I Dare You To Eat It

My friend, The Amazing Laura, from 10 Things Farm just shot me a note about a fantastic discount on Tattler Re-usable canning jar lids!

“TODAY ONLY they’re 40% off so you can get 100 standard and 100 wide mouth lids for a little over $85.00, shipped. Each lid is a BPA free plastic topper and a rubber ring. You can use them over and over and over, which is awesome!”

http://www.markdown.com/markdown-tattler-lids/?refcode=MjA3NTEzfHw2NHx8OTQwNTl8fDEzMw..

I think Laura is inspired. She had no way of knowing that I’m right smack-dab in the middle of a Canning Skillz Camp. Seriously. We even have matching aprons that say “Bean there, done that!”

It all started because of wonderful Visiting Teachers. When they called (1) at the first of the month to confirm their standing appointment, I told Paula that she’s always welcome to come over and do the sit on the couch thing, but what I REALLY need in addition to hearing the message is her (2) help in learning some new skills. See, I believe our visiting teachers are meant to be a RESOURCE and there’s soooo much I want to learn from these two women.

Paula immediately agreed and offered to (3) share her deluxe 18 quart Pesto pressure canner and quickly teach me a slick method for canning sprouted beans. Later that same day I was talking to a friend, Melanie, in Las Vegas, telling her about my next big adventure in homemaking, and she agreed to drive the 7 hours to be part of the fun. She even sewed and embroidered the matching aprons. Who does that?

On Tuesday, Paula and her equally talented companion, Pam, showed up at my door. One was carrying the (4) Ensign magazine and the other was carrying the canner. Melanie and I had our bottles washed and ready to fill and the cans of dried beans (5) from our food storage were waiting on the counter. The whole lesson, including a beautiful spiritual thought about watch care, took about (6) 30 minutes.

After Paula and Pam left,  Melanie and I dove in and started to (7) do exactly what my visiting teacher taught. Fast forward a couple of days, and we have completed 4 or 5 batches of beans, experimenting with different canning techniques.

Paula’s sprouted beans will be the final adventure on Friday. Right now, those bottles are (8) patiently waiting, covered on the counter, and we’re bathing/draining each one with fresh water every morning and night. There better not be any _ _ _.

So beans have clearly “bean” the focus, but we’re working on (9) other skillz too. We’ve each sewn a couple of infant car seat covers…

and we’ve taken a few runs at braided roll dough. Today there’s going to be some shopping/treasure hunting at NPS. But we’re all about the skillzzzz. I’m continually repenting for not learning MORE of this good stuff from my dear mother.

And speaking of repentance, I just gave my American Express, over the phone, so that Melanie can bring a brand new pressure canner home from the store. Shhhh. It’s going to be a present for Paula. Yup. In exactly two days, I broke the one she’s had for the past eight years.

Doesn’t matter. This week’s experience has been worth every penny, and I only hate myself a little bit. It (10) doesn’t have to be perfect to be of tremendous value.