"Are you having an affair?" he asked.
I gulped. I hadn't thought he'd noticed how distant I'd become or how my evenings have been spent focused on matters other than him. But I had to tell him the truth. I was having an affair. One that was hot and steamy, with just a tinge of danger.
"Yes," I fessed up. "With my hot water bath canner."
It's true.
What started out as a single batch of jam, quickly turned into an obsession. Things have only escalated since the "putting up" post. The last four weeks have been a frenetic flurry of food preservation. If I wasn't out picking berries, I was buying a lug of peaches. I've spent so much time standing at the kitchen counter, chopping, stirring, scooping that I developed shin splints this week.
Here's the damage:
4.5 pints raspberry jam (tame raspberries, from Mom's garden)
7 pints peach salsa
4 quarts blueberry pie filling
3 quarts peach slices
3 quarts sauerkraut
4 pints peach jam
3 pints blueberry jam
Like any affair, I feel a little shame about the whole thing. When did I get so stinkin' domestic and focused on home economics? What 26-year-old in her right mind can't wait to get home so she can stand in front of boiling vat "canning things for winter?" I've been known to cackle in delight when I hear the "click" of the can lids sealing. It's all disconcerting.
But while I might wish from the bottom of my heart that I could quit the whole thing, by this point, things are too complicated for that. Anymore, it's hard to relax if I don't have a spoon or knife in my hands. I feel a little lost if my face isn't flushed from the steam of the burbling canner.
Still, at some point, it has to end. (Doesn't it?) Andy's tired of sharing me. Heck, there are even times when I want the life I had before back. I have to promise Andy (and myself) that it will all end soon . . . right after I make another batch of salsa . . . and pickle some jalapenos . . . and . . . .
LOVE it Ada! You're a domestic goddess.;)
ReplyDeleteAlas, I cannot find a flat bottomed canner to put on my ceramic topped stove. So, instead, I put away a paltry 3 jars of ginger-peach freezer jam. I'm impressed by what you have put by!
ReplyDeleteHA! this is fabulous. but just think of how happy he's going to be with blueberry jam in january.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness you are a canning/pickling/putting up machine! Glad you're close to the end so Andy can get his girl back :) He'll be thankful you did all this come winter time, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteYou surely deserve the Golden Broomstick
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh---- this is so amazing!!! Don't feel guilty, embrace who you are (and send me some of the pie filing!)...
ReplyDeleteI wish I were more like you!
ReplyDeletehahaha- sometimes I feel like the oldest 26 year old in the world too, with my knitting and crafting and putting on my pjs at 9:00. Your canning is quite impressive!
ReplyDeletethis affair will be even better when you're enjoying all that luscious fruit this winter. Have no shame! Plus, all that steam should be good for your complexion, right?
ReplyDeletehi! new follower! you grabbed my attention with your title and introduction!!
ReplyDeleteluv,
mare
http://mare-itsjustmebeingme.blogspot.com/
Is it weird that I feel the slightest twinge of jealousy at your ability to run out and pick berries so that you can make them into other things? Yeah... I'm a little weird I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteIt will all end though and then you'll have all winter to cuddle up and hang out and pretty soon he'll be asking 'Don't you have some canning to do or something?' ;)