Memories

"In the childhood memories of every good cook, there's a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot and a mom." ~ Barbara Costikyan

My mom wasn't much for a simmering pot as she hated to cook but she loved to bake - the bread, the pies and the cakes oh my! Seventeen years ago when I moved back home I was a size 3..............let's just say I am not anymore. She taught me to can so she has been on my mind a lot as canning season goes into overdrive.

We did all of our canning at her house. We had our own system down pat and it was hard at first to find a way of doing things solo. I persevered and it may not be perfect but my new way is starting to work for me. I got another 14.5 pints green tomato relish, 20 pints of salsa, 16 pints of bread and butter pickles, 5 pints of chili sauce and 5 pints of strawberry/jalapeno sauce done. A friend was able to get me two boxes of paste tomatoes ($21/box!!!) and I have one more box to finish up. I think today's canning will be more chili sauce and salsa. Sir T loves him some salsa. Where as I had no interest in canning (other than eating it) when I was a kid, my daughters and my nephews are very interested, slicing, stirring and measuring. The younger ones help for a bit, then leave only to come back later and help some more. Mom would love that they are involved and even if they don't do it later in life I hope they will look back and remember it fondly.

Another thing that popped up to remind me of my mother this week is what she called the Mystery Lily. I went looking for more info and found it is also known as the Magic Lily, Resurrection Lily, Hardy Amaryllis, or Naked Lady. As the flower gardens have been sadly neglected this year, its sudden appearance made me sit back and realize how many flowers in my garden are from her.

And because I have Mom on my mind and because her favorite color was yellow and because the knit list was talking about the Apple Blossom Cardigan so much that I had to take 5 and go check it out on Ravelry and because I just so happened to have some yellow yarn laying around...I started the cardigan and I am done with 2 of 6 repeats on the lace section. Canning is getting in the way of it's completion.However, #2 son has football practice nightly now so my knitting will increase significantly as I sit there watching him.