Little bits of this and that

I haven't got a lot done today, just bits of this and that. Slept in this morning and got a late start on the day. But I did need to take care of the pickles that I started last evening. They are sweet lime pickles. The gentleman who posted the recipe on a forum that I frequent says they don't get soft. Well I can see that they might not as they are like lil chunks of ice after sitting in lime water over night. They are in the pickling solution now and will be finished tomorrow morning. I will let ya know and get permission to post his recipe for ya here.
I had some tomatoes that needed to be made into something but not enough to warrant getting the squeezo strainer dirty, so I just cooked em after they were washed and cut up and made some quick juice. Just 2 quarts but that's a start. An ya know, every kitchen should have a food mill. Well I used to own one and wore it out and never bought another one. They are great for small batches of juice and such. It is a big job to get the squeezo strainer out and set it up to make 2 quarts of juice. I love my squeezo don't get me wrong. But it was too much for the task at hand today. So I went to Amazon and ordered me a food mill, a hand crank lil fellow that will make quick work of a few tomatoes at a time.That will beat all to heck trying to force tomato pulp thru a strainer. Ask me how I know!
I have been trying to get things out of my freezer that can be vacuum packed and stored in the cellar. Today I took all the shuck beans or leather britches as some folks call em out. Ran them for a bit in the dehydrator to get any moisture out and then vacuum sealed them for storage. Also have been doing the same thing with cornmeal. I have a pillowcase full of bags of frozen blackberries that I am going to thaw out and make into wine soon. Not real sure what is in the big freezer than can be moved, will find that out tomorrow.
Some of my grapes were getting ripe, which I thought was kinda early, so I cut those yesterday and put them in a zip top bag and toss them in the freezer till I have enough to make jelly and then I will use those. To me it is easier to freeze the grapes a few at a time than to make a big mess making juice to freeze a lil at a time.
Now what do ya do with ground cherries? Dunno, but I will find some use for em. I picked about a quart of em this evening. Will let ya know what I decide to make with em.
So till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella