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Hi Reader,

I hope your week has gone better than mine! Well, just to be clear, the disasters I referred to in the subject line are tiny and not on any big scale (though I'm typing very carefully right now, as you'll see why...).

Unless you've been a part of the Oregon Cottage community for a while you may not know that I've canned for many years - teaching myself to can first easy jams and then salsa to use up my harvest after catching the gardening bug. I was a young mom and so I can say now that I've canned for almost 30 years now.

And in all that time I've never had this happen:

I burned my hand last night when the bottom FELL OFF A JAR of boiling hot tomato soup as I was transferring it to the canner! ☹️

There was tomato soup EVERYWHERE- it splashed all over the kitchen, cabinets, walls, and all over me. Brian and I cleaned for a half hour (all with my hand stuck in a jar of ice water!) and I’m sure we’ll be finding red splashes in places for days. 😂

While I could tell the burn wasn't bad, it hurt like crazy if it wasn't in cold water. Finally I decided to slathered it with aloe and cover with gauze to sleep and it actually hurt less and I was able to sleep, thankfully.

So - what happened?? I'm fully willing to admit it was user error. I think it was a combo of things that caused me to let my jars cool too much and when the boiling soup was added to the jar it was just too much thermal shock.

I had just gotten a steam canner I was all excited about - but when I ran the initial test of the temperature dial, half the jars broke with their bottoms falling off!! (disaster #1) Huge disappointment - and again probably user error (I will research and try again) - but I needed to get the soup canned and it was now almost 8:00 at night. So I started the water bath canner, but our water pressure was all of a sudden low and we were trying to figure that out while I had my jars in the sink waiting.

I don't know - it was just a bit chaotic from my normal routine and all I can figure out is that the jars were't hot enough. Since the bottoms had fallen off of the steam canner jars, I was like, "wait - what??" in a state of shock when the boiling soup came pouring out when I was just filling it (disaster #2).

So I gave up and now have 6 quarts of tomato soup in the freezer.😂 And I'm thankful my hand is not worse! 🙏

Anyway, let's move to something you may find more helpful, lol. Healthy snacks for back-to-routine fall schedules, last of the season picnics, hikes or whatever you'd like!

Healthy Snack Recipes

I have a whole section of snack recipes on the blog, but here are a few that stand out for this season to me:

• ​Flavorful & Easy Curried Deviled Eggs (when you need a protein hit)
• ​Spiced Carrot Bread Recipe (maple sweetened, whole wheat)
• ​Healthy Blueberry Bars Recipe (quick and easy0
• ​Easy & Healthy Spiced Nuts Recipe (no sugar added)
• ​Easy Oregon Trail Mix Cookies (whole wheat, honey sweetened)

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In My Kitchen

I'm trying a new-to-me canning lid this year, Superb Canning Lids. They are USA made and they seem really good quality with thick gaskets, sealing 100% so far for me this season.

They are more expensive, but you can save by buying in bulk, which I always recommend because you don't want to run out of lids when you're in preserving mode!

• ​Superb Canning Lids on Amazon​
• ​Superb Canning Lids at Walmart (on sale)
• ​Superb Canning Lids at Superb site​

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From The Blog

​Quick Salmon Caesar Salad (with Foolproof Pan-Fry Method)​ An easy family favorite with the way you will cook salmon from now on (well, if you're not grilling, lol) - love the crispy edges. ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

​Easy Beet & Cabbage Sauerkraut Just as easy as my regular sauerkraut but with the added flavor and sweetness of raw beets! ​ RECIPE HERE! ​

A Few More Things

Two updates from last week:

1. A number of people wrote to me about the Christmas tree crochet pattern and that reviews said it was hard to understand. As soon as I have time I will sit down and see if I can figure it out and will report back! It's so cute, fingers crossed.
2. I also got a few emails telling me that Grove's walnut scrubbers and sponges had plastic in them. I check with the site and emailed them and it's true, sadly. They are PET recycled, but all plastic releases microplastics (and some places say recycled releases even more). Arrgh - disappointing to say the least. I've now ordered this set of sponges for a lot less $$ that are made only of plant-based cellulose and coconut fiber.

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Lastly, we discovered a new protein pasta that may be better for those of you who don't like the Banza chickpea pasta! It's Barilla's Protein+ Pasta and the first ingredient is wheat (so not GF) and it's protein comes in the form of lentil flour and pea protein, as well as some chickpea, barley, and spelt flour. It seems to keep it's shape better and we served it to our family and NO one could tell it wasn't regular pasta. It has 10 grams of protein for a 2-ounce serving, so really adds nutrition to your pasta dishes. Obviously, it's not low-carb, but I'm glad this seems to work for most people and I'm hopeful it will work in the slow-cooker pasta dishes we love that Banza didn't.

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Here's to a great week (with no broken jars 😀)! Remember to hit reply with anything you'd like to share, I enjoy hearing from you!

PS- Remember to tag me on Instagram so I can see what you're making!

Remember it's easy to save recipes on An Oregon Cottage! Just click the heart when browsing to save your personal favorites! TIP: when you click on the link, it will take you to my site - click the heart like you see here to the left - it will be on the bottom right on the site. A pop up form will come up for you to create an account (or sign in if you already have). You need to create a password for this account (no info is kept besides your email) and then you can save all recipes and articles to this account and access it anytime to remember what you want and choose what to make!

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