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.
quick – get yourself one of these before all the corn comes in!
http://www.surlatable.com/product/corn+zipper.do?search=basic&keyword=corn&sortby=shortdesc&asc=true&page=1
I’m a huge dork, because I must’ve been reading one of your previous entries and posted my question about patty pan squash. So, anyway, is the taste comparable to zucchini? Also, how do you cut it up? Do you eat the rind? (No, I’m not a farmgirl, or a cook, can you tell?)
Have you tried using an electric knife on the corn? We freeze a gajillion (I’m estimating) bags of corn each year and it goes pretty fast with the fancy knife. You do have to be careful not to cut yourself because that would ruin a perfectly good batch of corn.
While I’m thinking about it…
We use a turkey fryer, filled with water, to precook the corn. It keeps the kitchen cooler (since you use it outside), you can cook a truckload of corn at once, and it heats up pretty fast between batches.
Hey Robyn, I was told that if you place the corn cob in the hole of a bunt cake pan it makes it easier to cut it off.
I like that last year you were venting about children that weren’t yours using your yard. Now you just have to deal with cats that aren’t yours. Snicker.
JUMPIN’ JIMINY JEHOSAPHAT!!
Can you not get regular, NORMAL bugs like little ants, or maybe a house fly? What’s with all of the prehistoric monsters???
We had a kitty that would present the belly but flip right over if you so much as started to go in for a rub. She’d let us love on her in just about any other way, including the kneading of the paws, but not once let us touch the belly. We had her for 7 years too! Oh well.
OMG Robyn… don’t look now girl, but you have officially been COUNTRIFIED!!! Canning this, pickling that, keeping track of the chickens… LOL, I gotta tell you, this is like the blog version of “Simple Life!” And I am loving every minute of it!!
Oh, and I looked at that pic of Miz Poo for about a minute and a half, thinking – why is she talking about Fred in the caption when this is clearly Miz Poo and Miz Poo does NOT look much like Fred? Sheesh, didn’t even notice Farmer Fred over in the distance trying to corral his chicken. MIght be time for a nap for me!
The BF always says, “I had a friend once- it wasn’t so great!”
OK- the picture of Miz Pooh— I didn’t even see Fred in it until I read the line lumbering like a dork….. Yes, supreme dorkism. But by god that man is happy!!
I found this about your bug, seems others thought it a roach too but it is a wood boring beetle.
“It isn’t a roach, but this one was puzzling for awhile. You said long antennae, so I figured it was a long horned borer beetle. I did some research and came up with this: Eburia quadrigeminata, or the Ivory-marked Beetle. The adults eat foliage and twgs while the grubs bore into the heart of the non-evergreen trees. They sometimes get made into furniture and other hardwood portions of homes, and when this happens, their normal two year life cycle is slowed down considerably, causing the adults to emerge many years later from the infested lumber, and appearing mysteriously in the home. They also fly and are attracted to lights, which could explain the appearance indoors. They are found east of the great plains especially along the east coast.
According to the University of Florida’s site on insect records, (http://ufbir.ifas.ufl.edu/chap12.htm) your beetle species holds the record for longest time spent in the larval stage:
“The wood boring beetle, Eburia quadrigeminata (Cerambycidae), when feeding in dry wood, may have its development so greatly retarded that adults emerge from furniture and flooring many years after manufacture or installation. Delayed emergence of E. quadrigeminata was discovered from a birch bookcase 40 years old…”
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/beetles.html scroll down about halfway to find it with pic.
That was all quote, I didn’t know a thing about them until I found that article either! You would probably benefit from whatsthatbug.com I know I have since moving into the country! LOL 🙂
I see someone already suggested it but I swear a corn zipper is the smartest instrument known to man.
I just had a wonderful idea. You go out and you pick some of that baby corn while it’s still small enough to pickle, and you pickle some baby corn. How awesome would that be? Then you don’t have to shuck it – you eat the whole durn thing.
I live vicariously through you for cat love 🙂 I’m too allergic to actually have kitties myself!
But does Fred call the chicken George? Hee!
Some of those canning spice mixes are pretty good. I’ve used one for catsup several times. Homemade catsup is SO much better, believe it or not. I’m sure your kosher dills will be mighty fine.
Oh, and WHY the hell do I always look at the bug pictures, even when you so very kindly preface them with a warning? I know they terrify me, and yet I’m compelled to look. 😐
I know you probably addressed this but your ‘past entries’ reminded me…. do you miss the pool? Will you be putting a pool in at the new place?
If my husbands garden (year one, new obsession) does half as well as you and Fred’s garden I will bite the bullet and learn to can. Until then I will sit back and read about YOU doing it 😉
As we are probably months behind you in crop growing time (western BC Canada) I figure I have plenty of time to learn from you.
Corn… never heard of homemade canned corn. Have heard of cooking gently then slicing the kernels off to freeze though. See? You are enlightening me!
My grandma used to make the best creamed corn. She would cut it off the cob then run the dull side of the knofe bck over cob to get some of the juices. Put all this in an electric skillet with some butter and water and slow cook it for a while. Put i in freezer bags and all done. Geez i miss her cooking!
You should be able to find Dill Weed at the nursery to grow. Then you will have Dill weed and dill seed. The dill seed is used in different recipes than the dill weed. Dill is excellent in potato salad, salad dressings, grilled chicken.
Your garden just makes me drool! I cant wait for mine to start producing. I am a western New Yorker and it is to early for most veggies here except cukes! Boy are they good!
I also freeze tomatoes for soups, stews, casseroles.