Canning Potatoes

I've always wanted to try canning something other than peaches, pears and jellies, but have shyed away from it because of the fear of broken jars, wasted money, and ruined food. But the opportunity arose to try canning potatoes, so I decided I'd give it a try (thanks to Momzoo for the inspiration). I asked a few of my older girls to help buy some potatoes, and help can them (the Chicken Little theory), and guess what? No broken jars (at least, not today; tomorrow may be a different story) ! Thanks, Alisa, for helping on the first day of canning!

Here's what I did:

First you scrub the potatoes really good and rinse them twice. Cut into chunks and save in salted water (so they don't turn brown) till you're finished chunking.

Then add them to boiling water for two minutes. Fill the jars loosely with potato chunks, add 1 tsp. salt, and pour the water they were boiled in, into the jars to within 1/2 inch of the top. Twist on the caps, and place in the pressure canner (that has boiling water in it).

Follow the manufacturers instructions for your canner regarding water levels and proper procedures for canning.

My canner calls for 3 quarts of water, holds 5 jars, and the potatoes process for 40 minutes.

This is before being processed (above). And this is after being processed (below). They look alike, but they're not.....really!

Ten pounds of potatoes yielded about 10 quart jars. We went through about 40 pounds of potatoes today with another 50 to go. It's really not that hard! I might try something else in the future after making it this far with my canner!

Cheese Stuffed Potato Pancakes

Our usual favorite with leftover mashed potatoes is potato pancakes. But this time, we spiced it up and found it to be a big hit.

(remember, at our house, we don't measure anything when cooking from scratch, so these measurements are close guesses)

To the mashed potatoes (which I had already added salt and pepper the day before), I added:

1/2 cup finely diced onions

2 eggs

dash of salt

dash of pepper

1 cup flour, plus flour for dusting

1/2 cup grated pepper jack cheese (the spice)

Olive oil for frying

On a floured surface, drop a scoop of mashed potato mixture.

Mash flat and form into a circle about 3/4 inch thick. Both sides should be floured.

Sprinkle a teaspoonful of grated cheese into center of pancake.

Fold edges in toward center covering the cheese.

Fry on medium low heat until golden brown on both sides.

We kept them warm in the oven until ready to serve. This was, of course, after we tried a few. Yummy! The spicy melted cheese with the soft potato texture was really a complement to our dinner.

Exclamatory Verbage!!!!

"OH, HOT DOG!"
Even before Jeffrey R. Holland's talk (May Conference 2007) about the language we use around our families, I'd tried to watch my words. I remember the saying, "A soft answer turneth away wrath (Prov. 15:1)" and I know that the effect of kind words lifts those around us. But non abrasive, not-so-hard-to-hear words of frustration are sometimes hard to find in those moments of exasperation. So a while back, I came up with a few softer, easier-to-hear words that make my family aware that I'm miffed about something, but don't have that cutting edge to them.
"Oh, hot dog!" has stuck for the past few years, and had even made our youngest girl giggle. It usually comes out when I've realized something important didn't get done or didn't happen.
Such as:
Upon reaching the car with my cart full of groceries, I realized I forgot the milk I came for. "Oh, hot dog!"
With the first batch of chocolate chip cookies ready to go into the oven, I realized I forgot to add the eggs! "Oh, hot dog!"
I got all the way home from the store and realized I was supposed to put gas in the truck. "Oh, hot dog!"

"BOLONEY!" (I know it's really spelled Bologna) is used when I don't believe a word of what someone is saying.
Such as:
One of the boys says they've emptied the bathroom trash. "Boloney! Go empty it!"
"I don't have any homework!" "Boloney!"
"I DID sweep the floor!" "Boloney!"

In some instances, my frustration peaks and a foreign language comes out. Some kind of incomplete, jumbled words that don't even sound like real words gets blurted at someone at an instant when they're supposed to be hurrying up or when they need an attention-getting blast. "Bwa-ten-o-muh-sow-ehn!" This muddled word is never the same, but it's enough to get someone moving!

When I was little, my mother used to say "Fiddlesticks!" I thought, at the time, it was a cute thing to say, but never picked up on it.

Although I'm no where near perfect at using the English language to express my feelings and thoughts, at least for now, hopefully whatever words DO come out of my mouth during those moments of irritation, are a little softer on the ears!

APPLES!!!!

Inspired by Momzoo, I've finally mustered the courage to can some apples again! (Explosive experiences in the past) They're little chunks in little jars, I know, but nonetheless, they're apples in jars! Just the way we like them. So exciting!