Goings On

Last week when the kids were here, we actually set up an accessory table in the kitchen.  It came from the storeroom and I honestly had forgotten about it until the recent purge.  It's a sewing table for the Featherweight (Singer).

Amy was cutting t-shirts into strips and I was cutting borders for a quilt.  We also used the table for gaming.  Rummikub and the new game we learned, Phase 10.

The inner strips had been cut for a class I was teaching years ago and when Amy plucked them out of a pile of fabric she wanted me to finish it for her.  She arranged the inner strips.  I fussed with the borders, piecing them so I had a good sized amount left for the back. It wasn't until I looked at this picture that I noticed the way the corners had turned out.  It's not that obvious in real life.  The colors are intense but not quite as intense as the morning light makes them appear.
 

Zucchini and Pepper Relish

This is a great book!  The subtitle is Preserving in Small Batches Year-round.  Perfect for a small household like mine.  This recipe calls for three pounds of zucchini but I had exactly half that amount so it worked out even better.  Three pints and two (one has already been shared) wee taster jars.

The relish is very tasty and no one would even guess that it's zucchini, if that's an issue for anyone.  Three pints will be more than a year's supply for me.

Her blog is here and has lots of great information.

Welcome!

And by the way there is a flushing problem.

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Last year when the kids came to visit the toilet started running all the time.  We got that fixed before they left.  This time, at 11pm the night before they were to arrive, all of a sudden the tank wouldn't re-fill.  After fussing with it for 20 minutes I used a plastic container of antacids and a cap from a pill bottle to prop the innards in place to stop the water from running continuously.

All it involved was a quick Home Depot stop and a $4.50 flapper replacement.  I count myself very lucky.  My friends in the next block have a big hole in their front yard and a bill with many zeros.

And then there is this guy.  Not welcome and causing much consternation in the dry water dish next to the swing.  Still there after 24 hours.  I didn't feel comfortable putting something next to him for a size reference but I think his body is about 3/4" and over all front to back including his legs, twice that.  I/m pretty sure a Wolf spider but not dangerous.  I released him in the front yard moments ago.

The Extension Service

At about 6:30 tonight I looked out and thought perhaps I should mow.  It does get dark much earlier now.  I wondered why Min had been playing with the tennis ball as it was in the middle of the yard.  Well, no, it was not the tennis ball... I am pretty sure I plucked more than two pounds of mushrooms out of the backyard!  That big one in the lower right? not quite the size of a tennis ball but twice the size of a large egg.

So I will call the Extension Service tomorrow and see if these are edible or poisonous.  There have always been a few in the yard but certainly not pounds of them.  Perhaps I could start a little mushroom farm.  They must like the soil.

A Good Thing to Find

 

I intended to stop with the pictures of the Challenge but finding these early on, especially the wipes, made me laugh.  We had been to Costco in May and thinking I needed wipes, I stocked up with four more packages only to find two still on the shelf when we got home.

Cleaning the garage has required a lot of wipes. This container even had a bonus number of wipes, 65! and I have been grateful to have them and wonder exactly how many years they have been in the garage.  Unopened, they suffered not at all from below freezing temperatures.

The big bags got used for storing seasonal bedding. Perfect.

A Lime Green Crate

One of my favorite colors, although not for wearing.  This is the kind of crate that you can use for hanging folders and files.  Files of crafting, building, quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, and embroidery ideas. Papers.  Old, out of date papers.  Now it's all out there on the internet and it's the new current trends as well as the old.

And there is another inherent problem with these crates, at least at my house.  They sit on the floor. Dust and dog hair.  Not a good thing.  So today I used this fabulous, sturdy, lime green crate to carry the last of the Challenge stuff over to DI.  Yay!  They got the crate as a bonus and I am counting it in September even though it was filled with August stuff.

September's plan is much less obsessive.  One thing every day, at the least, removed. And this is the last of the pictures about it.

Salsa

A huge pot of tomatoes, peppers, and onions simmering on the stove sings of summer!  I made salsa on Saturday night after a run to Don and Jan's garden for additional produce.  It's been cool enough here that all that steam roiling around the kitchen was not the issue it sometimes is in August.

I really like Jan's salsa recipe so I followed it fairly closely.  I only processed 3 jars as my stove top is not designed for canning so I use a very small pot.  Also I wanted to see if there are any issues with taste or consistency with freezing most of the batch.  There will be visitors on Friday and we will give it a try then.

Straight From the Garden Salsa – Jan, August 2014

8 pounds of tomatoes

8 cups roughly chopped onion. I used 2 huge and 2 large

4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

7 Anaheim peppers, seeded and roughly chopped

3 cloves of garlic

1 1/3 cup white vinegar

1  8-oz. can of tomato paste

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons salt

Wash, peel, and chop tomatoes, add to a very large pot.  I used a food processor and pulsed the onion, peppers and garlic to the size I felt would fit politely on a tortilla chip.  Add to the very large pot.  Stir in vinegar, tomato paste, sugar, and salt.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer, uncovered, for 1 to 1 ½ hours until salsa has reduced to almost half.   I set my timer every 15 minutes so I would remember to stir.

The heat of the peppers is the big unknown in this recipe.  I was not willing to leave in any seeds so this batch is mild.  I like it that way.  I think the next time I will adjust by adding hot sauce at the end if I feel it needs more kick but really, I like my salsa fairly kick-less.

Makes 7-10 pints