(cooking, garden)

( Bumble bee on Pycnanthemum virginianum (Mountain Mint) )

Spent much of my time on Friday and Saturday thinking about jars and bottles. I am interested in the idea of making fernets, alcoholic bitters, from local plants. The spicebush obviously is available, and i hope to finally get some sassafras growing, safe from the deer. I have the green walnut extracts, and mint extracts. So next i need bitters. Locally i can use yarrow, black walnut leaves, and black cherry bark. The yarrow and walnut i should start soon, so i was looking for a smallish jar.

I did some extensive shopping, starting with fancy French and German jars, loosing myself on Amazon's crazy marked, and finally discovering nesting pint jars from Ball via Target that seem likely to be stackable and stable. But i didn't really know what jars i had, and i've stashed canning jars and random jars in many places. I started inventorying all my jars and recording them, and it pretty much took much of Saturday. Now i know

Was that joy? Was that happy? Was it procrastination? Or compulsion?

Later i made watermelon rind pickles from some i had brined for months in the fridge and had taken on a touch of effervescent ferment. These are sweet-tart highly spiced ones to consume now. Then i turned to more peaches, and tried making jellied candies. These are now jam, as they never quite reached the right temperature but scorched on the bottom of the pot. Not sure whether i failed to blend the sugar well and it all sank to the bottom, or if it was a pectin fail.

The okra pearls, that i pulled out of the old pods that grew while i was out, have been sitting in the fridge, and seem to have sprouted. I've got a couscous recipe which should be nice.

I may be procrastinating about going into the yard and mowing as, ugh, humidity.