THE BOTTLING EXTRAVAGANZA
(AKA: "Heck Week")

THE WEEK OF: July 15th - 18th

"Heck Week" started out very nicely. Brian's oldest brother David and his family came to visit for a few days. We all gathered at Brian's parents' house in Springville to spend some time with them on Sunday, July 15th. We all went outside for a nice talk. Brian and I had been playing a drawing game with sidewalk chalk, and since I wasn't doing to well at it, I just let Brian go ahead and do his thing. Here he is doing his thing.










Here's a quick drawing Brian did in honor of Vaughn. It totally reminded me of what Vaughn looked like when he was about a year old.
















Brian didn't want me to post any of his drawings because he said they were "no good." But I think they're great considering he literally took spent less than 30 seconds on each one!













I love Brian's family because they are always having extremely interesting conversations about one topic or another. I really liked this picture of Brian's brother David, and his sister Amy. It looked like they were really getting into whatever they were talking about!














Here's David's wife Heidi, and she's holding the newest member of their family, little Annika. That kid has the craziest hair! It was sticking up the entire time they were there to visit. And it makes her even cuter!










The next day, Monday, truly began heck week. I call it heck week for one reason....I spent an almost solid 6 days bottling different things! I couldn't believe I had done that much after it was all finished but I did! And I also involved other people in the process; like Brian, Amy and her kids, Mom and Dad Higginson to name a few! I started on Monday by picking about 100 pounds of apricots off of Brother Fife's apricot trees. He is the man who gave me a pressure- canner. Then I went over to Amy's house to begin the first stage of making Mom Higginson's famous zucchini relish. This is a picture of some of the produce we used from my garden.




After we cut and finely chopped all the ingredients, which included zucchini, peppers and onions, we combined them together and put them in big stock pots. Then we mixed in some salt and let them sit overnight to "sweat out" some moisture. Here's me attempting to mix in the salt. I look nasty because I had been picking apricots all morning!









On Tuesday it was back over to Amy's. We rinsed off the vegetable mixture and then added vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, turmeric and I think some salt, and put it on to simmer for a while. Vaughn was getting pretty bored with all the bottling at this point, as the picture to the right shows. (I felt so bad when I saw this picture!)










So Vaughn took matters into his own hands, and decided to wrestle with his older cousin McKay. I got some of it on video, and it was so fun to watch those two together. McKay was very tender with Vaughn, and he let Vaughn beat up on him quite a bit.





After letting the mixture thicken, we processed it in pint jars. We wound up with 26 pints when we were through, and they looked gorgeous! And what do you use this relish for? Well, you can put it on sandwiches, hot dogs or use it as a vegetable dip. But I use it for tartar sauce! How you ask? I mix some of the relish with some mayo, and it is the best darn tartar sauce you've ever had in your life! I can't eat fish without it! And if you don't believe me, then I'll give you a jar and also a guarantee that if you try it in a tartar sauce you will love it! How's that for confidence?!?!

That evening, Tuesday the 17th of July, I took Vaughn to a bridal shower for my best friend from college, Devin Thetford. We hadn't seen each other in a long time, so it was a very happy reunion for us both.












Vaughn had never met Devin before. But when he saw her he reached out for her and hugged her and wouldn't let go. He just let her hold him while he let his body rest in her arms. I thought he would want to come back to me after a few minutes, or even 15 minutes, but no way!










Vaughn insisted on Devin holding him while he stared off into oblivion for almost 20 minutes straight! I've never seen him do anything like it before or since! He's never taken to a stranger like that. I personally think he was paying me back for doing so much bottling! I actually need to give much more credit to Devin. I think really it's just that she is such a good person that Vaughn was drawn to her. She really is just about the nicest, most kind person you will ever meet. She was a real strength to me up at college, and I am grateful to still be able to associate with her. I'll mention too that she is about the most talented pianist I've ever met. She's amazing!






The bridal shower was really fun! A lot of people showed up, and there were a lot of really clever games that her friends came up with. Devin also got a lot of really nice gifts from people, and I was glad of that. I didn't get to meet her fiancee, but I am excited to meet him at their reception this week. In their announcement they look so happy together. I am truly happy for them both!




On Wednesday, July 18th, it was back to bottling. But this time I was doing apricots. I don't like bottled apricots, so I process them in a steam-juicer and come out with apricot nectar. I bottle that and then use it in drinks and it is wonderful! (If you mix a quart of apricot nectar with some orange juice, a few teaspoons of almond extract and a little bit of sugar, it makes a exceptional dinner drink.) I finally got a little smarter and tried to involve Vaughn in the process. He was a much happier kid after that. I had him stand up at the sink with me while I washed, cut and pitted the apricots. He had an absolute blast just playing with the apricots sitting in the water. He even handed me apricots to cut. He was such a good helper!





I worked all day on the apricots and was able to juice about half of them. Mom and Dad Higginson felt so bad that I had been working so hard that they took us out to dinner that evening. It was such a nice surprise and very much appreciated!

Over the next few days I finished about 38 quarts of the apricot nectar. I took a picture of just a few jars because I didn't want to get out all the others! I guess the sun was shining too much when I took this shot. It makes the jars look like they have a heavenly glow!









I also took the opportunity over the next few days to make some apricot jam. But this wasn't just any apricot jam. This jam was made using my Aunt Grace's recipe. I also made a batch using my Aunt Rita's and Uncle Volmer's recipe. I remember having Aunt Grace's Apricot Jam when I was a kid and thinking it was the best jam I had ever tasted. I had been searching for her recipe and finally her niece found it for me. I was so excited! It called for ground apricots, and I didn't have a grinder. So Mom and Dad Higginson tried to find theirs, but it didn't have all the parts. So then we called some stores in town, and nobody had them in stock! I was so sad! But then they suggested calling a lady that lives down the street from me, and she had a food grinder! She said she'd love to have me use it, and it made it possible for me to make the jam. And the jam turned out wonderfully! I was so happy! I was able to make about 36 pints of jam using both recipes.

I didn't take any pictures of Mom and Dad Higginson's house while all of this was going on because I turned it into a disaster area!!! I tried to clean up after each canning session, but there was quite a bit of equipment all over their house. They were so patient and gave so much help during all of this! They helped to watch Vaughn every day. They let me use their kitchen and their home and they never once complained about it! They truly are very generous people who always give without thought of reward. I am so grateful for all they do for me! I think I also wanted to call this entry "Heck Week" because I must have put Mom and Dad through heck that week!

Just to add to the fun, Amy came over on Friday to get started on yes, you guessed it, ANOTHER BATCH OF ZUCCHINI RELISH!!! She had wanted to try it using zucchini and straight neck squash, and she finally convinced me to try it. So here is a shot of the vegetables from our gardens that we used to make the relish.






Amy got all of her kids involved in the chopping process. It was quite a production! First we had to get the seeds out of the squash and zucchini. Then we had to peel off the skins that were too tough. Then we had to put the zucchini and squash through a grater and then the choppers. We put the peppers and onions through the choppers as well. Thanks to Amy's kids, it all went so fast!







The onions from my garden were so strong that it was very difficult to chop them, even with using an electric chopper! Amy and I were literally crying our eyes out! Here's me trying to brave those darn onions!














Amy brought all her bottling stuff over in a laundry basket. Vaughn caught sight of it, and again, took matters into his own hands with entertaining himself. I turned around and found him sitting like this in the laundry basket. It was adorable!

















I thought this one was pretty cute too.














With Saturday came the end of the week of the Bottling Extravaganza. And I must say it ended perfectly! Amy and I made exactly enough relish so that the last little bit fit into a half-pint jar. There was no extra left over! We were so shocked, we didn't think anyone would believe us. So we took a picture to prove it. I love Amy's face!




We were able to get exactly 30 and 1/2 pints of relish. If you look closely you can tell that this relish was lighter in color than the other batch, and that's because we used the straight-neck squash in it. I prefer the color of the other. It is a darker green. But we were still very proud of our finished product!!!


Well, at the end of the day, Brian and I loaded all the canning equipment and bottles into the car. There was literally no more room left for anything when we got through. We were so squashed in there that it was difficult to see to drive, but we got home okay. We spent a good portion of the rest of the night unpacking. Our neighbor even asked us if we had been on vacation. I told him, "I wish!"

We owe a huge thanks to Mom and Dad Higginson for all they did to make my bottling possible. And thanks to Amy and her kids for all they did as well! It was a ton of fun. And like I told Brian, "I am never going to bottle again until October!" (That's when the grapes will be ready for juicing!)


Here's one for the road...



Love, Lisa