First, yes this is a picture of one shelf of my pantry. It says in most addiction programs admit you have a problem. So yes I am admitting I might have a canning problem. Of course might is the key word here because I have not heard any complaints or had an intervention, just weird looks, like I might have lost my mind. But usually if there is a possible onset of questioning my insanity, I just hand them a jar of homemade something and the bizarre looks become oh thank you. And then the conversation lull is over.  Well I took a picture because look how pretty the jars are in the reds with cranberries. Woohoo! I had to share.

I am in a rambling mood… so here goes.. 

It was a weekend filled with home. My son on Sunday said. I love Sundays. They are family day. He was sick this weekend so we spent the whole time home pretty much and even canceled some plans. But the upside is he went to bed tonight not coughing as much as the night before. And he should make it to school for the Thanksgiving feast.

So with time at home what did I do? I picked up my Bountiful Basket and canned. Woohoo! Of course. I tried to make it into my craft room to cut my new files for the qmc one more time, but it jus twasn’t happening. Kiddo needed some mom time.

So I canned cranberry apple relish, and cranberry chutney. I had everything in the basket needed with the exception of Ginger. The spice Ginger is not in my cupboard. (I always thought it was just that stuff on the sushi plate that is like an ingestible wet towelette for your tongue after eating sushi, but apparently not) So I had to run back to the store to get it. I also, got a new stockpot that is coated with ceramic. I love it. It is so pretty. I’d love to have a set of pretty pots and pans. Most I have are kinda mish mash, but I am gonna work my way through getting rid of the excess and replacing with better. The new one is deep so it will catch all the splashes of the cooking, but I can also cook a large batch of potatoes or perhaps apple pie filling for canning. We got a box of honeycrisp apples for apple pies this year. The guys are prepping to get the apple pies handled. Their tradition Thursday morning is baking pies, after pealing and eating a lot of brown sugar while preparing them.  However, those apples are calling my name. They would be soooo pretty in a jar. Wouldn’t they?

I gave the guys a taste of the cranberry apple relish and they both oohed and ahhed. Made me happy. They also both wondered through the kitchen looking for any extras or an open can, but I made 5 half pints without any to spare. Although I have enough ingredients for one more batch. So I might do that one night this week. They are just so pretty in the jar. But I have already hidden them in the cupboard to keep fingers off them.

Also, I wanted to use up more veggies from the basket because we got so much this time and I ran across a recipe for baked Italian sausage and veggies. So it wass soooo simple I tried. My hubby rated it delicious and one of the tops on his list of menu choices here at the Durnan house.

So here is how I did it in case you are short on time and want to try it.

1 package of Italian turkey sausage (sweet was what I had) cut up in fourths

5 red potatoes cut in chunks

1 large yellow onion cut in chunks

1 green and 1 red pepper cut in strips

Olive Oil

I tossed it with olive oil lightly (so it wasn’t greasy) and a little seasoning of the Italian persuasion and threw it in a 9×13 glass pan.

Baked it at 450 for 35 minutes.

Recipe then said you could top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

My variation… it called for a red or yellow pepper.. I had one red and three green. So we went with xmas colors.  Oh and I am not good at measuring so it was kinda cut this up and throw it in and then bake it. I think it was 1lb of sausage, 1lb of potates, 1 large onion, 2 red or yellow papers, and 1 tblsp of olive oil in a bigger pan so it could be flatter. I don’t have a bigger one so went with what I had.

I could see if I had a bunch of friends over doing it ahead of time and throwing it in the oven in the evening before everyone got here. My son said it smelled really good cooking. BUTTTT. And that is a big But. He said he saw what was in the pan before he could smell it. So he opted for a muenster cheese and ham sandwich. He cannot stand peppers or onions and is not fond of sausage. So the recipe was a no go for him. I think really Muenster cheese was calling him. I have to limit his consumption of Muenster Cheese. He loves it. I bought a package one day a few months ago and now he begs for it at the store. Cracks me up. If I smile and give him the look of I am thinking about it but not 100% on board with getting it… he does the MUENSTER Dance in the aisle at the store waving the little package around. Haha. So yeah I might give him that look just to see him giggle.

Ever heard of something called OOBlech? Yeah I was leary and then we spent 20 minutes giggling over it. More on that tomorrow.

For now I am off to work on files.

Have a wonderful day and live everyday to its fullest.

Enjoy!

Chris