I took 4 days off from work. Not to relax mind you, I had stuff to do. I have been putting things in the freezer to deal with later. Now there is no room. Christmas is coming and I enjoy sharing. I used vacation time, but it has not been a vacation. I spent two days cooking, a few hours putting up Christmas decorations, and a day Christmas shopping.
I sliced up 14 lbs of bear and deer jerky. I love jerky. I looked around to see if I had any moose meat left, but I think I jerked the final bits last Christmas.
I then took out all of the tomatoes that I kept throwing in the freezer and roasted them for 2 hours in the oven. Then I used the awesome food mill my sister gave me to separate it into soup. If you are concerned about the black spots they are not burned tomatoes. They are actually blue tomatoes. I added some salt, garlic, rosemary, onion, and made a wonderful tomato soup. Yumm.
I then took all the leftover pieces of meat and ground them with some bacon. Using the High Mountain Seasoning I made summer sausage. That is currently cooking for four hours in the oven.
To top it all off I put up the Christmas Lights. We are a bit light on lights, because last year most of my lights died. Didn't have time to think about adding on.
I think I am finally ready for Christmas. Thanks to my husband shopping is completed. Now I just need to wrap. I am pretty pleased with my harvest this year. If you look at the left side of my blog towards the bottom it shows my harvest for 2015. I save them every year and I must say this was a very successful year. Especially, with my tomato and our bear harvests. I still have a day off. I will be mailing some packages, starting on a quilt, and enjoying some quiet time in the whirlpool tub.
What was your most productive harvest this year? Are you ready to enjoy Christmas?
I then took all the leftover pieces of meat and ground them with some bacon. Using the High Mountain Seasoning I made summer sausage. That is currently cooking for four hours in the oven.
When it was all said and done I had: 8 pints of canned meat, 4 pints of peach salsa, 3 pints of tomato soup, 8 jars of raspberry jam, 14 lbs of summer sausage, 14 lbs of jerky, and 7 bottles of crabapple wine. Egads am I ever tired.
I wasn't the only one tired. My faithful culinary companion was pretty wore out also.
What was your most productive harvest this year? Are you ready to enjoy Christmas?
You go, girl! I must admit I've never had canned meat. I also don't think I've ever seen the inside of your house before. Love your kitchen!
ReplyDeleteNot too successful here due to cold, wet Spring weather leading into a dry summer but you sure did well!
ReplyDeleteYou make me tired just reading that!! There 's a lot of satisfaction in sitting back and looking at the food that you have harvested and processed, isn't there? Now you can relax and enjoy the holidays. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI used to have one of those food mills, my ma called it a molay, I thought it was French.I made that much summer sausage once, and ate it all until gone. Got real tired of it, I should have spread it out.Living in a motel the rest of the month traveling, so restricted what I do eat.Going to my youngests and making bread today.
ReplyDeleteChristmas ready here. No canning in my past or future though. Have a big party here Friday night for Dan's staff then daughters, sons in law and granddaughter arrive home and hosting a gathering of Dan's whole family on the 27th. So lots of prep, decorating etch has already happened. Have a few gifts yet to wrap next week after the party is done and lean up has happened.
ReplyDeleteYou have done a lot to prepare.
Wow that is so impressive!!! Isn't it the best feeling in the world to sit and look at all of the food you can now store in your pantry? I never can think of a single thing I do that gives me that joy. Good for you about getting all of that work done. I love my food mill. I think it has to be the coolest invention. I am glad you had such a great harvest. I didn't plant as much as normal but I think we had a great harvest. We still have peppers. So we are still harvesting.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful time getting to quilt all safe and warm in your house. It is a lovely picture in my mind with your snow. Enjoy your day off.
Wow, you have been busy!
ReplyDeleteFantastic, what a lot of work and a lot of satisfaction from a job well done. I canned 30 quarts of tomatoes rescued from my in-laws garden before frost. Other than that, I was a slacker. My only crop this year was flowers and more flowers. I hope you have a little time to relax!
ReplyDelete