End of season stuff

I finally pulled out the pressure canner to try and deal with some of the last of the stuff picked from the garden last week. I altered the 'stew veggies' recipe from the ball book to use what I had: potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, tomatillos, peppers, a few late season peas, celery, onions, and a couple of cloves of garlic. Basically you just throw 24 cups of veggies in a pot with 3 quarts of water (or stock), add some salt (2T), pepper (1T), and I added some basil to complement the added tomatoes. Boil it for 5 minutes, fill 6.5 quarts of ball jars, cover w/ lids and rings and, put it all in the pressure canner with 2 quarts of water. Close up the canner and bring it to a boil. Let steam vent for 10 minutes then put on the pressure control (10 lbs) and heat it up until it seals itself and the control starts jiggling. Reduce the heat slowly until it only jiggles 3-4 times a minute and let it process like that for 40 minutes. Let it cool for a good 45 minutes to an hour before removing the control or opening the canner.

I'm thinking some veggie pot pie may be in order (thicken up the liquid with some corn starch then throw the rest in and put it all in a pastry shell) later this winter.

I threw a bunch of beans in the dehydrator to finish drying before I shell them and I still have a big bowl of tomatillos to deal with. I'll have to see if I can find that roasted tomatillo salsa recipe I used last year.

I'm thinking some bread is in order for this rainy afternoon, maybe a loaf of oatbran and a loaf of apple sauce bread. We'll see...