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Pressure



When I was a kid, if we ran through  the kitchen while my Mom was using the pressure cooker, she would scream hysterically that we were going to blow the house up. So when we got married and my mother in law gifted us with a pressure cooker I was less than thrilled. I tried to use it twice, and after that it wasn't worth the stress. Years later she gave me an electric one, and I absolutely love it. 

Yet she had this huge gadget called a pressure canner that you can can almost anything with. It looked monstrous. She actually had two in two different sizes. I figured if a stove pressure cooker scared me, know way was I going to use one that had so much pressure it could can something.

And then my Dad bought one a few weeks ago. My Mom even said it was amazing (though Dad is the one operating it). He loves it. 

Since out garden is only producing small handfuls of vegetables this year, I thought I would try making vegetable soup...which requires a pressure canner. So today we jumped off the deep end and bought one. The pressure is running a little higher than  it should and I've turned the heat down multiple times. Not sure if that means I should can it for less time or turn the stove almost off. The manual says if  your pressure drops below the needed point, then you have to start the time all over again. Don't think that's happening tonight!
Maybe the next batch of whatever will be a smoother process.


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