PROBLEM and SOLUTION (a novice approach)

Day 27

You can't hurry the job of canning. It's going to take a long time and you just might as well accept it!

My domesticated self, along with my wife, decided that we could take on the rather involved task of canning peaches today. We found a GREAT deal on ORGANIC peaches (22 lbs for $23). Most of them were bruised pretty badly which meant they wouldn't keep long, and they had already been on a truck for a week (from Oregon). And, since we were out of jelly, it only seemed natural.

Of course, you have to have a lot of stuff to can something: jars, rings, lids, pots and pans, spoons for stirring, a little 'know-how' and a patient disposition...IT DOESN'T PAY TO BE IN A HURRY!

So, I began the process of putting the peaches in a bath (that means boil for 2-3 minutes). After that you're supposed to remove the skin, and put the peaches into another cool bath. I got the first peaches in when we realized we didn't have any lids and only a few rings (I have discovered that I sometimes begin an activity without checking to make sure I have everything first...I'm not sure who I inherited that trait from, but...). My dear wife volunteered to go to the store to get the lids and few rings we would need for our 'experiment.'

While she feverishly shopped for materials, I kept at it...bath, peel, bath, bath some more, peel some more, another bath. Bath even more, peel even more and then...I was running out of room. What to do, what to do...FILL ANOTHER CONTAINER. By the time my wife returned I had dirtied nearly every container in the kitchen--BUT, we were READY!

The kitchen was bustling with measuring sugar, mixing the 'mush' and washing and heating the jars. The two of us made quite a team!



Then came the time to start filling the jars. Now, before pouring boiling peach jam into jars, the jars have to be warmed. The lowest temperature to which the oven will heat is 170 degrees. What's up with that?! There should be a setting on an oven that says, 'Just Over Warm' or something like that.

Now, I've graduated from college, TWICE. I consider myself pretty smart. But when you get in a hurry, you tend to do things without thinking (kind of like the diapers yesterday). I had the hot pad on my left hand, and my bare right hand was busy stirring and pouring. I reached in and grabbed the first jar. Carefully, I put it on the counter and filled it with near-boiling peach jam. Beautiful! While my wife cleaned the top, added the lid and the ring, I grabbed the next jar and continued my routine.

Problem: I was moving faster than my wife. That meant I was running out of counter space.
Solution: 'NO PROBLEM,' I told myself. So, I just tossed the EXTREMELY HOT jar to my BARE RIGHT hand and reached with my gloved hand for the jars I had just filled with jam...

DILEMMA: BOILING HOT JAR OF JAM IN LEFT HAND, BOILING HOT JAR IN RIGHT HAND...WHICH ONE TO DROP?!?!? AAAAAAAAAAACCCKKKKKKKKK!!!

19 pints of Jam

Notice how BEAUTIFUL it is. Go ahead...comment now.