Happy birthday, Jeff!

Rock on, old man!

Mango chutney

I made mango chutney last weekend, and even fresh out of the preserving pot, it was tasty! I significantly changed the recipe I used (because I didn't have everything), so I wanted to write down what I did so I didn't forget...

Mango Chutney Recipe
(makes about 4-5 cups)

6 cups chopped just-ripe mango (about 4 mangos)
1.5 cups peeled, chopped apple (about 3 or 4, depending on the size)
1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
1 cup Turbinado sugar
1 cup diced red, orange, and/or yellow sweet pepper
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup sultanas or mixed raisins
1/2 cup lime juice
1/4 cup non-crystalized candied ginger (found at Trader Joe's)
2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
1 tsp. dried hot pepper flakes (I used Aleppo pepper because it's what we had)

(mango chutney before)

1. Prepare your preserving jars and lids.
   
2. Mix all of the ingredients together in a large preserving pot and bring to a boil over medium heat. Be sure to use a large, tall pot since it will start to spit near the end.
3. Simmer, stirring frequently for 45-60 minutes, until the mixture is thick and reduced to about a third of its original volume. I take a bar stool and sit next to the stove, stirring, and read a book. Squish up the apples when they get soft enough if they don't break up by themselves. Near the end, when it's spitting the most, you'll need to stir it constantly so it doesn't burn.
4. Spoon it into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. I like widemouth pint jars, but anything but really big jars will work. Put anything that won't fill a jar into the fridge and make some curry to go with it. Yum! Put on the lids and seal.
   
5. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
6. Try to wait at last a couple weeks before you try it!
   

(mango chutney after)

More canning

Over the weekend, I did some canning.

That's mango chutney, pickled cabbage, and spiced pickled apples. I also made plum jam, but but the cans away before I took a picture. Plus slowcooker applesauce.

A busy weekend! I'm taking the day off today to give me a four-day weekend; maybe I'll actually get to relax this time ... but probably not, knowing me ...

One evening's harvest from the garden

The peppers are all sweet and the eggplant are babies. Yum!

Faux-western skirt

Our staff appreciate picnic this year had a western theme to it, so I took the opportunity to buy some vaguely western-looking fabric I'd been eyeing for a while and make a skirt.

I didn't use a pattern, but I based this on the skirt of Butterick 4443, since I know it fits me and it's a basic A-line skirt. I cut one piece on the fold, then drafted a new piece that had 7-9 extra inches added to one edge. That gave me a nice, won't-blow-open skirt. I cut those pieces not on the fold.

I sewed both fabrics into separate skirts, then bound them together with homemade bias binding. I fastened them with a buttons at the both corners of the overlap. There are buttons on both sides to make it reversible.

The fabrics turned out to all be from the same collection, which I didn't realize until I'd gotten home. No wonder they all matched so perfectly. :)

Such helpful dogs

Cordy and Kaylee helped me clean out the slow cooker bowl after I made applesauce this weekend. What good, helpful girls!

A batty houseguest

I was shocked to discover yesterday that a little bat had wedged itself between the screen and upper storm window to spend the day.

He was gone by evening and didn't come back this morning, but Jeff is going to look into make a bat house to prevent such freeloading in the future.

Onions!

The garden's starting to peter out, but we got a couple pounds of onions at least!

And the peppers a pepping along, so I'll have to fins something to do with them soon.

Canning

I've started the canning already this year.



That's pickled cherries, pickled onions, and peach and sweet pepper relish.

Close up of the onions:



Close up of the relish:



While those jars are pretty, they don't stack, much to my annoyance. Don't get them!

One of those meme thingies

I normally don't do memes, but this one that Lindsey tagged me with was right up my alley:

Mark in bold the movie titles for which you read the book. Italicize the ones you've watched. Then tag five people to perpetuate the meme.

1. Jurassic Park
2. War of the Worlds
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
4. I, Robot
5. Contact
6. Congo
7. Cocoon
8. The Stepford Wives
9. The Time Machine
10. Starship Troopers
11. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
12. K-PAX
13. 2010
14. The Running Man
15. Sphere
16. The Mothman Prophecies
17. Dreamcatcher
18. Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?)
19. Dune
20. The Island of Dr. Moreau
21. Invasion of the Body Snatchers
22. The Iron Giant (The Iron Man)
23. Battlefield Earth
24. The Incredible Shrinking Woman
25. Fire in the Sky
26. Altered States
27. Timeline
28. The Postman
29. Freejack (Immortality, Inc.)
30. Solaris
31. Memoirs of an Invisible Man
32. The Thing (Who Goes There?)
33. The Thirteenth Floor
34. Lifeforce (Space Vampires)
35. Deadly Friend
36. The Puppet Masters
37. 1984
38. A Scanner Darkly
39. Creator
40. Monkey Shines
41. Solo (Weapon)
42. The Handmaid's Tale
43. Communion
44. Carnosaur
45. From Beyond
46. Nightflyers
47. Watchers
48. Body Snatchers

I've probably missed some that I've either read or watched, just because I don't remember. I've seen and read an awful lot of science fiction.

If you want to do this, I tag you. :)

Suicidal tomatoes

Momotaro tomatoes seem to jump off the vine if you so much as look at them. They're suicidal, so I guess it's not the best to have them on the kitchen window ledge, but it's the easiest place, really...

Polka dot dress

Jeff took me to a party, and I made a new dress for it

It's a reproduced pattern from 1952, and it's constructed very interestingly. I reviewed the pattern, and that's here.

I really like this dress. It makes me feel pretty, especially when I'm wearing it with a petticoat, like I am in the picture. :)

Someone's not talking to me because I cleaned an ear