Canning with friends

A harmonious kitchen-mate is a hard thing to find. Yesterday, my neighbor Jen and I spent the day canning as if we'd spent every Saturday canning, our whole lives. I knew when to back off, she knew when to jump in with the tongs. We ate muffins with the bits of jam that were left in the bottoms of my jam pots last week. We played board games while we waited for the water to heat, the steam to start, the processing to run. She beat me at Othello, and I'll try not to hold it against her. When Corrine could spare a minute, she joined us too, and we'd sit at my table drinking tea and sharing easy conversation.

Altogether, it was a thoroughly fun, soul-filling afternoon.

And now I know how to pressure-can. (Insert evil laugh here.) Watch out world, I've got a whole month before the Farmers Market closes!

Homemade roasted red peppers.
Vegetable stock. Isn't that a beautiful color?


Pete, sleeping in my fabric. This is a typical level of cuteness for so-called Mr. Magical.