THANK YOU MAMA-NATURE for not holding a grudge! All the nasty weather blew south of us; I am afraid to watch the news to see all the damage that is/was unescapable with this system! I'll have to give my parents a call too, because the hometown was right in the path of the storms.
DH and I DID get the deck stained and we hope it had it enough time to dry initially before the rain came. **crossing fingers**. A 2nd coat needs to be done yet, but obviously that'll have to wait until things get dry again...
On the way back, we mosied along our merry way, taking lots of back roads. After a cafe-style lunch at a nearby 'blink-n-ya-miss-it' town, we continued to mosey. RIGHT past a "friend's" house (how thoughtful, right?). Nah....DH needed to pick up a motor that the "friend" was going to tune up. While talking and shootin' the breeze, his dog jumped in and made herself at home: Anje (ahn-gee). CUTE AS A BUTTON!!!! She could easily have come home with us!!!!
After checking out the friend's shop area and saying our departing words, we mosied further north to buy some more stain for the deck's 2nd coat, and then drove some more further north to pick up some thread at a quilt shop, then back south for a stop at Dairy Queen.
Once home, the weather was just starting to act up, so after taking care of the animals, we both put our feet up and napped. Ummmm.....can you call a 1.5 hour "snooze" a nap? Needless to say, my room didn't see any action yesterday. NO BIGGY!
Instead, at 8:00, I figured it was time to do something with these cucumbers.....I've learned a few things from canning dill pickles in the past;
1) Leave the cucumbers WHOLE if you can
2) If you must cut them, cut them at least 1/4" - 1/2" thick
3) Use dill plants rather than dill seeds if at all possible
Our cucumber plants have only just begun to produce; we have BUKU blossoms that are going to be giving us cucumbers daily! So, I hope to keep up with canning, a little bit at a time. We only have 2 jars of dill pickles left in our panty, but about a dozen bread-n-butter (MY FAVORITE!!!), so, we're going to stock up on some dill.
I haven't found my favorite Diil Recipe yet, so I'm trying another "new" one. Here's the recipe I'm trying this year; of course, since I didn't have that many cucumbers, I halved the recipe. I ended up with the equivalency of 4 quarts, and the recipe worked perfectly in half.
I was able to leave a few cucumbers whole, but also had to cut up about 6 of the cuks that were too big. So, look at this gem!!!! A few years back when I helped my parent's clean out my grandmother's apartment, we were allowed to "help ourselves to anything we wanted." {{Yeah, that's when I "inherited" all my grandmother's fabric and quilting supplies!!!. My DH has an "antique-thing" going on, so he enjoyed sifting through much of her stuff. This cutter is one of the tools we have displaying on our mantel, but last night it found some actual use. That thing is SHARP! It didn't take long to cut through a handful of cuks---sure, I can see that a couple bushel-full would be annoying to do this way, but.....psht! I love how the slices look!
Bounty: 1 quart and 6 pints. How many more will be coming????Today's tasks:
Sew, Sew, Sew.
DH promised me that my room would see a finish today. I think I'm going to hold him to that.
I want to finish Jared Takes a Wife today.
I need to work on August's BOM since my time is limited over the next two weeks.
I need to update my Stash Report since I didn't report last week.
Then?.....don't know yet. It'll be a classic "look-around-the-sewing-area-for-what-strikes-my-fancy" move. Maybe I'll pull out a UFO? Maybe a WIP? Maybe a PIG? {{Oh yeah, I still have Jen's "floofy" quilt to start}}
Happy Sunday
6 comments:
Your pickles look great. What a neat little gadget. I hope they remain nice and crispy for you. Winona
The pickles look yummy! I have memories of making dill pickles up at Long Lake with my grandmother and all hands that were around...we would do the whole lot all at once and they were the best dill pickles I have ever had. Gma has been gone 23 years and we still talk about her pickles! I have made them myself but I wasn't impressed with my own. And you definately deserved a good nap!
I'm not a pickle girl, but good for you for getting the canning done! :)
Anjelica is so cute... Jack would love her!
And check you out: a Rubik's quilt expert AND a pickle queen. LOL
I made two jars of pickles last year, but there won't be any this year as I only planted one plant. I don't like fresh cucumber, and DH isn't that bothered either, so the cucumbers mostly get given away as they get big enough. But they're fun to grow.
A few pickle tips I've learned along the way: if you can find vinegar that's 7% acetic acid (most vinegars are 5%), use it - the dills are definitely better! - and - use the dills ASAP after picking. If you leave them too long, especially overnight, they will split inside. I do a fair number of pickles for fairs, and that's a #1 no-no!
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