a dozen jars and had them cooking.
When the pickles were out of the pots and cooling on the table, next we made strawberry jam. The whole house smelled fantastic. Mom couldn't resist and cracked out ice cream and poured leftover syrup from the pan over it. Heh.
We completed two batches of strawberry and moved on to mixed berry (blackberry/raspberry/strawberry). I removed the seeds from the blackberries and raspberries then we proceeded to make two batches of our mixed berry concoction. I don't know how, but the drips on the counter became tasting elements. Somebody wanted a taste and Lar would say, "here's a drop here, try it".
We left my parent's place with 6 quarts of pickles and 10 pints of jam each. Yum! My mom and Lar are already planning the next canning weekend in September. I advised them that they may want to consult me as I happen to be the driver. *rolls eyes*
We had a lot of fun, but I'm just plain tired. *dies*
My daughter and I set out at 6:30 am to pick up my friend by 7. (I had to harass her just a smidge because she thought 7 was early. *snort*) We loaded up all our equipment in my truck and headed out to my parent's place. Made it over the mountains and to our destination at around 9:15 am and unloaded everything. My mom and her friend Tanya jumped right in and started gathering ingredients to begin making pickles. Mmmmmmmm... I love these pickles. (insert pickle/cucumber jokes here) Mom and Lar got the brine cooking while Tanya peeled garlic. I cleaned the big pots and got the jars to boiling then cut some fresh dill. We had an assembly line going and in about an hour, we had loaded up a dozen jars and had them cooking.
When the pickles were out of the pots and cooling on the table, next we made strawberry jam. The whole house smelled fantastic. Mom couldn't resist and cracked out ice cream and poured leftover syrup from the pan over it. Heh.
We completed two batches of strawberry and moved on to mixed berry (blackberry/raspberry/strawberry). I removed the seeds from the blackberries and raspberries then we proceeded to make two batches of our mixed berry concoction. I don't know how, but the drips on the counter became tasting elements. Somebody wanted a taste and Lar would say, "here's a drop here, try it".
We left my parent's place with 6 quarts of pickles and 10 pints of jam each. Yum! My mom and Lar are already planning the next canning weekend in September. I advised them that they may want to consult me as I happen to be the driver. *rolls eyes*
We had a lot of fun, but I'm just plain tired. *dies*