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Ugh - my Christmas Pepper Jelly did not set. After crying (not really) - I brainstormed a way to use up all that sweet pepper soup. I'm chopping up cantaloupe, onions, cabbage, and getting ready to make Cantaloupe Relish (wish me luck). This wasn't how I intended to spend my Sunday morning - guess today will be one of those "go with the flow" days. :-)
Putting Food By
Feb. 22nd, 2008 11:14 amNew experiment. I'm dehydrating my garden.
Mostly the greens (collards, spinach, etc.) that I can't consume and have already frozen a good supply. It's pretty simpe, and they shrink down to almost nothing - kind of creepy. I'm storing them in the glass bottles/jars I can't bear to throw out.
I'm going to play with it and see how I can use it. My first idea is using it in my smoothies in the summer when greens don't grow in the garden. I can save some money because I spend about $25 a month on smoothie greens during the summer months. They can also go into fortifying soups/stews. Maybe included in dips (which I never make....so that's not a very good idea I guess).
Anyway - I'll keep my journal posted on my progress :-)
Mostly the greens (collards, spinach, etc.) that I can't consume and have already frozen a good supply. It's pretty simpe, and they shrink down to almost nothing - kind of creepy. I'm storing them in the glass bottles/jars I can't bear to throw out.
I'm going to play with it and see how I can use it. My first idea is using it in my smoothies in the summer when greens don't grow in the garden. I can save some money because I spend about $25 a month on smoothie greens during the summer months. They can also go into fortifying soups/stews. Maybe included in dips (which I never make....so that's not a very good idea I guess).
Anyway - I'll keep my journal posted on my progress :-)
I finally got around to dealing with the giant watermelon. It was like major surgery. I froze chunks mostly, but I also froze about 1/2 gallon of juice, prepped 5 containers of chunks for work snacks, put about a quart of puree in the fridge for smoothies, dried a dehydrator batch full, and gave the rest to either the compost bin or the cow. What a sticky mess by the time it was all over.
Frozen Fruit Cubes
Jul. 28th, 2007 11:06 amI'm taking advantage of the sales on melons right now by pureeing the fruit and freezing in cubes. Once I get them into cubes I vacuum pkg them to keep in the flavor etc. in the freezer. Now I can have melon in my smoothies even after the season ends. I'm so smart I can hardly stand myself.
July 4th Garlic Harvest
Jul. 4th, 2007 03:34 pmToday I spent all day prepping and preparing garlic pickles and salsas.
It started out with a trip to the garden in the morning and seeing several of my garlics bursted open and snails on them (wet weather being the cause of both). I decided it was time to just pull it all up and deal with it. I also went ahead and picked a gallon of mild jalapenos and pulled up the remaining onions.
It took hours to prep the garlic, but I did it and ended up with about 5 pounds of prepped cloves and about 3 pounds of tender garlic greens.
I pickled 5 half pints of garlic cloves and froze another pint. I also prepped and canned 7 pints of salsa.
That pretty much took up the whole day. I did get out once to Walmart to buy more canning jars.
Sure will be glad when the weather dries up a little so I can get going in the garden - it's getting a little scary out there.
Pretty uneventful holiday.
Was kind of hoping I'd get invited over to someone's place - but no.
Not feeling sorry for myself. It was a good day nevertheless :-)
It started out with a trip to the garden in the morning and seeing several of my garlics bursted open and snails on them (wet weather being the cause of both). I decided it was time to just pull it all up and deal with it. I also went ahead and picked a gallon of mild jalapenos and pulled up the remaining onions.
It took hours to prep the garlic, but I did it and ended up with about 5 pounds of prepped cloves and about 3 pounds of tender garlic greens.
I pickled 5 half pints of garlic cloves and froze another pint. I also prepped and canned 7 pints of salsa.
That pretty much took up the whole day. I did get out once to Walmart to buy more canning jars.
Sure will be glad when the weather dries up a little so I can get going in the garden - it's getting a little scary out there.
Pretty uneventful holiday.
Was kind of hoping I'd get invited over to someone's place - but no.
Not feeling sorry for myself. It was a good day nevertheless :-)
Doctors appointment today went okay. They did a routing exam and told me to schedule a mammogram. I did that - for July 10.
Doc is okay - kind of "country doc" type which is fine.
Raining off and on still. Not complaining.
Managed to get the backyard mowed though - which was needed.
Still need to get the side of the house and front yard mowed, but those areas aren't critical.
Today I made "Mixed Pickles" with Green Beans, Jalapenos, Carrots, Cucumbers, and Garlic. Put up 5 pints.
Watched Movie Pans Labyrinth. Best movie of this type I've seen in a long time. I was mesmerized. As usual cried my eyes out at the end.
Waited to see if anyone from my family would bother to call me considering is flooding all around here. Nobody did.
Cut up a whole watermelon and put in containers for snacks. Blended up half of it into watermelon "puree". Put half in a jug for making green smoothies and put half in ice cube trays for later. Yum.
Doc is okay - kind of "country doc" type which is fine.
Raining off and on still. Not complaining.
Managed to get the backyard mowed though - which was needed.
Still need to get the side of the house and front yard mowed, but those areas aren't critical.
Today I made "Mixed Pickles" with Green Beans, Jalapenos, Carrots, Cucumbers, and Garlic. Put up 5 pints.
Watched Movie Pans Labyrinth. Best movie of this type I've seen in a long time. I was mesmerized. As usual cried my eyes out at the end.
Waited to see if anyone from my family would bother to call me considering is flooding all around here. Nobody did.
Cut up a whole watermelon and put in containers for snacks. Blended up half of it into watermelon "puree". Put half in a jug for making green smoothies and put half in ice cube trays for later. Yum.
Sunday I took a box of veggies to Renate at Bussey's Flea Market. It was good to get out. I felt I was intruding, so I pretty much left the veggies and checked out the flea market. Stopped back in on my way out. I got 6 books on pickling, gardening for $1 each at one booth. I also bought 3 yard picks for $2.50 each. The picks were painted to look like copper, but I'll paint them w/clear to keep rust down. Plan to make a decoration for the Bedroom because they are a little small for the garden. Maybe I can get some actual copper or stainless steel picks in the future for the garden.
Watched two good movies this weekend.
3 Needles : Loved it - especially the first story and last story. I thought it was just going to be a movie, but it was more like a mini-series. I cried and cried throughout the movie. Lucy Liu did a great job in the first segment, and Olivia Dukakis in the final.
The Fountain : Can't decide if I loved it or not. I'm still sorting out what the whole thing was meant to mean. I interpret it as meaning what I already believe: That we are all part of the total and we all live forever because of that even if our current material body "dies". I imagine a lot of people will hate this movie because people don't like to think if they don't have to. Hugh Jackman is awesome - like Brad Pitt though, his sex appeal can be distracting :-)
I got mowing in even though it threatened to rain all day. I just need to do the side and front.
Oh Yeah, made Salsa and canned it. 5 Pints. Will give one to Yvette at work.
Watched two good movies this weekend.
3 Needles : Loved it - especially the first story and last story. I thought it was just going to be a movie, but it was more like a mini-series. I cried and cried throughout the movie. Lucy Liu did a great job in the first segment, and Olivia Dukakis in the final.
The Fountain : Can't decide if I loved it or not. I'm still sorting out what the whole thing was meant to mean. I interpret it as meaning what I already believe: That we are all part of the total and we all live forever because of that even if our current material body "dies". I imagine a lot of people will hate this movie because people don't like to think if they don't have to. Hugh Jackman is awesome - like Brad Pitt though, his sex appeal can be distracting :-)
I got mowing in even though it threatened to rain all day. I just need to do the side and front.
Oh Yeah, made Salsa and canned it. 5 Pints. Will give one to Yvette at work.
