Sunday, August 13, 2023

green beans to pickle

  Many hours have been gladly spent picking, snapping, cooking and canning green beans this summer, truly just for the past six weeks we have harvested many pickings of this healthy vegetable from our garden. I decided it was high time I preserved a batch of pickled beans to add to my larder.  Here is a recipe that is close to the one I will be using, though I am not calling mine dilly beans because the dill has become rather sparse in my garden, but I will include garlic, mustard seeds, peppercorns and a cayenne pepper.

Ever time I speak to my mother-in-law these days the conversation always includes a chat concerning our garden and she never fails to bring up to me those days of the past when I would pickle green beans. Those plenitudinous years of  green bean production enabled my pantry to be stocked full with all the green beans we would need through the winter months. So with a tribute to this dear sweet lady I am pickling a batch of green beans with a heart of fun and thanksgiving.

But first I must make a run to the store because I just noticed that I do not have enough canning jars! 

 What are you preserving these days?



Tuesday, August 1, 2023

turning ninety with grace

 My father's brother turned ninety last week and his family rightfully honored him with a birthday party. Of course, we wanted to go to be a part of joyfully celebrating his life; I could not imagine not doing so even with the three hour drive on a Sunday afternoon.

At my brother's funeral several weeks ago I gasped when I saw my uncle because it was like I was seeing my paternal grandfather once again. (He died in 1991 at age 91).  How I love family resemblances. My Uncle Gene is sharp and clear-minded as that family line tends to be as they age. When I mentioned to him how much he looked like Granddaddy, he with his soft -spoken voice said, "I know, sometimes I look in the mirror and I can see him too."


a chickadee

 I have taken to afternoon walks in the fields along the side of the woodlands. Today I carried along a small pair of binoculars hoping to c...