Canning Pepper Mustard Sauce ~ Tidbits

I froze more zucchini and squash for winter soups, sauces and casseroles.  Yesterday was a race against the clock.  Trying to put up the garden, and clean house both were a challenge.  

See that straw?  That is my food saver bag method.  It's a bit hillbilly, but it works for now.  I simply seal the bag all the way to one corner, slip the end of the straw in, suck out the air, quickly seal as I pull the straw out.  Boom-ba-da-bing - sealed and most of the air removed.  


Tip:  Just don't try this with corn (ha ha ha! I did and trust me you don't want corn juice in your mouth).  

My kids laugh at me, but it saves me the cost of a food saver, special bags and more so, the space it requires to store.

Hot banana peppers are up in the garden now, so I picked some and canned 4 quarts of pepper mustard sauce (click here for the recipe).  We love this stuff!  Last year we simply poured it over boneless chicken in the crock pot (and served over organic/non-gmo brown rice), but it would be great for meatballs and other dishes.  You can can this in pints too.  I use quarts on account of the size of my family.

I forgot to chop my peppers with gloves.  It was about when I was chopping up the 34th hot pepper, that I realized my hands were not feeling so good. Burn!  Dawn soap helped, but my hands burned all day long. And of course I have not replaced my aloe plant yet....adding that to my list.



I also froze a several green peppers.  This is a blessing, as we had zero in our freezer last year.

For two days, I have been telling myself to pull my garlic and hang it up.  For two days I have not.  Finally, I got that job done too.  I had to weed that raised bed this time.  I couldn't believe the grass in it this year.

Back in the house, while kids washed the dishes (and trust me there were a lot of dishes), I started cleaning my bathroom.  Then it was back in the garden to weed out strawberry beds, and get laundry off the line.

By 8:30pm, we had flag pole mounts installed, most of the yard weed wacked, and a leaking sink crisis under control.  I had been at the kitchen sink rinsing some broccoli and cauliflower I brought in from the garden.  I and asked the kids to take the rug outside to dry.  I assumed the kids sloshed water when they were doing dishes.  After they took the rug out, I could see water coming up through the flooring, as I stepped on it.  Yea, another "oh poo" moment.....sigh.

We store a large bottle of vinegar and our homemade dishwasher detergent under the right side. Evidently, when the vinegar is put away, it's pushed up against the plastic pipes and it knocked them loose enough to leak water (which wasn't seen when opening the cupboard).  The water was going down through a hole in the bottom of the cupboard where piping also goes, and then underneath the flooring.  

You can imagine what we are thinking at this point.  Most likely it will have to be ripped out, including the cupboard now.  And it happens the night before the welcome home/congrats/send off party for Son.

A fan has been drying things out overnight, and the first thing on my list is to clean up that toxic mess, and put it all back.  However, the large bottle of bleach and vinegar will not be stored under there anymore (we use bleach daily for the milk bucket). 

It was then I realized I had not put up the jalapeno peppers.  Those went into the fridge, along with some shucked corn.  That job didn't get finished either.  

I did get another batch of homemade cream cheese started, but realized this morning, it will not be ready to drain until this evening, so it won't be ready to eat for the party - bad estimation on my part.  Phooey.

Well, I must get busy.  I need to make whiskey sticks, pasta salad, cheesy potatoes, and homemade sloppy joes for tonight's party.  Hopefully, I can get some help from the girls and have them cut up the watermelon for me too.  Family is bringing the rest of the food.  It  rained, but hopefully it will stop for the evening fun.  The kids want to take the gokart out for a spin too.  At least if it does continue to rain, we can still use the front porch furniture.