In the Midst of Tribulation (9 page)

"I'm floored at the variety," Martha mused. "I never had a clue what you had going up here."
"Oh, and I've got some mushrooms going but I get most of them wild."
Susan shook her head as she took a circuit of the dome. "I'm noticing a pattern here.
Where're the rest of them?"
"What do you mean?"
"You never were much of a vegetable eater and I don't see that you're growing anything you don't like." Susan put her hands on her hips. "Fess up, Jay."
"So, there aren't any carrots, spinach, collards, or peas. No big deal."
"Do you have seeds for them?"
"Well, duh. She could reseed the garden of Eden, right, Jay?" Doris' asked sarcastically.
"Actually, I do. There are jars of seeds up at the house."
"Why?" asked Piper.
"Why what?"
"You don't particularly care for any others. Why would you have them?"
"Because I always knew that someday I'd get called on my selection. Besides, I wouldn't want to disappoint the nutrition police." She smiled at Susan. "Come spring time you can plant what you want. Even beets."
"I'll hold you to that."
"I said I'd let you plant them. Nothing was said about me eating any of it," warned Jay.
Laughing easily and teasing one another, the group continued to talk as they walked back to the house to start dinner preparations.
Chapter Seven - Stand By Me
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
In the midst of faults and failures,
Stand by me (stand by me);
When I do the best I can,
And my friends misunderstand,
Thou Who knowest all about me,
Stand by me (stand by me).
Words and Music: Charles A. Tindley, 1905
When Doris appeared in the kitchen late the next morning, she was taken aback by the room's temperature. "Where is everybody?" she asked, wiping her brow.
"They're out and about," answered Jay. "The morning is almost over and you're the last one up."
"Why is it so hot in here?" she asked.
"I've got the wood stove fired up."
"What's going on?"
"I'm just gearing up for some canning." Jay finished filling another pot with hot water and placed it on the stove. "Since you're here, you get to help."
"Why me?"
"Martha and Piper have already left to gather some firewood and Susan is collecting herbs. You snooze, you lose."
"What are the kids doing?"
"They're out swimming. No reason to trap them in this steam room."
"But it's fine for us?"
"Sure. We're real women." Jay flexed liked a body builder.
"I guess."
"If you want to eat, you'll help." Jay's voice was sharp. On only the third day of their acquaintance, it never failed that Doris could push her buttons within five minutes of opening her mouth.
"Wonderful. Do I get breakfast first?"
"If you can eat it on the fly. As you can see, I've covered the table with canning necessities."
Doris walked over to the table and lifted up an empty jar out of a box of empty jars. The tabletop was nearly covered with boxes of quart jars and lids. Putting the jar back down, she opened up a large pager bag. She stirred the band rings and asked, "What do we need all this stuff for?"
"We've got to put up the vegetables we took out of the garden yesterday."
"It has to be done now?"
Jay suddenly appeared behind her. At the startled squeak, she grinned, "Now's as good a time as any." She handed her a jar of honey and the basket of biscuits. "Not much but it should take the edge off."
Doris sat down heavily and pushed some jars out of her way. She flipped the towel off the basket. "I can't believe this is all that's left."
"Next time get up earlier."
"This is the first chance I've had to sleep in forever."
"You slept later than everyone else, so don't bitch about the chore choice or lack of breakfast."
Doris glared up at her as she stuffed part of a honey-covered biscuit into her mouth. She couldn't believe how rude the woman was being. "Is there any tea?"
"You can scoop some water out of one of the pots, if you want. It's clean and boiling."
"What about the teapot?"
"There isn't space on the stove for it right now."
"I get the feeling that there would be space if I was someone else."
"Since you're not, I guess we'll never know the accuracy of that." Jay cracked her knuckles. "Hurry up. We've got a ton of washing to do."
"Give me minute."
"The clock is running." Jay went pack into the kitchen and began sorting the vegetables out onto the counter. She was humming 'You Are My Sunshine' to herself as she waited for Doris to join her.
Finishing off the final biscuit, Doris returned to the kitchen. She put the basket with the others over the stove and shook the towel out in the sink. "Now what?"
Glaring at her, Jay silently pulled up the plug and let the water in the sink run back out again. She rinsed the sink before restoppering it and running the water again. "To start with, we've got to think clean. None of us can afford a case of food poisoning."
Doris shrugged. "Sorry, I didn't know that the water was special. I mean, really."
Ignoring the other woman's attitude, Jay continued. "We've got to wash the vegetables. Dirt's got lots of germs and you are going to make sure everything is clean as possible. That means that after the veggies are washed, you'll have to wash the canning jars, the lids and bands. Then we'll boil all the jars and bands. Only then we can start filling and sealing."
She stepped away from the sink. "Once you've washed all the veggies, take this paring knife and remove any black spots or damage. All the bad parts can be put in the compost bowl."
"Shouldn't we throw out the bad ones?"
"No, just make sure the bad area is excised. We don't have enough food to just toss things that are less than perfect."
"Whatever you say," Doris agreed.
"Exactly. Whatever I say." Jay brought a couple of boxes of jars into the kitchen. Turning to the pots of boiling water, she began to sterilize the jars. Taking a pair of tongs, she turned each jar sideways to fill before letting it settle to the bottom. After filling all four pots, she laid out a towel on the counter to give her a space to let them dry.
Susan came in with a basket of basil. "Morning, Doris. Here, Jay. I cut almost all of it."
"Great." Taking the basket, Jay dumped the contents into a colander and tried to hand it to Doris.
"What do you want me to do with that?"
"Just rinse it."
"I'm not done with washing the tomatoes."
"You can interrupt the process to run that under the faucet."
With bad grace, she takes the colander. "What do we need so much for?"
"It'll be packed with the tomatoes," replied Jay. "By doing it in layers, the taste will be terrific when the jars are opened."
"So, what's the plan?"
"Well, we need to pressure cook the green beans and get the skin off the tomatoes. I'll make a chili sauce with half the tomatoes and we'll can the rest."
"What about the peppers?"
"There'll only be enough to add to the sauce and for dinner tonight." Jay wiped her hands. "Could you take the ends off the beans?" she asked Susan.
"No problem."
"Once you've done so, you can pack the beans into the clean jars. And I mean pack. They need to be in there pretty tightly, as they're going to shrink." Filling a large bowl with cold well water and a tray of ice cubes, Jay began to drop tomatoes into the boiling water. After a quick scald, she sieved them out and shocked them in the cold-water bath.
Doris finished washing and paring the vegetables. Standing behind Jay, she tapped tentatively on the still warm glasses. "These look dry."
Jay glanced over. "Good. Now, run your fingers across the top to make sure there aren't any chips."
"I could get cut."
"Not likely. If you don't do it, you're more going to get sick from food poisoning."
"From a chip?"
"From the air that gets in through the space. That's why you have to pack them tightly. You can't give air and the bugs who live in it any room."
"These are all fine."
"Great. Pass them on to Susan and you can start peeling the tomatoes. Put twenty four in that bowl there and then hand me the rest for stuffing into jars."
"I'd rather do that."
Surprised at the willingness, Jay agreed. "Sure. When you're ready, put a layer of basil then a couple layers of tomatoes. Add more basil and fill to the top. Use that long handled wooden spoon to make sure that everything is filling all the space. When the jar is full, put in a final leaf or two of basil."
"Do I put the lids on too?"
"After you're confident they're fully packed, wipe the top really good. Put on the lids and tighten the bands. Don't force them too tight. The air has to escape somehow."
Jay turned back to the stove and put the pressure cooker on the open eye. Adding a little bit of water, she waited until it began to boil before she started taking the green bean jars and loading them in.
"I remember my Grandmother boiling the jars to seal them." Susan chewed thoughtfully on a basil leaf. "I don't think I've ever seen a pressure cooker in action."
"We'll boil the tomatoes and chili."
"Why not for everything?"
"Safety reasons. Open kettle cooking doesn't get hot enough for the beans."
"What do you mean?"
"Water boils around 200 degrees. Steam gets much hotter."
"Why does one need to be more?"
"Because we're preserving both low acid and high acid foods." She glanced at Doris and saw the question in her eyes. "Look, I'm going to do everything possible to make this process as safe as possible but germs are persistent. High acid foods like tomatoes already make it hard for any germs that make it through the heat to get a foothold. In low acid foods like the beans, the environment is ripe for germs to have a field day. We have to make sure they're pretty well wiped out from the beginning."
"Why don't you just do everything the hottest way?"
"Because heat kills flavor." Jay wiped her face on a hand towel. "Did you ever walk away from a pot of green beans on the stove and come back to most of the water gone and the damn things limp as a noodle?" she asked. "That's essentially what we're doing here."
"But why do we have to do it that way? Can't we freeze them or something?"
"The freezer space is pretty finite. What room we've got needs to be saved for whatever game we can get."
"Can't you can meat?"
"Not easily."
"Why not?"
"There are too many steps and too little margin for error. You've got to make sure that you've removed as much fat as possible. Then, there is a lot more bacteria in meat. To bring it to the temperature where it's safe, there'll be no flavor at all."
"So, what do you do with meat?"
"Smoke, salt or freeze it. And we don't have enough salt to spare."
"I'm ready for a new task."
Jay handed Susan a knife that she first dipped into the boiling water. "Chop four onions and three green peppers."
"What for?" Doris asked.
"Look, I'm getting pretty tired of having to explain myself to you." She poked Doris in the chest. "I wasn't even talking to you."
"I was just asking a question."
"Why can't you just do what I ask?"
"Why can't you answer the questions?"
"I think I've been pretty patient. I'm not used to explaining everything I'm doing." Jay fumed.
Susan stepped closer. "Jay, give her a break. You know that you wouldn't want to do something without finding out why first."
"I know, I know. I guess I've been on my own for too long."
"Your manners certainly show that," responded Doris nastily.
Jay threw her hands up. "I was trying to apologize."
"Doris sometimes doesn't know when to give it a rest."
"Hey," Doris exclaimed. "She insulted me."
Susan shrugged. "It's true and you know it. Now, how about we all take a deep breath and finish this task so we can go outside where it's cool."
"Fine with me."
"Agreed." Turning to the pressure cooker, Jay watched the steam coming out of the vent on the top. When it was a steady stream, she placed the rocker on top and pushed the cooker slightly to the side of the eye. She fussed with the pot until the rocking of the gauge slowed to just a couple of movements a minute.
"What are you doing now?"
"I wanted to make sure that the cooker was filled with steam. That gauge keeps the pressure steady at ten pounds."
"Don't those things explode?"
"That's why the gauge is on. It will keep the contents steady at a certain poundage of pressure. If things get too hot, the steam will blow the gauge off and release the steam to lower the pressure."
"So it's safe?" Doris was still standing well away from the stove.
"As safe as houses."
"What should I do now?"
Jay looked over and saw that Susan had diced almost all the ripe tomatoes and peppers.
"You can chop the green tomatoes."
"And then?"
"Toss them all in a pot with vinegar and some spices. After it boils for an hour and a half and pour it into the jars. Once canned, we've got the perfect chili sauce." While she was talking, she was taking the bottles of tomatoes that Doris had packed and was putting them in the pot of boiling water. Draping a towel among and over the jars, she silenced the noise of them knocking into one another as the water boiled around them.
Susan called, "Everything is chopped."
"Okay." She began checking off on her fingers. "We need cloves, allspice, ginger and cinnamon from the pantry."
"How much?" asked Susan, as she juggled the containers.
"A teaspoon each should do it." Jay tapped the gallon jug of vinegar with her foot. "You need to pour in a quart of that."
"Is this pot good to use?" Susan touched a pot on the rack that hung over the stove.
"Yeah. That Dutch oven is too small for quart jars to fit, so it's perfect for cooking the sauce." Checking her watch, she grabbed two hot pads and picked up the pressure cooker. She set it on a rack on the counter and turned away from the stove.
"Now what?"
"We wait for it to cool on its own. When you can take the gauge off and no steam escapes, then the lid can come off and the jars can be taken out." Jay went over to the door and picked up a couple pieces of firewood. She slid them into the firebox and stepped back to the door. "Man, this place is a sauna."
"How many times a season you do this?"
"Three or four for the veggies." Jay wiped her face. "Since Harmony went south, I haven't planted as much. We can do a lot more with more bodies."
"You do anything else?"
"Pickles sometimes, if the cucumbers go wild. And jam making if I get a wild hare."
"Do you sun dry anything?"
"Only during the middle of the summer. It takes too long otherwise." Jay rotated her shoulders, trying to work out some of the strain. "I get bored picking out the bugs from the tomatoes when they make it past the screens." She smiled at Doris' look of disgust. "I do dehydrate mushrooms and herbs over the stove."