because I can:

sunday I finally had a day off and I caught up a little bit on the canning department.
Made 9 pints of vodka sauce,  and 2 bottles+ a little of blackberry syrup:

and Robert made some eggplant chutney:

preservation tally for 2013:

over the last few years that i have been learning to can, i've never kept a count of what i actually have canned and put up, or how much. so i though i would do it on this post - i will keep adding as i do more canning and other food preservation this summer:

16 - pints - pressure canned venison
  6 - pints - sauerkraut
10 - half pints- cherry tomato salsa
  9 - pints - vodka sauce
  6 - half pint jars - eggplant chutney
  2 - bottles and some frozen cubes - blackberry syrup
  2 - quart bags - leeks, frozen
  1 - ice cube tray + 3 plastic containers - basil pesto, frozen
  6 - quart bags - peaches, frozen
  4 - 4oz + 4 - 8oz jars - tomato-orange marmelade

  8 - pints - arrabiatta sauce

  4 - pints - roasted red pepper and tomato sauce

  7 - half pints - hot cherry tomato salsa with ghost pepper and cayenne peppers
  4 - pints + 2 half pints - corn relish
  2 - pints - spicy corn relish - with ghost peppers and Thai chilies
  9 - pints - roasted pepper and tomato soup
  1 - pint - dried oregano
  1 - pint - HOT pepper flakes

  6 - pints - vodka sauce with a little kick of the homemade hot pepper flakes

  4 - 1/2 pins - mini gherkins
  3 - pints - hot cherry tomato salsa with ghost and jalapeño peppers 

  5 - pints - enchilada sauce

  8 - 1/2 pints - ghost pepper relish

  3 - 1/2 pints - charred jalapeño pesto -hot- frozen

  6 - ca. 5oz containers - charred jalapeño pesto -medium- frozen

  3 - half pints - mini dill pickles

12 - half pints - spicey sage mustard

12 - half pints + quart - Spicey rosemary mustard

  9 - 4oz jars - coarse ground beer mustard

  1 - quart bag -dried cayenne peppers

  1 - pint - dried Tabasco peppers

  7 - pints - apple sauce

july update: studio:

as busy as its been at home and at my various jobs - which seemed to need me all at once in the last few weeks, i've been also very busy and hard at work in the studio.

-my awesome helper: Kash Thomas-

the display cases were delivered and loved and the shop is buzzing with all kinds of activity in getting ready for the edible fest in Orange on August 10th where i will have a booth for the second year in a row. last year it was the first ever festival i did, and i was amazing. if you are free that day, please stop by and visit. some of my friends will be there also - Carla from life ware, who i met last year at a show in Richmond - she makes beautiful, simple, wheel thrown ceramic ware. we will hopefully have some collaborative pieces to show you - and the wonderful local watercolor artist Maria Pace will also be there selling her gorgeous sewn goods. Besides greats crafts, there will be all kinds of tasting booths, food, talks, cooking demos, entertainment and more! check it out!!

now back to the studio.

july update: canning:

last night i busted out the canner - FINALLY. its been a while and it seems like things are starting a little later this summer in our garden. but the first batch of tomatoes was made into cherry tomato salsa last night:

cherry tomatoes - halved or quartered, salt, pepper, jalapeños, cilantro, onion, garlic.

cooked down, packed into hot jars leaving necessary head room, canned in water bath for 30 minutes:

10 half-pints of good stuff that we will enjoy in the off season

july update: kitchen and garden:

one of the things we love most about summer is eating fresh things from our garden. our chickens are laying pretty consistently now. not all of them yet, but they are getting there. we have brown eggs, white eggs, and one of our chickens lays light brown with brown spots. not sure what kind of chicken she is, but incidentally, she is the only one with a name.

nothing is better in this world than vine and sun ripened summer tomatoes!

japanese eggplant - white and purple - yum!

and when you combine them, you get this: 

grilled japanese eggplant with fresh tomatoes and chicken salad on top.

we've also made A LOT of slaws for fish tacos and other dishes

and you can never go wrong with fresh pico de gallo to top it all off.

fresh milk and fish:

went to pick up my share of milk today and also scored on some local rainbow trout.

have never tried it - so we shall see how it is....

if anyone has any tips on cooking them, i'd be happy to hear your ideas!

it is FINALLY here:

the FIRST EGG was laid today!!! go chickens, go!!! 

the football:

-largest kohlrabi ever-

adventures in window cleaning:

while i was a Core Fellowship Student at the Penland School of Crafts in Western North Carolina, my fellow Core Students and i cleaned more than our fair share of windows. yet never did we quite have to do this:

this is how windows get cleaned at 899 Turner Drive. 

thankful i have a husband who owns scaffolding

celebration is in order!

today i got to welcome a new brother as these two were married:

 pardon me - i mean these two cuties:

i am so excited for my baby sister and Claudius!

i love you both very much!!

easy sauerkraut:

i received this recipe from my friend Shauni and her mother after i failed multiple times doing it the traditional way in a crock. and let me tell you: it is GOOD sauerkraut. thank you ladies!!

-chop/shred the cabbage- 

-sterilize your jars, rings, and lids in boiling water- 

-add these things to the bottom of your hot jar - since i used pint jars and not quarts i adjusted the quantity accordingly- 

-pack your hot jars tightly with the cabbage and fill with boiling water - leaving about 1/4"-3/16" headspace- 

-close up with hot lids and rings and store in a dry, dark space. the lids will contintue popping up and down as the cabbage turns into kraut. enjoy-

slowly....

......slowly things are coming together for these display cases. hope to be done friday.

everything now has at least 1 coat of finish on it and just needs to have glass installed - 

that indeed was picked up today - and then glued up!

garden update:

the chickens are growing so much - not laying yet - but hope so soon. 

they are loving their larger run and that ol' tire thats been out in the yard for who knows how long, is getting some serious chicken action.

 i get great pleasure seeing them run towards me when i come with kale. they simply love kale!

yes - so there is plenty of it. we love it. the chickens love it. yay for kale!

tomatoes are forming and some are starting to ripen!!
like this one we just picked today! so delicious!!!

peppers - hot and sweet - are coming along. the hot peppers are in a new raised bed with top soil and it seems like they are having a very very hard time. they have not grown much since planing them.
our four japanese eggplant is blossoming beautifully
carrots, gooseberries, garlic, and radish are still growing - onions, kohlrabi, broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower were harvested and were super yummy. in their place Robert plated some squash, cucumbers and i think some beans...
but

this 

happened to my leeks:

out of all the leeks i planted, only about 25% were ok. the rest of them were like this.
does anyone know what causes this and how i can keep it from happening??
it just makes me sad.

mondays:

this past monday i said goodbye to my dear friend Rebecca after she came with me to get milk from my herd share for breakfast. it was delightful to see bob again. he was showing us his teeth. 

it was really wonderful seeing Rebecca - as we figured it has been 3 was too long years!!!!

later in the day i went to a job site with Robert as he needed me to make some panels that had to match this old beautiful wormy chestnut built in.

i think that is a pretty darn good match. what do you think?

also - i love it when the first set up for a lap-joint fits on the very first try! yeah!

on another note, what also happened this monday was that i became somewhat grown up. 

as a customer made a check out to "christina boy design" the bank made me open up a business account. its a little bit scary, but exciting at the same time. 

-here's to mondays-

and to big things hopefully happening to "christina boy design" to keep that business account.

yikes!