When I was pregnant with Boy I had the undeniable urge to can stuff. I'd never canned anything before in my life, but I really, really, needed to make my own salsa, relish, chili sauce (there, you know my hormones were making me wack, 'cause who even knows what to do with chili sauce?) and jams. I made it all.
There in lay the difficulty for all future summer harvests. DH loved all that I made. So, for 12 summers now I spend a day or two in July making jams and many days in August doing something with tomatoes and cucumbers and zucchini. This year I made rhubarb jam for the first time. Yummy. I also did 2 double batches of salsa, cucumber relish and canned the rest of the tomatoes to use for soup and stews in the winter.
I don't pretend to be any kind of cook or baker. I make some stuff that people like, but I will never win any awards. So, even though the kitchen gets humid, sticky, and smelly like peppers and vinegar I will continue to can (even though the desire to "nest" lost it's compulsion about 12 years ago) because when my peeps open a jar of something they ALWAYS say it's the best. E.D. Smith has nothing on Momma in their eyes....
Also, as Boy pointed out, if we are ever trapped in the basement during a tornado we would never starve -- we could eat jam and salsa for weeks!
They tell me the same thing, KB. I will be doing the salsa next week..........that's the relish, NOT the dance!!!!
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