September?

Happy September! I can't believe it is the 1st of September! I know I haven't been blogging too much lately, but life seems to have gotten in the way! First our pump went out and was oh so fun to get fixed, then we had 2 birthdays in one week, Bailey and Gene! Add to that that I am in the prime of canning time, and it doesn't leave much time for anything else!

Tonight we are going to have my favorite dinner! I have chuck steaks (Black Angus no less) to grill and I am making a pot of green beans! I love fresh green beans! Here is the pot that is cooking on our stove right now!

In our family we like to doctor them up a bit! I fill the big pot about 1/2 full of beans, put about 5 or 6 cups of water on them, add a TBL of salt and a TBL of sugar, then add about a dozen or so cherry tomatoes from the garden and slice up a couple of slices of bacon. Cover, bring to a boil, and let simmer for about 1/2 hour! It is a bite of heaven, believe me!

Speaking of bacon, we have always put bacon in our green beans. This is tradition handed down from my Great-Grandmother Sarah Finn, to my Grandmother Sarah Alvey, to my mom DeeAnn Malone and to me. It is really good, and quite frankly, my family won't touch store bought beans. If I don't can anything else from the garden, I can 80 or 90 pints of beans every year. Here is our family recipe:

Clean jars and lids and rings, pints or quarts
Green Beans, snipped

In pints, put 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, add about 1/4 C hot water, stir to dissolve. (Double this for quarts.) Fill jar about 2/3 full with beans, then add a 1 inch slice of bacon (put 2 in for quarts). Finish packing beans in jar (and I do mean pack, push down firmly until you have it filled to the neck.) Fill to the neck with more hot water, wipe rim, put lid and ring on. Shake to distribute the salt and sugar.

Fill your pressure cooker with jars, either pints or quarts, according to manufacture instructions. Put the lid on, turn heat on and let pressure rise to 12 lbs. Pressure at 12 to 15 lbs for 20 minutes for pints, 25 for quarts. Turn off heat and let the pressure drop on it's own accord. When pressure drops to zero, open lid and remove jars. Wipe off (they may be a little greasy) and let cool overnight. Label and store in a cool, dark environment.

You should smell my house right now! Nothing like a pot of green beans! Yum! Well I got to go and grill my steaks!

Try something new tonight, okay?

Chris