Pickled Peppers and Plums (say that ten times fast!)

I finally found someone else who likes my pickled turnips!  We had a friend over for dinner this week and he trustingly tried spoonfuls of unidentified items from jars in my refrigerator, declaring the Lift "delicious" and even having some as a side with dinner!

Proof positive I cannot multi-task when I am tired!  I snagged a few pounds of tomatoes at bargain basement prices at Wednesday's Farmers' Market, cut, cored and olive oiled them, added seasonings and even peeled garlic this time.  Then I slid them into the oven to roast away.  I kind of meant to turn the oven off before I went to the bus stop but even if I didn't, they should have been fine.  Except there was a bolt of lightning.  And the school took all the kids back inside from the buses.  And I did not know about this - they sent an email but I have a dumb phone - so we waited for our children at a bus stop too far from the house to let them walk alone while this happened to my tomatoes.

Two pans looking like this :(

I did salvage some, but they are unusable for my original intent, which was more of that silky-smooth marinara I made in my last tomato adventure.  Ah well, try again next week!
(Please note, the pill bottle off to the left is filled with meds for the dog...not for me when my tomatoes blacken up as one friend suggested!)

On a more positive note, I found a simple recipe for pickled banana peppers and whipped up a jar.

Slice peppers into rings, and place in a bowl with  2 bay leaves and 5 cloves of crushed garlic.  Boil 1 1/2 cups of apple cider vinegar, 1 1/2 cups of water, 1 Tbsp of raw sugar, 2 tsp mustard seed and 2 tsp kosher salt.  Pack jar, pour liquid over it, let it cool, cap and refrigerate.  Eat in 3 days.

They are pretty darned tasty on sandwiches, but watch out, they have a healthy vinegar kick that will leave you coughing if it goes down the wrong pipe!

This morning, I gazed at the sad plums that should have been turned into something yummy by yesterday at the latest.  They still showed signs of life, so before the kids even finished breakfast, I had a small batch of Amaretto Plum Jam going in the canner.   Or it may turn out to be Amaretto Plum Dessert Sauce, depending on the vagaries of high altitude canning with non-pectin recipes.  There was only a spoon-licking quantity left over so no previews on my toast.

No coffee made to justify a nip of Amaretto

I am beginning to enjoy Ellie Top's Small Batch Preserving book more and more.  There is a Mango Plum jam on the next page.  There is a mango on my counter.  hmmmmmm