Another CANNING DAY!!!!

Remember how I mentioned that I had to take the kids to their dentist appointments today, so I might not get to canning.....well, that certainly didn't stop me!!!  I canned the nectarines before the appointment, and tomatoes after it!! :-D  (I'm not sure what came over me....)

For some reason, I was seized by the urge to can the nectarines....they were getting soft, and I was afraid they could go bad if I waited any longer.  AND, I found a wonderful recipe that I was dying to try -- Honey Spiced Peaches!!  (well, in my case, it's Nectarines)  I can't wait to taste these!!! :-D

First, I had to split and pit each nectarine.....

That filled up, didn't it!  It is SO hard to keep myself from eating these - they smell SO delicious!!

Now, for the spices, each jar gets whole cloves and whole allspice, and a cinnamon stick....

I wish you could smell these spices!

Now I fill the jars with the nectarine halves, and then heat up a syrup of water, sugar, and honey, and fill the jars with it....

I've shown both sides of the jars, so you can see the spices....see the cinnamon sticks in the bottom picture?
Now, these need to sit for a couple of weeks, so the flavors really saturate the fruit -- it's going to be hard to wait! :-D    Yum Yum Yum!!!!

That's not all!  I also canned three quarts of WHOLE peeled tomatoes....I've never done that before!

This was VERY easy!  Just peel the tomatoes, pop them into the jars, cover them with water, and process - DONE!!  I am curious to see how these turn out, because I love fresh peeled tomatoes, and would love to be able to eat garden tomatoes in the winter....it would be so great if they were as tasty as fresh!  We'll see!! :-D
I still have a side-sink full of tomatoes - this didn't make a dent in them! LOL  I'll be tackling that tomorrow, and I might make more quarts of whole tomatoes.  I still have to make tomato juice, which we all loved last year.  Yikes!  LOTS of canning work, right?!!

So, while the tomatoes were boiling and dinner was cooking in the oven, I took a few moments to think about something other than food.....

Remember the basket I painted last week?  I clipped some more hydrangea blooms to put in there, and put it up in the cubby that I can't seem to get inspired about (of course! :-P)....

....hmmm....I'm not sure about this (don't look at the bottom....those things aren't staying there)....I have my new drawer chest up there, with my brown jugs/pitchers, but I don't think I like it....I'm going to keep it there for a day or two to see if it gives me any ideas, but so far, I'm stumped!!

Well, I am going to try to do something besides cooking tomorrow -- I HAVE to get to those boards stained!!! :-P  At least I don't have any appointments or errands.  I'm stuck at home.....my favorite thing!!! ^-^