Holy crap, canning!

Anyone passing by my house sometime between 4:20 and 4:30 pm CST today was treated to an incredibly loud, angry, and surprised expletive. I don't know exactly when I yelled, but I know it was sometime in those 10 minutes.

Let me explain. I was being stupid, and my stupidity resulted in the predictable outcome that occurs when one engages in stupid behavior... I got a little hurt and learned the lesson I already knew and yet was not adhering to.

I was filling a jar of pickles with brine and, rather than having the jar setting on a stable surface, I was holding it by the threads over the pan of brine (so as to catch brine spillage as I was pouring it in). I had already filled several jars this way and everything was going fine, but with this particular jar a bit of the just-below-boiling brine splashed onto the hand that was holding the jar. Of course, as is instinctual, my hand jerked and I let go of the jar, which then fell into the pot of just-below-boiling brine. BIG slash of very hot liquid! The splash covered the stove, the wall, the floor, and (big surprise), ME!

Hence the very loud, angry, and surprised expletive.

After that I filled the jars while they were sitting on a flat surface, despite the spillage issue.

Bytheway, I made pickles today. Lots and lots of pickles.

I knew I would get a lot of cucumbers out of the garden today and I'm busy the next few days, so something had to be done with them right away. I wasn't exactly planning on pulling out as many cucumbers as I did this morning. I was thinking I'd get maybe 20 or 30 today, which would have made for an easy day of canning and would have given me a chance to get my feet wet. I have canned before (albeit it has been many years), but never pickles and never by myself. I had hoped to start on the easier side to get comfortable and then do more next week.

I headed out to the garden about 10 am this morning and starting searching for cucumbers. I picked 10, then 20, then 30, then I lost count. It took me quite awhile to go through everything and haul them up to the house. I washed the cucumbers, not even bothering to count them until they were all done and laid out on a towel. At that point I took stock and found out I had picked 60. All laid out they looked something like this:


Well, there went the idea of starting out small. I had been planning on making the brine from scratch, but with the massive amounts of cucumbers and my inexperience with pickling and canning in general, it was at that point I decided a packaged spice mixture would most likely be the best route. I headed over to Waverly to WalMart, thinking I would find what I needed there. I called Dad while on the way to Waverly to confirm a packaged spice mixture would be just as good as putting everything together myself, and then headed into the store. Two complete turns around WalMart later, I still hadn't found what I needed. I stopped an employee to ask where the canning items were and was informed that particular store had not ordered any canning items this year. None. No lids, no rings, no jars, and no spice mixtures.

You've got to be freakin' kidding me!

Ok, go across the street the Farm and Fleet store. They had a canner and jar grabber, which I picked up, but no spice mixtures. Double are you freakin' kidding me?!

Alright. Head to Fareway. A turn around the store and nothing, so I once again approached an employee. He was a kind older gentleman who didn't seem to have a clue what I wanted, but he went to ask someone else and in the process found what I needed. Yayy Fareway for having Mrs. Wages canning mixes! I called Dad again to ask what the difference is between Kosher and regular dill (I know now), but got no answer. I tried standing in the pickle aisle with a package of each spice mix to see what the difference was, but that didn't work too well. I finally just decided to go with the kosher dill, which Dad later confirmed was the right choice.

Back home to start a very long afternoon and evening. I had mostly pint jars to work with which meant short spears and lots of chips. I learned today that 60 cucumbers takes a toll on the hand holding the knife. After cutting about half of the cucumbers I had developed a blister on my finger. Canning battle scars!

Canning is a process regardless, but having only one person to do it makes the whole project even more difficult. I was quite glad when Mom got home and was willing to help me. With two people the process was sped up quite a bit. Despite this, after making it through all of the kosher dill seasoning we still had half of the cucumbers to go. The process in process looked like this:





As I finished the last of the dills Mom ran to Waverly to get more seasoning and to pick up a pizza for supper. We decided that we had more than enough kosher dill pickles so the next batch when Mom got home was bread and butter. With so many jars of pickles we are invariably going to be giving away a lot and therefore wanted to have a variety of pickles available. Some people will like the sharp dills, and some will like the sweeter bread and butter.

By the time the last can was sealed and the dishes all done it was 10:30 pm. I had started the process around 2 pm. All told, 60 cucumbers yielded:

* 29 pints of kosher dill
* 1 quart of kosher dill
* 8 pints of bread and butter
* 5 quarts of bread and butter


(The white stuff on top of the lids is hard water deposits. Nothing we can do about that!)

In the process of canning pickles today I:

* Nearly severely cut myself 5 times (actual number of cuts = 0!)
* Was hit by boiling hot spitting water more times than I can count
* Broke one jar (coincidentally, not the one I dropped. That one came through unscathed)
* Perfected my cucumber slicing technique

As of last check, all but one jar has fully sealed. The one that hasn't sealed is really no surprise... it's not really a canning jar but rather a jelly jar on which lids and rims fit. I'm more than happy with the sealing rate, and the one that is open will give me a chance to test out the final product.

Per Dad's suggestion, I will be using today as one of my 101 goals. It was quite an arduous undertaking and certainly something I have never done before, so "Can pickles from cucumbers grown in my own garden" is a goal I now consider achieved. Woo!!!

There are still lots of cucumbers in the garden, but today was definitely the largest single-time harvest I will get. I am not sure what I will do with the cucumbers to come, but I still have one package of pickle seasoning that I can use. We'll see.

Tomorrow I am helping out with a Habitat volunteer event in the morning and early afternoon, then heading to Davenport with Gramps and Gram to help them set up a show on Friday. This is their last full season with their square dance store (WOOT!) and the work is really too much for two people. They don't need me to help during the actual show, but when the shows are close to home I go to help with unloading and set-up. After we finish setting up on Friday I'll drive home.

Saturday Justin and Carrie get back, and Sunday I turn 25. These will be a crazy few days!

My feet hurt and I am exhausted, so I'm going to bed now.

Love!

~g

P.S. Anyone want some pickles?

Bugging Eyes

I decided to capitalize on this sudden productive mood and therefore spent another day in front of the computer. Today was all about my music files... getting albums in one folder, single songs into another (by artist), a file for Christmas, and a file for Soundtracks. As of tonight's stopping point (my eyes are freaking out and need a rest), I have:

209 Albums
82 Christmas songs (singles... this does not take into account the Christmas albums)
1,442 Singles
5 Soundtracks
57 Singles by unknown artists (figuring these out should be fun!)

All told, about 4,000 files I went through one-by-one and KEPT. This does not take into account the duplicates I deleted, which easily totaled over 1,000, nor does it take into account those files I just no longer wanted. I think I am about 1/2 way through everything, if not a little more, so hopefully I can finish this project tomorrow and then raid Justin's files! Most of my music collection is courtesy of my brothers. I love a family that shares. :)

I've been listening to a lot of different files today, particularly my Christmas collection. I am one of those people that loves Christmas music year-round... the message that is found in practically every song is applicable all year, and the music is just classic and beautiful. I really bring out the Christmas tunes around the first or second week in November, much to the chagrin of most of my past roommates.

I have also been looking up different pickle recipes today (thanks for the link, Cary!) because I am going to have to do something with all of these cucumbers. It would be a real waste for them to rot. I'll probably stop out to Grandma's tomorrow to see what she has for canning items, as well as get her advice. Maybe she and I can work together some day this week to put up pickles. If it works out you all know what you are getting for Christmas presents! I was just planning on dill pickles, but if anyone has suggestions for others, I'm open to it!

On a side note, thank you to those of you who leave comments on my blog. It's always fun and nice to see what people have to say. Plus, it just lets me know that people do read this craziness that I put out there on a semi-regular basis. Welcome, MercyScoop, to the blogging world and thanks for your thoughtful comment! I love it (usually) when I am given something to think on! I have been reading your blog and have found quite a lot that provokes me to think. Thanks for that.

Not much else to report. All is quiet on the home front. Time to remove myself from the computer and give my eyes and head a rest.

Love!

~g

Holy massive amounts of cucumbers Batman!

I really, really, really need those cucumber recipes (if you have any, that is).

I pulled 22 cucumbers out of the garden today. In about another 3 days I will easily get another 20-30 more. In a little over a week there will be about 30 more. And who knows after that. The plants are still flowering. I won't be too far off with calling a three-digit harvest!

I'll be giving away a lot of cucumbers to people. And figuring out how to make pickles. Maybe.

Once again I have learned to appreciate the wonder that is a desktop computer. A full mouse and keyboard, two screens, and a comfy chair make for a productive day. I spent a good amount of time this morning reviewing my 1001 for 101 website, making updates to goals I have in progress and to the site in general.

One of my goals is to clean up my massive music collection... many of the files are labeled differently and it can be hard to find a specific song or artist. I decided, after working on my goal website that today would be a good day to get started on the music project. I plugged my external hard drive into Justin's computer (Justin and Carrie currently are in possession of my laptop) and started cleaning up the files. I ended up not touching the music files, but my documents and photos are now in order and all duplicates are gone. I also, in the spirit of simplifying my life, deleted a lot of documents I no longer need. I still had things from high school that I kept backing up and transferring. They are gone now!

I will turn 25 in a week. I don't know where the first half of my twenties went! I think I am having a bit of a quarter-life crisis right now. I am definitely not where I imagined I would be at this stage of my life. What I find most interesting is not that my adult life thus far has not been what I thought it would, but that it could have been all I thought I wanted if I had not made a whole bunch of seemingly small, independent choices along the way.

Does that make sense to anyone but me? Even more interesting than the above observation is that I would not change many, if any, of those seemingly small choices. Life isn't what I thought it would be, but I am no longer certain I would still want that life if I'd gotten it when I thought I should have it.

This is going from bad to worse. It makes sense to me, though, and really that's all that matters since this space is all my own!

On an even more random note, Tucker has been unusually affectionate lately, as well as more vocal. My years with him are limited, and although I am by no means digging his grave, I have become a worried mama that notices every little change. Whenever something is different with Tucker I get a little freaked out. If I ever have a kid I'll have to be sure to not smother it with attentiveness and obsessiveness.

I really need to get back into a normal sleep schedule. This late night, late morning stuff seems more natural to my body, but it really shoots my day. Not that I have a reason to be up and about right now, but I will get a job here at some point and then I will need to start setting an alarm again. The longer I go without needing an alarm, the more I am convinced alarms are an evil creation.

I am typing pretty much everything that pops into my head, which is a sign to me that it's time to stop typing.

Love!

~g

Cucumbers, Cookies, and Coils

See what I did there, with the reverse alphabetical order. Caught your eye and interest, didn't it?

There are also brownies, but not being a word that starts with the letter 'C', the brownies could not be included in this post title.

For those of you who care, this is my 100th post on this blog, taking place on Day 369 of this blog's existence. Overall, not a bad average.

I have been baking today! A combination of personal cravings, cravings of those around me, and guestdom at parties this weekend led to a day in the kitchen. I made Chocolate Chip Cookies (with dark chocolate chips), Cream Cheese Coils, and Turtle Brownies today.

The cookies are mostly for my own satisfaction, although others are enjoying them as well. The coils will be split three ways between our household and the party that Mom is going to tonight, as well as the party that Carrie and I are attending. Mom will also be taking a pan of brownies to her party, and the other pan will stay here for our personal consumption.

Overall the baking went well, although I think the cookies got a little too done, and I had issues (again!) with the bread of the cheese coils rising properly. When I make cookies I like to make them large. I much prefer to grab a big cookie than a lot of tiny ones. For reference sake, the recipe I made today should have yielded 5 dozen. I got just over 3 dozen out of it. Accurately adjusting baking time for larger cookies, however, is not one of my strong points. Guess I just need to keep practicing. :)

This was my second attempt at the Cream Cheese Coils. The first time I made them the bread rose too quickly and way too much, effectively ruining the coil. Today the bread did not rise at all! I had to force it with a lot of heat, and even then it took 3 hours (it is only supposed to take 1) to get the coils to just barely double. I don't know if the rising issue affected the overall product since I have not tried a coil yet, but I sure was frustrated! The delay in the dough rising led me to put the filling in the refrigerator, which thickened it. This caused me to not have enough filling, so I ended up with 5 coils that have strawberry preserves in them instead.

I know the last time I made these I promised the recipe. I discovered after I made that promise that there was no reason for me to retype the recipe since Taste of Home puts everything online. For the Cream Cheese Coils recipe, go here.

As if all of this wasn't enough, I rounded out the day with Turtle Brownies! I cheated with these and used a basic brownie mix. I did add the pecans and caramel myself to turn them into turtle brownies, but that was easy.

In non-baking news, my garden is doing great. The first cucumbers came out yesterday, with many to follow. Given the number of buds, by the time the cucumber plants are done we will be close to triple digits with the harvest. Anyone have any good cucumber recipes?!

Time to eat and go party!

Love!

~g

Home again, Home again

I sent a text message to Marshall on Saturday night that read, "The corn is tasseling. The air is sticky and sweet. We can see for miles. Definitely back in Iowa."

Our 9-day vacation to New Hampshire concluded at 8:00 pm CST on Saturday, after two very long days of driving. The whole trip went very well and both Mom and I had a blast meeting Norah and checking out the life that Marshall and Sarah have made for themselves.

On the return trip Mom and I made a detour to Niagara Falls, given we were relatively close and I had never been. We walked and saw the falls, went out on the Observatory Deck to see the falls, did the Maid of the Mist boat tour into the base of the falls, then walked a lot more to see the Horseshoe Falls from the top. The boat tour was a lot of fun, as was just seeing the magnificent power of the surprisingly clear water.

Also, this:



That's right. That's a throat beard. My eyes bugged a little when I first caught sight of this man, thinking, "Holy crap does Marshall need to see this!" We hurried ahead of him and then, stopping under the guise of changing our shoes, waited for him to pass so I could subtly snap a picture.

The diversion to Niagara cost us a lot of time on Friday so by the time we reached our hotel we were exhausted. Saturday we were up and out by 8 am for a 13-hour day of driving, with a time change thrown in for good measure. Coming through Cleveland we hit a heck of a storm that had sheets of rain pelting our car as traffic slowed from the normal 60 MPH to 15. We were in rain for about 50 miles before breaking into the clear, at which point we switched drivers so Mom could unwind and relax. We kept switching every 150-200 miles so neither of us would get too road-weary or, worse, settle into a road-trance.

It was good to get home and be able to just stop and be still. Special thanks to Carrie, who stripped my bed and washed my sheets, remembering I had a nasty head cold when we left. It was great to come home to a freshly-made bed, complete with chocolate on the pillow!

Yesterday was a really lazy day for everyone. Today I am getting serious about my job search. I was also going to get serious about using the oh-so-convenient treadmill in our basement, but after about 15 minutes I realized anew that I detest treadmills. I suppose I'll just have to brave the humidity and do my walking outside. I am totally excited for the new weight bench and weights that Justin and Carrie bought and assembled while Mom and I were away. And I like my exercise ball and yoga mat. I guess if all I have leave the house for is cardio work then I'm doing pretty good.

Today I will also be taking some time to evaluate my 101 in 1001 goal list and make some updates on my website. I have come to the conclusion that I have too many daily and weekly goals that place some unrealistic expectations on me. Those goals will probably have qualifiers added to them, similar to what Justin did with some of his goals. For example, "Buy the Sunday paper every week" will probably become, "Buy the Sunday paper X-amount of weeks". The spirit of the goals will remain the same, but I'm going to make some of them less difficult and less stressful.

On a side note, I have been craving buffalo-flavored things lately. Is this indicative of something, like a subconscious desire to spice up my life? I do not know.

Also, Renee, I can see you are on Facebook but I cannot seem to click on you to request you add me as your friend. I'm not feeling the family love here.

Marshall, would I like living in Vermont/right on the New Hampshire border?

A favorite glass of mine broke last night. The glass took a fatal dive off the counter, where it was drying and chatting with its plastic counterparts. Curiously, the fall took place in the middle of the night when we were all abed and the house was still. Perhaps there was a squabble between my glass and the plastic, and the plastic, knowing it will never be equal to glass, pushed my glass off the counter in the heat of the moment. I suppose I will never know what led to the glass falling, but my glassware-loving self will forever miss the cool drinks my glass and I will now never share together. R.I.P. glass.

On that sad note...

Love!

~g

New Hampshire Trip, Post 3

Sadness. Trip over. We had one last night with Sarah and Marshall and their friends. And of course there was one last round of pictures. Tomorrow Mom and I leave and start heading back to Iowa. If it works out time wise, we'll stop at Niagara Falls tomorrow since I have never been.

It was a good trip. We didn't do some of the things we had planned on, mainly a day in Boston, but time with the family was more important. Boston will still be there at some later date, but Norah is only 2 months old and growing daily once.

In the time we were here Norah got a bit taller, a bit fuller, and grew a bit more hair. In even less than a week the changes were noticeable and amazing. Her neck also got a bit stronger and her tracking a bit more intentional. I am not sure if we figured out a new favorite position to hold her (Norah's back to the holder's chest - holder supporting Norah's weight with a hand between her legs) or if that was a favorite position before we arrived, but she seems to like that hold.

2 months ago Sarah made a comment, "I am in love", referencing Norah. I now know how she felt/feels to some extent. An aunt is obviously different than a mother, but handing Norah off to her parents for the last time and saying goodbye was more difficult that I thought it would be. There was no stopping the tears and the sadness. I am glad I'll have the chance to see them all again in just a few months when Sarah, Marshall, and Norah visit Iowa in September.

The fun and play is over now, and when I get back to Iowa it will be time to really start focusing on my job search. Mentally I still do not feel prepared or ready, but life won't wait. Yayy for adulthood... I guess.

Last picture dump! In no particular order we have...





































Love!

~g

New Hampshire Trip, Post 2

Yesterday we went to the ocean! All five of us got together for lunch in Portsmouth, then headed up to Maine to see the ocean. It was a rather cold, windy, overcast day, so Norah stayed in the car when we were by the water, with Sarah and Grandma sitting with her at different stops. She did get to see and hear the ocean, however, as Sarah cracked the window and propped Norah up to look out.

When we got back Sarah and Mom went to the store while Marshall and I stayed with Norah. Marshall made a quick trip to the gym during this time, then it was supper and pictures and family time! Norah got a bath last night, letting Mom and I really hear her cry. Overall Norah is a very content, happy baby that is easily soothed, but she has her moments. She likes bath time, but doesn't like coming out and having the air hit her wet body. When that happens she is one angry little girl.

Other things I have learned about my niece:
1. She wants to sit up. No cradling for this baby unless it means a bottle.
2. Move! Movement of any kind makes her happy.
3. Fussiness usually means she's hungry. I think we caught her in the middle of a growth spurt.
4. Activity is interesting to her.
5. Her Mom and Dad can make her smile like no one else.
6. Thumb sucking is serious business and a form of art yet to be mastered. Practice will make perfect.
7. Dirty diapers don't bother her too much. She doesn't demand they be changed immediately.
8. Lights and colors are amazing things to her.
9. Watch out for her swinging head! She'll crack you and herself a good one if you don't.
10. Per her father's instructions, she's already working on her throat-punching technique and is pretty darn good at it.

Since I know many of you are checking my blog more religiously, hoping to see pictures:





















Love!

~g

New Hampshire Trip, Post 1

We made it! Two long days of driving, but overall not too bad. Indiana was, by far, the worst. As we were crossing from Illinois to Indiana we hit a construction backup roughly 20 miles long. It took us just over an hour to crawl through the mess and make it past the remarkably small construction project. We did come across two fun things in the backup:

(Note - click on the billboard picture to enlarge it so it is easier to read. It's totally worth the time.)




Righteous.

We arrived round 7:30 pm local time on July 4 and went straight to Marshall and Sarah's place to meet Norah. And to say hello to Marshall and Sarah, although that was a bit of an after-thought. :)

Sleep late this morning, then back to the apartment for more cuddles. Sarah had to go to work, so while Mom babysat, Marshall and I took a tour of Durham, UNH, and made a quick trip to the store for some supper fixings. Back to the dorm to find Mom all cuddled up with a sleeping, content Norah. Grandma Kole was quite happy to have her arms filled with her grandbaby, and, adhering to the age-old adage, "let sleeping babies lie", we killed some time talking and relaxing.

When it became apparent Norah wasn't in any mood to wake up, and being cognizant of the weather outside, we decided to strap Norah into her car seat and take a trip to see the bay. Norah's a trooper and didn't wake at all. We hung out on the shores, appreciating the views and the breeze, and throwing rocks. Norah was unimpressed by the whole thing and slept through our outing.








After our shore time it was back to the dorm, via a big loop, to make supper and hang out. Mom and Marshall made Beef with Broccoli and Snap Beans while I fed, burped, changed, and generally cared for and loved Norah. We didn't do much all evening but hug the baby and talk, but we didn't really need or want to do much more.

Right before Sarah got home I fed Norah a bit more and was rewarded for my kindness by her vomiting hot milk and snot down my front. I don't hold it against her, though. Sometimes that's just what you got to do. I did manage to get quite a few good burps out of her this evening and was proud of that accomplishment.

Tomorrow Mom and I will spend time with Sarah and Norah while Marshall is at work. We're planning on a short trip to Portsmouth if Norah is up to it. Tuesday Mom and I may head to Boston to see some sights and take in the history. Wednesday there may be a short jaunt up to Maine. It's going to be a full but fun week.

With that, one more picture!


Love!

~g

Gadding

Mom and I are off to New Hampshire to see Marshall, Sarah, and Norah! We are driving out, via Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts. Two long days of driving, but totally worth it!

Pictures and updates as possible.

Love!

~g