Jori

Another 22 pints of green beans

Over the last 3 days - 36 pts corn; 22 pts green beans with 2 large containers left. Finish the beans and on to the blackberry jam, banana nut bread butter, salsa, pasta sauce, and passing out.

22 pints of corn (plain not creamed, although DH asked me if we should do it again ) and 7 1/2 pints of blueberry rhubarb jam. I found out that the new stove is not a great pressure canning stove. It was the first time I used it to pressure can and used the power burner. It kept climbing even on low at one point, I had it on the simmer to get it where it needed to be.

7 half pints of blueberry butter. Will add notes to the recipe that is posted in this section for it.

Start plotting a way to tend & harvest your neighbor's garden since they have stopped taking care of it. Can I help it if our sprinkler hits the back end of their garden?

You go pick up a new fridge when it's on sale not because yours is going out but because you need one in the garage for all of your fruits and veggies to say fresh while you are canning and freezing. Your dehydrator sits next to your china hutch (that has china in it) in the dining room. Going to pick up the fridge this afternoon when DH gets back from fishing with his dad and brothers (youngest brother is home on leave). Dehydrator was purchased last weeked as our 5 year anniversary present (so maybe we should be re-writing the traditional anniversary gifts!). I finally told him we might need to look at a slightly bigger house (and yard) with a basement for all of the preps.

So, I'm not feeling the love for any of you currently. The entire drive back from BIL/SIL's all I could think was hmmmm, homemade granola bars.

I can't. Not that I buy the pre-cooked stuff, mind you, that stuff just looks nasty. But I consider myself to be a good cook, and I am incapable of frying bacon. It either comes out limp and soggy or completely hard and overcooked. There is no happy medium in my world! Right there with you furbabymom! I overcook it all of the time. When we make it, DH will step in and do it. I, too, am a good cook (99% of all baked goods are from scratch.) But I can't fry bacon to save my life.

Katz, It's never to late to start and anything you do is better than the nothing that others are doing. You are an a minium one step ahead of lots of other people.

Well, we had a half gallon jar filled with dehydrated peaches but I think it's about halfway gone now So, when I hit the market tomorrow, I'll be picked up a bushel or 2 of peaches and putting more on the dehydrator.

4 trays of peaches. Can the base tray be used, also? Solid tray that is "beveled" so produce wouldn't be on bottom of tray.

Thanks Violet! It helps, in that I know it's not workable with the 15 month old DS.

Thanks Darlene! That is on the list of things still to do!

Just a weird fact, the kids ped is from India, I believe. He said that when he did his rotations that the polio deaths where what they were updated on every morning during rounds. When I asked him about it 6 months or so ago (DD, who is 2 1/2, is just getting some of the vaccines. DS hasn't started them yet.), he said it wasn't a concern that meningitis, DTP, MMR, and Chicken Pox were. I told him I wasn't worried about chicken pox - I'm the last generation who didn't get the vaccine to prevent them (the days when your parents wanted you exposed to it). My question is, if I asked him today, would he still not be concerned about polio? With all of the International traveling, it's something that would be easily transmitted (much like the gentleman they thought had TB a few years ago) and should be a concern.

I broke my dehydrator. Dropped it and it cracked the base all the way to the heating element. I am waiting for my MIL to drop off hers so I can do a few things but in the meantime I'm going to do some research and figure out how to use the oven to do it.

I just caught a glimpse of an article that DH pulled up yesterday that I'm going to have to go back and find now. But they were reporting on the rise of polio in Nigeria but it's mutated from the live virus in the vaccines. As soon as I can locate the link, I'll post it here.

So I have a stupid question. How do you vaccum seal a jar?

Does anyone know how long it takes for sage to dry out? I put it on yesterday afternoon and it still isn't ready. I guess I should have thought about it before tackling it first. LOL!

What is patty pan squash?

I've made 2 batches in 2 days - enough to send a pint for my 1 year old neice and to my parents. It's awesome! THANK YOU so much for sharing this recipe. Banana Jam is next and then Cherry Jam or Preserves (I don't know which one is better).

Explain how to fast freeze, please. Thanks

LOL!!! Except we have 3 behind us and 2 to the east and sad to say those words have come out of my mouth. My 2 year will go to the window and tell them to be quiet because her baby brother is sleeping.

Brian & David