Christmas Bounty

My parents put out a big garden every summer. Janny would actually prefer that it be much smaller, but for some reason my Dad just can't seem to contain himself. A couple of rows of corn magically transforms into, I don't know, ten? A few tomatoes to eat on, usually ends up into well over fifty plants and then, next thing you know, they're hiding vegetables in every vehicle that comes on the place.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love it. Because, I'm nothing if not a country girl and my favorite meals involve vegetables straight from the garden. They generously keep my small side-by-side freezer full of pole beans and corn to get me through the cold winter months.

But this Christmas, my brothers and I got a special Christmas gift. Janny and Ronald canned extra tomatoes, tomato juice, pasta sauce, sweet pickles, my favorite plum jelly, squash relish, ripe tomato catsup and pickled banana peppers for each of our families!

My Dad even made the cute wood carry boxes so I could transport all of my goodies home.

I have strict instructions to return all of the jars so they may be reused. Mom even suggested that I return them in the boxes. I promise to return the jars, but I'm not making any promises about those cute boxes!