Tomatoes

I don't ever want to look at another tomato again. Yesterday I had 25 lbs of tomatoes that needed to be used. It took about 7 hours. What did I get? 8 pints of salsa and 6 quarts of spaghetti sauce. And I did something to my back when I was pulling the spaghetti sauce out of the canner. I think I just turned the wrong way or something. Was all this worth it? NO!!!!!!! Maybe I'll think differently on a night when I don't have time to cook. I had my husband pick up some refrigerated tortellini on his way home from work. I made different pasta sauce for that. Jeff wanted to try what I had just bottled. NO WAY!!!! We aren't going to be digging into this for a long time. I wish tomatoes came already peeled.

For my Sous-Chefs

It's been a busy week so far. The first day of second grade for my oldest, more canning, dental appointments, back to school night and FSA stuff (I'm the co-chair for our office). I did manage to get some sewing done last week though.Sorry, I can't move the pictures around and I'm too lazy to retype stuff. This is the apron I made for my oldest. My boys always want to help me cook and are quite the mess makers so they needed aprons.

I love boy fabric. It seems like it's becoming more available now too!

I decided to make one for me while I was at it. I still need to make one for my four year old, but I just couldn't resist this fabric any longer. Ignore the way it looks totally misshapen on my floor.

Remember the dilly beans I posted last time? Well.... I realized an hour ago I need to make more. They are suppose to sit for 2 weeks before you eat them. We opened some today and I was thinking my 4 year old would maybe eat 4 or 5 with lunch. Nope. Between he and my 15 month old they ate the whole jar. They are a little on the spicy side. Why knew a 15 month old would like them so much?

Canning

I will admit it. I'm one of those strange people who like canning. I don't really like cooked fruit or jam (except very rarely on hot homemade bread), but my kids like jam. I like to can different things. This week I've done pickles and dilly beans. I forgot to take a picture of the dilly beans until they were already on the shelf in the storage room (next to the Western Family canned pineapple). Behind the beans is jalapeno jelly, which I love on crackers or tortilla chips with cream cheese. I can't wait to make more later this season when the jalapeno peppers are ready! I also am excited to try a few new things like red and yellow pepper jelly and possibly peach chutney later this season.

I'm not really sure why I like canning. It does make me feel domestic. I only canned one thing last year ( I had a newborn + the swine flu), strawberry jam. Last year was the first full summer in this house and when I put the canner on the stove I realized I had a problem. The canner is too high for the microwave. It was on a Saturday when my husband was home and I realized I needed two extra hands. Two to pull the canning pot out and my two to put the caning basket in and out of the hot water bath. This year I have been using the burner on the BBQ but that presents another problem...... it takes FOREVER to boil and then when I put the cans in it takes another 10+ minutes to get to boiling again. Any suggestions?

Anyway, since no sewing has taken place at my house (think 15 month old) I thought I'd post my recipe for dilly beans.

Dilly Beans

2 lbs green beans snapped and washed
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 sprigs dill
2 1/2 cups cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
4 TBL course salt

In 4 one pint jars put one clove garlic, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper and one sprig dill. Turn jars on their sides to add green beans. In heavy pot boil vinegar, water and salt. Add to jars leaving 1/4 inch head space. Process for 10 minutes in boiling water bath.

Yield: 4 pints

The past few days I've had two sous-chefs that help me snap beans. I see aprons in their near future!!!!