Whew, been busy here!
We have been picking the garden, canning everything in sight, I have gotten a steal of a deal on new doors for the house and update on the new granddaughter :)
first the new doors, ok I have been watching for a good deal on doors, remember ours are like closet doors here at the house, original from '65 when they built the house, discolored and very thin, I mean they are like a very thin laminated wood look with nothing in between them, you could push on them and they would just fall in ~ so a friend Justin at work told me they had a return on a couple of doors, normally they wouldn't take back a door that someone had painted, but for whatever reason this time they did, so he called me and I ran to check them out back in the lumber area. I said I LOVE THEM, what sizes are they? hmm well the top photo with the arched glass window was a 36", perfect for my front door!!! woot woot!! SOLD I said, and ya know what I got both doors for? $75 (well plus taxes) - FOR BOTH DOORS!!!! That is less than I would have paid for one new door and since my favorite color is green, I didn't have a problem with the color the prior customer had painted them, I paid $30 for the top door (front door), how awesome is that?
the other door was a 32" too big for my back kitchen door replacement, but I bought it anyway, it was $45 for this door (back kitchen door) it has the built in blind too, I just love it, I decided I would convince hubby to MAKE it fit, and bought it right up - now they sit in the kitchen so he can see them when he gets home HA HA won't he just love the thought of the new doors and him having to figure out HOW to make a 32" door go into a 29" opening HA HA HA I have faith, I checked out the door frame/jamb area and I am totally convinced it is workable! so there!
who does wee one look like? photo on phone is of our son, I think his new daughter looks alot like him!!
and she is going to be a total beauty just like her mother
Chey coming to help with the canning, love them sexy glasses she just got
got my cousin down for the day, we are making spaghetti sauce, this is his first time learning the process and he is really liking it, he was simply amazed that the victorio strainer just does it all and spits out the stuff you don't need with such little effort, leaving the juices and pulp to come out the other side shoot, if you don't have a victorio strainer, you may have a Foley food mill, works the same pretty much
along with the spaghetti sauce we are making today, we are also canning up anything and everything from the garden ~ pickled mixed vegetable (pickled greens, it includes green tomatoes, carrots, pepper, onions, garlic, celery brussel sprouts, cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower, all piled into the jar with a pickling liquid :)
Our gardens are not allowed any waste!
yes, he is impressed with all this, he said he always wanted to learn but had no idea at all how it went, so glad to have been able to share this day with him, I think he will be back for the next canning session, plus we sent lots of goodies home with him!
PICKLED MIXED VEGETABLES
4 lbs of cucumbers cut into slices
2 lbs peeled and quartered small onions
4 cups cut celery (1-inch pieces)
2 cups peeled and cut carrots
2 cups green tomatoes, chopped
2 cups cut sweet red peppers
2 cups cauliflower
5 cups white vinegar (5%)
1/2 cup canning or pickling salt
3-1/2 cups sugar
3 tbsp celery seed
2 tbsp mustard seed
1/2 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
Yield: About 10 pints
Procedure: Combine vegetables, cover with 2 inches of cubed or crushed ice, and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours. In 8-quart kettle, combine vinegar and mustard and mix well. Add salt, sugar,
celery seed, mustard seed, cloves, turmeric. Bring to a boil. Drain vegetables and add to hot
pickling solution. Cover and slowly bring to boil. Drain vegetables but save pickling solution.
Fill vegetables in hot sterile pint jars, or hot quarts, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Add pickling
solution, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed.
Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process.
Process pints 5 minutes & quarts 10 minutes in boiling water bath canner.
of course you can alter a little if you want more of one vegetable instead of another.
