Did You Accomplish Anything Today?

Day late, but I pressure canned 10 pints of the red bean part of Creole Red Beans and Rice yesterday. It's my first time to can dried beans and I did several things wrong, but learned from it. One thing that went right is the bay leaves. They're usually left whole while cooking and are removed before serving. I broke them up as much as possible with a mortar and pestle but the pieces were still big enough that I was worried about mouth feel. That turned out not to be a problem. Putting in too many beans per jar was the major snafu because they absorbed so much of the liquid that there's no longer liquid covering the tops. They're still safe to eat, but the top layer bit of beans without liquid will toughen enough that I'll have to discard those.
 

AnnieA said:
Day late, but I pressure canned 10 pints of the red bean part of Creole Red Beans and Rice yesterday. It's my first time to can dried beans and I did several things wrong, but learned from it. One thing that went right is the bay leaves. They're usually left whole while cooking and are removed before serving. I broke them up as much as possible with a mortar and pestle but the pieces were still big enough that I was worried about mouth feel. That turned out not to be a problem. Putting in too many beans per jar was the major snafu because they absorbed so much of the liquid that there's no longer liquid covering the tops. They're still safe to eat, but the top layer bit of beans without liquid will toughen enough that I'll have to discard those.
Click to expand...
I give you much credit for doing that! I've never attempted to can anything but it sounds like a good experience!
 
Ruthanne said:
I give you much credit for doing that! I've never attempted to can anything but it sounds like a good experience!
Click to expand...
Thank you! It was a good experience. This year is the first year I've attempted pressure canning. It was a little scary at first, but I'm feeling comfortable with it now. Dried beans are different from the other things I've canned because of the liquid issue. You can't fully cook beans before canning (90 minutes at 10 pounds pressure) because they'll turn to mush. So I've got to get the bean/liquid proportions right. Some days I love to chop ingredients and simmer a pot of some sort of bean soup, but leftovers never taste as good frozen and reheated. I opened a can of the red beans today and they were so good!
 

needshave said:
I'm restoring and renovating all the windows in my Gothic Revival brick dating 1850, in the carriage house that's on the property that I use to restore and repair the windows. You'll see the top pane of the cathedral window and the middle sash in the picture. There comes a time when you have to just stop and clean. I cleaned the carriage house today to the point that I can actually work and you can't imagine the number of tools I found that I have been looking for, for weeks! Time well spent!View attachment 133450
Click to expand...
Once I get it all restored and back together, it looks like this...gothic window.JPG
 
hollydolly said:
That's a very British looking window (sash)...we had sash windows when I was growing up
Click to expand...
Holly,
I started to tell you and got ahead of myself....The top sash bottom rail and the middle sash top rail are cut at a 60 degree angle so they fit tight and snuggly together, to prevent the infiltration of air between the two sashes they are packed with very fine horse hair, then the sashes are brought together and the horse hair trimmed on the inside. (built 1850) I did not of course use horse hair, none were willing, I used a thin closed cell rubber weatherstripping. One of those little things you never know until you experience it.
 
needshave said:
Holly,
I started to tell you and got ahead of myself....The top sash bottom rail and the middle sash top rail are cut at a 60 degree angle so they fit tight and snuggly together, to prevent the infiltration of air between the two sashes they are packed with very fine horse hair, then the sashes are brought together and the horse hair trimmed on the inside. (built 1850) I did not of course use horse hair, none were willing, I used a thin closed cell rubber weatherstripping. One of those little things you never know until you experience it.
Click to expand...
that's a great idea with the horse hair , because growing up, sash windows were very draughty
 
I went down to the community laundry room at 4:30 a.m. to wash clothes. When I came back up, I took out the garbage and recyclables, I showered, washed my hair and made my obligatory salat (prayer) before sunrise. After breakfast, I played Words With Friends and Cody Cross, both of which help challenge my knowledge, skills, which helps keep the cobwebs out of my brain. Dried my clothes, did some online stuff and made minestrone in the crock pot. After dinner I will run the dishwasher and not feel guilty about relaxing the rest of the night.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
I went down to the community laundry room at 4:30 a.m. to wash clothes. When I came back up, I took out the garbage and recyclables, I showered, washed my hair and made my obligatory salat (prayer) before sunrise. After breakfast, I played Words With Friends and Cody Cross, both of which help challenge my knowledge, skills, which helps keep the cobwebs out of my brain. Dried my clothes, did some online stuff and made minestrone in the crock pot. After dinner I will run the dishwasher and not feel guilty about relaxing the rest of the night.
Click to expand...
Yes, it's important to keep exercising our brain "muscles." I play some online games to do so.
 
Pappy said:
Yes, very productive day. When to VA and got fitted for new hearing aids. These new ones are going to be great. No more batteries and no more domes.
Stopped home and picked up my wife and we went for hot dogs and ice cream. Stopped on the way home and got DD coffee to take home.
Click to expand...
Please tell us about these miraculous hearing aids that operate without batteries. Are they rechargeable via USB or something? Wow! ♥
 
Yesterday I made some bacon / lentil/potato & pea soup... quite a lot of heavy lifting given my shoulder blade /back injury ....I also made my husbands dinner of vegan steak with carrot & swede..

Today I'm paying the price in Pain... :cry:
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top