to this:
I added a garlic clove, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes and two sage leaves to each jar along with a tiny bit of pickling salt when I filled them up. I hope that will be tasty. This is all experimental. Last year was my first year of canning. I lost the instruction book for my canner but I found a copy online and upon review found that I had not forgotten much... it's not that hard - just time consuming. I really want to make pickled beans too and found a recipe I want to use... but alas... I don't have a water bath canner yet :( Dave is off today and going into town to get some fittings to repair a leaky irrigation head. Perhaps he can be persuaded to pick one up for me. :) Maybe if I promise to make banana bread. Grandma Weishaar told me I could have hers... but she is in Athol ID... about two hours away. Hmm... perhaps I'll call her. She also promised me lots of jars which I will need really soon based on the look of those tomato plants in the garden. It is a beautiful day for a drive over the mountains :)
Also I decided this year to do dehydrate some zucchini rather than freeze all the excess. Usually I shred and freeze it in two cup sizes. Just right for zucchini bread (yum) but I had a lot extra last year and it really does take up a lot of room. I also use it in spaghetti sauce and soups. I figured I could just throw the dehydrated stuff into sauce and stews and it should make them thicker since it will absorb the liquid. I took six really large zucchini and cut it into chunks and filled up six dehydrator trays. This is what it turned into:
That is a sandwich bag about 3/4 full. :) They are quite tasty too. I soaked them quickly in a bath of lemon juice (to prevent discoloration) and a bit of salt. I also salted them lightly in the drying trays. Can you say... shrinkage? :) Dave loves to hike and camp so I thought I might play around with making some simple dehydrated meals. Those you can buy in the store are SO expensive. I'll see what I can come up with. Maybe an easy soup. I could use a packet of top ramen and add the zucchini and a few of my dried herbs, some dehydrated tomatoes and I could make beef jerky and just cut up the chunks... hmm... interesting. Anyway. I don't trust dehydrated food long term just sitting around on the shelf so I always store it in the freezer. It doesn't get any ice crystals on it since there is very little moisture in it and it doesn't take up much room at all. It also retains its color really well. I will still shred some for zucchini bread. But I don't want to be making too much of that! It is nice to have on hand though when the kids come home or when we have visitors. Speaking of bread... some of those "giant pumpkins" are getting larger... I wonder what they will bake up like? Pumpkin bread... yum... all this canning and preserving makes me think of fall... which I hate to see come because I love summer... but I love fall too... and actually winter on this side of the mountains is oh so much more tolerable than soggy Seattle... and in January we are planning on a trip to Fiji for my sister in laws 50th birthday and by the time we get back from that I can start pouring through seed catalogs and dream of spring when we will have new baby cows and new chicks... so bring it on!
Ok the stats. :( 153.7 and glucose 97. My blood sugar is really a lot better than I expected. It may show up later... we shall see. I had a total diet failure last night binging on trail mix. I actually feel toxic this morning. I don't even know how much I ate. What an addict! Maybe I need shock therapy! Sometimes I wish I had one of those studded whips so I could flog myself! :) Oh well... today is a new day and a new opportunity to behave. Besides... I ate so much of it yesterday that it doesn't even sound good. That's one way to cure the craving. Not advisable though! Have a great week!
Ciao baby! :)
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