Bridezilla

Do you know what happens to your brain in the 90 days before your wedding? (There are actually 58 days to go, but who is counting). Imagine a pinterest, wedding-wire cocktail, mixed with anxiety and caffeine loaded in an IV that is constantly pumping you full of “DIY Decor Ideas”, “Meaningful Vows”, “Wedding Day Dos and Dont’s”. I spend more of my day reminding myself that “no one will notice your white on white linen choice” or that “no one will notice that there is no apparent color scheme” than I care to admit. I am trying to be realistic. That’s a lie. I am trying to appear casual while my brain feels like a derailing train.

Are you familiar with these feelings? Have you received the following advice?:

“Don’t worry about it!”

“It won’t be perfect anyway”

“Don’t sweat the small stuff”

“It will all be fine!”

“It’s your day!”
 

I do appreciate it, but it’s not really a stand-in. No matter how much I do or do not care about the small stuff, someone still has to actually do all of the small little things - of which there are at least 1,000. And that person is me.
 

I would like to just embrace all of the chaos that is this one very long, expensive day in my future. I would like to take one very long, deep breath and gracefully approach the rest of the process with a type of gentle ferocity. But that’s unlikely to occur. This is reality - do everything all at once or not at all! Victory will be mine!

I’m certain that everything will be fine. I am working with wonderful people who I trust will help me make the day fun and enjoyable for everyone there. But in the meantime…

Canning!

I have not been doing as much cooking as I had previously.  Feeling like I had tackled a good portion of basic kitchen techniques, I wanted to take on a new challenge and learn some techniques for canning and preserving. Turns out… I love canning! It’s perfect for me because it feels like equal parts science and art.  
 

 
 
 
 














But I am not going to try to tell you or show you how to can. It’s a process that should be learned from a more qualified source. I encourage you to try it though! There are so many wonderful things to make with really awesome, local, summer produce. Do you still remember last winter? Has the sun recently damaged your memory? Basically, six months of dark, frozen, nothingness. Imagine February rolls around and you’re driving through a snow tunnel in the darkness of morning at -10 degrees. But for breakfast you spread some August blueberry jam on your oatmeal.  It’s the little things.

If you’re interested, you can go to the direct source: Ball. These people write the canning guidelines. I think it’s at least worth a skim.

However if you are just a normal person who needs the technical nitty-gritty but also some motivational information and the reminder that no, chances are you won’t poison anyone, please try Food In Jars http://foodinjars.com/. Everything she does is genius. Her photos alone will make you run out and buy a flat of mason jars.

If you’re local, you can also pick up a copy of “Homemade Pantry” by (Alana Chernilla) which is what originally perked my interest in canning. Check it out at Barnes and Noble.com (http://www.barnesandnoble.com) She gives you the rundown and two staple recipes: fruit jams and pickles. She is from Great Barrington and the book is just a fabulous anyway for lots of DIY basics.

 

Some of my best canning to-date:

Blueberry Spice Jam

Bread & Butter Pickles

Pickled Onions

Apple Butter

Apple Sauce

In case you haven’t figured out how the beginning rant ties into the jam talk, one of my “small things” to do was make 85 jars as favors for the wedding. Rustic right? Way to stay on theme, Lilly.