A Weekend of Repeats

On Friday I picked up our 8th bushel of tomatoes.  There are still so many things that I would like to make but sometimes doing the tried, tested and true favorites prevail.  I’ve repeated our favorite salsa which we call “Parrot Head Spicy Salsa” and I know some of this bushel will go to stewed tomatoes.  But, I would like to try out a new chutney or two…so I will keep you posted.

Put up Total:

• 7 x 500mL wide mouth jars

I also made two more batches of crab apple & vanilla curd.  MMMMmmmmGOOD!  This stuff is so tasty and I had the apples….I just couldn’t resist!  The second batch of curd is where I ran into a little trouble.  I had one jar break in the hot water processor.  It made a real mess because the eggs in the curd began to cook as it seeped into the water.  I should have stopped the process, taken everything out and cleaned it up but I left it going.  In the end the jars wouldn’t seal…because of the tiny loose particles were able to get between the rim and lid.  Don’t worry all was not lost.  I cleaned everything up and reprocessed.  These few jars will be eaten first as I am not sure if the curd will be affected by the double processing.  I think my problem was that the curd was not as hot as it should have been when I ladled it into the sterilized jars and I placed the jars into a full rolling boil without using the metal rack which keeps them slightly off the bottom.  Basically, I made all of the mistakes.  I am getting slack and over confident…that will teach me!

I should have taken a picture of the mess…but I didn’t.  SORRY!

Put up Total:

• 3 x 500mL regular mason jar
• 1 x 500mL wide mouth mason jar
• 3 x 250mL regular mason jars (1 diamond)