Yesterday I bought the equivalent of a case of mixed plums from Albertson's for appx $5. We ate some of them (including the lone golden plum, which I wished I had more of)- they are good- and it was my every intention to put up plum jam today (not that I don't already have 26 jars already but I do love it!) but apparently that was not going to happen. Farmville happened, then falling asleep at the computer and snoring so loudly my husband could hear me without his hearing aids happened. Then a shower, then I ran off to drop off my timecard, drop off Ninja Assassin to Blockbusters (great martial arts, decent plotline, but the special effects were... nah.), then to WalMart to get canning supplies, to Lowe's where I spent almost an hour trying to locate stump killer, MiraclGro and small planter boxes for my new herbs (and was there any helpful sales person in sight? Hello!), then to Albertson's. They had eggs for $.99 and a today's markdown of beef ribs. Then on to Ward's.
Ward's is our local market and they have the BEST stuff. This is usually where I get my fruits and veggies. I shop the bargain basket- usually I find great deals on overstock or non-commercially viable produce (one cherry is bad in the batch, grapes are too small, mangoes slightly overripe and other fruit bruised) and buy them out. Winn Dixie and Albertson's both have the same type of thing going (I got the plums at Winn Dixie with bonus limes!) but Ward's has a larger variety. This is where I got the Ranier cherries- they were overstock- and they made far superior jam than the regular cherry (which is very good, too).
Today, being Saturday, the cart (there are usually 2-3 but there was only one today) was well picked over. There was only cilantro, cauliflower (which I never eat), and okra (which will never come into this house as long as I'm alive, thank you very much). So on to the meats. In the meat section there were 4 small racks of beef ribs on markdown- you don't have to tell me twice, so I snapped them up. They looked good. I got them home, threw all of them in the crockpot and covered with 4 jars of the last batch of tomato jam (which was running to syrup). Absolutely fantastic. Meat dripping off bone. Next time, though, I think I'll mix it in a bowl first with about 1/2 cup of vinegar, just to spice it up.
Also today, a friend of ours, Bruce Davis (hi if you're reading this!) came by with a load of canning jars- pint and 1/2 pint. For this I am very grateful- jars aren't expensive per se but when you need a lot of them at once it can cost you. I am also concerned that since I can through the winter (off season for jars, etc) I will run out. I will need jars for cranberries and when my friend Tammy's quasi mother in law sends crabapples. OOH yum. Apple Crabapple jelly. I am also very grateful that Ball put $.50 off coupons in their pectin packets- I am going to need to stock up. I used all I had today including two that I picked up from work. I am so glad they are available!
At any rate I am going to sign off now- my INTENT is to start jam first thing in the morning and get most of it done before noon when I have to get ready for church. Wish me luck!
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