I actually took a picture of my big ole' bowl of to-be-jarred salsa. I really did. But, as I'm sitting here very comfortably, sipping a homemade limeade, the odds are increasingly slim that I'll actually stand up, walk to the dining room, take the camera out of its drawer (yes! we keep the camera in the dining room, no where near the computer - this could explain why I never have any pictures), walk back to my desk, connect it, turn it on and...see? It's just not happening. You can picture it, though, right? Big glass bowl? Filled with chopped veggies and looking (mostly) green? Good! That's exactly what it looks like.

I don't actually have a recipe for the salsa, just a list of ingredients with which I mess around until I get something I think tastes good. Even if the result is different from batch to batch I'm able to respond to nuances in the ingredients (some tomatillas are tangier than others, for example, and some onions sharper) and also contrive to use up bits of remainders hanging out in the fridge. It's an approach I like to take with many things, come to think of it.

This bowl has about four pounds of tomatillas (minced), half of a large yellow onion (chopped), half of a large red onion (chopped), a head of garlic (minced), salt and pepper, a chopped hot pepper, a fist full of cilantro (chopped) and a splash or two of cider vinegar. Good stuff.

Processing the salsa tonight (15 minutes in a boiling hot water bath) took care of one of my weekend projects. The other, my sister's birthday tote, is marked but as yet uncut and oh-so-far from completion. I've been in canning and knitting world lately but really need to get back to sewing for a while - too many things started but not completed and wanted before the summer is out (like, sundresses for the girl and a linen skirt for myself - can't imagine wanting them in, say, November which is when I'll get to it if I don't shape up). Then again, if I order the Darn Good Yarn I've been scoping, my return to the sewing machine might be delayed further.

Too many hobbies, so little time.

I write this while in the next room a pile of ingredients for tomatilla salsa lay (lie?) waiting for my attention. It's not so terribly late but I am very tired and I just don't know if I have it in me tonight. If I bucked up, poured an iced tea and got to business I know I'd be glad for it later so perhaps I'll have to let that thought carry me through since Brainiac's installation of air conditioning in the kitchen has nearly completely removed my former favorite excuse for procrastination - the heat and humidity of a Philadelphia summer - from use. Ah, well.

Tomatilla salsa is one of those things that I make about once and year and really love having around. Not only is it great plain on tortilla chips, but it's a good ingredient to glam up otherwise workaday dishes. It's wonderful over grilled steak, for example, or as a spread on a wrap (mixed with mayo and a bit of lime is even better). It can be part of a salad dressing or folded into a crepe batter and is a little piece of heaven inside an omelet along with a bit of chevre.
Hey, look what I did...talked myself right into it. At the very least I'll get everything diced and minced tonight and will likely do the actually canning tomorrow night. That's always a good compromise.

My other big project for the weekend is to complete the tote I've started for my sister. I gave one of these to my youngest sis for Christmas and had so much fun making it that I've added it to my gift-giving repertoire. This one is made from the directions in Christina Strutt's Romantic Home Sewing in a sort of wheat colored canvas. My plan is to embroider an initial or perhaps a flower or something on one side. Whatever I decide, I need to get it done because her birthday is in a little under two weeks and the tote must be mailed. I need to step on it, in other words. The only hold up I see is making the handles, a task that involves turning little fabric tubes right-side out and which is my least favorite sewing task. Like the salsa, I suppose, I will just have to buck up.

I bet you're all just aflutter wondering who won the copy of The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I'm right, yes? I can see you afluttering from here.

But! This is the moment for which you've been waiting, ducks. The lucky winner is Rachel (of blackberry jam fame). Rachel, if you would e-mail me your snail mail address at hotwaterbath AT gmail DOT com I'll get the tome out to you right away. Congratulations and happy canning!

I hope all who hoped to win will stick around through the summer and experience a little canning company. We'll pickle, we'll jam, we'll dice and slice...fun for all, but especially those who want to make something.

A bit of clean-up before tackling our next adventures:

1) It occurs to me that my current blog layout looks horrible. I liked it for a while then we got a new computer with one of those big ole' screens and it didn't work so I tweaked and now it doesn't look nice on any screen. I'll work on that.

2) Melissa asked if I'd been reading Stephanie Meyer's paranormal romance. No, but thanks for the tip. I've been cuddling up with Kresley Cole, J.R. Ward, Charlaine Harris and Michelle Rowen and will now happily add Ms. Meyer to the list. Between these and my alarmingly large Regency habit, I may never get to real cult-chah again. Oh, don't look at me like that. I've also been reading a lot about Abigail Adams and white holes, so it's not like I've totally chucked serious reading. Just mostly.

3) I have a little tradition of assigning myself summer projects. One year I read nothing but E.M. Forster (those days are apparently over; see also point number two, above), another year I needle pointed wildflowers on cocktail napkins. Then there was the summer that I drank only G&Ts, each made with a different brand of gin (not all my projects are of a self-improvement nature). This year I've decided to put my Netflix subscription to good use and watch as many movie and/or television adaptations of the works of Jane Austen as I can find. Brainiac is afeared for his movie watching life, groaning every time one of the red envelopes arrives in the mail (although I believe that he secretly enjoys the spectacle, entreating this or that character by yelling at the screen the way he might in reaction to an ill-conceived football play. Gives me a giggle, actually) but I think that movies are an excellent project for the Now in which I find myself. It's possible to knit, pit cherries, snap beans, needlepoint, play Battleship, write letters, coo over block towers and, yes, blog all while comparing and contrasting the various approaches in Austenolatry.

So, busy as a bee. You?

So you may have heard that I spoke recently with Lauren Devine, Community Marketing Manager for Ball Corporation and the company's public face of home food preservation. Among her many responsibilities are the running of Ball's Fresh Preserving website, recipe testing, and educating salespeople and retailers about home preservation methods. She started her career as an intern and has seen her role expand to it's current very broad scope. She is, basically, the canning world's go-to girl.

I started our conversation by asking her thoughts on what I see as the myth that home canning is too time intense to be useful to the average family (confession: I may have prejudiced her response by using the words "nonsense idea" or possibly even "ridiculous poppycock"). Turns out, Lauren agrees with me that canning needn't be an overwhelming time commitment. "Do your prep the night before," she explains, "And pack and process the next night. Oh, and start heating the canner before doing anything else on processing night so it will be ready when you are."

Moreover, Lauren recommends rethinking the time issue by remembering that home canned products are essentially convenience foods. "When you can food at home you're trading one night of 'babysitting' your food for many individual nights. If you're canning a sauce you're only standing over the stove doing that once, instead of a dozen times throughout the year," she reminded me.

I asked about safety education. Lauren said that she's seeing a greater understanding of the "whys" of home canning safety measures and more of a willingness on behalf of new canners to employ modern techniques. "People who have been canning a long time may not be aware of the latest methods because they don't need to seek out education," she said and recommended that even experienced canners consult with their local extension services or with the members of the Fresh Preserving forums. "There's a wealth of knowledge on the forums, "Lauren said, "And the members are very free with their support and advice." She also recommends that new and experienced canners alike double check the pH of old favorite recipes to make sure they're appropriate for the preservation method. Extension services or university agriculture programs might be of some help for this.

I wondered what Lauren's opinions of the resurgence of home canning. I have my own theories, of course (I have my own theories about everything), about why my inbox sees ever-increasing numbers of questions, but I wondered if my thoughts would be borne out by the experts. Lauren responded, "We think there are several factors causing home canning to be a re-emerging practice. The "locavore" trend is probably one factor. People are trying to eat locally and support their local communities. We see this happening in several ways, one of which is the increasing number and popularity of farmers' markets while another is CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Programs, where people can work with a local farmer to get seasonal produce in exchange for a fee and/or by helping on the farm. Whichever way you get your produce, to eat local during the winter months is more of a challenge so people are preserving their locally purchased food during spring and summer to enjoy out of season."

I mentioned the current inflationary economy, too, echoing some my correspondents' questions about whether home canning is really a money-saver. "Yes, that's part of it, too. We have seen a 30% increase in sales in the last year of large glass Ball® jars which are often used for food storage of rice, flour and sugar," she told me, "With rising food prices, more people are turning to home canning and food storage as a way to save money." I told Lauren that I don't believe that home canning necessarily results in the most rock-bottom cheap food but rather it's in bringing other values into the equation that makes it such an attractive proposition - values, at my house, that include family, environment, community and a certain DIY-ethos. "Yes," Lauren agreed, "Today, we have access to produce in several different ways throughout the year, so we don't necessary home can to survive through winter. We home can for a sense of accomplishment, to create something new or different not available at the grocery store, to create special gifts for others and to control the food which you consume. Home canning allows you to have control over what goes into your food. There are more and more people with food allergies and special diet needs such as low sodium or lower sugar options. With this control, you know you are providing your family the healthiest and safest food possible."

I asked Lauren what she would recommend as a good project for a first-time canner. "For someone just getting started, I would recommend making a freezer jam with Ball® Simple Creations® Freezer Jam Pectin. There is no cooking involved and you only need 2 other ingredients. This recipe can be made in less than 30 minutes and you preserve by freezing up to 1 year or refrigerating for up to 3 weeks. After that, I would recommend moving up to a cooked jam or jelly using one of our three pectin products. Each pectin has an insert that contains tips for making homemade jam and jelly, an equipment listing, and full recipe and home canning instructions. Plus, there are many recipes to choose from within the insert. These recipes are mainly home canned and can be stored up to 1 year in the pantry."

And for someone more experienced? "A more seasoned canner would probably like to try their hand in one of our newer, trendy recipes they have never tried before. Or, they may like to try fermented pickles like our grandmothers used to do. This process can take up to 6 weeks - so this may be more challenging for them!" (For my part, I'm planning on a bit of Lemon Sage Wine Mustard - a bit of that on my shelf would make a long winter much spicier, indeed.)

After 45 minutes of bending her ear, I allowed Lauren to escape both me and her phone. I really appreciated her time - it's not often I get to talk about canning as much as I want - and all of the effort she puts into the recipes in Ball's books and on the Fresh Preserving website. (More than that, she laughed when I said how little esteem I hold for piccalilli - not to be underestimated.) I'd been getting into a bit of a rut, recipe-wise (mango jam again) but with her hard work and encouragement I see so much more inspiration. Thai Hot and Sweet Dipping Sauce! Bruschetta in a Jar! Ya'll know what I'll be doing this summer, right? Join me?

Well. Let' see. I responded to some comments, but don't see those answers. I also posted my interview with Lauren Devine of Fresh Preserving but don't see that post.

This is going even more splendidly than I dreamed it would! My first little drawing thing.

O.K., here's what we'll do. This isn't the Oscars(tm) and we're not audited by those nice men in dark suits who come on to tell everyone the rules. This is my blog and, unorthodox as it may be, I'm going to change the rules midstream to try an impose some kind of order on this business. Plus, I've had a deadline move up from next week to this (again! why does this happen?!) and, well, there it is.

So. Anyone who comments in a post that happens to include Lauren Devine's name in it (I think this is the third, the repost of the interview will be the fourth) will have an entry in the contest. Comments in two such posts will result in two entries, and so forth. The drawing will be the close of business, my time, Friday.

This works, yes? I am sorry for this bloggy change-up but it's my first time and I feel that I'll take for myself a bit of forbearance (one of my all-time favorite words). We're still friends, right?

So I mentioned a bit ago how I'd had this lovely discussion with a woman named Lauren Devine of Fresh Preserving, the Ball Corporation's public face of home food preserving. We had a delightful chat that veered, in my very unjournalistic fashion, from recipe testing and development to getting started with canning to risk management and (my) whispered confessions on that point. Lauren stared with Ball as an intern and is now the company's official canning professional/cheerleader.

At the conclusion of our talk (the results of which I'll be posting in the next day or so) Lauren offered to send me a copy of The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. What a dear, I thought, and accepted on behalf of my legions of fans, adding that if she didn't mind too terribly much I might just have a little contest to pass it along. The next day two copies arrived in the mail, one inscribed to little old me. After reading the inscription I turned back to cover and noticed that Ms. Devine is a co-author of this encyclopedic home canning reference. And I hadn't known.

To those of you who don't know, this is kind of like meeting Jerry Garcia and, not realizing it, figuring him to be a lonely man away from home on business and inviting him to dinner (no, wait, I actually did this...finding out after the fact who he was and that his little band was in fact playing in town that night). Maybe it's more like unknowingly stumbling upon Martha Stewart in the local craft store and engaging in a bit of a chat over which glue gun is better for making, I don't know, whatever. Or sort of like bumping into Condoleeza Rice unawares and blasting those out of touch, inside-the-beltway folks in D.C.

Embarrassing, in other words.

I won't dwell, though, as I am not generally a dweller. Instead I think we should press on with all good intentions on this little drawing scheme. Agreed?

Here's the deal: leave a comment on this point and the post in which I relate the details of my discussion with Ms. Devine. Of all the folks who comment in both posts, I will draw one name and that person will receive a copy of The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving delivered straight to his or her door. I'll do the drawing this coming Wednesday.

What do you think? Good? This is a lovely book, filled with all kinds of neato things that can be made and enjoyed by beginners and experienced canners alike. Good luck to all!

Granting oneself a bit of time off now and again is a wonderful thing. I highly recommend it.

You may (or not) be wondering what I've been doing these months. Me, too. Thinking hard about life since March I come up with...not much. A bit of canning (strawberry jam), a bit of sewing (a skirt of pink linen and little embroidered orange dots), a teensy bit of learning to knit (a few rows of variable stitch numbers, alas),*and a spot of gardening (I'm late with the beans!).


Mixed in with these little bits of domesticana, I gave Brainiac a 40th birthday party, read a ton of books the nature of which I'm only a teensy bit embarrassed to share (ahem, cough, paranormal romance), visited with my parents, chatted with friends, pined for a painting from my neighbors' art show, rediscovered the wonder of the rum gimlet, and finally used the guest soap I believed for years to be too pretty to clean my own tired hands. It's a small life, perhaps, but it's mine and I come by it honestly.

Now that my vacation is over, I have much to which I must attend. I've had the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Devine from Fresh Preserving and will be posting the results of our delightful conversation later this week. I'm looking to try a few new canning recipes, too, and am hoping to push the boundaries of sane zucchini growing (how many does one garden need?). Then there are the small matters of resolving the window mis-treatments I've got about the premises and expanding my reading beyond amorous vampires. I do hope you'll come back to hear about it all and more.

*I am the living embodiment of the term "late adopter". Now that I have gotten around to learning to knit properly, it's only fair to warn all and sundry that knitting as a trend is likely over. Sorry, Jane Brocket. Truly.