What a great weekend I just had.
Friday morning, I woke up in one of those strange moods where something was really eating at me…I didn’t know what or why…but I knew I wasn’t happy or content with life at the moment.
I ended up getting angry at Fito. We both left for work upset.
Of course, we cleared it up later and I realized what had been bothering me (and poor Fito, it had nothing to do with him).
Anyway, on the way to work, I was stopped by a Highway Patrolman. But a tender mercy from above was bestowed and he did not give me a ticket or even a written warning.
He just told me to have a great day and to slow down. I don’t know if he could see that I would have broken down and cried had he given me the ticket (hopefully, not in front of him). But somehow, someone knew I was at my limit and needed mercy, not justice.
Well—through the years, I have learned that when you are discouraged, down trodden, or sad: to work, serve others, and count your blessings.
I did all three this past weekend and as always it pulled me out of the doldrums and I feel 300 percent better.
I started with work. Saturday, I woke up early and cleaned out both upright freezers. First of all, I only intended to pull the frozen bell peppers, jalapeños, and turkey that I had in bags to can them. But when I saw how dirty the freezers were, I ended up cleaning them.
I then cleaned the back pantry as I was still waiting for the bags of stuff to defrost. It really wasn’t that disorganized, but it had been invaded by weevils. They had been killed by a bomb, but I had never come in and cleaned the shelves, etc. It took a couple of hours to clean it and set everything in order.
What a great feeling! A place for everything and everything in its place!
I then took a break to eat lunch…actually…I had taken occasional breaks as I was reading the book, “How to Kill a Million People”. A good book that I finished on Saturday…everyone should read it. I am writing a book on Critical Thinking because I believe that if people did know how to think…they would be able to discern between truth and lies.
This book and a conversation with a friend about female circumcision really reminded of my blessings and then I took meals to two other families that are struggling…made me realize how blessed I was…
After eating, I went and gathered jars, washed them, and then packed them with the stuff from the freezers. I ended up with 22 pints of peppers, 4 quart jars of peppers, 3 quart jars of turkey broth, and 2 quarts of turkey.
I also tried canning something new. I canned seven half pints and one quart jar of butter. I had read somewhere that they had canned butter…either during the depression or during WW II. So I thought about it, Butter is a fat. I can meat that has fat and it is okay. The butter will melt and boil while it is canned, but when it cools it should go back to a solid…
Hummm… Let’s give it a try. I did it in a pressure canner, just as I do just about everything else-- at 10 pounds of pressure for 45 minutes.
BTW—I did Google this and some people were showing how to can it using the oven, But DO NOT ever can anything using the oven. Without the pressure, you cannot get the temperature high enough to kill all bacteria that lead to botulism.
DO NOT ever can using the oven…I do not even use a hot water bath anymore as through the years I have learned that many of the new varieties of vegetables, tomatoes, etc. are low acid and they will go bad after a few years on the shelves.
I ONLY can using a pressure canner.
There are three pictures of the butter. The first is before I canned it. I just put the softened butter in the jars and used Clorox wipes to clean the glass rim before I put on the lid and metal rims.
The second picture shows the butter just after I took it out of the canner and it is still hot and a liquid. Notice: it separated.
The third picture is a picture of it a day later, opened, and ready to use.
I did try shaking a jar to keep it from separating, but as it cools, it just naturally separates.
When I broke the seal, and opened it, I then took a butter knife and stirred the two parts together. We ate it on bread, and also on toast.
Yummy. Exactly like butter. No difference whatsoever…except…canned butter should last about seven years without going bad or rancid.
I even canned 4 more pints, yesterday.
I am so excited about this…imagine fresh butter in your pantry when others cannot buy it. Butter on freshly made bread (from all that wheat in the pantry). Sounds wonderful to me!
BEFORE CANNING
STILL HOT--AFTER CANNING
THE NEXT DAY--READY TO SPREAD--YUMMY AND SAFE!