No Pressure

My pressure canner has me at the end of my rope, right when I need it most.

This is not good.  This is what you don't want.  What horror stories are made of, right?

So I have been working around it as best as I can.  There's a pun!  If I disappear from the face of the earth, it's not because the pressure blew me away, it's because the Feds are after me for going old school.

Gee, maybe Christmas will have exciting things like a new canner under the tree?  If I thought I could clean my vehicle and scrounge up enough quarters and pennies, I'd order one today. 

Or maybe my new gasket will be in soon.  Right now, it's on back order with no word as to when it will be available.  None in stores either!  I've already been waiting over a week, which is an eternity during canning season.

Sure hope it gets here before all those carrots come out.

Pantry Update

Several days ago, Leigh posted her fantastically rearranged and inventoried Pantry.  Since then, Mama Pea and Erin have followed suit.  Has anyone else taken the challenge?  If so, I'd be happy to list you as well!

I don't keep a running inventory; however, throughout the year I have rearranged it several times.  As various jars get eaten up I will scoot things around and make mental note of what is dwindling and what is just looking dusty.  When it was time to order seed I took a closer look, but nothing formal still.

From the front.  It's not huge, just enough room to twirl your skirt and get what you need.

My goals are to plant and preserve enough to get us thru not just one season but hopefully two.  I have had people look in my pantry and say things like, "Oh wow, you have more than enough -insert whatever-."  Or maybe they look at my garden and say, "You don't need a bigger garden, it's just the two of you."  No lie, I have heard them both!  I admit it has irritated me a time or two even.  But I'm good at turning the other cheek.  Of my butt and smacking it at them that is.

Now to accomplish two seasons is proving to be a challenge.  You know my seed sorrows.  :-(  I am now faced with the decision of replanting for a third time and hoping for the best or devising some other plan altogether that doesn't include commercial product.  All the more reinforcing why I want at least two seasons on my shelf!

Knowing these things may have a huge, negative impact on my pantry shelves is very bothersome.  If I don't have a "Win" pretty darn soon, I am not going to meet my goal ... or even come close!  I had hoped to rotate some crops on an every other year basis even.  Ha!  Take beets for example, we don't eat that many, so I could get by without replanting them.  But carrots?  No way!

I am still not sure how to proceed.  Any thoughts or ideas from you folks would be appreciated.  Replant?  Throw in the Towel?  Cover crop?  Other crop?  McDonald's?  Aye...

So onto the pantry inventory:

Now keep in mind, this gal was gone three months out of the year.  Had I been home, these totals would have gone down even more.

I did not inventory the dry goods.  Bulking up on them is something I have been working on this year.  As you can see, I am starting a nice little cache to the right in this photo:

Lots of beans, rices, pasta, baking soda, salts, thickeners etc.

Since the addition of my super-duper Grain Mill, I will actually work on using up some of the flours on hand and beefing up the whole grains instead.  I am off to a decent start there as well.  So far, I have 5 lbs bags of organic Spelt, Hulled Barley, Rye, Soft Winter Wheat and Hard Red Wheat.  And I have an awesome 25 lbs bucket o Golden Wheat too!

I tried to get an around the corner shot as best I could.

One thing I vowed to get better at and still have not done nearly enough of - canning up soups, meals, meats etc.  Of those I tried my hand at this past year, they're all gone!  So I know I can do it!  And let me tell ya....SUPER HANDY!  As a matter of fact my favorite additions this year were:  Ham & Beans, Sloppy Joe and Baked Beans.  Easy, Awesome and not that far out of your comfort zone!

All you need is a pressure canner and you can do just about anything!  ;o)

So that's the Pantry folks!  I just have to share this next thing with you...you may have to enlarge.  Here is what we got in the mail today:

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!  Hey, no worries though, money fixes everything.  Not.

Finally, I can't wait till tomorrow to show you all what "Sprouted"!!!  :o}

Pantry Pinch

The latest edition of Backwoods Home hit my mailbox today!  I've already read it from cover to cover.  With winter here, I plan to sit and catch up on all those I only got to browse thru.  Including Countryside!

I always love the Jackie Clay articles.  I bet she would be one cool lady to meet!  Her feature article this issue was "Sitting Pretty as the Economy Tanks".  I know most of you don't even need to be told what all the topics might be, the title alone pretty well says it all!  But for those of you who don't, she talks about making the most of the land you live on (or scares the hell out of you if you don't live on 'land', i.e. an apartment), your pantry, heat source, finances, power source and so on.

So over dinner, Pig Pen and I were talking about it and I asked him, "If something catastrophic happened, where would people go?"

His answer scared me a little!  He said, "Here."  Meaning our house.  Don't get me wrong, I'd pack them in like sardines.  But, could I feed them?  Heat them?  Bathe them?  Protect them?

The answer is mostly, Yes. 

I've certainly canned alot.  There is plenty of meat in the freezers.  We'd sleep in the garages however because they both have wood burners but the house doesn't yet.  We are on a well.  And of course, yeah, we can protect them.

But for how long? 

Every garden year/canning season, Pig Pen will say things like, "I don't think we need to plant as many tomato plants (or whatever), we still have some left."  And of course I always disagree.  Then do it anyway.  :o)

I had previously vowed that this winter, I would expand my canning to include other things such as broths, beans (from dried), soups, stews and such.  I would even like to can meats.  With my new dehydrator, I can do other forms of preservation also.  Why not??

So my question is...if an event occurred that placed you in a position to care for your loved ones:  your aging grandparents, parents, siblings, your children and infants...could you? 

Could you sustain yourselves even?  For how long?  A week, month, six months, a year?  Years? 

Seriously, how long could you last?  When you think of getting by or getting thru, how long have you planned for?

I would like to think we have enough food stuffs to last a year.  Shockingly, I am pretty sure that the one thing I would run out -of all things...toilet paper.  It haunts me.  So I am going to reassess not just my preserved goods, but my bulk goods too.

Think it could never happen?  If so, think harder.

I Only Think I CAN

Since I decided to hold off on the Sweet Potatoes and eat them up instead of canning them, I finally sat down and tallied up the Garden 2010 Canning Season.  Even though I will continue to can things throughout the winter, I decided for reference purposes I would close out my numbers.

One thing blogging has me looking forward to is keeping track from year to year.  I don't know why I never did this in years past!  But as the years go by and as I venture out in all the various forms of food preservation, we are noticing a very significant decrease in our trips to the grocery store!  Isn't that awesome??  Grocery shopping was always one of my favorite things to do.  Now I simply get a few things and RUN!

So here are the Canning Totals for 2010:


Apple Butter - 2 Qts, 3 Pts, 31 hp
Apple Pie Filling - 28 Qts, 2 Pts
Apple Sauce - 10 Qts, 23 Pts, 7 hp
Apricot Jam - 10 Pts, 2 hp
Baked Beans - 7 Pts
Blueberry Pie Filling - 6 Qts
Bread & Butter Pickles - 7 Pts
Carrots - 13 Pts
Cherry Pie Filling - 3 Qts
Cowboy Candy - 2 Pts, 5 hp
Creamed Corn - 25 Pts
Grape Jelly - 5 Pts, 24 hp
Green Beans - 36 Pts
Ham & Beans - 3 Qts
Peach Pie Filling - 8 Qts
Pears - 7 Pts
Pepperoncini Peppers - 5 Pts
Pickled Beets - 2 Qts, 10 Pts, 5 hp
Plum Jam - 1 Pt, 9 hp
Sloppy Joe Sauce - 21 Pts, 1 hp
Spaghetti Sauce - 12 Qts, 1 Pt
Stewed Tomatoes - 15 Qts, 1 Pt
Tomato Juice - 17 Qts, 2 Pts
Tomato Sauce - 9 Qts
Zesty Relish - 4 hp

My Grand Total was no where near what I thought actually.  I was guessing upwards near 500 jars.  I didn't even break 400 :( ... 380 to be exact.  So, I really only think I CAN!

I'll figure my Frozen tally next.  Of course the Dehydrator will be in full use next year and I am pretty excited about that! 

Funny story...the other day, I decided I better dry some onions that had been hanging around and getting close to needing something done with.  So I diligently diced them in nice chunks and painstakingly separated each and every one and then ever so carefully layed them on the drying trays.  When I got to about the 4th tray I felt really stupid...   Do I need to tell you why?  Please say yes Please say yes!!!

Pretty Purple Pint

I sure do love Antiques.  My only exception to this rule is Pig Pen! 

Some might call me a cougar.  My defense?  I did not pick him up in a bar! 

So on to the Antique Part.  Yesterday we went to a Craft Fair.  I bought cookies...I'll do that sort of thing alot.  But then we went to the coolest Antique Store!  I saw something I have never seen before...a beautiful Deep Purple Canning Jar.

Did I take a picture?  Of course not...  I think when I saw the price tag for the little purple pint, it bit me!  $85 bucks!  Geesh!  So I did a little snooping around and the best pic I could find was this tiny weenie guy...

For the price and lack of images, they sure must be rare.  Here is the research I found on The Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors website.  (Yes there is such a thing!  Pretty neat reads too!)

When manufacturers produce glass, chemicals (clarifying agents) must be added to clarify the batch in order to turn it from its original color of aqua-blue or green to clear. Prior to the start of the First World War, manufacturers used Manganese Dioxide as their chemical agent of choice to clarify glass. When a jar or bottle turns purple from sunlight, manganese dioxide is the substance in the glass that reacts with sunlight to cause the color change. Russia was the primary source of this chemical.

When the First World War broke out, our source of manganese dioxide was cut off by German blockades. This sudden loss left glass manufacturers in a quandary and forced them to use another chemical, selenium, to clarify glass. After the close of the war, manufacturers did not return to the use of manganese dioxide. Selenium does not cause glass to react to sunlight like manganese does, thus glass clarified with selenium does not turn purple. Knowing this fact and the history above, collectors have another way to date their glass collectibles. If your jar is purple, it is a pretty good bet it was made before W.W.I.


LOOK OUT FOR IRRADIATED JARS!


One of the most regrettable things that has happened in recent years is the introduction of irradiated jars into the market. Altered artificially by modern technology, these jars come in dark browns and purples and are sometimes sold for large amounts of money. Some collectors have been fooled into buying these jars thinking the colors are genuine. Collectors are becoming hesitant to buy amber and other colored jars for fear someone has altered them.

In industrial facilities, radioactive substances are available that some people have used to expose old glass in an effort to change its color. Since the radiation in these substances can be especially potent, the change in color may be astonishingly deep.

If the jar contains manganese dioxide, when irradiated it will turn a deep (in some cases almost black) purple. If the jar contains selenium, it will turn an opaque brown color. Sometimes these deep brown jars are sold, either inadvertently or intentionally, as real amber jars. If you have any doubts, ask an experienced collector. One way you can tell if a jar has been irradiated is to bake it in an oven. A collector in Michigan set an irradiated jar in a 200° oven for 2½ hours and the color disappeared. (Placing your valuable old jars in an oven could cause them to crack, so be careful!)

I think I will stick to collecting the occasional Blue Ball Jar...kinda sorta like this one... 

All done!  Just put the finishing touches on it this morning!  Adding to the cuteness of it, the hanger is two little busy bee's!   :)

Ahhh...To Be Human Again!

Well, we had a nice long weekend of ALL sewing.  Wait...we ate alot too!

My "Work" Area

My MIL took me on my first Sewing Retreat in Racine, Wisconsin at the wonderful Siena Retreat Center.  It's a "Nunnery".  And no, the roof didn't cave in on us!

Room Full of us!  Kriket -front and Center :)

I met so many wonderful ladies and we sewed until the morning hours!  I learned alot of really neat things and saw alot of really great gadgets, mostly from Kriket the Gadget Ho.  This girls got EVERYTHING!  And I want it all!  :)  What I loved most probably, was that everyone is so willing to help and support each other.  Such nice ladies, like being wrapped up in a big hug!!

Momma M...Isn't that a great photo???

I was really, really shocked that she took her shoes and socks off!!

Pig Pen's Aunt Kathy

The Retreat Center is located right on Lake Michigan and the views are wonderful!

By the end of the Retreat, I accomplished one whole Quilt Top and started on a scrappy Log Cabin.  I can't show you the Quilt Top, because it's for Pig Pen and it's a surprise.  But he caught wind that I was up to something.  Bummer!! 

The scrappy pieces are pretty ugly right now...  But I love scrappy quilts and it's a great way to burn off material that may otherwise go unloved!  Once they piece together, I just love'em though! 

So I only got 3 done...  don't laugh!  Ugly, ain't they?  (it's ok, you can be honest!)

If anyone had told me a Sewing Retreat would make me feel human again, I probably would have denied it.  But, MAN!  I had no idea how much I really needed the break!  I think I had turned into a Dead Woman Canning!  I have been trying to keep up with what I have put up so far this year.  And a rough tally so far of various stuff "Put Up" is at...

Canned:

• 110 Qts
• 166 Pints
• 83 Half Pints

Hangin' Around:

• 157 Lbs. Honey
• 105 Lbs. Onions
• 3.5 Lbs. Sweet Potatoes
• 20 Lbs. Irish Potatoes

Frozen:

• 44 Pints
• 4 Pies
• 8 Qts
• 2.25 Lbs. Oven Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
• 6 Lbs. Peppers

That is just what I remembered to track, not counting what went straight into our bellies or to friends and family.  If anyone knows of a neat Gadget or Tracking program for this type of stuff, I'd really love to hear about it!!!

SO, I think it's only natural that I was entitled just a wee bit of a break.  The garden isn't done yet, but I didn't feel like walking out there today - or jumping back in the can. 

I am still in Euphoria.  Maybe tomorrow?  Yeah, yeah...

Peter Piper...

He really Peeves me off!

This is the fourth summer in a row that I have planted 'pickling' peppers of all sorts trying to duplicate these:

They go great with this:

I decided that after countless brine recipes and varieties of peppers taking up space in my garden, that if I couldn't get it right this year...
I would throw in the towel.

Yesterday as I was shelving more jars of exhaustion into the pantry, I could tell that something wasn't right. 

I sent in the hounds...

My nose that is.  I can sniff out just about anything good/bad/indifferent.

This was bad!  Heart sinking...OK, which jars didn't take???  What did I ruin???

Yup, these!  So much for packing the jars 'tight'.  Must have taken it to the extreme.

Burst right out of the jars, they did!

They smelled ... no other word to describe it ... like puke.

So I am sorry to say this - Pops, my pepper pickling days are over!  Peter Piper can pick on someone else!  I will buy you cases of them for Christmas!

When Things Get Sloppy...

I just finished wiping the jars from this weekend and putting them in the pantry...

Think I'm in trouble???

Now you know how much I like to call myself idiot...Today I get a capital I...

I had three layers of towels underneath my jars and it still happened!  I did the same thing two years ago on a smaller scale.  Which is why I now have a piece of countertop that I place on my table.  But for big jobs, it isn't enough.  Last year we brought in an old table and set it up in the kitchen.   With the addition of the pantry however, there was no room for the table this year and I don't have more countertop pieces to lay around...Sloppy Canner = Idiot!

Speaking of Sloppy, we cracked open a jar of the Sloppy Joe that my girlfriend Heather and I schemed up.  It got the thumbs up from Pig Pen and LLL.  I pulled a fast one on my brother Donnie and let him try it with just the notion that it was homemade, not homemade and canned.  He said it was "excellent"!  So I thought I would share it with you!

Sloppy Joe

6 Qts Tomato Sauce (I used mine straight from the Garden) Set Sauce aside for now.

Start off with:
4 Green Peppers
8 Celery Stalks
4 Onions

Chop and Saute w/ a smidgen of EVOO till crisp tender then add:

2 C Brown Sugar
1 C Apple Cider Vinegar

Once it Carmelizes, add:
3 T of Ground Mustard
4 Dash of Worcestershire

Cook down a bit and allow to incorporate, it sort of looked thicker at this point.

Add mixture to your Tomato Sauce and cook down to desired consistency.

Yielded 6.5 pints which would also of course depend on how long you cooked it down.
 
Jar it up with hot lids and rims, HWB for 15 Minutes
 
When I cooked it last night, I used 1.5 lbs of burger seasoned to taste and browned, added the sauce and then simmered it for about a half an hour.
 

Funny thing, before I jarred it the other day, I let my Mom taste test it to see if it was missing anything.  She said,"Yes...Hamburger!"  I thought it could use a bit more brown sugar, but of course that is to your own liking.
 
Ok, back to putting my kitchen in order...Harvesting the Honey tonight!  The Coop Pictures will wait for another day I suppose!

Hard Pressed...

These days, we've been hard pressed for time, sleep, rain, time...did I already say that?  My bad.

The other day, when I picked 53 lbs of tomatoes along with LLL's 4 lbs, it took up alot of 'time'...but we ended up with this:

16 Qts and 1 Pint of various Spaghetti Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Tomato Juice
6.5 Pints of Sloppy Joe Sauce
4 Half Pints of Relish

That was Thursday...Friday was a whole other story.  Need.More.Time

We have been anxiously awaiting the Hard Cider making process.  Got Apples?

Well, we had some fun with the folks at least.

We cleaned.  Then we decided to cut.  All hands on deck...or paws where applicable.  Emma, she's got to be in everything!  Leave a chair pulled out and she is the Cookie Monster!

Press was set and ready to go...

Apples in...

Juice out!

And......... Stop

WhoopsieDaisey!

Ahhh....one PINT of juice, all that work...ONE PINT.  For Pete's Sake!  What the heck am I gonna do with all these damn apples?  It just goes against every fiber of my being to let anything go to waste.  There are more than what are in these pics, by the way...idiot that I am.  Yeah, Yeah...and we now know we went about it all wrong too.  Shoulda had the fancy schmancy grinder type and all...Dunce Hat Securely ON!

So we're peeling and chopping and canning and OH-MY-GOSH...haven't made a DENT!

At least my girlfriend, Sue and I have had fun!  We made quick of our annual apple day on Sunday.  We did the same last year, this year we just have a few more apples.

Oh, and the garden gave me this:

8 Pints of Green Beans and the rest can wait till I get to it at least...

Did I mention Sue and I do grapes together every year too?

And I think Pig Pen felt so bad and sorry for me that the press broke, he got me a little present:

Seems to work really well!  I had already cooked the grapes down, but we ran them thru anyway!  What the heck?  The next batch that comes in will go straight into the hopper though!  If it doesn't meet my juicing standards, I can always go back to these:

I can't stand wearing gloves!  Pig Pen told me last night that I have Farm Hands.

Here is what yesterday's canning project turned up:

4 Jelly sized jars, 24 half pints, 1 pint of Grape Jelly
17 Qts and 1 Pint of Apple Pie Filling
3 Qts and 9 Pints of Apple Sauce

I have 2 large roaster pans cooking down into apple butter now.  And lots more to go...

Chicken Coop pics tomorrow if I have the energy to walk out there, Oh, and the time...

Settle something for me if you would!  Sue said she 'read somewhere' that after you open your jelly, it can only be kept in the fridge for 3 weeks.  Is she smokin' crack?  That's alot of wasted 'wisdom' if you ask me.  So I asked her how long she keeps her store bought stuff...she said, oh this was rich..."Yeah but that's got preservatives in it." 

Like that's a good thing?  She showed her "City" if you ask me.  

What say you?

Also, don't forget to enter my GiveAway...$40.00 on whatever you want!!!

If you are more interested in a shape ball and workout DVD, you can check out my SILs give away too!

Since I know y'all are hard pressed too...better luck!

License to Mess

What?  You don't believe me?  Well, that's what the sign above my kitchen sink says, so it must be true!

Is it just me or does everyone end up with a bigger mess than what they started with on a canning day?  Oh wait, every day is a canning day right now.  License to Mess -Granted.

I managed to try out the new/swapped out pressure canner. That was interesting...

Turns out that it wasn't quite working right. And like a boob, I panicked. After a few calls (the Queen about got another email!), a shot and a beer (kidding), we managed to figure it all out. Once it cooled back down, I was able to see that the handle was ever so slightly crooked. So I popped it back in place and tightened it up. I am happy to say, it worked great! I got 5 Qts of stewed tomatoes and 11 pints of green beans done without further issue. It was a relief!

So I wanted to prove that my house is not, has not, nor ever will be...clean.  Oh, and I don't "do" cute.

Crap every where!  Please tell me yours looks just-like-mine!  It seems like every day I start with a clean slate and then BAM!, it looks like this again!

And what I really want to know is...where the heck is my Mom???  If she went to PA and no one told me...oooh!  Send her back!  :0)

Bird's Eye of Today's Harvest (and mess)

Well, everything is put away for the night (sort of) and I have a little satisfaction in seeing the pantry start to fill back up.  It makes it all worth it...

Do you ever just look at your pantry?  I admit that I do.  I love the pretty picture that it paints.  And before you know it, it will be all done and we can relax a bit.  I know my MIL is getting antsy to have me sewing again...