On Tuesday, my mom came up for more canning. We decided to do more Zany Zucchini Pickles, as well as zucchini bread (baked, not canned). The plan was to double the Zany and bread recipes in order to eliminate as many zucchinis from my fridge as possible. Somehow we still managed to have some left over! My mom had to leave early, so she was not around for the actual 'canning' part. Which is unfortunate, because it was quite the experience!
First, I did something a little different than normal. Instead of warming the canning jars in water, I ran the dishwasher. The instructions for canning say that that is a viable option, so I figured it would work out. I also timed it so that the dish washer would be finished about the time I would need the jars. So I got a couple jars out, filled them accordingly, and then went to put them in the water-bath canner (the huge pot in the picture above). First jar went in fine. Second jar made a sound like gun fire two seconds after I placed it on the rack inside. I jumped, and swore, and then went to remove the jar. That is when I started swearing more. The bottom of the jar had blown off, so when I was lifting it out, the contents of the jar emptied into the water-bath! I didn't know what to do. Should I empty the water out and start over? Or leave the icky water in, and just remove the chunks? Since I wasn't sure if there were glass shards or not, I decided to empty the entire canner and start over. To my surprise, the colander only caught one piece of glass. It was almost as if a laser had been used to cut off the bottom of the jar; it was that exact! And yes, I thought about that in the middle of all the insanity. Must be the scientist in me!
I guess the good news is I was finally able to finish the canning. The bad news is, I had to wait for the water-bath to heat back up before I could process anything. All in all an hour was added on to my project. Not very happy about that. Hopefully the pickles still taste ok, especially since there are 13 jars worth! Cross your fingers!
And while all the canning drama was taking place, the zucchini bread was happily baking away in the oven. It was a bright spot when the oven timer went off, and out came four perfect loaves of bread! Tom and I ended up digging into one of the loaves right after he got home, because I was still finishing up with the processing, and we were both hungry! I decided not to include that loaf in the above picture. But there really were four! I am happy to report the zucchini bread tastes fabulous. Extra thanks to Aunt Sandy for providing the recipe. Yum!
Because Tom and I were extra hungry and the kitchen was a mess, we decided to head out for dinner. We went to Culver's (fast food burger place), and found a seat near one of the windows facing the drive thru lane. As we were waiting for our food, I noticed something odd on the outside windowsill. It was a frog! First of all, the Culver's is right next to a busy highway that runs through the city. Second, there is asphalt and pavement for at least a half mile in every direction surrounding the restaurant. And third, there is a pet shop in the shopping center directly behind the Culver's, so I was starting to think that someone did something cruel. It was obvious that that frog was coming home with us. Tom knows that look! I wasn't going to leave that amphibian in the urban jungle! (Zephyr, seen above enjoyed watching the frog.)
So we grabbed a cup and lid (with straw hole for air) and we rescued the frog! I decided to do an internet search before releasing it in our backyard, because I wanted to make sure it was native and NOT from the pet shop. Turns out it is most likely a Cope's Gray Tree-frog. You may notice that the frog is green and not gray in the photo. I was confused as well. They can change colors from green to gray and back rather rapidly, and are normally green at night. And they are native to Wisconsin! Since it was pitch black out when I released the frog, I snapped this picture in the dark hoping that I would get the frog. Success! Tiny little thing! Hope it eats some of the mosquitoes in our backyard!
And last but not least, I picked my first Pumpkin Pie pumpkin! I am thinking one will be enough for a pie, but I have no idea. Only one way to find out. Will let you know!
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