Canning in May?

This week some of  the loss leaders at Kroger were Corn, 10 ears for $2, Green beans, $1 a pound, and Pork Roasts, $1.77 a pound.  The corn and beans were from Florida.  Usually I try to buy locally to can and freeze but last year, because of the drought, I did almost no canning.  There was no produce to buy!   When I got to the store I observed that the corn and green beans looked fresh and unblemished so I bought a lot!  Likewise the pork roasts were the large ones with little fat.  I bought lots of that too.  Then I took them home and began processing them for storage.  I cut the pork roasts into tenderloins, enough for 17 meals.  I parboiled the corn, froze it on cookie sheets and made about 30 meals worth of corn on the cob.  Then I broke and canned the green beans in a pressure canner.  Now breaking 7 pounds of beans is a fairly long job but in my childhood this job was done on the cool front porch, sitting in a rocking chair if possible and chatting with a handy child or neighbor.  This time I did it watching Dr Phil and other shows and it passed as effortlessly.  The beans were so young and tender that I didn't tail them, just took the stems off and broke them in half.  It's only long tough runner beans that one tails in order to get the last string off.  I canned them in two batches for an hour each at 10 pounds pressure.  Two jars didn't seal, I used one piece lids on those and it was the second use so no surprise there and we've eaten one already and will eat the other before the end of the week.  No harm done!

There was only one thing I didn't plan for.  Remember all those chicken breasts I froze?  And there were about 6 loaves of bread, extra ice cream bought on sale.  My freezer is very small.  I could only just cram all my frozen goods in by starting on the ice cream early.  And taking out a half-gallon of milk a few days early, also some bread.  The little freezer is full to the very top!  But that's the way I like it!


I would like to report that the miniature rose bush my daughter gave me last Mother's day has outdone itself this year!

And now a word from my colleague Elyah
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Here's a picture of me and my classmates presenting an afghan to our teachers.  We made the whole thing.  The  purple square next to the left  was made by Ana and me.  Ana and Bill and Steve came to see me graduate and eat cookies in the gym.  After it was over my Mom and I went home and watched  the new Star Trek movie.  It was very good.