Compulsive Nana!

Well, last posting told you about the dewberry jelly that I made. I made a LOT of dewberry jelly! Then, I got the notion to make strawberry jam and cherry jam. My sweet sister in law had given me a large plastic tub of used mason jars, and I wanted to fill them up. Martin took me to the farmer's market to get the fruit and a funny thing happened along the way. Martin likes to play the lottery. I try not to. That particular day, Martin went into a store and came out with a lottery ticket for me to scratch off. I wanted to tell him that we didn't need to waste our money on such things, but I hate to be confrontational if I don't have to and so, good wife that I am, I just took the ticket and scratched it off, all the while thanking him for thinking of me. Well, guess what! I won 50.00. I am sure that 50.00 is minescule in comparison to the money dropped over the years, but it was fun to have won it anyway. I am not condoning playing the lottery, I just don't want to be a shrew, and anyway, ultimately it is Martin's decision, right? I took the money and went to the market. I was feeling so tickled, because I could get the cherries and strawberries and not feel guilty for taking the cost out of our very tight household budget. To make a long story short, I came home (after a confrontation with a fruit stall vendor who was incredibly crabby- I am never going back to her!) and unloaded my fruit. I made 24 jars of strawberry, and 36 jars of cherry jam. You would think I would be done, but the next day, I got the idea to make pickled green tomatoes, which I dearly love. So, the day after that, we went back to the market and bought some green tomatoes and onions. While I was there, I remembered that I was going to see Aaron and his family in El Paso and also remembered that he used to like my bread and butter pickles when he was little. So, I bought some more onions, and a half bushel of cucumbers. Because I cannot do anything halfway, I went to Walmart and bought some more jars, pickling salt, pickling spice and saw the wonders of wonders. A food processer that would slice those cukes, tomatoes and onions in no time! I am sure glad I splurged, because it only took me about a half hour to slice up the cucumbers, all the onions and the green tomatoes. Everyone had to get in on torturing the vegetables and commenting on how fast the machine worked. I was just glad that my lazy self did not have to do it all by hand. I ended up making 7 jars of tomato pickles and 12 jars of bread and butter pickles. That day, we were at Kroger, and I saw a couple of bags of peaches that were on the clearance rack. They were only a dollar a bag so I bought them and brought them home to make 20 jars of peach jam.Then, my sweet sister in law came over with a large bag of tomatoes, onions, green peppers and other goodies. I thought how much fun it would be to make some salsa! Out came the food processer again, and bang! LOTS of salsa. Probably 14 quarts. Am I done? Not likely! I got into the freezer, and took out the apple slices that were given to me by a dear friend. I made apple butter with them, about 9 pints. When I went to the local feed store (that also sells fresh produce) to get a cantaloupe, the owner and I began to talk and I admired a little basket of fresh plums. She said that they were just off her tree, and I told her that I loved making plum jelly. In fact, that was the first jelly I ever made, when I was but 7 years old in Missouri with my dear Aunt Eva. That experience set me up for loving home canning for the rest of my life. The feed store lady asked me if I wanted to make some jelly for her. I said sure, and she gave me a bushel of plums, some boxes of jars and told me that I could keep half of everything for doing the work! I made 24 jars of plum jelly and she was very happy that I had done so in a very short time. Then, when I delivered my jelly to her, I noticed that there was some fresh squash in the cooler. I love pickled vegetables, and have made all kinds. I thought pickled squash would be so good. I needed one red pepper to add to the yellow squash to give lovely color to the contents, and went to Kroger to get one. The red bell peppers were 2.00 each! 2.00! Well, I almost gave in a bought one, but then, remembering the peaches, I asked the produce clerk if they had any bell peppers ready for the mark down shelf. She came back with 2 bags of red, yellow and green bell peppers, and they were only a dollar a bag! I squealed with delight! I ran to the car with my treasures, but then realized that I only had a couple of pounds of squash- and lots of peppers. So---- I went home and began to slice up vegetables. I cut up all the peppers, the squash, and the onions. The colors together were fabulous! I ended up making 5 large jars of what I have christened, "Garden Pickles"! Oh, I forgot. When I delivered the jelly to the feedstore, the owner gave me some small cucumbers, some onions and a box of peaches that were getting too ripe. She wouldn't take a dime for them, and so, I also have more canning to do. Jaybird and I made 12 pints of sweet gherkin pickles and I made 38 half-pints of peach jam. Now, this has been going on for over a week, and since I am leaving for El Paso tomorrow, I am finished for now. My friend Ashley has a lovely shop in Kemah Tx, near my home, named Scribblin' Sisters and she offered to give me a small space in the store if I wanted to sell a few jars of jelly. That is so sweet of her, and so I have 20 jars of peach jam to start with, to see how it goes. The feed store lady also offered to sell my jams and jellies, so when I get back, I will see how that goes too! If it works out, I will continue to endulge myself through making jelly, jams, preserves, pickles, salsa and whatever else I can think of.
During the making of the apple butter, I asked Peanut if she had time to help me. She told me that she was really tired, (I guess so, she goes all the time) and so I told her to go and rest and I would be okay. Later, she went back into the kitchen and sampled the apple butter just before I bottled it. She told me it was really good, and asked if she could take a bottle to her boss. I replied, "do I look like the little red hen?" But, I will share, after all, Heavenly Father has given me a bounty of produce, and if I don't share, He would be dissapointed! Besides, as my Grandmother Carter taught me, "If you share, you get more!" Love, me