Jeepers

I was so excited that I just happened to have taken a picture of them. LOL. I got the price on the edge of the shelf in the picture. I was going to post it but still can't. I just now looked at it. They are $14.63 a dozen in my store too. I wouldn't pay $24.99 for those little bitty jars either! Actually I never would have ordered them online because I didn't think I'd like them. But after I saw them in person I thought about salsa etc. I'm the only one that eats it at my house so a bigger jar would gum up in the fridge befor I could finish it. And one jar means I won't over eat. Theoretically. I was surprised to see them east of the Mississippi. Oh, maybe can some cucumbers and onions in vinegar. I love those bombs. I eat them til my upper lip starts to sweat. A few other things that I thought of but can't remember now. I need a list. BtW, I bought some litmus paper to decide the acid content in food to determine waterbath safety. I haven't used any of it yet but I will on some tomato or vinegary foods. I saw carrots at Meijers for 97c a pound baby carrots washed and pealed. I'll probably go pick up a few bags tomorrow. They are sold in 2 pound bags.

Congrats on your GD house! As much as you do for your GD, I'm sure they will be there to help you. Your GGD will be getting more active soon and needing more of your time. And then maybe another one.

OMG. Guess what my Walmart had? I'm so excited, I just can't hide it. I'll tell ya. Kerr canning jars. They are the wide mouth half pints. I don't like the wide mouth half pints because they are really too short. I like their regular mouth jars because they are tall instead of short. But wait, there's more. Those squatty little jars will be perfect for salsa and Bar-B-Q sauce etc. Just right for a one person dipper. I might even try recanning a little bit of sauerkraut in some. I'm a rebel. Don't judge. I didn't have any of those jars. I have 6 cases now. ALL KERR JARS. Yes I have a canning jar obsession. All the same kind of jars all full and lined up. Kerr emblem facing forward with the writing on the lids all centered facing the front...sigh. OCD wurks fer me. Some days it don't take much. Ya know.

New Jersey is having them too. They had a 4.8 last week and a small one (after shock?) during the eclipse.

I got my green beans canned. I ended up with 36 half pints. I canned them in chicken broth. They are looking good. All sealed. I bought 4 pound bags of frozen whole green beans from Gordon Food Service. The are really nice. I thawed them in warm water before canning. They are limp (not soft) and fit very nicely in the jars. I could mash them down in the jars to get a good fit. Sort of like blanched beans. Two 4 pound bags made 24 half pints. If I remember correctly. I bought 3 bags and got 36 half pints. I have about a half a bag left. I bought them a long time ago and I can't remember what I paid for them. But $7.75 a bag is ringing a bell. Anyway, I can really recommend the GFS frozen whole green beans. Not one bad bean and only one little stem. Wish I could post pictures. I'm taking them and saving them in my phone.

Miki, my Jeep is old too. 2005 with well over a hundred miles and some rust and dings. I don't think son will want it personally, but when I die it will automatically be in his name so he will be able to trade it off without having to retitle it etc. Or chance probate. $$$ Littlesister, how will it work out if your grands buy a house and then he gets transfered? I got my banking squared away and will write out the checks for my taxes. I owe sooo much so I'm waiting to send in the checks. I'm going to go to the post office so they won't chance getting lost. It has happened in this town. They even had to change the style of drop off boxes there. I don't want any issues with the government. But I'm also in no hurry for them to use my money for interest. I've got 24 half pints of green beans in the canner. Next on the list will be carrots. Then I'm taking a break. I'm very tired. I think the only other veggie I want in the half pints will be pickled beets. Ugh, they are a mess and time consuming. Not looking forward to those. I do want some veggies canned in pint jars though. Mainly french green beans. Also potatoes and carrots canned together. Not looking forward to pealing potatoes either...back issues. I'm half tempted to get some of those little white baby potatoes and skip the peeling. Probably wouldn't prudent though. I need an assistant.

My G'son is kind of wasteful with food too. I sort of blame his mom though. I think she fills his plate too full. When I was a kid I could put anything on my own plate but I had to eat it all. That taught me about portion control real fast. Becca-Anne, that was a very educational school day. Great way to teach. G-sons school had glasses for all the kids which was nice. Around here the kids were out of school. IMO they would have been safer in a classroom and not be tempted to look at the sun without the glasses. Especially the little ones. And a missed teaching opportunity.

Miki, doing a POD/TOD for my son has really eased my mind. I have him on all of my banking accounts, houses and even the Jeep. There was an article I read a week or so ago talking about food expiration dates. The FDA or some other agency, I can't remember which, was talking about changing the rules on how food is labeled. It seems there is no standard rules. Each company can lable however they choose. Some say expires by, or use by, or best by etc. They were saying as long as the food looks and smells good and the packaging hasn't been compromised, then the food is good. Said we are wasting millions of dollars a year throwing good food away. I agree. My cousin used to drive me crazy by throwing food away that was a day away from "expiring". Like it was a law she couldn't eat it. And our food bank won't accept food that is one month past expiration date. BTDT. Mt. Rider, my tinnitus comes and goes too. I think it's always there but sometimes I don't notice it anymore. Unless I think about it. I saw where CO. Was getting heavy winds. Some poles were down causing power outages and fires. I was hoping it was missing you.

Well, I was wrong. The eclipse was pretty amazing after all. I learned that the sun doesn't appear that big in the special glasses. Actually I had to hunt around to find it the first time. It looks a whole lot bigger with the naked eye. Second was with just a little sliver of the sun showing it was still very light outside. I mean a tiny sliver. It looked like an overcast rainy day. When it was totally eclipsed, it got dark. But it was the kind of dark you get from when it is storming really badly. Not totally dark like the night. My outside light didn't even come on. So even with a total eclipse, there is still some lightness involved. Watching it was pretty awesome. I can understand how panic and superstitions would happen in the old old days. I've feel that way about people seeing the northern lights and not knowing what they are. I chanced taking a couple of pictures. Not much to see through the camera. Mostly a big white blur. One picture I took has a bunch of chemtrails in front of the sun. I found out what all the hub-bub was about in downtown Cleveland. Today is also the opening day for our baseball team. Sheesh. I'll bet it was/is a madhouse down there. Glad I got to see it but glad the talk of it is over.

True. Always check your seals. After you run warm water over the jar. The band screws right off without any resistance at all. Personally, I'm pretty vigorous with my jars the day after canning. I see where some people wipe the jars with a damp dish rag. Not me. I squirt dish washing liquid on a dish rag and hold each jar under the kitchen faucet and clean each jar well with warm soapy water. If I have a loose seal, I want it to pop off right away. Not one time has a seal ever come loose in my hand while washing a jar this way. I want them as clean as I can safely get them. I'm mostly cleaning where the screw band rests. Lots of little crannies around there and around the embossed areas too. I'm mostly thinking of not attracting any creepy crawlies to my pantry.

Hope you start feeling better too Littlesister! I cut my med back and I'm doing much better. I took the day off today. I cleaned off the kitchen countertop but that's about it. I forgot all about gassing up the Jeep this weekend for the big show tomorrow. So now I have to get dressed and go do that. They are warning us of a major influx of people from all over the world. I'm not going out but I want to be able to get out of Dodge if I want to. One tank of gas can get me to the other house if I drive slowly, AKA speed limit.

. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Hope you are having a wonderful day.

I was watching a YouTuber who had a band stuck on one of her jars after it had cooled down from the canner. She cranked and twisted with all her might. It finally came off taking the lid with it. That was one time she didn't want to hear that PING. I've had that happen a lot to me too. Especially when liquid siphons out of a jar and it cools down leaving the band stuck to the jar. All you have to do is run warm water over the jar a few minutes and it usually screws right off. It's the dried liquid holding it on. It only takes a minute or two. I have had an occasional very stubborn band. I stuck a screw driver or bottle opener all around the edge of the band and loosened it enough that it came off. You ruin the band but it's better than popping a lid of canned food. Most if you probably already know this. But if that person didn't know to run warm water over the jar to loosen a band, then I figured someone else here might not know.

Yikes Midnightmom. I've heard of ugly chicken but ugly strawberry jam... I plan to can some strawberry pie filling this summer and I did think about it fading. But I didn't think about it changing color like that. I wonder if that is another reason most people put a dash of red food coloring in their strawberry and cherry pie filling? I hadn't planned on adding the coloring to mine. But yeah, that's pretty unappetizing.

I finished 24 half pints of mixed veggies. All sealed. I'm done for a couple of days, I think. It is good to get back in the swing of canning again but I'm really tired. I need to strike while the iron is hot. Canning when you aren't feeling great isn't a lot of fun. But I sure love those full jars. It's nice to get my veggie pantry built back up. I eat those and soups the most. I might have to break down and buy another kitchen stool. I hate to spend the money for a short term use since I already have one at the other house. But my back can't hardly handle standing at the kitchen sink for hours.

LOL Necie. That just reminded me of Boones Farm Strawberry Wine from way back in the day in the 1960's. It was a thing.

What's going on? I thought today was Friday too. I had an important call to make (banking) and they were closed due to it being a weekend. Now I have to wait until Monday. Mt. Rider. If your BP and arteries are fine, then it sounds like you might have tinnitus. I have that sometimes too. Very annoying. I can usually get around it by having other noise drown it out like an audio book or a fan. I usually sleep with a fan on all year around just for the noise. Mine sounds like White Noise hissing. Lately I've been listening to free books from Youtube at night on my phone. I've been trying to listen to "The Long Winter" by Laura Ingalls Wilder but I keep falling asleep.

I really like the taste of canned asparagus but be aware that it is soft and not at all firm. It's very soft. If texture matters then you probably wouldn't like it. It's all about the taste. A store bought jar would be like what I have. My store had a 12 oz jar of it for $3.99! I paid $1.00 a pound. I'm sitting on an asparagus gold mine over here. If you don't want to use the strawberry jam, dump it and use the jars for something else you do like. No sense not being able to use those jars plus the space they are taking up. It hurts. I know. I've had to do it too! Now I can't even rember what it was I dumped but I know I have. In times to come, you'll be glad you dumped the jam for something you really will enjoy. BTW, all the 99c stores are closing. You might pick up some sales. We don't have them around here.

LOL Littlesister. Don't feel bad. I do that all the time! A lot of times I forget which forum I'm in. But, I did skip a day of BP med and I'm feeling better.

I'm low on everything. My Amazon jars came today so I'm either going to do carrots or green beans in them. Probably green beans because I already have them bought up in the freezer. I need to look for carrots on sale. I think I have all the half pint jars I'm going to need. Famous last words. Right now I have 24 half pints of mixed veggies in the canner waiting for it to exhaust itself. They aren't my favorite but I will use them in cooking and pot pies. I think G-son likes them. I'm tired and didn't realize they take 75 minutes to process. Must be the corn. Sheeesh, I should have started earlier.

Did some canning last night. I discovered my canner vent pipe is square at the top and doesn't take my round disk regulator. Fortunately I had saved the one it came with. I really don't like using that one. But I muddled through. I ordered an adjustable weighted gauge so I'll see if it will work when it comes in. If I would have known that sooner I could have picked one up at Lehmans while I was down there this week. Wonder if I can replace the vent pipe with a pointed one? My 36 jars of asparagus came out great but not without a struggle. The new blood pressure med that is giving me more stamina is working too well since he doubled it up a week ago. I think taking it full amount twice a day is too much. I started feeling faint about half way through canning. I had to get on the floor before I passed out. Numerous times. Sigh. I took my pressure and it was 100/66. Way too low for someone who functions on high blood pressure! It was all I could do to finish prepping the asparagus and getting it in the jars without passing out. I spent most of the time on the floor. Unfortunately, my kitchen stool is in...Indiana so I had no place to sit except for a dinning room chair that is too low to reach the sink. Nausea soon followed. Crimony, I was a hot mess for awhile. I'm skipping a dose of med to see if that is really what was happening. I'm pretty sure it is. One good thing is the heart monitor probably picked it up. But in the end, all the jars sealed and are looking so pretty. Glad I did it...glad it's over. Next will be mixed vegetables. Assuming I'm upright. I'm off to Ace Hardware now to get their remaining half pint jars. I'm on a canning roll.

I really like the half pints for one person. Sometimes I even open a jar of corn or peas for a snack. If sons take any, they can always take two jars if they want. But a pint jar is too much for just me. I like the half pint jars for veggies and for salsa and Bar-B-Q sauce etc. I'm going to do mixed veggies this weekend and will plan on doing carrots in a week or two. I'll do the green beans when I get the jars in. I want to do some more bean soup and then concentrate on some meat. The only meat I have in the pantry is store bought. It's good stuff but in my mind, it doesn't last as long in the metal cans as it does in glass jars. That's just my thinking though. It might not be true. I'll do those in pints. It's costing me more because I have to buy everything but for me, it's worth it to get my pantry back in shape. I am shopping sales. I can't put it off any longer. I've been skating on thin ice for too long. And I'm not getting any younger/healthier either. And I don't see food prices going down any time soon.

I got 36 half pints of asparagus spears last night. I have a picture in the phone but will have to wait until I get the computer and internet up and running before I can post it. I don't know how to do it from the phone. Even though I did a couple of things wrong like the head space (some of the tops stuck up out of the top of the jar) and not debubbling (not enough room to get even a chopstick in), they turned out great. All sealed and only a fraction of an inch siphoning on a couple of the jars. I didn't blanch them and not one spear floated straight from the canner. Maybe because the jars are so small. They are a thing of beauty though and I'm proud of them. Asparagus is a special treat for me and I eat them sparingly so they should last about 2-3 years. If I could find more for $1.00 a pound I'd buy more and can them too. I have another case of Ball half pint jars so I think I'll can some mixed veggies this weekend. I have two big bags in the freezer. Walmart didn't have the jars after all but I got a couple of cases at Ace Hardware. They have two more cases on the shelf so I'm thinking of going to get those too. Half pint jars of veggies are just right for a serving for me. I have 3 cases of Kerr half pint jars ordered for some green beans. They should arrive Monday. My pantry has been empty of home canned food for too long. First I ate it down so I didn't have to move it and then I was without a kitchen for a year and a half. I was down to nothing. Seriously. Not a good feeling! I did get some corn and some peas canned up while in Indy a few months back though. I should have all my veggies I want canned up by the end of the month. Maybe not the beets though. I forgot about those. Will probably do those in Indiana because I'm afraid of the juice staining the counter tops at this house. But I'm excited and on a roll.

Something seems to be going around again. G-son just called and had been throwing up and becoming BFF with the toilet. AKA the crapper. they have plenty of liquid stuff so he will be fine. He seems to get that a lot. School. Talked to son. He can't get a colonoscopy until sometime In June! Our medical system Is awful. Mt. Rider. If you didn't want to have the neck checked out because of medical insurance. You can make an appointment to Life Line and they check your arms and leg veins and your abdominal arteries and carotid artery. Maybe your heart too. I can't remember what all they tested but at the time it was around $200.00 or possibly $250. With no insurance. I think Littlesister had hers done around the same time I got mine done. They are quick and easy and non invasion. There are a lot of things they can checkout but i just got the basic artery check up. It wasn't a great blood pressure day. I had to go lay down while washing the dishes. Lay down or pass out. I took my BP and it was 100/66. Heart rate 88. That is was to low for me. Hope the cardiologist will have some answers. Last cardiologist said I had Tachycardia and Short Of Breath. Guess that made me a Tachy SOB.

Miki. Hope you get to catch your breath soon. Oh Dear, was DD3 'adulting' LOL Happy anniversary to you and Mr. And a Happy Birthday to soon to be DD Sweet 16 I had a traumatizing day with the tax man today. Remember I talked about capital gains tax on a stock that sold? Holy Crap. It is awful. I owe nearly half of what that stock was worth. It was a sell off that I had nothing to do with. The company sold it. I'm gutted. Well, I cried and pulled up my big girl panties and went to Amish country. I wasn't really in the mood to go but didn't want to stay home either. Good thing I went though. One of the little stores down there had asparagus on sale for $1.00 a pound. I couldn't pass that up so I got 24 pounds! All they had. I 'plan' to can it in half pints. That's the serving size for me. I like to eat veggies for a snack sometimes so one of those little jars will be just right. I'm only going to do the spears because that's all I like. Some will go to waste but I'm okay with that. Wonder if Amish asparagus is better than secular asparagus? Looks like I'll be up to my ears in asparagus tomorrow.