Home Canning is Fun

"Home Canning is Fun" - That was the caption on a box of used canning jars that I bought at a yard sale. I'd say the box was at least 50 years old. Not much has changed in the exciting world of home canning in the last 50 years I would imagine.

I've canned just about everything you can can (may can?) in a water bath canner over the years - jams, jellies, syrups, relishes, pickles, bbq sauce, ketchup, tomatoes of all kinds, fruits, etc., but I have always been just a liiiiitle bit scared of a pressure canner. Pressure canning is the only safe way to can low acid foods such as vegetables, meats, etc.

The local stores have had some really good sales on meat lately, such as sirloin for $2.99/lb. and chuck roast for $1.97/lb. and turkeys for $0.59/lb. Now that the freezer is FULL I decided to bite the bullet and buy a pressure canner.

Tractor Supply had one for about $80 during the summer and I bought it. It sat there for a few days and I took it back. Still scared.

So during the recent meat-a-thon I went to Tractor Supply and saw that it was on "clearance" - $10 off. I found the manager and told him if he'd take another $10 off I'd buy it. He did so I got it for $59.99.

After cutting up meat for what seemed like hours, I was ready to can. I think I have the instructions memorized, I've read the book through so many times. Even so, I stopped and started the process three times. I was afraid I had missed something in the directions. Still Scared.

I literally sat and stared at that pressure dial for 75 minutes (the amount of time it takes to can meat in a pint jar). It was exhausting (mentally).

After that first round, it was a cinch. Really easy, much easier than water bath canning.

I've done three batches so far: 7 pints of chuck (stew meat essentially), 7 pints of chili (no beans, another 5 in the freezer with beans), and 5 quarts of sirloin strips. I really like the idea of home-made convenience foods. Who wants to thaw a brick of whatever at 5:30 (like we normally do)??

Assuming we don't die of botulism ; ) then this should be a real convenience to have all this precooked stuff in the pantry.

As I sat and baby-sat the pressure dial, I surfed the net. I found all manner of bizarre things on YouTube. People who are living subsistence type lifestyles (with internet and video no less) showing you how to can and live off the land, people who stockpile food for religious reasons, and then there are the Preppers.

I watched a National Geographic show a while back called Doomsday Preppers which showcased several families who are preparing for their own versions of doomsay - or as some call it "when the shit hits the fan".

So these people are stockpiling not only food but gas masks, guns, ammo, silver, gold, you name it. One family who lives in a suburban home raises tilapia in their swimming pool and fish them out every night. They eat tilapia every night. Bizarre! And they all seem to be on YouTube. Thousands of videos. Between YouTube and Pinterest I no longer need my TV.

OK, so I got a little sidetracked off my canning post. While I don't think zombies are coming anytime soon, I think it makes good sense to buy something on sale, and store it as a hedge against inflation. I mean you will have to eat and I'd be willing to bet grocery prices won't be going DOWN.

Fall Table Runner

I wanted to make a Fall themed table runner this year (before Fall was actually over . . . ) and I actually got it done!! As some of you may know I have a Phd. in sewing (lots of Projects Half Done). So when something gets completed timely it's exciting.

I have a few fallish embroidery/applique designs that I wanted to use. The Acorn is from http://www.swakembroidery.com/ and it was Free!! It really was fast and stitched up nicely. The pumpkin was from http://www.digistitches.com/. For some of the blocks I used two pumpkins, mirror imaged one and stretched them to make them look a little different. The turkey also came from Digi Stitches. We've sold many a t-shirt and dress with this applique on it. For the pumpkin and turkey you can choose to use a satin or zig zag stitch to finish. I used both in the table runner.

I started with muslin squares, about 8" each and appliqued pumpkins, acorns and turkeys on 7 squares. Each block has a slightly different design and fabric and color choices. I used my embroidery machine (of course!) to applique each block.

Once each block was done I thought they were a little boring. I did a little research and decided to make each block into a "snowball" block. This way there's less muslin showing.

To make the snowball blocks, you basically start with small squares (mine were 4"), draw a line through each diagonally, stitch one in each corner, cut off excess and press. Here's a picture that shows each step, double click to make the picture larger so you can see details.

I laid out the blocks on the table and arranged them the way I thought they looked best. Three face one way and three face the other way with one in the center. Then I alternated the color of the corners on each block (pumpkin/orange).

After each block was done I used a dark print for the sashing strips that join the blocks together.

Then to make it more complicated I finished it off with Prairie Points which I think add a lot to the look. They're actually not hard to do. Again I started with 4" blocks. I used the pumpkin/orange broadcloth and alternated colors around the edge. It took just a little adjustment to make sure they lined up correctly.

I think the overall effect would have been better if I'd used batik fabrics, but with the exception of the dark print used for the sashing I used scraps I had on hand left from other projects.

A table runner is basically a table sized quilt and has to be "quilted". I had grand ideas of quilting the whole thing with the embroidery machine, but I ran out of stabilizer and decided to finish up on the sewing machine. If you look closely you can see the quilting design of acorns and oak leaves in the sashing in the picture below.

Talk about easy! There's NO way I would ever attempt to do this by hand. It would take a lifetime. I finished up the straight stitch quilting on the sewing machine, boring but effective.

I also made a kitchen towel using some leftover fabrics. I used Monogram Wizard for the "Harvest Blessings".

I am making potholders now and will post some pics when (if...) I get done with that project.

Country Kitchen

Here are some pics of our kitchen. I realize I've never posted any before now.

I love the design of the vent hood. There's a ledge like a fireplace mantel so I can display platters or whatnot. I have a large platter that Liz made for me which I display in the fall - it's a turkey. I keep meaning to buy a neat rooster platter at Hobby Lobby, but I'm too cheap to spend the money, even at half price.

The bar is great for eating dinner, preparing foods or cutting out patterns. It's about 48" wide. The wood below is tongue and groove aspen.

In this pic you can see the wicker baskets which slide out. They have a plastic liner which keeps everything clean. They're perfect for onions and potatoes. The cabinet above houses (some of my) cookbooks. Initially I was going to have a plate rack in this cabinet, but I realized I needed the space for cookbooks. I LOVE the trim on this cabinet. It's the same as the front of the vent hood. I searched online to find it. It matches my china cabinet. Yours truly installed all the trim and painted the cabinets.

Fun at the Beach

Look who's having fun at the beach on the 4th of July!

Cute outfits courtesy of Stephanie!

Henpecked

Machine embroidered "cross stitch" kitchen towels.

Get Real People

I guess this is a "Rant" type post. My blog probably isn't particularly interesting to most people. I started it as an easy way to upload pics so that family members could see what we were up to, without having to email them several times.

What you see is what you get here. The pictures, unless otherwise indicated, are all mine, taken by me. The pics are of whatever's going on in our lives right now, as are the comments. Again, not real interesting to most people. And I'm not trying to sell anything to anyone on this blog.

I love reading other people's blogs - they're like free online magazines (and I am a magazine-a-holic). I like the pictures, the "feel", and so on of my faves. I have a few that I regularly visit, some of which are linked to this blog.

(here's where I get my Rant on . . . )

One blog in particular that I visit has charming pictures and topics that I find interesting. I was in Tractor Supply (what? you don't shop at TSC??) perusing their books when I saw a picture on the cover of a book on keeping chickens that this blogger has on her blog. Some of her pics give credit to the source of the photo and some do not. This one in particular did not - I checked it again just now. Now, unless she wrote that book or provided photography for that book, then she basically "borrowed" someone else's picture and put it on her blog.

OK, so maybe I'm naive or slow, or both, but I finally realized that this particular blogger isn't blogging about her real life, but is merely using other people's images to lure unsuspecting people like me in, and then hope to make money on the links on her blog.

I guess there aren't any rules when it comes to blogging. Who says you have to be blogging about your actual life? I've come to realize that some people create an online persona that is not really close to their actual life at all. Maybe that is the life they really want or maybe that's just the life they want you to believe they lead. I guess that's fine if that's what you're all about, but using someone else's pictures to make it look like that is your life is just wrong.

Onion Harvest

Wow, check out the great onion crop! Marc planted about 400 onions and most of them made it. We've been using them and have sold some and we still have about 350 or so. We have white, yellow and red.

Marc has really big hands so they make these onions look average-sized.

But just look at the weight - 1-1/4 pounds!!! I think onion rings will be on the menu this weekend.