Twenty years I’ve waited …
.. to hear that POP! What pop? The pop of the lids on the canning jars as they seal!
Remember when I told you about Mabel, the dear, sweet woman who lived next door to us when I was growing up? The woman who was my step-in grandmother when I was growing up (since my real grandmothers lived states away). The woman who taught me to garden, made me my first quilt, let me play with ceramics, and cooked lovely scrumptiously delicious apple turnovers?
Well, Mabel also inspired me to make jelly and to can things. Mabel made the absolute best Mayhaw jelly and pickled okra ever. Although inspired, however, I’ve never actually had the courage to do anything about that inspiration until tonight. I was convinced it was too hard.
But as of an hour ago tonight, there are three jars of okra pickling and one jar of cucumber slices. SWEET! And as they cool from the processing, the lids go POP! I’m so excited about this I can barely sit still!!
8 Comments
feel free to leave a few words of your own...Jenna Z. — Thu Jul 3, 2008 at 8:13 am (link)Awesome! If you have a spare jar, I encourage you to enter it in your local fair! I love seeing all the jars lined up for judging, even though I’ve only entered the jam event once because I am kind of lazy and do less foods than crafts at our fair.
Miriam — Thu Jul 3, 2008 at 8:58 am (link)Hey, I *could* do that, couldn’t I? I only think of fairs when I’m in Iowa, but we probably have them here in Tejas too(duh).
However, I may wait to see if they turn out well first
Melissa — Thu Jul 3, 2008 at 10:09 am (link)Yeah, there are lots of fairs in Tejas.
I’m glad this is bringing you so much joy
Paula Frey — Thu Jul 3, 2008 at 10:30 am (link)Now comes the truly hard part: the wait! I can’t stand waiting for these types of things. My Mom and I use to can james, syrups, veggies and pickles when I was a kid. I haven’t had the courage to attempt more than fridge pickles since I was 11. I do remember hating to wait for them.
Where di you find the supplies?
Vicki — Thu Jul 3, 2008 at 11:27 am (link)Oh, I love that popping sound! Canning is awesome. This time of the year, I’m always stalking the local thrift stores for unchipped Ball jars.
Joy — Thu Jul 3, 2008 at 2:34 pm (link)Even better than the popping sound is the taste! Nothing tastes better than home canned food!
Abby — Fri Jul 4, 2008 at 11:52 am (link)maybe you’ll share the “fruits” of your labor with work mates? I’ll let Will eat the first pickled cuke just in case anything unkind got in…
This Eclectic Life — Wed Jul 9, 2008 at 4:06 pm (link)That pop is a good sound isn’t it?!! So, like when are you going to make mayhaw jelly…and what the heck is mayhaw?
