Well, I only accomplished one thing yesterday, but it was a tasty thing. I harvested more pears and processed them. It took all day, but there were a lot.
I reached and picked as many as I could, and brought them back to the farmhouse. I peeled, and peeled, and peeled. I put them into the light syrup I'd made and let them cook a few minutes before putting them in pint jars. Processing in a water bath took twenty minutes for each batch of jars.
When all was said and done, I had twenty five more jars to show for my efforts. I already had eighteen jars in the pantry, but a dozen of those went up to Andy and Shelly's for them to enjoy - and as thanks for allowing me to harvest fruit from their tree. That leaves thirty one jars to fill another spot on my shelves.
I use vinegar and a clean flour sack towel to clean the rims of all my jars. It's a great antibacterial wipe, so I can be confident the contents of the jars will stay sanitary. As I was cleaning the last of the jars, I got a little vinegar on my thumb. Ordinarily, that wouldn't be an issue, but this time it stung like crazy. Seems a day of paring and peeling did a little number on my thumb.
There are more pears on this most prolific tree this year, but truthfully, what I've done so far has nearly done me in. With a grateful heart, I decided I won't be picking any more pears for this season. Yesterday's efforts were my limit. I know when to fold 'em.
My original plan was to make up a big batch of Cowboy Candy (candied jalapeños) today. I think I'm going to wait until my thumb heals closed before tackling that.
That means, today will be a perfect day to do a little needle dancing. The cardinals are patiently waiting. I'll share soon.
Those Pears look delicious!
ReplyDeleteOh Ouch!
Yes, I would wait with doing the Cowboy Candy. :)
Have a fun day stitching!
Marilyn
Hi Marilyn:
DeleteI'm going to follow your advice and avoid the jalapeños for now. My thumb isn't too bad unless I get it near alcohol or vinegar, which I'm going to avoid for now. You'll see that I didn't stitch (yet), but I will this weekend.
Happy Labor Day Weekend!
xoxo
Donna
Oh ouch! Your thumb looks sore. But just look at what you accomplished...wow. And even better that the pears were free. Imagine what it would have cost had you needed to buy that many. Of course I'm going by the prices here and maybe you can get them cheaper.
ReplyDeleteHi MA:
DeleteYes. The price was perfect for the pears! My thumb isn't too bad unless I get vinegar or alcohol on it. I'm going to avoid aggravating it for now.
xoxo
Donna
A little hint - if you have a pair of old cotton gloves available....at bedtime slather your thumb heavily with vaseline and wear the glove overnight. You can also do the same thing when you're washing dishes....slather your thumb really thickly with a good hand cream, cover with rubber glove and then wash the dishes in the hottest water you can stand. The heat helps drive the cream into your skin. I've done that many times over the years and it really helps.
DeleteThanks so much for the tip! I'm definitely going to try that.
DeleteHugs,
D
All those pears look wonderful but I'm sorry you finger hurts. When I would put up tomatoes, I had burns for taking the jars out of the boiling pot and got too close, sore hands, etc., etc. But I loved having the tomato sauce in the winter though! Have a great holiday weekend!
ReplyDeleteHi Sherri:
DeleteThanks, dear. I'll live. I didn't even know I'd done this until the vinegar made its way into an open split. Yikes! I'm loving looking in our pantry cabinets and see so much bounty. It's worth everything to have this available when the weather starts to turn. I hope it's not right around the corner!
xoxo
Donna