Thursday, June 11, 2009

A Taste Of Summer

After harvesting in the garden this morning, I thought now is as good a time as ever to make a batch of bread & butter pickles. This particular batch I made today yielded me 9 pints. I am so pleased with that.

(Bread & Butter pickles, homemade rotel)
Since we have been gardening, Hubby has caught a case of the "canning bug" which is a great thing. So over the weekend he canned up a few pints of homemade rotel (a tomato & jalapeno mixture) as well as zucchini & homemade giardiniera (which is an Italian or Italian-American relish of pickled vegetables in vinegar or oil.)

(Zucchini & Giardiniera)
I just love looking into the pantry and seeing the fruits of our labor. This will be extremely appreciated when winter comes and we'll be able to pull out a taste of summer in a jar.

9 comments:

Mary | Deep South Dish said...

Yum! Looks great!!

Conny said...

mmmmmmmmm, those all look delicious! Reminds me of my grandma's house ... she had shelves and shelves of canned goods. YUM!

Sandra said...

I put up pickles today too. I still have another batch to do, but I came in here to take a break from being on my feet all day. I love the green with the sunflowers!!! I have some material exactly like that, that I am cutting up and using in a quilt. I LOVE sunflowers. They look so happy!

Sarah said...

Looks great! I have 5 quarts of beans left so I hope I can time it for having the new ones come in about the time we use up the last of last year's canning! I have never done zucchini - what do you do with it? I freeze zucchini to use for bread throughout the year, but haven't canned it.

Keeper of the Home said...

Sarah ~

Hubby simply slices his zucchini and then packs it into the jars; pours boiling water over it and pressure cans it. When we want a jar, simply drain it and add a little salt, pepper and butter and steam it. You can also drain it and use it in stir-fry and such.

~Mrs. M

Lori said...

When I can, I leave my jars out for days just so I can look at them! LOL! The rotel looks great (I love that stuff!) and your bread & butter pickles look just like mine. I approve. You were looking for my approval weren't you? :) LOL!
I can't believe you're canning already! It'll still be a while before I can do that.

Jamie Stroupe said...

I also leave my jars out too! Not only do they look yummy but the are very pretty and brings the home a nice warm feeling!!

Coming from the Stroupe home!!

Caroline said...

WOW, that looks delicious!

Blessed Beyond said...

YUMMY!!! Makes me want to get busy canning! YUMO! What a blessing to can from your own harvested garden! HOpe yall have a great weekend!
Hugs and Blessings,