The weather yesterday and today has been grand! Blue skies and very windy, but lovely for a late October day.
There are times when a lot seems to go wrong, not tragically wrong, just exasperatingly wrong.
Tank was having issues almost two weeks ago, and I’ve been without a vehicle ever since. I’ve had to cancel a few appointments. I took her to the first garage, then waited four days for an opening for the mechanic to take a look at her. He did so, and informed me that he couldn’t do the job, too big for him, so Attila took Tank over to another reputable garage and they agreed to do the job, telling us it would be done by the following Tuesday. The quote was for a few thousand dollars, ouch!
On Monday the garage called to find out what I wanted to do, they didn’t realize the part would be another $800. The choice was a new used vehicle or have Tank fixed. I took a chance on Tank, a new vehicle just isn’t in the budget, and a new used vehicle has as much chance of having serious issues as does Tank. They told me Tank would be ready by yesterday.
Yesterday I heard nothing from them. Attila called them when he got home from work and they told him they just got the part, Tank won’t be ready until late Tuesday. I will believe that when I see it!
I am kinda grouchy as a result of all this virtual running around, with one foot nailed to the ground.
What to do?
Why do some canning of course! And cook some meals in the Instant Pot of course!
We got a hard frost last Thursday night, so the garden is done. Yesterday I spent a few hours picking all of the green tomatoes I could find, and folding up some of the plastic sheets that were used to protect the garden from frost. The yield was about 15 pounds of green tomatoes. There were many that would not ripen well indoors, these were chopped fine to be used in two new recipes: Green Tomato Mincemeat, and Pickled Sweet Green Tomato Relish.
Yesterday the first canning project was started, the Mincemeat. A recent gift from Attila made preparation relatively easy, an onion chopper, Prepworks by Progressive, which made chopping green tomatoes really easy. The tomatoes could be chopped in the food processor, but the resulting product is unevenly sized, whereas with the onion chopper the product is uniform in size. The Mincemeat had completed boiling for an hour and a half, just in time to turn the range off, put the lid on, and go to bed.
This morning the project resumed, and by 10:00 a.m. six half litre jars of canned Green Tomato Mincemeat were lined up on the counter. All of them sealed within minutes of removal from the steam canner.
The steam canner is amazing! No more hot water bath canning at Mist Cottage!
The afternoon was spent preparing dicing another 8 cups of green tomatoes, and two onions. They are soaking in pickling salt as I write, and at 7:30 p.m. I will be away from the computer for some time… the Sweet Green Tomato Relish will be in progress.
I hope it goes well, as my nosebleed began a few days after the heat was turned on in the house. Tonight as I was eating my dinner, another spontaneous nosebleed started, and recurs every time I move around. Attila might just have to assist with the Relish!
Worldly
Weather
9°C
Date: 7:00 PM EDT Saturday 20 October 2018
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 100.3 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature:8.9°C
Dew point: -1.8°C
Humidity: 47%
Wind: W 13 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.”
Chinese Proverb
Hope you get Tank back on Tuesday as promised and that “he” doesn’t have anymore issues. Sending healing thoughts for your poor nose.
How frustrating about your vehicle. I hope no more delays and no more fixes needed for a good long while. I also hope your nosebleed quits. (Do you use a humidifier?)…. Joan
Thanks Eileen, fingers crossed that Tank comes back as promised. And thank you for the healing thoughts. I’ve had nosebleeds since I was a child, so annoying! I had an appointment with an ear/nose/throat specialist, so I am hoping to have it attended to next month!
Thanks Joan! Tank is getting old, 2007, which is old considering the toll Canadian winters take on vehicles, but has been good up until now. Hopefully this repair will set Tank right for a good long while. Now you would think that a humidifier would have been something I would have thought about! Nope, got my head full of canning thoughts, didn’t even occur to me! Good idea, thanks for the reminder, and tomorrow it comes out of the closet!
Maggie, do you find green tomato foods to be highly acidic? Or maybe you’ve found a way to correct that? A few years back we made a green tomato soup, and it would have been good if it hadn’t been so acidic. I had terribly heartburn from it.
Teri, yes! Green tomatoes are very acidic. I haven’t corrected it, but have taken advantage of it, both the Green Tomato Mincemeat and the Sweet Green Tomato Relish are laced with sugar, so there is a sweet and sour effect, very tasty. Of course, the mincemeat is not eaten on its own, it is baked in a dish that consists of other ingredients, MIncemeat Squares, and is a dessert, so not much is eaten at any one sitting. The Sweet Green Tomato Relish is a condiment, so is eaten in small quantities at a sitting, to perk up the flavour of burgers, or as Attila eats it, with crackers and cheese. But I think a soup made out of green tomatoes would give me heartburn too!