That would be me. Why? Because I started yet another flat the other day, mostly of tomatoes and peppers. The more I see fat food ads – no, that is not a typo – the more I want to ensure that we, here, and our family as a whole, have as much good food as is possible. I love a Whopper and some onion rings here and there, but some of the ads are positively nauseating. Does anyone really need to eat a one pound calzone in a single sitting? Bleh.

Now that we have the propane cooker rescued from my brother’s place, I’m hoping we will be able to actually regulate the temperature better for the pressure canner than is possible on the stovetop.Canning means massive quantities of roasted red pepers, available any time for soup. Pickled pepperoncinis for sandwiches (and my uncle, who used to eat them right out of the jar, as did I before my mouth became a mess). Tabascos, for making – what else? – tabasco sauce (or the equivalent since that may be trademarked and I’m too lazy to get up and check the jar in the pantry, so please don’t sue me, thanks). Canned green beans. Pickled onions. Hell, pickles, both sweet gherkins and kosher dills. And bread and butters. And whatever else we can stock up on so when it comes around to dinner time, we can taste the summer even in the dead of winter.