I finally got organized to make some hot pickled veggies - gardeniera, I believe the mixture is called. Cauliflower? Check. Carrots and celery? Check. Little baby onions (my secret favorite)? Check. I'm leaving out the stringy bits of red pepper because I don't like them. Normally I love red bell peppers (roasted, fried, whatever) but pickled they're just a crime against food. So today during what is supposed to be my lunch I'll cut everything up and then tomorrow it'll be processing time. The only thing I forgot to buy is more vinegar so another trip to the grocery will be required. No problem - I'll go when I head out to do the preschool pick up.


My husband thinks I'm out of my mind - this stuff can be bought pretty cheaply, right? Why make it? Well, darling, for the same reason as you felt you had to make our marital bed when any furniture store anywhere sells dozens of them, that's why. For the same reason that I have sitting on this desk a 75% completed race car driver costume when Lillian Vernon could have sold me one for forty bucks or so (tax, shipping and handling not included). Sometimes things you make yourself are just better in some indefinable way - the seams might be a little (o.k., a lot) crooked, the veggies not all chopped to uniform size, the bed not totally sanded on the bottom - but it's all just better. That's why. I love gardeniera (a delicious, nutritious, fat-free snack - what's not to love?) and I want to make lots and lots of it.


I keep saying I need to take a canning break and, after the gardeniera, I'm really going to. I am pretty behind on household-related goals (preparing the nursery, rearranging the Boy Wonder's bedroom, painting the upstairs bath) and am very behind on professional goals (completing a business plan, completing a book outline, finishing a tracking database for a client). I have also had the same DVDs from Netflix sitting on top of the television for weeks. No late fees, sure, but not exactly cost effective if you don't actually watch the movies.


Then again, the post-Christmas/pre-baby lull would be a great time to make some marmalade.