Sunday Drivers - HWY 221 Danger Edition

This weekend we decided to head to New Minas in order to make some purchases not available locally.  It was our intention to reach Port Willimams by 10am, so we could get some chocolate milk and be on our way.  Because the Boy likes to take the highway, we made our way down the mountain to 101 and struck off in an easterly direction.

We were toodling down the highway when we entered a construction zone and were flagged to a stop.  It would seem there was construction on 101 from Kingston to Berwick. In a fit of impatience, we turned around, took the closest off ramp and headed back to 221.  This decision proved dangerous for our pocket books.

It was a mighty good thing we had the truck, because before the day was out we'd managed to buy:

-Pork rolls and ears (dog treats) and sausages from all-natural, anti-biotic free pigs fed grain produced on their own farm
-buy one, get three free trees and hostas
-5lbs of plums
-10lbs of Gravenstein apples
-50lbs carrots ($8!)
-10lbs cabbage ($4!)
-50lbs fallen apples for the pigs $3.50
- four glass bottles of chocolate milk

Each of us also had a barbequed hotdog from a road-side stand, homemade raspberry lemonade and an ice cream for dessert!

What happened to our trip to New Minas, you ask?  Like many ill-fated explorers before us, our expedition was way-laid and eventually lost.  Burdened with our precious booty and at a loss for space, we were forced to retreat.  Our crew of intrepid swashbucklers never made it to New Minas.

Look mom, I made the real bus from the macaroni prototype!

Ok, we didn't make a real VW Bus, but we did make a look-alike mailbox!  I can't wait to put it out on our naked post.   Laur did the paint, I did the decals.  I neglected to put some signal indicators on the front but other than that and a few squiggly lines, I'm pleased with the results.

All it needs now is its side flag and a few clear-coats to protect from the elements and then it's meep! meep!  out to the post to collect our mail!

Make spicy habanero jelly, I thought. It'll be fun, I thought...

I woke to another beautiful dawn this morning. As I yawned and stretched, I planned the day ahead.  Make some hot pepper jelly, clean up my fallen wood pile, finish the roof on the wood shed and maybe take a ride.  Perhaps not in that order, but I think I can get everything done today.

So with boy off to school and Laur off to New Minas to pick up a few non-local items, I set about the business of jelly making.  I wanted to make jelly when she's not around as the rest of the family is highly sensitive to spicy foods.  And habaneros being what they are, I didn't want to poison her.

Bell peppers? Check.
Habanero peppers? Check.
Apple cider vinegar? Check.
Pectin and sugar? Checkerooni.
Gloves and bandana? Ignored!

I was all set. Cut and puree peppers, add cider, add pectin, boil, add sugar.  Great! Boil vigorously for exactly one minute.  It was during that exact minute that I realized I had not yet boiled water for the post-jar bath. Quickly I turned to fill the canning pot with hot water.

This was my fatal mistake.

Mere seconds later I turned to see my pot of jelly boiling over. Nooooo!

Cooking with gas? Fire. Boiling sugar? Fire.  Habanero peppers? Fire.  All I could see was sticky, red, boiling-hot, liquid fire filling the bottom of the stove.  I panicked and whipped the pot from the stove.  As I watched, stunned, the sticky inferno continue to boil over the pot. Oh crap.  I stood for a moment, suddenly transported to the 1986 Argyle Elementary School 7th Grade Science Fair. You know, where Jimmy made his volcano exhibit erupt by using dry ice, red food colouring and hot water?

Shaking my head, I then set about the business of cleaning up sticky, liquid fire... before Laura got home.  I had visions of painful hot pepper oils covering the stove, counter top, sink, rags. Remember the recommended gloves? I was no longer scoffing.  I had peppers on my hands, peppers on my lips, peppers in my eyes... Gah!

It all turned out OK, but I did throw away the rag and towel I used, just in case. I know the oil from the peppers tends to coat the inside of the washing machine.  And quite frankly, hot-pepper underpants are the last thing anyone wants.

I hope it turns out.  With the brief pause to avoid nuclear melt-down, I'm sure I messed up the pectin jellification process.  Oh well, all's well that ends well.  My first foray into canning - hot pepper jelly (with Laura's sauerkraut in the background).

Snip, snap, click!

And look who is turning in to the driveway...!