Bottling fever in full swing

Dear Diary,
Jesse:  This is a long weekend in New Zealand and the lads decided to make the most of the time to put up some of our early harvest.


Angelo:  I did the carrots and peas from the garden.  We bottled them with Rosemary, Thyme, Coriander and a pinch of salt.  They will taste delicious.  I'm just shifting them across the bench top to get them closer to the pantry for storage.


Armand:  I bottled the bread & butter pickles, using the gherkins and onions from the garden.  B&B pickles aren't well known in NZ but the people I serve them to all want seconds! Here, I'm putting the labels onto the jars.


Adam:  This year the cherry (which unfortunately don't come from our property) crop was about 2 weeks later than usual but it's also lasted later into the summer.  The cherries this year are beautiful: big and plump, dark and crisp and very sweet.  I bottled 14 quarts to eat this coming winter.  Right now, I'll eat the last of the cherries which wouldn't fit into the jars.  Lucky me!


Hans: My job was to make cordial from the black currents in the berry patch.  This makes a delicious drink when mixed with either water or a clear carbonated beverage just before serving.  Now that I've finished, I'm going to mix some up and serve it to celebrate the completion of our hard work.

Angelo:  As the sole Italian resident, it is my responsibility to monitor the supply of the salsa di Marinara (red tomato sauce) which Papa makes from scratch from his Italian mother's recipe.  Pasta is a staple in this house.  We just finished 24 quarts and there is still some left from 2015.  I've overheard Papa saying that he's going to bottle another 24 quarts next week.

"Yes, all accounted for!"
Jesse: You may notice the stretchy cord running from one end of the shelf to the other.  This is to keep the jars from crashing to the floor in case of an earthquake.  There are many negative effects of a major quake; we learned most of them when we lived through the Christchurch quake 5 years ago.  One of the worst is the awful mess and no water to clean it up.  The shelf also has a lip to keep the jars in place.

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