I sometimes think, he thinks I just sit around and read romance novels. Anyway I handed him the baby and went outside and picked another sink full of tomatoes. So while we wrangled little ones all day, I put up 9 quarts of tomatoes and 7 quarts of spaghetti sauce. I had the tomatoes in the jars with salt and boiling water and realized that I was short seals. I usually buy these on sale at the end of the season, but have not purchased any in years. So I covered the jars with a towel and let the spag sauce cook down all afternoon.
I sent Hub's to store to get seals, while I stayed with the babies. Finally after babies left about 4:30 I told hubs he had to can everything outside. I was not going to do it. The kitchen was a complete wreck. Hubs ate left over Chinese for dinner and I had cheese and crackers. Hub agreed and did a water bath for tomatoes and the large pressure canner for the sauce.
The shtick was it was 111 at the airport and 116 at our house. Yikes the canning is done on the back porch in the full hot sun. (He, he) (You nag at me I send you straight to hell) I have my ways. I continued to clean the kitchen until about 6:30 and then went down stairs to rest and work on a wedding dress. I did not finish the kitchen until after midnight when it had cooled down and this picture was taken after midnight. Now I have to arrange the food storage to accommodate all this food.
I have several things to get done in the shop that people want for the weekend so I had better get busy. Why is it I feel like I am forgetting something important ? Or that I had this hole or feeling of anxiety that I am not doing enough. It is so weird and I don't like it. Is this grief? Trying to control pain? I am flummoxed.
Have a great and productive day staying positive while you are in the negative.
Kim
Remember in the dead of winter, when you are eating fresh homemade pasta and sauce, how much you deserve every delicious bite!
ReplyDeleteOh I will. I will have to hide jars from kids, when they come home.
DeleteWe’re gearing up to can peaches assembly-line style in a week or two. We will have at least four people and set up on the deck with propane burners. It’ll be a snap compared to last time, when I did 110 lb by myself. Good job delegating to hubs!
ReplyDeleteI love fresh canned peaches. I did them for my mom every year.
DeleteCouldn't you hold the baby in one hand and throw a tomato with the other - that is probably what I would have done :) What is in the yellow jar? Is that tomatoes too?
ReplyDeleteYes I could have, believe me I thought about it! Yellow tomatoes, I use them in a white chili I make.
DeleteI love seeing freshly canned produce lined up on the counter! Yours looks great.
ReplyDeleteI picked some tomatoes at my sister's house today. With what's out in my garden (just a. few), I should be able to do a load tomorrow.
It is so hot here that caning is misery but I am still grateful.
DeleteThe produce is very pretty. You mean it is still okay to water bath tomatoes? I thought I used pressure canner last time. Mama used wbc for tomatoes. I know exactly what you forgot--to get a pile of tomatoes and throw them at him with both hands as fast as you could!!! Can you tell me what you use outside for the canning? What kind of burner?
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that it depends on the variety of tomato, and how acidic they are. Some modern cultivars are too sweet, but you can use the water bath if you add a bit of lemon juice.
DeleteI will check into this. Thanks.
DeleteYou can water bath tomatoes because of the acid, but the sauce must be pressure cooked.
DeleteThis made me laugh so hard! I would have thrown tomatoes at him!
ReplyDeleteTrust me the thought occurred to me.
DeleteJust a guess here but we feel like we need to control things but things are not in our control unfortunately. And I would definitely connect that to grief. It's still fresh and will be for quite some time.
ReplyDelete