New Stuff!

This week is known as Festival Week in the Covey house. Wednesday is Dwayne's birthday, Friday is our 27th wedding anniversary, and Sunday is my birthday. Thursday and Saturday are affectionately known as "Skip Days." Because we've just returned from a fabulous trip, and I've had to make a sizable deposit on next May's vacation, we decided to keep it simple for Festival Week this year.

"What do you want for your birthday?"
"I don't know. Maybe a kitchen scale. That way I wouldn't have to weigh stuff in the bathroom."
(Note: No food touches bathroom surfaces. I weigh, first without the item, then with.)
"The bad news is, we'd actually know how much 4 ounces of meat is..."

Tonight we stopped by Target because Mr. Dwayne has lost so much weight that he found he didn't have dress slacks for VIP visitations at work this week. It's no good to dress up if your pants threaten to fall down. As we strolled through Target, there is was! A whole end cap with canning stuff! Not only canning stuff, but super cool NEW canning stuff. My birthday wishes started to expand as fast as I could load the card.
I'm especially exited about this cute and functional Home Canning Discovery Kit. Check out that cute little silicone basket! I can drop three jars into my stock pot for a small batch and I don't have to heat up the whole tamale steamer full of water. I've been researching pickles and food safety all week. I'm so happy that I can experiment in small batches and see how things turn out before cranking it up to a major production. In my research, I also found that food safety information has changed considerably since the 70's. I will always keep my old Ball Blue Book from 1974. It, and lots of the cookbooks I enjoy and use belonged to my great grandma. With this new one, I'll be sure that everything I give to my loved ones will be healthy and delicious. I'm feeling a kind of fervor for the farmer's market and all the possibilities.

"What do you want to do for your birthday?"
"I think I want to go to the farmer's market and make something."

Isn't it great that I have a husband who asks me these questions and helps me load the cart with fun goodies? Thank you Sweetie!

Isn't it exciting that I don't know what I will make yet? It will be whatever is beautiful and abundant. I might even pick blackberries up in the hills. Ah! Summertime!
(I should also find a kiddie pool!)