October 15, 2010
A light frost welcomed most of this week’s mornings. Then with this morning came word we could expect a hard freeze the next two mornings. Such word has a tendency to change the day; this one 
certainly changed the afternoon. We got an early morning start on a grant due today and a workshop for presentation next Saturday. The grant made it to the mailbox before today’s delivery, and an art-based workshop on community and hospitality was in place by noon. We then got to the important stuff.
We picked the remaining tomatoes, bell peppers, and jalapeño peppers. Next, we grabbed onions and garlic out of the cupboard, and lifted a few spices from the rack. Then we got to chopping, grinding, shaking and mixing. Once everything was in the pot and stirred up, off to the stove to heat to a boil, bottled, and hot water bath.
It might have been a push, but the rest of the day was perfect for canning. Sun and clear sky, and temperatures such that you could spend the afternoon in the sun and never break sweat standing next to the stove. The next couple of hours were spent filling jars, fixing lids, and dunking them into the bath. While waiting for the fifteen-minute bath to finish, we got in a little reading, a little talking, and a little landscape.
Fall may be cooling down, and winter might be coming, but salsa…along with a little goose down…will make those cold days ahead a little warmer!
© David B. Bell 2010
Chewing the Cud 