Q is for...
Quart jar.
It's the time of year for quart jars, isn't it? I don't do much canning (and when I say "much," I mean "zero"), but when I see the jars and lids in the stores, I think of grandma and her cellar full of jars.
She canned tomatoes*, cukes, beans, pears, peaches, pickles -- always pickles... dill pickles, bread and butter pickles, pickled beets, pickles with onions and garlic.
My dad cans tuna, fresh off the boat, and salmon (sometimes in tomato sauce), fruit... and pickles.
My sister cans her homemade salsa.
I've never canned a thing. My quart jars are used to hold marbles or bouquets of Queen Anne's Lace.
*Katie swears that the total sale at the cute tomato vendors' on Saturday increased by $3.00 with the addition of the heirloom tomato pictured. I have to admit that I wasn't really paying attention -- I was enchanted by the green-black-purply-ness of the tomatoes. Just in case it was $3.00, it wasn't thrown into the tomato sauce pot; we savored it in small wedges. Mmmmmm, it was very, very good, though I'm not sure it was three dollars good. ; )
Mmmmm, I miss all the varieties of pickles we had, too. "Tongue pickles," the name always grossed me out, but they tasted so good.... I remember the jars with the rubbers that you had to pull on to release the seal. I now do my few jars of tomatoes, with the new-fangled lids, and some years some pickled beets, but that's it. Thanks for the memories. Love it.
Posted by: Norma | 27 August 2006 at 06:37 PM
I've canned pickles and tomatoes. It's a lot of work but it's a real sense of accomplishment. That said, I also think quart jars are great for holding things like buttons and other small collections.
Posted by: Carole | 27 August 2006 at 08:27 PM
I used to do a TON of canning, but haven't since I started working full time. I miss it, but who has the time?
Posted by: Celia | 27 August 2006 at 09:00 PM
I'm having to think of who I know with an abundance of tomatoes -- I just realized that tomatoes are $3 a lb here. Is that sauce THAT good??
I have this fear of canning but I do enjoy dehydrating things :D
Posted by: rho1640 | 27 August 2006 at 11:07 PM
I love Queen Ann's Lace...I've got something for pretty weeds...when I did the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Alaska--a nun likened the marginalized to dandelions and other flowery weeds. Bothersome and strong. There is beauty in them despite there negative image.
Posted by: Kathleen | 28 August 2006 at 12:54 PM