canning in the dead of winter.

It is not exactly economical. But it certainly is tasty. Sometimes you just run out of pickled beans in the cold storage and sometimes you just might have a friend that has been scratching up your tree asking you to teach him how to make delicious treats.

I think I purchased roughly enough beans for five jars at superstore and it came out to a measly 4 bucks. Not exactly free and not exactly fresh but when push comes to shove and you live above the forty ninth parallel and its midway through the month without form, you don't really have a good darn to say about the matter.

Jason brought over some more beans, more carrots, hot peppers, banana peppers and even twelve hard boiled eggs. I had spent the day fishing and he the day coyote hunting so it was 9 bells on a sunday before the water started rolling in the big pot. But we eventually got at it, not sparing on the cayenne pepper, certainly not sparing on the garlic and liberally splashing vinegar in every which direction. Ever since i accidental forgot to bring the garlic along on a fortnight canoe adventure I have never let it from my side. I have been lonely before, but those 14 days without my vampire repellent were some of the loneliest days i have ever withered.

After some trial and error(always be sure to keep your jars hot before putting them in the water bath as they will crack furiously) we lay the bounty out on the table. If only we could pry those lids off with that satisfying pop right now, life would be no better, but alas the spices need time to ferment with the veggies and it will be at least two weeks before i celebrate the glory that is pickled beans.

happy canning everyone.

currently listening to billy bragg

cultural differences.

The other weekend me and a couple good chums of mine decided we would drive down to America to catch a Steve Earle show. The plan for the adventure was to wake up early and cross the border before noon in time to get some greasy American small town breakfast. So we did just that. We found the local diner, sat down with eyes glaring upon us and picked up the finest menu Montana had to offer. From the pages of the breakfast menu popped up the local special. Eggs, your choice of dead animal, hash browns, and biscuits and sausage gravy? Biscuits and sausage gravy? What the fuck is that. Biscuits? ya i know what they are. Gravy? ya its pretty good on fries, especially Canada's own invention, the great poutine(by the way, Yankee spell check did not like this word). But sausage gravy? Never one to back down from a good breakfast challenge, the three of us decided to partake in this sausage gravy biscuit business. We were not disappointed. it wasn't the tastiest thing ever, and it certainly was not the healthiest, but hey! it was OK.

So off we went to visit the gun shops and glory holes of American and we hit the road for another four hours while constantly revisiting the idea of biscuits and sausage gravy in our conversations. We arrived at our hotel, did the American thing, went to Hooters and went to Famous Dave's where they serve you the entire barn yard on a garbage can lid. Somehow we once again ended up at a rodeo dance in America and then we hit the sack. The next morning we decided to give the smorg at the hotel restaurant a looksee. Down the aisles of buffet trays we travelled until our eyes feasted on the prize. Once again. Biscuits and sausage gravy. We were sold. All the biscuits our colons could handle. We found out from our helpful waitress that the biscuits are a staple in the northern mid west and that somehow the phenomenon had failed to make a showing in Canada. Perhaps one day I will feast upon this goodness from the confines of my beautiful country, but until then i will keep visiting that country that lies to the south of us.


currently listening to Billy Bragg