Labor Day!

It was Labor Day yesterday, and boy, did we ever labor!  It was Chile Day!  We roasted our own again this year.  Roasting didn't start until 10:00, and we wanted to have them roasted before that.  We also blister them better than a roasting cage roasts them--no missed spots.

Can't you almost smell them roasting?

The whole roasting process took us about an hour.  Then we needed to let the chiles steam for at least another hour or two.

Chelsea wanted to try her hand at jalapeno jelly, so while the chiles were steaming, she made a batch.  I was the jelly tutor.  She used a different recipe than I used when I made mine.  We're going to compare them to see which we like better after they've had time to sit for a few days.

I put green food coloring in mine.  Chelsea is going with the natural look!

While the jelly was processing in a hot water bath, we started in on the peeling.  Susan put an episode or two of Psych on while we peeled and processed.  It seemed to go pretty quickly.  It helped that the blistering was done so well.

This is the stuff in the freezer.  It goes back three layers.

Chelsea's jelly is now done and ready to go!

We had green chile cheeseburgers for lunch with the fruits of our labors.  It was delicious--a little mild, yet delicious!

We got so busy so early that I hadn't even gotten my hair combed out after it dried.  The picture is kind of scary.  Focus on the chile.

Brian's masterpiece is going to be just right!

Throughout the course of the day, we had at least three piles of dishes like this that we had to wash.

We did 12 half-pints of green chile.

After Brian and Chelsea left, the juicing of the rest of the apples (besides the ones in the refrigerator) began.  They were drawing tons of little fruit flies, so I wanted them done and out of the house once and for all.

Juice.  Some of the pulp rises to the top.  That we cook up and eat like applesauce.  I didn't bottle any of the pulp--just the juice.  We bottled 5 quarts.  It better be good.  It was a  lot of work for just five quarts.