If I Can...You Can

What do you do with 40 lbs. of tomatoes?

• Option 1) Go to open mic night at a comedy club
• Option 2) Make an "uh-oh I've been sprayed by a skunk" bath
• Option 3) Can them

My parents had gone to the beach to pick a ton of fresh tomatoes.  Yes, they drive to the beach in the morning, pick tons of tomatoes {and pick up fresh fish and shrimp-YUM!}, and drive home.  Weird I know to spend 8 total hours driving but to them it's worth it as they appreciate the homegrown variety {as their garden doesn't produce near the amount they need.}  Therefore, tons of tomatoes that need a nice warm home; well I gave them one.

Yes folks, today I finally learned the fine art of canning.  Apparently there are two types of canners - people that can, and people that don't can.  I come from a canning family but I've never really paid that much attention to all the steps.  So today, I finally told my mother that I wanted to do it myself, of course with her instruction.   I successfully canned seven quarts of fresh tomatoes that will eventually be used in soups and sauces.  You would not believe the difference in these tomatoes and the bland, but I know sometimes necessary, store bought cans.  No preservatives, no chemicals, just the soothing sound of {POP!} when the lids seal.  Music to my ears.

Now that I know how easy canning is {yet a bit time consuming but worth it}, my goal is to have a huge pantry filled with fresh canned tomatoes, beets, green beans, salsa...chocolate {just kidding, but I would if I could.}  Anyway, one more thing to check off my simplicity checklist.  I {heart} mason jars, I really really do!

image courtesy of me

Just Plane Ol' Fun!

Here is your weekly shop class report - try to contain your overwhelming excitement!  Did you know there are six steps to squaring up a board?  Ha, I knew it!  Well, up to this point, I only know three of them {bummer}.  Here are the first three steps in abbreviated detail of course:

• Step ONE - Make one face flat and smooth by using the Jointer.  Basically this machine shaves the crap off of the bottom face of raw lumber and spits out these shavings perfect for the hamster cage.

• Step TWO - Make the other face flat, smooth, parallel, and to the correct thickness on the PLANER {the mammoth machine in the pic above}.  The rough wood on the top face never stands a chance once it goes through this fine machine to make it smooth as a baby's bottom - ok, it does take multiple passes and possibly a bit of sanding at the end to really get it super-duper smooth.  However, you put the rough splinter-filled lumber in on one end and something very Willy Wonkaesque happens to where this gorgeous rich smooth piece of wood comes out the other end.  It's magic.

• Step THREE - Make one edge flat, smooth, and perpendicular to both faces on the {nope, wrong guess}, on the JOINTER again.  Do you see where I'm going with this?  Well, I don't because I don't know what Step Four is, aaaahhhh the agony.

Anyway, next week we are finishing up the remaining three steps, then starting our project planning and will incorporate wood techniques as needed like dove tail joining, turning wood for legs, FUN, FUN, FUN!  The best part?  I'm gonna have skills AND I get to buy safety glasses this weekend, jealous are you?

image courtesty of WW Thayer

You're Like School In The Summertime...No Class

To start this post, I'd like to pay tribute to one of my most favorite cartoons growing up, Fat Albert. One of my favorite characters was Russell who always dropped the best one liner ever, "You're like school in the summertime"..."no class."  Aaaannndddd, I loved the fact that he always wore a thick hat, big coat and big boots no matter what the weather was.  As a matter of fact, I do the same thing...with flip flops.

All this to say "no class" for last night's "shop class."  It was cancelled due to a power outage.  I know you were sitting there on the edge of your seat just waiting for a new update, at least in my mind you were.  More next week.

image courtesy of ZAP 2 it

Shop Shocked!

So, I went to my first Woodworking class last week {affectionately referred to as shop class - what else?!}  Guess what?  You'll never guess in a million years.  My instructor, who was a shop teacher for local high schools for many many years {drum roll}...has ALL his fingers!  I was stunned - I thought it was an urban legend that they existed.  He wears his wedding band on his pinkie finger which I find fascinating!

Shop Class - Take One!...We learned all about lumber, from forestry to sawmills, to drying the boards, the condition of the boards, the nomenclature, hardwoods vs. softwoods, etc.  In case you are lying awake in bed at night debating on log sawing methods - plane sawn wood gives you prettier grain {all lovely and curvy} BUT quarter sawn wood is less likely to warp {vertical grain}.  Now you can rest easy {you're welcome}.

Did you know hardwood trees typically loose their leaves in the winter and softwoods do not?  Yep, I cannot lie.  AND, rough lumber is sized by thickness and yard lumber {yes, the kind you get at a lumber yard - duh} is sized by dimension.  I was on the edge of my seat all night!

Loved it, loved it - and on deck for tomorrow night, learning how to square up a board, use the various saws and tools, etc.  If a woodchuck could chuck wood...oh who cares!

image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Shop Class

I'm so excited! Want to know why? Sure you do! Tonight is the first night of my Woodworking class! So what if you don't care - but I think it will be much fun. Learning about all the tools of trade, crafting a piece of furniture from your own little hands, the smell of sawdust...

It's a 5-week class offered at my local community college - my thought is to craft a 50's inspired side table, we'll see how that turns out. Maybe use hairpin legs on it, hhmm. Then, I've promised I would make Coco a barn for her horses - hope it doesn't look like a ghetto shack. I'll be posting my progress on the whole adventure and hopefully at the end, I will still have all my fingers.

image courtesy of The BAFRA