Recent lessons learned:
1. Just because something looks like a canning jar doesn't mean it really is! So if I buy them at garage sales again, I will look for "Mason" or "Ball" on the jar!
Why was this lesson learned? Well, I noticed bits of vegetables floating in the water where I was processing the 2 pints of salsa I made. (More on only getting 2 pts. next.) At first I thought I just spilled some on the side and didn't notice.
Then I spot more and more...so I lifted up the jars. One jar was fine. But the other?
The WHOLE FLIPPING BOTTOM BROKE OFF! We're talking jars hot from the dishwasher, with hot salsa (it's a cooked recipe), so it isn't like there was a quick temperature change. Needless to say, that whole pint had to be trashed. Fortunately, the other jar is completely intact, so it wasn't a total lost cause.
2. Five or six big tomatoes make very little salsa. Which would be okay if I hadn't lost half my batch. However, (and this is really the lesson), I need to find tomatoes that don't cost 3.99 a pound. And that's from a farm stand! I guess it is time for Mike and I to take a ride out on Long Island to visit farm stands more east of us. As for my own garden, I got a big 4 tomatoes so far. Wow. At least they tasted good.
Right now I have grape jelly processing (thanks for the pectin, Maryann!) and so far, so good. It's an easy recipe with just grape juice, sugar and pectin. I've never made it before. I hope it comes out good.
I'm sorry about your jar problem. That is the most annoying thing when that happens!
ReplyDeleteGlad you are enjoying the pectin and stuff. Hey! How about the Bonomo's Turkish Taffy??? Did you eat any?
ReplyDeleteAs for the tomatoes, go to a "U-Pick-It" farm; then you can buy bushels for the price of a couple pounds at the farm stand! We didn't get a great crop of tomatoes this year, either, so tht is what we did and it was dirt cheap.
Wonderful! Logan was signed in, not me! Well, the above was from me not him! lol!!
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