Boiling Over

Heaven forbid I leave childling #2 out in the antics department.

It was SOME day yesterday, let me tell you.

After we got home from the park yesterday, I laid the children down for a later (and hence, shorter) nap and got right to work doing some canning I have been meaning to do. Me, a big glob of sweat in an apron, cutting up green beans to can and pureeing hot peppers to make jelly. The stockpot was sterilizing the jars, the blender-blending, the sink-washing, the pots on every burner boiling.

I put the canned green beans in the water bath canner while I tended to the habenero's. About five minutes in the pot, it occurred to me.

I AM AN IDIOT!

You CAN'T can green beans in a water bath canner-you need a PRESSURE canner, since they are of low acidity. Since my yard sale gifted pressure canner is still in a box awaiting a new seal...that is not an option. Strike one.

I got all the bean jars out, frustrated as can be but quickly scanned my Ball Blue Book for a recipe that WOULD allow me to water bath can them. I found...Dilly Beans. I got everything prepared and mixed for that...meanwhile, the habenero jelly boils over my stove. Jelly mess is the pits. NOT fun. Strike two.

I have moved aside from my initial green bean frustration and the optimism is back. This Dilly bean recipe calls for cayenne pepper, so I am sure Matt will like these beans more than the plain jain ones anyway. Things were looking up. I had gotten all the jars of beans ready for the canner and inhaled MORE than my fair share of boiling vinegar when I realized...I was OUT of fresh lids. You need new ones each canning batch you make. UGH. UGH UGH! Strike three.

Not only am I hot and sticky...but now I frazzled and FRUSTRATED too. A STEAMY kitchen (and not a GOOD steamy...) and a hot Mama (and not the GOOD hot, either!) with no results to show for them! Nothing canned!

Then, just when I was SURE nothing else could go wrong... I turn around and grab some freezer bags to pop all the green beans into the freezer. Maybe I will hop in too.

This is where the story twists. I should tell you, by now rest time for the children is over. Corynn is working dilegently on about 7 different puzzles I have laid out for her and the Panda? Oh-he's a good boy. I hear his voice every now and again-so he isn't that far off and CERTAINLY not getting into trouble.

At the moment I turn around, my foot slips on something. Something that feels odd to the normal linoleum that meets my bare feet. It is reminiscent of baby powder. Or cornstartch. Or FLOUR.

When I looked, there in one nice and lofty circle was a pile of flour. And it's twin was just about a foot away. And another, just beyond that. I followed the trail of flour piles and at the end...a white powdered boy (not gingerbread either!) and a container of snow-covered dog biscuits.

In the middle of canning, I had to sweep up TEN piles of flour. (PLease don't ask where the negligent mother was when her child was making these towers of flour...the answer will be elbow deep in pectin and peppers). Strike FOUR.

Does the story end there?

I think not.

While I was floor cleaning and pile removing...the Panda was on the loose again. Only this time I couldn't HEAR him-which could mean one of two things.

a) He had a marker.
b)He was in the bathroom...most likely splashing in the toilet.

The bathroom was the closet, so I checked there first. Nope-wasn't there. But he HAD been there. How do I know? The roll of toilet paper is ENTIRELY unraveled. Strike FIVE.

I moved on to the bedroom. There he was. With a container of body spray-he had taken the spray cap off and was sucking it. Strike SIX.

I think that is the MOST strikes I have ever gotten in one day-let alone a three hour period.

Which got me to thinking: How many strikes can I endure without collapsing??

I don't know and I don't EVER want to find out.

~~~~~

I should say, I did end up getting a hearty portion of habenero jelly canned and the stockpot eased my pain by boiling up THE most perfect batch of corn I have ever made which we devoured for supper.

And I kept my sanity by popping frozen chocolate covered cream puffs.