Thanks to Snotmaggedon and Snowpacalypse 2014, I’ve had a lot of time on my hands. I am letting Crazy Pants watch so much TV I’m sure his brain has been reduced to green goo, but he’s so sick that I just need him to sit still, rest, and stop screaming about EVERYTHING. So, when I’m not cleaning up runny noses (yup, Teddy Bear has it too) and other random messes around the house (read: dog vomit), I’m blogging, updating my blog, and reading/commenting on other blogs. Pretty enjoyable, minus the sinus pressure and the lack-of-sleep delirium.
As some of you may remember, I made my first attempt at a blog-along/link-up back in December 2013. I did have one participant, Kerry at Winding Road, but I must admit, I was hoping for more. I will further admit that my delivery was TERRIBLE. It was rather last-minute so the publicity was sub-par. My fault.
I think that blog-alongs, linkys, blog-hops, blog carnivals, and whatever else they might be called are a ton of fun and great for building our community. Today, I read Kerry’s blog post Remember the Time I Harvested Your Crops? that is part of the blog hop, “Remember The Time” by Are You Finished Yet? and The Waiting. I’m excited to write a piece for the RTT blog hop because I love to reminisce, and I have some great stories to tell. I’m hoping to deliver some pee-your-pants moments. Over the summer, I participated in Art in August with Kate over at Laptop on the Ironing Board. That was a lot of fun and made some new bloggy friends.
Today, I was thinking, “I REALLY want to host a blog hop, but what sort of topic would be unique to my blog?” So as I unloaded and loaded the dishwasher, I just let my mind wander. I finally landed in summertime after taking a trip through spring. Despite the unimaginable amount of snow at my house, I know spring is just around the corner and we will be planting our garden again. Then, after months of blood, sweat, and tears, it will be time to put up all of nature’s bounty for the next winter. This lead me to think about one of my posts for Art in August, Thanks Be to Nature, Good Friends & Family. I had a few comments where some of you lovely readers mentioned wishing you could or would put up food, too. So it is decided…
Introducing the: Of Course I Can! Blog Hop
Borrowed from http://www.zazzle.co.uk/waaf+gifts
This blog hop will officially begin in August 2014. I picked this month because I won’t be putting anything in jars before then. Maybe blackberry jam, but that’s doubtful. Some of you are in places where you may be able to get going before me so don’t let my time-table hold you back. I am giving us such a long lead-up time to (1) give this blog hop an excellent head start and (2) give all the new canning initiates plenty of time to gain confidence and collect supplies. I will post once a month about a canning-related topic to help you build your own knowledge base and to ask questions. I want canning to seem as welcoming as possible and I want this to be FUN!
Are you in?
You’ve got 6 months to prepare!
Also, if you know how to create a “button,” I’d love to hear from you!
Canning some jam is on my bucket list. I’d love to learn how to can, so I’m not sure what your goal with the blog hop is, but I’m happy to know that you’ll be providing some canning tips!
LikeLike
I’m hoping to inspire people to try canning for the first time or come back to it if they haven’t done it in a while. Though I certainly won’t be turning away canning veterans! I will be elaborating more over time.
Jam is the easiest thing to can! I was planning to write about that a little bit. I am by no means an expert, but I know a thing or two 🙂
LikeLike
I’m excited!
LikeLike
Me too! I was talking with Kerry last night and now I can’t wait to get some more posts done.
LikeLike
Thanks for all the shouts in one spot!! 🙂 I haven’t ever canned…I’ve only pickled and they were mediocre. I look forward to your info sessions on the topic!
LikeLike
Haha, I was drooling all over you a bit wasn’t I? You are welcome!
I hope my posts give you the canning bug. I always do pickled beets and bread and butter pickles. Both easy things for the beginner. I think tomatoes and green beans are easiest, more so than even jam. As I respond to comments I am getting so excited to start writing these!
I really hope lots participate because canning stories can be so funny.
LikeLike
I did bread and butter pickles and banana peppers. They expired before I could get to them. Our garden produced so many freakin’ cucumbers it was out of control. That and squash. Not sure what we will plant this year, I think I want a simple “salsa garden” and will have to go easy when laying the seeds. ha 😉
Oh, and “stop drooling all over me!” said no blogger ever.:) xo
LikeLike
LOL. I will continue to be liberal with my drool.
Just for future reference, especially with pickled items, the will last for years. The literature will tell you for a year, but my family has been canning for generations and it was typically done on a two-year cycle. We keep the stuff I can for two years a lot of the time.
I did banana peppers last year and they turned out kind of mushy 😦 Salsa would be fun…and pretty.
LikeLike
I’m sure if the apocalypse came we could have eaten them but not any other time. They looked brownish and weird. On a totally random note, I always assumed instant mashed potatoes were “apocalypse food” until I made them in a rush last week and they tasted funky. Turns out they were 2 years old. yikes! We keep our laundry room stocked with what I dub “apocalypse food”…my husband would build an underground bunker if he could. 🙂
LikeLike
Haha, yeah brown and weird is never good. I think instant potatoes always taste weird. Blech. I used to work with homeless youth at programs that received food from food banks. I now have zero qualms about expired food. Ha!
LikeLike
I’m sure we throw away all kinds of food that is fine. But, I guess the standard should just always be “does it look brown and weird?” lol! 😀
LikeLike
Haha. That is an excellent standard! I’m sure the counties that have issued my food handler permits over the years would disagree.
LikeLike
I’m very tempted by this challenge. I would like to have a go at making crab apple jelly. If the trees on the street where Harry goes to kinder have another bumper crop this year, I’ll turn up with buckets and saucepans and give it a go! Wish me luck!
LikeLike
I do wish you luck! I hope that you do it and I get to read all about your adventure :). I tried to make apple jelly once will all the leftover bits from my apple butter and failed miserably! Sometimes I get a little over-ambitious 😉
LikeLike
Well, I’ve given it a go and I’m happy to say I failed miserably – on the first attempt. Then I had another go and managed to get a few jars together. So I had the exquisite joy of writing up a juicy ‘fail’ post plus some lovely jelly to spread on my gluten-free toast. Thanks for encouraging me!
LikeLike
forgot to add: http://laptopontheironingboard.wordpress.com/2014/05/12/crab-apple-fail/
LikeLike
That was a fun read! Definitely don’t give up. There are going to be some awful, terrible experiences, but we all have to learn somehow! My aunt once ruined I don’t know how many pounds of tuna fish because they packed it into the jars FROZEN! It all rotten in the jars and she couldn’t figure out why. She thought that since the pressure canner would heat it up that it would defrost it and cook it just fine. No, no.
I’m so excited for this project to really get some traction. Your post seriously made my day!
LikeLike
We’d love for you to link up to the Remember the Time Hop!!
LikeLike
I was pleased to see I had some time 🙂 I’m having a hard time settling on a story!
LikeLike
I am this month as well. So I’m also thankful we decided to give everyone more time!
LikeLike