A Country Cupboard

Our garden has been fairly abundant in its first season.  We have certainly had masses of cucumbers.  I have canned dill slices, dill spears, bread and butter pickles, sweet relish and many jars of Christmas Red Pickles... which do not taste like pickles in the least.   

Dill slices, red pickles, bread 'n butter and relish

One taste of a red pickle and you will swear you have just bitten into a delicious cinnamon flavored apple! Tom remembers his mom making red pickles; it's one of his favorites.  The recipe is labor intensive and 3 days long, but I assure you they are well worth the effort.


The tomatoes promise to be a good harvest as there are many lovely, perfect green spheres on the plants.  I plucked my first two yesterday.  There will {hopefully} be plenty to put up for winter, so we can make fresh spaghetti sauce and salsa during those chilly days spent inside.

Tomorrow will be a rare Saturday for the hubby and I - we are both off work!  Of course, we requested the day off.  Our initial plan was to head south, to the Ponca City (Oklahoma) rodeo.  Alas our temps are still in the 100s so sitting outside under the blistering sun doesn't sound like a fun time.  We'll forego the rodeo and instead drive up to Wichita early morning for the Olde Towne Farmers Market; I'm hoping to pick up a bunch of pickling cucumbers and make some whole dills.  (We neglected to plant pickling cukes this year. That will be rectified in next year's garden.)  I'm sure the Farmers Market promises to entice with plenty of other fresh produce and fruit.  After that, we'll enjoy a free lunch with a gift card I have for the Texas Roadhouse.

Then we'll head home so hubby can finish the front porch railing that he made...



and his garage renovation, which is really quite exciting when you consider what our garage HAS been... a giant storage shed with lots of boxes and miscellaneous furniture, a scary place that also housed rats and mice and large bugs.  He has torn down the low plywood ceiling and reinforced the roof supports, taken out drywall and installed OSB board for the walls, replaced some rotted boards, removed cupboards and a sink, and today he bought the first batch of outside knotty barnwood siding. I've been taking photos all along, so I'll post some before and afters in a few weeks.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer and staying cool in these extreme temps!  

Beautiful autumn is just around the corner, hooray!

naked lady lily in front yard

P.S. The winner of the kitteh name contest (even though we used our own chosen name of CiCi) is Smart Mouth Broad... I'll get your jar of strawberry jam mailed once the temps cool down! 
  

28 comments:

  1. Although it hasn't been unbearably hot here, it's been really dry. It finally rained today, so we're happy. The pickles look wonderful, as does the porch railing.

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  2. The rows of jars are beautiful - you done good, Suz! And I'm so jealous of your garden thriving...ours has given up the battle, flowers and produce alike. The intense heat is just more than they can take, plus the grasshoppers have now invaded. This is turning into a very long summer. Look forward to seeing the garage pictures - will you be having a garage party when it's done, inviting the neighbors for a hoe down? Oh wait, that's for a barn-raising, isn't it.

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  3. So jealous of all your jars, I want to do that too, but didn't even plant a garden this year other than my herbs. Sounds like tomorrow will be a great day! Enjoy! :-)

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  4. Hey, you have been a busy girl! When we were having our working vacation in Colorado the one thing we made sure we did was go to the farmers market every Sat morning...they just don't have them like that in Az. The corn (called vanilla and cream) was SO good...wish we could have brought a ton of it home with us. Looking forward to seeing the pics..

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  5. Congrats to Smart Mouth Broad for naming the cat. Your canning items looks wonderful. Maybe some day I will try it.

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  6. Isn't Kansas a beautiful place. Love the second shot of the cans lined up.

    Hey, if you aren't done canning yet, or If i missed it, do you have a post in you on canning tomatoes with an eye towards making a sauce. Do you can the sauce so that it becomes a heat and serve item, or do you can the tomatoes with an eye towards using them in a few months to make a sauce?

    inquiring want to be a canner minds want to know

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  7. The porch railing makes the whole house! Love it! I've never heard of the Christmas pickles. Interesting...

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  8. Oh those jars ore beautiful. I remember fondly canning with my Momma on my blog tomorrow. Enjoyed this. Thanks.

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  9. The temperatures are just terrible around these parts! Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler by about 5 or 6 degrees - a real cool front. HA!

    I'll have to see if I can find out anything about the farmers market in Wichita. I've been wanting to get up that way. There's supposed to be a wonderful scrapbook store in Andover. Those 2 things combined would make the trip worth it.

    Are your red pickles made with lime? They sound a lot like what we call Lime Pickles and I wanted to can some this year but haven't been able to locate any lime. They are labor intensive but oh so yummy!

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  10. Nice first season of garden vegetables. Great photos! The Christmas pickles sound like an interesting flavor with the cinnamon red hots. My MIL made cinnamon apple rings using red hots. Have a great time on your day off in Wichita!

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  11. Hot back here in Ohio.. Garden is winding down.. Lots of tomatoes,peaches,peach preserves& peach butter.The tomatoes we put up are then used for spaghetti sauce and to make chili. Have great weekend

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  12. Your summer bounty looks so pretty! We are in a horrible drought.... even so, our cucumbers have been plentiful. I've put up so many pickles this year. I only make lime pickles - sweet and dill. I just have never found another type of pickle that can beat that crunch. But I've never heard of the red pickles..... please do tell! I have 7 pounds in lime right now and would love to see that recipe. Enjoy your weekend with your honey. You DO deserve it. :)

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  13. My that is some impressive canning! What alot of work, good for you!

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  14. have fun on your day off....

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  15. Oh your shelf full of jars with pickled anything in it just looks gorgeous. Right out of the Country Home Magazine, which I'm sure exists and if not, you could publish it yourself ;-) Hope you had a good morning at the farmer's market. The porch looks great. Can't wait to see the garage transformation ;-)

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  16. Oh baby, your cupboards are beautiful filled with all your bounty! Have a great day at the farmer's market so ya'll can come home and enjoy a tall glass of tea on your charmin' front porch.

    God bless ya'll and have a terrific day sweetie!!!

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  17. Great photos! Those red pickles truly have me intrigued though.... But you scared me with the "labor intensive" part....

    I hope your weekend was a great one!

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  18. your place must be worth so much more than you paid now!

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  19. Beautiful jars! You have been busy! Thanks for sharing the naked lady lily blooms..I have a friend in California who sent me a photo..a beautiful lily, it is good to hear that it grows in places besides California. Fall is in the air up here too:)

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  20. I love Naked Ladies I have them in my front yard also. Fall is here also!

    Linda
    http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com/

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  21. What a beautifully colourful pantry you have. I don't have the time or, more importantly, patience to can. I rely on my mother's handiwork for those special treats.

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  22. Hey Susan, just wanted to tell you that I went on to your Grit blog. Loved it! I made the your Lemon Squares yesterday for dessert. YUM! Thank you.

    Also wanted to tell you how funny about the laundry detergent. I make my own also and wanted to use it for a while before I put it on my blog. I love my own detergent! I used to cringe everytime I would go to the store and have to buy the VERY expensive soap because of having an HG machine. I use the dry ingredients. Also I add a little more of the Borax to the machine because I have well water and it is really hard.

    Great post!

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  23. Way to go on the canning!! It is NOT an easy job, that's for sure. The only thing I've made so far this summer are the Garden Pickles, and they aren't processed - just kept in the fridge. Your jars look soooo pretty! I'm impressed with the fixer-up projects as well. Can't wait to see the before/afters of the garage. I certainly understand the feeling of accomplishment and joy when improvements are made!! Hope you're staying cooler by now. We are, and it's pure heaven :) -Tammy

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  24. Red pickles?!?! I've never heard of such a thing. Which just means I am out of touch with vegetables.

    Missing the Texas Roadhouse! Hope it was yummy! Stay cool, will ya? I know that area is burning up!

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  25. Absolutely great blogpage ! Have to add my list.
    Lots of greetings from Turkiye
    RRH

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  26. I do so enjoy your blog. I know I say that every time I've been away for awhile but when I come back I am always delighted at what has transpired in your neck of the woods. You have been one busy woman in the kitchen.

    I've never in my life heard of red pickles but the way you describe them, they sound quite tasty.

    A day off together is always a good thing, even if you ditched the original plan.

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  27. Sorry you will miss the rodeo...! Your canning efforts are beautiful, enjoy them!!!

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