The house is QUITE!!

Labor Day weekend is finally coming to a close, they kids are all gone settling into their own homes, Bob is headed back to the job site and I am having a bit of quite time with a tall glass of ice cold water. We had a great weekend with too much good food, a bit of boating, lots of Harley time and fun with the grand babies (we like our kids too).

We had Pickled okra and watermelon rind as extra side dishes for Sunday dinner, the kids who were willing to try it fell in love but some refused to even pick it up (losers). The watermelon rind was a bit sweet for our taste so I drained and rinsed it off with cold water then drained it again, much better! The pickled okra was wonderful, it is now on my to do list this week, I have tons of the little buggers and more coming in each day.

I was able to get to the watermelon jelly Saturday morning while Bob worked on the hot tub that caught on fire (long story but not my fault!). Here are a few tips if you want to give watermelon jelly a try. Shoes and apron are required, bra is optional. I have a habit of going barefoot more than I should, if you are working with watermelon for hours you will end up with sticky feet so wear shoes and an apron is a must unless you don't mind a sticky belly from watermelon juice. A bra is not necessary, you aren't working with mechanical equipment that the girls might get hung up in.

The jelly looks soooo pretty, wish I could get a nice photo of it. It taste like a watermelon Jolly Rancher but a bit sweeter. I am not sure if it will work out as expected yet, they jelly has not firmed up, after searching the web seems like lots of folks have had the same problem with loose jelly, the suggestion is that it takes about a week to jell, time will tell. I did put a jar in the refrigerator and it set up a little better, seems to be getting better every day. I figure the worst that can happen is I will throw a jar in the freezer when we want to use some, it should get good and firm doing that. I also saved the seeds, dried them on a dehydrator rack in the sun for 2 days then vacuum sealed them for next year, the farmer we bought the watermelon from told me how to do it. I cut up the rind and have it soaking in salt water now, I need to work on canning it tonight after I have a little down time.

So far a $3.00 watermelon gave us 14 jars of 1/2 pint jelly, seeds for next year and I am sure more watermelon rind than we will ever use, and a spotlessly clean kitchen floor (this stuff is a sticky mess to work with). Not a bad deal for very little money.