It's been quite awhile since I've posted. But...life sorta gets in the way sometimes.
I planted my mater plants a little late this year, and they didn't start turning until August. Now I have an over-abundance of them. I canned fiesta salsa weekend before last, canned maters last weekend, and I will probably do both canning maters and making/canning salsa this weekend. LOTS and LOTS of maters! Golden girls, Rutgers(found they are too "stemmy"), Jetstar, Celebrity(one of my faves), and Romas. And had four volunteer plants come up, making a total of 24 plants. I haven't had time to go through the garden for the past few days, but did so early this morning when it became daylight. I only picked a couple, but there are TONS to be picked! Gotta pick em early this evening and start peeling them. I make a mess if I peel them sitting down and watching tv, and it seems a lazy way of doing em, but my legs thank me for not standing in one spot the entire time I'm peeling. And I don't mind doing it so much. Guess I like to multitask too much. If I'm doing something monotonous, I have to have the tv going....a good movie or maybe a documentary on discovery channel.
Since the high school football game tonight is out of town, I will start directly on those maters when I get home. AND I need to pick okra to wash, slice and freeze too. YUMMY! OOH dang... forgot I need to get more cornmeal. So I can coat the okra slices with it and then freeze em. Don't know why, but everyone in my house loves fried okra. Go figure. ;o) Pickled okra is good too, but we just don't get enough okra at once to make a few jars. maybe today will be different when I pick them. I hope. And everyone else hopes....pickled okra is everyone's favorite way to eat it.
Well times have been hard for everyone....and my family as well. Husband was cut to 3 days a week from about January until July. And in July he got to work four days. After that, he has been back to 5 days a week. I was worried about getting my contract renewed, but it came...very late, but it came. Next year may be a whole lot different.
I bought my half a beef(cow, whatever you wanna call it), and we haven't used very much of it since we got it in mid July. But that's okay. Lots of comfort food to be made during the chilly fall months as well as the cold winter months. Beef and canned veggies fresh from the garden will be great then. We also have fresh taters and onions too, although we were disappointed that we didn't get more taters out of what was planted. Found that we can freeze taters...checked it out in my BIG Ball canning book. So I may be doing that. Slicing some, chopping some and freezing the whole lot of them. Wish I had done that with our broccoli. Time just got away from me, or I would've been cutting more of it. It is like okra...you have to keep checking it...EVERY day. Not just once a week. Otherwise, the broccoli starts blooming. Then it's no good. And as long as you keep cutting the crowns off, it will continue producing. And this was my mistake...not checking and cutting crowns off every day. Nothing like fresh steamed or stir fried broccoli... or just raw broccoli in a salad. Yummy.
Been knitting as much as I can. Craft fair is happening the 26th of this month and my fellow knitting ladies in our group are making things to be sold in a booth we will have. I'm still trying to finish a HUGE blanket for my son and daughter inlaw, that I started back around the first of May! I may end up just knitting a few more rows, then binding it off. It will be WAY too long if I knit as many rows in this particular session as the pattern calls for. But then, I used size 8 needles and I noticed the pattern calls for size 6. Anyway, I am sure the blanket will be very much appreciated. I had never given the couple a wedding gift, so this will hopefully make up for that. I so much wish those kids would move back here. But where they are at, there is plenty of adventure and hunting and fishing there. They are in their element.
Still being very cheap and very crabby. Just a bit lazy with the posting in here. AND the fact that I got hooked on facebook. Yes, I am embarrassed...yet it is a fun place to be. Twitter? NOPE! I don't have internet on my phone and don't plan on it any time soon. Yes it would be handy, but if I have internet on my laptop at work and at home, why have it on my cell? It would be nice if I was out of town...and waiting in a doc's office or something. But that is when I pull out my knitting or a book to read. (Usually it's knitting!)
Husband will be 50 in October. I don't like to celebrate my birthdays, but this is a major milestone for him. I've gotta decide what to do...and cheaply. For one, I want to find one of his goofiest pictures and get it put in the paper on that day. Since it will be on a Monday... and we don't have a Monday paper, it will have to be put in the Saturday before. Also I imagine he would love to have family there to help him celebrate. Maybe invite all of his relatives and a few friends over. OH MY that would be a mess! But would it be worth it? Probably. But I would also like to keep it a surprise too... and then everyone starts showing up! Would be great! Don't know if I should cook or what. Maybe make a big cooker of chili? That would be great! Yeah chili... I do have the ground beef for it! Just would need the beans, maters, onions and peppers! A chili supper! Yeah! Now how would I be able to cook that much chili without husband figuring things out? Well, sometimes I have made big batches of chili like that, and put part of it into the freezer. And I could also make milder chili, for those that can't take the heat, in a couple of stew pots. Oh that sounds like a plan!
Now that the old gears are cranking away... I need to start the ball rolling.