Harvest is a BUSY time in the kitchen!

I never really appreciated the time people spend in their kitchens during the harvest season. I'm not even putting up 40+ jars of fruit like my MIL, but I am still feeling the "it all needs to be preserved RIGHT NOW" thing (lest it get rotten, dried out, or otherwise rendered less tasty by hanging on the vine too long). Wouldn't it be great if the produce could just stay in peak ripeness for as long as you needed it to in order to get to everything?

However, you'd all be proud to know that I'm striving to be methodical and efficient rather than panicked and stressed about the things needing picked, cleaned, chopped, frozen, steamed, pureed then frozen, squished out, seasoned, roasted, marinated, chopped some more, boiled, packed, canned, dried, peeled, sliced, stuffed, pickled, fermented, and then finally eaten.

Today, I'm only doing herbs (1/4 of my basil), one of the pie pumpkins, roasting curried pumpkin seeds, stuffing Korean cucumber pickles, and then starting the marinade on some chunky jalapeno jelly. That's all. Don't think about the rest of the produce slowly transitioning from delicious to gross. Only so much I can handle in a day. :) and hopefully all before Gwen wakes up from her morning nap!Tomorrow: more herbs, can the jalapeno jelly, and make some fresh salsa verde. And then we'll talk about the rest. :)