Hot Pepper Jellllllllyyyyy!!

Quote for the Day:

"The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."
~William Blake

I love garden harvest time!!!

 

No...I haven't had a vegetable garden for several years now, but this is the time of year when people who do garden love to share the excess with their friends and neighbors!  And Andy & I have been on the receiving end of squash, tomatoes, and hot peppers from friends' gardens!!!

 

So far this week, I've made FOUR batches of HOT PEPPER JELLY!!!...THREE of those batches were made today!  :)

 

Here's the water-bath canner...busy doing it's thing on top of the stove!   :) 
 

Lets take a peak inside!!!  Look at those cute little jelly jars in there!  :) 
 

 

And here are just SOME of the TWENTY-TWO jars of hot pepper jelly that I made up today...

 

 

The batch I made last weekend produced EIGHT jars, too!  :)   So that makes...THIRTY jars of hot pepper jelly total I've made this year!  All from GIFTED peppers!  :):):)

Tomorrow I plan on making 3 batches of zucchini relish from some gifted zucchini!  That is our favorite relish and we ran out mid-winter last year.   We HATE it when we have to resort to store-bought relish.  It just can't compete with the wonderful taste of zucchini relish!   

I really enjoy canning.  My mom canned.  A LOT!  We had huge gardens when I was growing up and canning the harvest was not for fun...it was a necessity to feed our family of 8!  When I was growing up, I HATED helping with the canning because it was HOT and HUMID and we had no air conditioning.  AND it kept from being outside playing with my friends!  

Canning is no longer a "necessity"  for us like it was for my family, but canning is a great way to preserve the best tasting food around...home-grown vegetables and fruits!  Nowadays, I crank up the air conditioning and just get busy!  :) 

I LOVE to can!!  I love the look of the splatter-ware canner.  I love using the utensils.  I love the mason jars.  I love that I know how to make yummy pickles, relish, jellies and jams.  I love the peacefulness of watching the canner boil, knowing that you're going to be rewarded for all the hard work you've put into those little jars.   I love hearing the "pop" of the lids sealing when you pull them out of the hot water.  I love sharing my canned items with others, knowing that I MADE THAT!

And... when I am canning, it evokes memories of my mom, and that makes me feel like she's there with me at that moment.  :)

Loretta

Signs of Summer...

Quote for the Day:

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, 

the breeze is blowing, 

the birds are singing, 

and the lawn mower is broken.  

~James Dent

It's summer.  You know how I know?  Well...I'll show you the "official" tale-tell signs that it is SUMMER.   

Yep...ceiling fans in every room of the house and box fans in most rooms.  Yes, we do have air conditioning, but you would have to be a millionaire to keep this house cool using only A/C.  Besides, I think that feeling air "movement"  keeps you feeling so much cooler than just air conditioning alone.


And one more sign that it summer is upon us...

For some reason, God thought that it would be great fun if He made the blackberries ripen during the hottest 2 weeks of the year!  LOL


I've always made the "cooked" jam and water-bath canned it in years past.  But this year I thought I'd save myself a lot of time and stove-generated heat and make freezer jam instead!  


OMGoodness...it is DELICIOUS!!!  Even though I reduced the sugar slightly, it seems to be setting up well!  You let it "set" for 24 hours at room temperature before putting it in the freezer for "keeping".


And what do you do with that little "extra" that is left over...not enough to fill a jar???

MMMMMMMMM!!!!  Fabulous over ice cream!  :)


Update on Chucky...

He has a girlfriend!!!  :)
Yep...I came home from work one night to find him the clutches of Miss Mop Head Doll herself!  LOL


Stay cool in this heatwave...
Loretta