When a person leads a quiet life...

sometimes it is a stretch to find anything to write about.  When that happens, you get little snippets of what is going on in my little corner of the world.

Bella the dog (see last post) spent the better part of the day with me while Oldest Son was at work.  She made absolutely certain that anything she perceived as a threat was kept at bay with a sharp bark or two.  She supervised the crews that are working on a building across the street.  This was done from the back of my couch, looking out the window.  We had some good conversations (Yes.  I talk to animals.) but when Duane arrived to collect her, she forgot I existed.

Duane told me that Bella's owner is on a cruise.  I don't think that would have been my choice in vacations just now.  We hope she will be able to come home afterwards without needing to spend two weeks in quarantine.  We wouldn't mind keeping Bella longer, but I wouldn't wish a quarantine on anybody.

I have been waiting for a good sale on meat to can, but no luck so far.  So instead I ordered for Thursday delivery the ingredients for my favorite relish/slaw to can.  I suppose the person who does the shopping will think I have slipped into senility when they see I have ordered 6 large cabbages.  What doesn't go into the slaw will go into the dehydrator.

I think a while back I posted the recipe for Amish coleslaw to can.  That is a good recipe, but I like this one even better.

Coleslaw to Can or Freeze

1 medium head cabbage
1 large carrot
1 green pepper
1 small onion
1 tsp. salt

Syrup

1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 cups sugar
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds

Shred together vegetables. Add the salt. Let stand 1 hour.
Drain water from vegetables. Boil syrup ingredients together for 1 minute. Cool.
Add syrup to vegetables. Pack into pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes, or put into freezer containers and freeze.  (I have canned this in half pint jars for single servings.)
This slaw may be drained before use and mayonnaise added, or used as is.

I am making lots of it this time as it is a favorite addition to a meal and mostly because cabbage is on sale.

I am spending some time this week on various crochet and sewing projects, mostly to avoid the news, which is depressing.  I still check the headlines as I refuse to be totally ignorant of what is going on around us, but I am on information overload and need a bit of a break.  I can't ignore it completely, especially when I learn that there is a family here in my town who is self-quarantined due to contact with a virus case just across the river from my apartment.  That's a bit too close to home.

Just wanted to let you know I hadn't fallen off the edge of the earth.  Life continues at it's quiet pace.  Well, except for an early warning system named Bella.

Take care and keep on prepping.