Got the bug.

I tend to do my canning in clumps...and right now, we are at that time of year when produce is cheaply available, AND it is finally starting to cool down enough in the house that it doesn't feel suicidal to steam up the kitchen(although, people at spas would pay good money for the kind of pore cleaning vinegar facial I gave myself this weekend.

First, I made a larger batch of candied jalapenos...5 pints and then three left over jars of Dragon Juice, vs. the 6 half-pints I made the first time.

After that, I had to finish doing something with carrots that came out of the garden, so I chopped up some zucchini, and peppers and cauliflower, and made up a batch of Jardinière...9 pints.  That's where the vinegar facial came in. 

I'm sure I will find something to can over the upcoming four day weekend...maybe I'll have the kitchen cleaned before I start again.

Close my eyes and count to 10.

Because of my involvement and interests in the local performing arts community(and my upbringing in the Seattle Suburbs), a fairly large percentage of my friends on facebook have different, more traditionally liberal political leanings then I do.

This morning, when I jumped into facebook, this was the first post I saw.

Because it's early, and I haven't given up on fighting loosing battle with people who are already set in their belief's, I responded.

'Wrong...it was over when the Bill of Rights(including the 2nd Amendment) was ratified on December 15, 1791.'

I'm looking forward to a day at work with my phone reminding me how bad of an idea it was to try to express my own opinion.

Oh my...these are going to be worth the work.

While I had plenty of home grown tomatoes, carrots and tomatillos for my canning and sauce making needs this weekend, I had to pick up some jalapeno's for heat.  Cash and Carry had a 5 pound bag, so, yeah...I had some leftover jalapenos to do something with.  I'm not the biggest 'Bring on the heat!' guy, so, I thought this candied jalapeno recipe looked interesting. 

On paper, the liquid to sugar ratio looks daunting.  I made a 150% batch, meaning I needed 3 cups of cider vinegar, and NINE cups of sugar.

I didn't expect how much the volume of the jalapeno's would be reduced by cooking them.  I thought I was going to have a huge amount...but after the softened and shrunk a bit, I only ended up with 6 half-pints of peppers.

The good news is that I followed the hint that was included in the recipe, and I canned up another 3 half-pints of the left over Dragon Juice Syrup.  It is supposed to be the bomb as a glaze on chicken, beef, or pork.

I tried a pepper or two that didn't fit in the jars, as well as licking the spoon I had been using to stir everything. 

I think both these peppers and the syrup are going to be really, really, really good. 

Didn't see that coming.

The other day, we emptied all the carrots out of one of 4 X 4 garden beds, and ended up with about 10 pounds of carrots.  I didn't feel like just canning up 'carrots' so I took a look at the Ball Book of Canning and decided to do some End of Garden Pickles, and some Carrot Pepper Salsa.

The carrot pepper salsa is a little misnamed.  It's sweeter, and from tasting it prior to canning, it's more of a relish than a salsa.  It will go good on burgers and dogs. 

The End of Garden pickles, I made as an alternative to the giardiniera I made a few years ago.  I'm thinking I should have just stuck with the giardiniera.  It never dawned on me that the brown sugar you add to the cider vinegar would make it look like the vegetables are in a beef broth instead of a nice pickling brine.  I'm afraid it might be a case where you end up eating with your eyes, and now matter how good they might come out tasting, they are going to look kind of creepy.

We'll find out in a few weeks, I guess. 

Let's Do the Timewarp Again!

It wasn't intentional, I swear.  I didn't mean to stop blogging for like two months. 

As Roland Deschain would say, 'I Cry Your Pardon'. 

I knew things were going to be getting busy while my wife and kids were out of town...just not as busy as they really got.  Plus...trying to think about the real world...it just has been tough to get too worked up about anything.  It's easier not to think about Donald Trump too much. 

Heck...it's not just my blog I've been ignoring...I don't think I have read anything on my sidebar for 6 weeks.  At least. 

But hey...I'm back.  Recipes, garden updates, hunting season rapidly approaching...and the 2016 Presidential Campaign. 

At least the recipes should be worthwhile. 

For now...you are going to have to entertain yourself with this picture from the Rocky Horror Show.  The makeup was interesting...but it was worth it.