Thursday's Kitchen Cupboard

I think I'm almost done with canning for this season....  and I am SO glad! In 2 days, I processed a bushel and a half of tomatoes and a peck of  very last good looking peaches that I could find. That was a lot of work!

So far, I have canned:

30 quarts of Tomato Sauce - with garlic, onions, basil, and oregano
10 pints of Stewed Tomatoes
10 half pints of Salsa
12 half pints of Ketchup
5 quarts of Tomato Juice
10 half pints of Seafood Cocktail Sauce
12 pints of Peaches in Syrup
8 half pints of Peach and Blackberry Jam
8 half pints of Raspberry Jam
5 half pints of Strawberry sauce
8 4oz jars of Chocolate Raspberry Sauce
6 half pints of Strawberry Jam
6 half pints of Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

I feel like I'm missing something, but I think we'll be okay for a while.

My cabinet is completely full. I have to find a different space for more jars that will come once the apples and pears start marching in. Actually, they are already in. It is quite strange to see fresh picked apples right next to peaches...

I never got to make my pickles since I had so little cucumber harvest. Whatever I picked went into my fridge pickle solution. We like them that way better anyway. I may be able to get enough beans to can a jar or two of dilly beans - those are fantastic.

Here is just a little dish I made the other day using some of the veggies from the garden: Tomatoes stuffed with cannellini bean and tuna salad plus pasta with pesto.  I love pesto! I don't know how I'd live without it. I still have lots and lots of basil in my garden. I wish my dill - another herb I absolutely love - was that successful. Isn't dill supposed to grow like weeds? Well it didn't happen in my garden...

Here is another dish - Beef Bulbogi with sweet quick pickles. We love Korean food, but I still have a lot to learn about it. I'm Japanese, so I tend to flavor things that way (very similar, but different). My American husband who used to live with a Korean roommate didn't think it tasted authentic.

In the midst of canning and cooking, I have also been baking a bit. I normally wouldn't in this heat that we had for a few days this week. BUT, when someone gives you this for FREE, how can you not?

One of my husband's co-workers had 2 mixers and wanted to get rid of one. She said she used this ONCE! I don't know how I lived without it for all the baking I did for all these years! It is wonderful. So far I made corn muffins with blueberries and raspberries, and pumpkin/peanut butter Dog treats. Since I have been too busy in the kitchen and haven't had much time to play with my puppy, I had to do something nice for her. She seemed quite satisfied with her new treats:)

In the meantime, my battle against those caterpillars continues as they keep munching on absolutely everything in my fall garden. 


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