Suddenly September

The year is flying by. We're into the month when fall begins already. Produce production is in full swing, but it came to a screeching halt yesterday with the canning of the last tomatoes. Not the last tomatoes, but the last I'm going to can. I finished off Canning Season 2020 with 4-1/2 pints of tomato salsa and 3 pints of tomato-jalapeno jam.

I've linked to both recipes back there. The salsa is the same recipe I've been making for years. The tomato-jalapeno jam was something new. I think I made it for the first time two years ago. There are three different recipes for tomato jam in my arsenal, and I think this one is my favorite. I take the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeno, and so it doesn't really have any kick. The jalapeno gives it a nice tang though. If you wanted to try it out, and you like something spicier, then definitely leave in at least some of the seeds from the jalapeno. It doesn't take long to make it and it doesn't even take many tomatoes. I cook mine in a large skillet, and so it cooks down fast. It's good on eggs, or burgers, or pretty much anything on which you might ordinarily use ketchup.

So when I had that finished, I still had some tomatoes. Frankly, I've run out of energy for canning. Also, I'm running short on pint jars. I decided to freeze the last of the tomatoes in quart-sized zip-lock bags. What you see below includes two bags of tomatoes from our own plants. 

These can be used for lots of different things, but I generally thaw them in the refrigerator, then puree them in the blender to be used in any recipe that calls for plain tomato sauce. And I imagine any sauce that requires cooking down fresh tomatoes can just as easily be made with frozen tomatoes, but I haven't tried that.

And when I had everything cleaned up, I went down to the greenhouse and picked yet more tomatoes. They are coming, my friends. You might want to take cover.

I did a little watering and then headed into the sewing room where I found Sadie ready to get to work.

Smitty was guarding the fabrics I'd left piled up from sewing the day before. Fabric is wild sometimes. I'm glad I have a cat to keep things safe.

And I'm happy to say my challenge piece for "The Sea" is finished. All that's left to do is to hand-sew the binding. Here's your peek. That's all I'm going to say about it until the reveal in November, except that I'm really happy with how it turned out. I can't wait to show it.

It was nearly dinner time by then, but I haven't visited the vegetable garden in several days. I could see these two giant sunflowers from the living room window, and so I thought I'd walk down introduce myself.

Checking on the corn, I think there's a good chance at least some of it will be ready before we leave. I'm not uncrossing my fingers just yet, but these ears are increasing in size rapidly.

A few of the plums were soft enough that I decided to take a bite out of one. It was still pretty tart, but I'm still confident they will be ready in just a few days. There are a few plum desserts that I'm looking forward to making. I'll probably pick a bag to take along too.

So, this being September 1st, it's time to decide on my September monthly goal. There are three things I'd like to finish in September. I'd like to quilt and bind this small quilt. It's the Half Square Affair from my "trashy" series:

For the month's large quilt, I'd like to finish quilting and binding the Bag Ladies of the Fat Quarter Club:

It's been waiting its turn on the quilts-to-be-quilted pile since December of 2018! Time to get it finished, don't you think? 

We're not going to be home much during the month, and so I'm choosing something for September's OMG I feel confident I can finish. 

For September's goal, I'd like to sew the Garden Sunshine quilt blocks into a finished flimsy. This won't get quilted, but I can at least get the blocks sewn together so that I can add it to the quilts-to-be-sandwiched pile:

Today we're heading out for a short grocery trip, and then I'll spend some time on my slow stitching. Oh yes, and I suppose I should try catching up on some housework too. The canning has kept me so busy that the house is pretty much a wreck. I guess I've run out of excuses now. How are things at your end?