I have been a major blog-slacker.  But I have a good reason.  It's harvest time!  My garden has been in need of almost daily attention.  Plus, this is the time of year that my MIL makes the treck to New Mexico to pick up our chili and tomatoes. Our supplier is Sichler's Farms in Los Lunas.  We always anticipate her return.  Almost as soon as she pulls in the drive, we start packing our green chili.  After that we start processing our red.  It's a big deal!  After doing the same thing for several years, we now have it down to a science.  So I appologize for my absence.  I will be back to normal after the first freeze.

Oh freezer full of chili how I love you.  Please last us through the year.

This is fresh-roasted and pureed red chili.  It will make many Huevos Rancheros and enchiladas.

The stage is set.

The players are ready.

The heat is on!

The audience is, well, a little crazy from all of the canning! (And no, we do not have a canning uniform.  We are just wearing our husbands old work shirts.)

We use the raw-pack method.  It seems to work better for us.

Boiling water is poured over the tomatoes and they are processed for 40-45 minutes.

We also did some pickling.

I can't wait for these to be ready to eat!

We made salsa.

And our own lava lamps!  Just kidding.  This is just tomato juice that seperated during processing.

Molly Jo worked her booty off.

I just had to throw in a shot of our after-canning dinner.  Fresh green chili on a tortilla with cheese, garlic powder and salt.  Oh man.  What a reward!

Deconstructing a garden

It is a bitter-sweet time of year.  Time to start pulling up the plants that I have nurtured all summer.  Some are in the midst of massive prodution.  They can stick around.  Others, like our corn, have already given what they had to give.  We are always thankful as we wrap up the season.  We again reflect on the majesty of it all.  Nourishment from a seed and some dirt.  It's still amazing after these many seasons.  The Father still provides.  We will continue to pull and sort until the last frost.  I hope your season has been sweet. 

Oh the bounty!!  Vibrant color from the ground.

So sweet with no chemicals added!

My fridge has been stuffed.

But this is beautiful too!

This was just one color of indian corn that came from our stalks.  My personal favorite.

It was like Christmas to open each husk.  So many colors!

Of course we save seed for next year.

This kid stuck with me all afternoon.  He shucked corn like a pro.

This one just kept trying to eat it.  But come on, you always need a comedian.

We found some okra that was long gone.  So, to seed it will go!

As a bonus, we found some watermelon hiding in the corn.  Thanks summer!

What to do with the things we grow...

This is where the child labor comes in.  And it is just dandy.  All kidding aside, it's good for them.  They get to be a part of the cycle of our home.  They have responsibilities.  They feel like an important link in the chain.  Plus, now that they are bigger, it really cuts down my load!  They are actually helpful.  I have come to depend on them.  I love that bond we have built.  I am hoping that knowing what goes into running a household will make them more thoughtful about how they live. 

My Asher-man loves to help in the kitchen.  I put him on food processor duty!

I know, I know.  This looks dangerous.  But we have taught him how to work safely with a knife.
See how good he does!

Jolie was helping too so Levi decided that he needed to help.  So we gave him a "baby" knife and a banana. 
He did just what his siblings were doing. 

I took the zucchini that the kids sliced for me and blanched it to prepare it for freezing.

Then I packed it, in usable portions, into freezer bags

We also did some in shreds for breads and spaghetti sauce.  It's a good way to trick the kids into eating zucchini.

This is a very special jar.  It is not only a neat jar, but it belonged to my Great-Grandmother Gilger. 
Isn't is beautiful?

My sweet Papa gave me this jar too.  It is special to be surrounded by things that belonged to people that I love!

I have been in a canning state of mind.  These green beauties are going to be pickled!  Our peppers have done great this year.

I get the whole clean kitchen thing.  I do love it when mine is clean.  But this is how I really like to see it!
Lots of hours of love have been poured out in this place.

Lots of love and lots of yummy things.
 These babies will be just delicious on a big bowl of chili or beans this winter!

In a pickle? (Bet you can't guess where this is going.)

We came back from our week in New Mexico to a garden full of giant squash.  So what's a girl to do?  I can tell ya what this girl did.  I made pickles!  Spicy bread and butter pickles to be exact.

  

Last year, I bought the mix from the store for bread and butter pickles.  But I really didn't like all of the ingredients.  This year, I found a recipe that I liked and tried it out.  I had to buy the spices, which did cost some money but I can make several batches.  This is mustard seed, celery seed, ginger, tumeric, and peppercorn.   

I sliced the squash (patty pan) with some white onion and then gave it a ice cold bath.  This seems to help the squash stay a bit more crisp when pickled.

I sliced some jalapeno from the garden.

I mixed the spices with some sugar.  These are bread and butter pickles so them must have sugar!

Then I pulled out my trusty gallon of white vinegar.

I mixed the vinegar with the spices and put it on the stove to boil.

While I was waiting, I drained the squash and packed it into a clean and sterilized jar along with a half of the jalapeno.  Then you ladel the boiling hot spiced liquid over the squash.  You need to tap the jar to get rid of the air bubbles then leave about 1/4 inch at the top of the jar. 

I wiped the rim of the jars to make sure they were clean then I put on the lids and rings and dropped the jars into a waterbath.

After boiling for 10 minutes we have pickles!  Actually, they need to sit for about 2 weeks to get the best flavor.  It's hard to wait but it will be worth it.  See the yellow color?  That's the tumeric, not Yellow #5!


This is not a recipe but I do have a recipe.  If anyone is interested in the actually recipe that I used, leave a comment with your e-mail address and I will send it to you.  Otherwise, you can find a recipe that suits you online.  It's important to find one that is specific to your tastes.  That is why I didn't post this one!  I just wanted to show you how easy it is to do yourself.  Here are a few sites that have similar recipes:

http://pickyourown.org/breadandbutterpickles.htm

http://www.mtnlaurel.com/Recipes/squashpickles.htm

http://www.justapinch.com/recipe/lisa-crum/bread-and-butter-squash-pickles-regular-and/vegetarian-vegetable-appetizer

Shower me with...flour?

Locally milled, whole-wheat flour to be exact.  When a friend said, "My husband is driving to Dawn to get our 50-pound bag of flour."  I said, "Oooooh, I want some!"  So he was sweet enought to lug one home for me.  It cost me a whole 10 dollars!

True Texas Panhandle flour!

See.

It s beautifully milled. 

We don't have enough freezer space to store the entire bag.  I found some 2-gallon freezer bags that work perfectly.  Four of them were completely full and one was about 3/4 full.

We kinda had to stuff them in the freezer.  We have to have room for our beef that will be processed in a month and for our green chili and other veggies to preserve for the winter.

Tons of flour and squash means that we must search out recipes for zucchini breads of all kinds!

Thank you Abba for the blessing of having enough.  May we be good stewards of that blessing.

This blog linked to Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!