When the market is stable buy silver and gold,
When silver and gold prices  are on the rise, buy wheat corn and rice,
When wheat, corn and rice are increasing in price buy bullets.

Update your bug out kit.

As the weather cools down its time to check your bug out kit. I change the contents of my kit every 6 months. So go get your kit and check the expiration dates of all your food. If they expire in the next six months take them out and use them for dinner this week. Check your clothing to be sure it will be useful for the next 6 months. Change out your summer clothes for winter clothes. Be sure the clothes fit and are in good condition. With shorter daylight you may want to have more batteries for your lights. Be sure there is a heat source so if you need to evacuate you will have some way to keep warm.

If your water is in home filled plastic bottles, dump them out and refill with fresh clean water.

Last be sure you can lift your kit. If it is too heavy you can make a few smaller kits. One with essentials, one with things good to have and one with the things that make bugging out pleasant.

Be sure your kit is where you can get to it easily.

Making Corn Relish!

I love the fall for all the bounty of the garden! Some times you end up with more than you can eat fresh. I plan to have the extra to make some of my favorite things. 

This time of year the corn comes ripe and is a wonderful part of dinner. 

Now that you have stuffed yourself with all the corn you can hold. What do you do with all the rest of the corn? Or if the corn gets a bit over ripe and looses that sweet taste. 

The answer is to make corn relish.

To start pick some corn,

 sweet peppers (I like the red ones for this project). 

Get a couple of onions. Yellow or white work well for this.

Some green tomatoes. I use cherry tomatoes. any green tomato will work

Gather your spices: Turmeric,

Cellery seed,

Mustard seed,

Sugar,

Pickling salt and Vinegar.

Gather up your lids, 

rings 

and canning tools.

Bring in your corn!

Pull the husks off!

Use a sharp knife to cut the corn from the cob. Start cutting at the bottom of the cob at the base of the kernels. Keep cutting till you have six pounds of cut corn.

If you do not have fresh corn, or you just want to do it the easy way you can pick up frozen corn in a bag. You need still need six pounds of corn.

Then dump it into a large stock pan, 12 quarts size is good.

Now get your peppers. You will need 8 to 10 large peppers. Should make 4 cups of chopped peppers. Pull the cores and seeds out.

Then chop them up. I like to have a lot of texture for my relish. So I cut them into tiny, small, medium and chunky pieces. 

Then toss them into the pot too.

Now grab your onions.

Cut off the top and bottom.

Then cut it in half.

Pull off the outer most peal, the ones that have a paper look and feel.

Then slice them, first into ribbons,

Then into small chunks.

Put 2 cups of chopped onions into the pot.

Then get your green tomatoes.

Cut your tomatoes into a size you want to eat.   About 3 times the size of a kernel of corn. I cut about 1/2 of my cherry tomatoes in half and use the rest whole. Be sure there are no tomato stems or greens in your mix. Any green part of tomatoes are poisonous until they are cooked.

Put 4 cups of chopped green tomatoes into the pot.

Your pot should be about full. Pour in your 5 cups of vinegar.

Add  2 cups of sugar

and 1/4 cup prickling salt. 

Sprinkle in 1 table spoon of turmeric.

1 tablespoon of celery seeds,

And 1 table spoon of mustard seeds.

Turn on the heat and bring to a boil. Be sure to stir every few minutes to keep it from burning on the bottom. Then turn down the heat so the relish simmers. Let it simmer for 30 minuets.

Remove from the heat.

Wash your jars in hot soapy water and rinse with clean water.

Put your funnel onto your bottles and fill the bottles with the relish.

Be sure to leave 1/2 inch of head space from rim the rim of the jar.

Clean the rim of the jar with a paper towel or clean cloth.

Put a new lid onto the jar.

Put a ring on the jar and gently secure. If the lid is too tight your jar may explode in the canner.

Place them in your canner and follow the directions for your canner.

Remove them from your canner and place them on the counter. Leave about an inch between bottles so they can cool. After cooling for several hours or over night. 

Check the lids to be sure they are sealed. There should be no rebound when you press on the center of the lids. If you have any unsealed jars check the rim of the jar for chops, cracks, and replace the lid then reprocess.

Pickling Peppers

Several years ago I was offered 1/2 of a deli sandwich by a friend of mine. I did not know he had pickled peppers put on it. This was a culinary delight. I switched from the dull pale cucumber pickles to the spunky bright pepper pickles.

When I grow the peppers for pickling I like to plant the "Fooled you" pepper. It is a looks like a hot pepper without any heat. Yes just a sweet look alike to a hot pepper. I have also pickled Hungarian wax pepper and sweet banana peppers. You can pickle any pepper you like.

When my pepper plants have a lot of nice red papers on them

and about the same number of green peppers on them. 

I pick them for pickling.

Then I gather my supplies.

Pickling salt and white vinegar.

Dill weed,

Mustard seed,

Alum,

jar lifter, spoon, and funnel,

rings,

lids,

and jars. I use pint jars. 

First wash all the jars in hot soapy water and rinse them in clean water.

Then wash the peppers in cold water to clean anything that may have come in from the garden with them off.

After they are clean I cut the cap off of the pepper.

It is easiest to slice them with a serrated edge knife starting at the top of the pepper and working to the bottom tip. Expect seeds to fall out of the pepper.

Slice up all the peppers.

You will end up with a lot of sliced peppers, a pile of caps, a pile of tips and a bunch of seeds.

Toss the caps into the compost.

Put the tips into a bag and use them for cooking up some yummy dish or freeze them.

Dry the seeds so you can plant them for next years crop of peppers.

Now we can get to pickling the peppers.

Fill the jars with the pepper slices.

Use a little pressure to push more peppers into the jar.

Fill the jar to the bottom of the jar neck. About 1/2 inch from the lip.

Add 1/8 teaspoon of mustard seed to each jar.

Add 1/8 teaspoon dill seeds mixed with dill weed to each jar.

Add 1/8 teaspoon of Alum to each jar.

You can also add a garlic clove or pearl onions if you like. I did not this time.

Now make your brine.

Pour 6 cups of water into a non-metal pan. I use distilled water. My water is very hard and sometimes the color of the product is changed by the hard water.

Then add 3 cups of white vinegar. Be sure it is labeled 5%.

Now add 1/2 cup pickling salt. Salt with Iodine will change the color of the pickle.

Heat the brine till the salt is completely dissolved.


Then spoon the brine into the jars. Fill the jar so the peppers are covered with fluid and there is still about 1/2 inch head space before the lip of the jar.

Wipe the rim of the jar with a paper towel or clean cloth. Be sure there is nothing on the lip of the jar that would prevent a seal. Inspect  the jar for cracks or chips. Never use a damaged jar for canning.

Place a lid on the top of the jar.

Place a ring on the jar and gently tighten. If you tighten the ring too much the jar may explode when it is in the canner.

Place the jars in the canner. I use a steam canner, you can also use a water canner. Be sure you follow the directions that came with your canner.

When a jet of steam come out of the vent in the steam canner, set your timer for 20 minutes. ( I know you can not see the steam. Funny thing steam is camera shy.)

Then using the jar lifter remove the jars from the canner.

As the jars cool they will seal. You will hear a musical popping sound and the lids seal. Check each lid to be sure it has sealed. If the lid center will flex it is not sealed. You can run them through the canner again after checking the rim of the jar and the lid to make sure they are not damaged. Never use a damaged jar or lid.

Set the jars on a counter to cool. Keep about an inch between jars for air movement. Let them sit for about 12 hours. Label all the sealed jars with the date and product inside.

Pickles take time to cure. The flavor of the spices increases as they sit. I like to wait a year before using a jar of pickles. They are often suitable for eating after just 2 weeks. Try yours from time to time and see when you think your pickles are at their prime.

If the seal is ever broken or the food looks or smells spoiled do not eat it. Never take a chance tasting food that may have become contaminated with a bacteria.