A Day in the Kitchen

I was really hoping to have my Catch All Caddy finished so I could share pictures, but it didn’t happen. I’m pretty close, but I decided the stabilizer I had wasn’t stiff enough for the inside dividers, so I ordered a heavier one. I didn’t have time to sew this weekend anyway. We had our Fifth Sunday potluck at church yesterday, and I was in the church kitchen all morning getting stuff warmed up, tea made, etc. I took a corn and black bean salad 

and a chocolate cheesecake dessert. 

I was pretty determined to not make a trip to the grocery store Saturday night, and I made it a point to use what I had at the house. I had to get creative with the dessert, and ended up making up a recipe, but it was good. Not much was left. Thank goodness, because I didn’t want to eat the leftovers.

Betty and I went to the farmers market Saturday morning, and I got a lot of vegetables. I used to enjoy canning, but I stopped when I no longer had time for a big garden. I still feel like planting every year, but this year it was two cherry tomatoes in pots, and four jalapeños in the flower bed. Not enough to can! At the farmers market, I got two bags of cucumbers, zucchini, beets, okra, and more. I got really excited when I found some green tomatoes, and I bought a bag of those. I plan to make chow chow with them! I will need to go by the grocery store and get some cabbage and some bell peppers, but that’s doable. 

Yesterday afternoon, I washed all the okra and pickled four pints. 

I would have done more, but that’s all I had. 

I had dug through the garage Saturday and found my water bath canner. I can’t seem to locate the pressure canner, so the beets will have to be pickled. After I did the okra, I pickled the cucumbers.

I do the polish pickles, and I had found a bag of mixed peppers at the farmers market. 

I like the cayenne ones for my pickles, but I used the habaneros in three of the jars. I also bought dill, and I already had garlic. I made nine quarts. All sealed but one. I’ll have to keep that one in the refrigerator until it’s ready to eat. 

It’s not a lot, but I’m satisfied with the little bit I made. I was thinking about years ago when I had a big garden, and my dad had an even bigger one, and I would can quarts and quarts of pickles and salsa, and I don’t know what all else. Of course, jars and lids were cheaper then! I used to make zucchini relish, and I bought a bag of zucchini to see if I can get that done. I don’t think I still have the recipe, and I have been looking on the internet for something similar to the one I used to make. So still on the agenda for this week is zucchini relish, chow chow, beets, and jalapeños. 

That’s all for now—I’m tired, and I need to clean my kitchen.