Actually, it was good timing. The last two weeks have been crazy busy. I was almost glad that the computer distraction was eliminated from my life. I remember this happened last year. Maybe there is a lesson here?
But, the great news is that I finished canning this week. Unless my husband gets some venison to can (and he has never left me down yet) I won't need to get the canner out until next summer.
This week I finished up the applesauce, did crockpot apple butter, and made ketchup with the last of the tomatoes that I've been collecting in the freezer.
I actually can't believe, looking in the freezer and canning shelves, that we have so much abundance in our summer drought. I do have a lot of empty jars, and last year I filled every one. But we ended up with far more than I expected.
God is good. All the time.
I know it to be true. But it is so easy to forget. And complain.
Sometime I need to write down all the lessons learned from a dry year. And from broken computers.
Would you share the ketchup recipe?
ReplyDeleteVery good job. You have gotten a lot canned!
ReplyDeleteI'm curious - just how many jars did you fill this year? Good for you to do this!
ReplyDeleteI'm not quite there yet. We still have winter squash, beets and parships to put up. I did make some sugarless applebutter which we really like lots. I didn't put up applesauce, 'cause we don't have an apple tree and other things were more important. I do have a few green tomatoes which I was thinking of making some green tomato relish with. I did that once, but Mr. D can't eat sugar, so the sweet relish is out and I am wondering if I can find a recipe for dill relish with tomatoes that isn't too "vinegary". So my canner is still out, but hopefully I'll make a dent (not in the canner :) this weekend. My only real work day is Saturday unless I can somehow get home a little early from work. There will be a day when I will be able to spend lots more time doing the housework and canning and gardening and such... but I'm thanking God for the job I have right now. So many around us are out of work and barely scraping by. Just this past week a big paper company closed and laid off 100 workers... doesn't seem like much but there are no other jobs available in some of these rural areas. I work at a paper company too. Thank the Lord our company seems to be doing well. We are more of a "redistributer" and not manufacturing.
ReplyDeleteI would like to have all sorts of time, but I will be happy with what God gives me right now. We had a wonderful harvest. We didn't have a drought, but the summer was quite hot which is unusual for our "neck of the woods". The garden just kept on going. I think it's the first time I've seen the zuchinni produce fruit in October.
I hope your husband is able to get a deer this year too. What a blessing that would be. We still have ducks to butcher. They should have been done last weekend, but because of having to put the garden "to bed" for winter we didn't get that done. It's raining this weekend, so I think we'll be pushing it to the following weekend.
I have enjoyed your blog very much. I did try the "pumpkin curry soup". I have enjoyed it all week at work too. Very yummy. Of course I used squash instead of pumpkin, but everything else was just the same as the recipe.
God Bless...
I would love to be able to say I can put the canner away until next summer, but inevitably I end up canning sporadically all year. I'm very joyous that you have been able to get so much done. God IS good all the time even when we can't see it right away ;)
ReplyDeleteAmen, Gina! Here, too, I am amazed at how much I was able to get put up after waiting for so long and thinking it was just not gonna happen. Now, if I could just convince my husband he should try hunting... :-)
ReplyDeleteI am so close to putting my pots away for the year. It gets to the point where I quite look forward to it! What were your totals this year? I am always curious how much people put up, it helps me with mine.
ReplyDeleteWe are pretty well done here, too. I canned up 2 batches of pickles for a friend this week and am glad to know I can put the canner away for a while.
ReplyDeleteI aspire to be more like you with the canning. This year I only canned tomatoes. I love how you go buy buik from growers if you can't grow it yourself. I want to copy that as well :-). I too would love the catsup recipe. Or a list of what exactly you can each year would be cool.
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