Kosher Dill Pickle Mix, and we looked it over, shrugged, and decided to buy some of that instead. It seemed like it would be way easier to add vinegar and water to a packet of stuff than to have to mix up a bunch of ingredients, especially given that we couldn’t find half the stuff we needed.
“And it’s kosher, so we can share with our Jewish friends!” Fred crowed. The joke being that we don’t have any friends, Jewish or otherwise, of course.
When we got home, I went up and spent some time with the kittens, then cleaned up the kitchen and started cleaning and cutting zucchini. Fred wanted spears rather than the slices I would have preferred, so I measured the length of the zucchini against the quart jars I was going to use, cut them to that length, then cut the “leftovers” into slices for a jar o’ sliced pickles.
Though the directions on the back of the dill pickle mix didn’t say anything about it, I put the zucchini in a bowl, sprinkled canning salt over it, and piled ice atop that. That’s what I did last weekend when I made bread and butter pickles, and I did some reading and found out that that draws out the moisture from the zucchini, which gives you a crisper pickle.
I like me a crisp pickle.
Once the zucchini was done and ready to sit on ice (under ice, really) for a few hours, I started slicing pattypan squash to blanch and freeze. I ended up with three pounds of pattypan squash, then stopped for a while to make breakfast for Fred and myself (he got a scramble with a chopped-up green pepper, jalapeno, tomato, and onion; I got an egg sandwich). Then I got back on it, sliced up the yellow squash, and then put that to one side, because the zucchini had been sitting for a couple of hours and needed to be dealt with.
But first, because I knew I was going to be using the water bath canner and that fucker takes forEVER to boil (I am told by Fred that it’s because the bottom of the pot isn’t flat), I filled it up, put it on the stove, took the big-ass bowl of green beans I had to snap, and went off to watch TV while I snapped and waited for the pot to boil.
(On a side note, I’ve finally started watching the episodes of Army Wives I’ve been taping, and I have to say, not a bad show.)
I got all the beans snapped and then checked to find out that the water was just about to start boiling. I got the jars scalded and loaded up, and then decided that since there was room for seven quart jars in the canner, I’d fill up a couple of jars with yellow squash, because I’ve been told that yellow squash pickles are good, too.
Once the jars were put in the canner, it took that fucking thing FOREVER to start boiling, but it finally did, and then I ate lunch while they were processing, and I took them out of the canner, set them on the counter, and hoped I’d done everything right. In short order we heard the telltale pings as the jars sealed, which to me was an indicator that all was well.
We’re going to open a jar in a few days to see how they are, but I think we’re going to let the rest sit for a few weeks and get good and pickley.
Today, I need to can the green beans, and blanch, cut, and can corn. The corn, I’m not looking forward to, because I suck at cutting corn off the cob. We have seventy-three billion ears of corn, though, so I need to get it done.
Next time, I’m going to cook the zucchini & yellow squash for a few minutes so it doesn’t shrink so much during the processing.
This fucker was BIG. I don’t know what it is, but when I suggested Fred take care of it (meaning that he should squish it and then flush it), he got a small dixie cup, put it over the bug, and took it outside.
It looks kinda roach-like to me. I’d be perfectly happy to never see another one in the house, thanks.
This picture cracks me UP, because it’s quintessential Fred, lumbering around like a dork, trying to catch a chicken so he can hold it and pet it and love it and squeeze it.
Tease. She presents the belly, but won’t let you touch.
Gilligan looks SO much like Spot in this picture. That’s a total Spot look on his face.
Mister Suspicious.
Tommy’s favorite place to hang out is on Fred’s bed. If you see him and go in to greet him, he starts rolling around on the bed.
He may praise de lawd a little.
And then he just settles down and gives you the sexy eyes.