Heating Season

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Attila turned the heat on yesterday morning. After a chilly night, the indoor temperature had fallen to 18C, which is a little cooler than we like it, so the thermostat was set to 21C, and the heating season has begun. I’ve been busy in the kitchen. I was going to be spending a lot of time organizing the freezer. As usual plans change, a distraction appeared, in the form of a bushel of Northern Spy apples. Saturday was dreary, so after making a call to ensure availability, we took a drive out the apple ‘farm”. It was more like a carnival site than a farm. I grew up on a farm, and it was nothing like a producing enterprise. It was a “do-dad” store. Sure, there were bins and bushels of apples, at sky-high prices, but there was mostly astronomically priced goodies, that looked homemade, but probably were not. $10 for a small jar of jelly seems a little over the top, but people were lined up at the cash register, and most of the high-priced baked goods were gone. We looked around, inwardly gasping at the prices, then found what we were looking for, bushels of Northern Spy apples. … Continue reading →

Still Moving In!

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When we moved to Mist Cottage, just over three years ago, we were overwhelmed by possessions.  What comfortably furnished an 1800 square foot home did not fit comfortably into an already fully furnished 640 square foot home. Boxes were stacked to the ceiling, and tunnels through them led to the kitchen, the bathroom and the beds. We have come a long way since that week of moving our household.  Much was given to Terra and Lares, a custom-made pine dining set, an antique oak dresser… Much was given to the local Women’s Shelter, and Men’s Shelter, dishes, two television sets, clothing and much, much more… Some things were given away via kijiji.  Other items were sold via kijiji.  I discovered I do not like selling via kijiji, finding a meeting place to exchange money for items, or having people pick things up at the house… nope, I don’t like that much. Because Mist Cottage was already a fully functioning home, fully furnished, supplied with food, and the necessities of day-to-day life, we had duplicates of just about everything.  Three years later we are just about through either using the duplicates (e.g. two jars of mustard), or finding a new home … Continue reading →

Thanksgiving

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It is a long weekend this weekend, Monday is the Canadian Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! Attila has been out and about, actually taking the old, completely destroyed, metal eavestroughs, that have been sitting under the back porch since we bought the house, well since the rotted wood they were attached too fell off the house just after we bought it.  They were/are an eyesore, and since Mist Cottage has come so far along with the exterior renovations, they don’t have any further purpose.  Attila would like to buy new eavestrough for the entire house, when the back porch is renovated, the new metal roof has been installed, and the new siding is installed.  Well, all of that renovating might never happen, none of those projects are a priority, and all of them will cost a small fortune.  So for the forseeable future, Mist Cottage will be getting along without eavestroughs.  The bright side of that is that they won’t need to be cleaned! I have contacted an individual through social media, who would be glad to receive my old, well-kept hot water bath canner.  There is no room for it here, as all of my high … Continue reading →

Pressure Canner: Tomatoes 2018

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Another info-note to self about my canned tomatoes. Three dozen jars of tomatoes were canned in September 2018.  The first two batches were Roma tomatoes purchased from first NoFrills in a 20 pound box for $7,99, then a second box was purchased from Metro in a 25 pound box for $8.00.  The third batch was canned in two sessions on September 26th and 27th using garden tomatoes: Pink Girl; San Marino; Health Kick; and Amish paste tomatoes. Tomato preparation: The Roma tomatoes were washed and the stem ends removed.  They were placed whole in a 16 quart stock pot, then brought to a boil and simmered until stewed.  Then they were processed through the Cuisinart manual food mill, using the largest size sieve plate. The garden tomatoes were frozen whole as they ripened, stems removed.  The frozen tomatoes were placed in a 16 quart stock pot with 1/2 cup of water, set on a low heat until they began to thaw and soften.  The tomatoes were stewed at a low heat.  Then they were processed through teh Cuisinart manual food mill, using the smallest size sieve plate.  This size was used because of the minute size of the tomato seeds … Continue reading →

Steam Canner

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This entry is mostly an info-note to self about my new steam canner. When I tested it, as suggested in the manual, by canning four 1 litre jars filled with hot water, and watching the gauge, one of the jars cracked on the bottom. I began at a 6/10 heat on my burner, I never go higher than 7/10 because my pots are heavy and don’t need a higher heat, nor do they benefit from a higher heat. I waited until the lid rumbled a bit and steam forced it up a bit, then checked the gauge reading, lowering the heat to 4.5/10, which provided a full rolling boil and a steady, strong stream of steam. I thought that perhaps a bit higher heat was desirable. When I made my first batch of Crabapple Jelly, two 500 ml jars, I heated the water in the canner to a boil, added the jars, then turned the heat down to 4.5/10. This was again, a full rolling boil. Only one of the two jars sealed. When I made Crabapple Jelly this morning, eight 500 lm jars, I heated the water in the canner slowly at 3.5/10, added the jars, left the stove … Continue reading →