All Cleaned Up

This week my kitchen counters looked like this.  Erin and I made 4 Bean Salad, more bottled tomatoes, and quite a few more batches of tomatillo sauce for the freezer.

Last week my kitchen counters looked like this...

Now that's progress!

Pickled Four Bean Salad

Yield: 7 pints

1 ½ lbs. of green beans

1 ½ lbs. of wax beans

½ lb. of garbanzo beans, cooked and drained

½ lb. of pinto beans, cooked and drained

2 cups of sliced celery (about 3 stalks)

½ lb. of onion, sliced

1 cup of diced sweet red bell pepper

2 ½ cups of sugar

1 Tablespoon of mustard seed

1 teaspoon celery seed

4 teaspoons of pickling salt

3 cups of vinegar

1 ¼ cups of water

Wash the beans, the celery and pepper; drain. Cut green and wax beans into 1 ½-inch pieces. Combine beans, celery, onion, and pepper in a large sauce pot. Cover with boiling water; cook 8 to 10 minutes. Drain; keep hot. Combine sugar, mustard seed, celery seed, salt, vinegar, and water in a large sauce pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Pack hot vegetables into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Ladle hot liquid over vegetables, leaving ¼-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process in a boiling water canner.