I decided to add the little PSA above in response to the many requests I've received over the past two weeks for guidance and recipes. I really didn't mind answering the notes - they were mostly very sweet - but the process started to take a lot of time. I'll remove the note after hard core canning season is over, although I might put a directory to the left directing users to key recipes. Really organized bloggers do this, but I'm sure you've already figured out where I fall as far as organization is concerned.


In fact, as if to prove it, I need to report that the blueberry pie filling still hasn't been completed. I've frozen the berries so that I can try again later in the month. Part of the problem (and it isn't really a problem) is that, unlike her brother, the Little Diva would rather do just about anything than sit in her high chair. For the first time in my life I understand the dreaded "children underfoot". The Boy Wonder would happily sit in the kitchen with me playing and singing songs - I became quite adept to chopping fruits and vegetables through endless verses of "The Ants Go Marching" and the ABCs - but she's having none of it. So I'm getting more clever about nap time usage, particularly now that the acute sleep deprivation of the immediate post-partum months has diminished.


While it's harder to explore new canning frontiers, the tried and true are becoming easier. Pickles? Jam? No problem - six pints in a jiffy. Maybe this is another reason for the need to explore new dinner menus since that's the cooking I do when we're back to full strength parenting.


Who knows? Anyway, here's a super-fast recipe for something that's technically a spread, but I've been using it in all kinds of ways for quick meals all summer: Combine well in a medium bowl an 8 oz. brick of neufchatel cheese, a 4 oz. can (drained) of tiny shrimp, a quarter cup of finely diced onion, and one teaspoon of lemon juice. That's it. If you can make it the night before you want it, so much the better since the flavors will meld together, but immediate use is fine, too. I've used this lately as an omelet filling, a bagel spread, a tomato stuffer, a tortilla filling (with a bit of tomato or tomatilla salsa), a crepe filling, a celery stuffer, as as the basis for a casserole and lightly melted as a veggie topper, and as a mushroom stuffer. I've also been wondering if chevre could stand up to a similar treatment, but haven't tried it yet.