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Thursday, September 10, 2015

Greetings from Crazyville!

It's an understatement to say that I'm not sure what day it is.  I seem to have lost all normal reference.  The Universe is shoveling on the chaos but we seem to be holding our own.  Lots of back and forth, trips north, trips to the train station, trips to doctor appointments - with some frantic canning squeezed in between.  It may be chaotic, but my Italian prune plums don't give a damn.  Neither do the boatload of ripening tomatoes.

I've managed to can my yearly quota of salsa - I tried a different recipe this year and I LOVE it!  Since I am usually challenged (snort) by recipes that call for 40# of produce, the resulting 55 quarts of canned goods languishing on my shelves for years - I decided to buy a book by Food in Jars that deals with small quantities and has really unique and wonderful-sounding recipes.  I'm thinking this little book is worth its weight in gold.

New to me this year - Cantaloupe Jam, Spiced Plum Jam and Basic Salsa.  Yum, yum, yum.  I ended up making a triple batch of the salsa because I liked it so much.

Only the pickled green tomatoes/tomatillos and canned, chopped tomatillos remain to be processed.  I will dehydrate everything else.  The drought of the past couple months has taken it's toll on my garden and pretty much everything is toast.  Even my kale, which is usually pretty sturdy stuff.

I have been running the portable air conditioner for the dogs during the worst of the heat.  I took pity on the Pepperoni and toted him along as a Therapy Dog yesterday.  He adores his Auntie Connie and thrives on mind-numbing petting sessions.  Perfect therapy for Dad.  I took my mother to a doctor appointment and he languished in their air conditioned house, being fed treats and getting all kinds of attention.  Poor laddie.  :")

We're getting into the sticky bits of the merger at work - all IT platforms and systems will be changed.  Right in time for a reporting period - one of my more hysterical moments of the year.  What is it they say?  What doesn't kill you will make you strong?  I may emerge from all of this as Hercules little sister.

13 comments:

Michelle said...

Maybe Hercules' BIG sister! ;-)

jaz@octoberfarm said...

phewwww...you are busy! i am totally into small canning. it make such sense. i mean i seriously canned one jar of pizza sauce with my dwindling tomato production. why not? in the past when i have killed myself canning pounds and pounds of things, they sit on my basement shelves forever and i forget about them. i get some weird satisfaction out of canning just a few jars of something, or one!

Michelle said...

I may have to look up that book, not because we don't eat large amounts of things, but because sometimes there just isn't enough of something to fill a canner. So what DO you use to can instead of a big water bath canner?

Mama Pea said...

I think we'll start calling you Herculena (which I've just made the feminine form of Hercules). All that computer/IT stuff at your work would be enough to make me . . . I don't know what. "Accidentally" pull a lot of plugs? Hit a few delete buttons? Chuck it all and become a professional shepherd? Hang in there, girlie. This crazy pace of yours won't last forever.

MrsDuncanMahogany said...

Go Hercules! Hang in there....

Sandy Livesay said...

Susan,

I mean Herculena, lol........
Hang in there sweetie, don't let those darn computer people bother you.
Besides you can always use the updating/replacing as an excuse for not getting
stuff done.

Fiona said...

Good heavens your remarkable....I am just glad to drag myself up the stairs after forking hay.

Unknown said...

You ARE Hercules :)

Florida Farm Girl said...

Oh, dear. Ain't life grand sometimes????? Chin up, dear girl. You can handle it.

Susan said...

Why does life do this? I feel for you.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

I think I borrowed that same book from our library. I have to learn to can jam in smaller amounts now that most of the kids are gone. The salsa recipe I use makes 9 pints or so. I still need to post that recipe. Glad you are getting such good bounty and making it through the crazy times.

Buttons Thoughts said...

Oh work sounds crazier than the farm:) Hug B

Cat Eye Cottage said...

I also like the Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving. There is an excellent Indian Eggplant recipe that works perfectly for the amount of eggplant I usually have. But, can one ever had enough salsa? We eat it like candy. So, 55 jars of salsa would be just fine in our house.