Of griddles, canners, and food dryers.

So, your worst fears are realized.  I am turning into one of those ladies that read about online that have freezers full of food, cans of jellies, bins of dried fruit, enough food to last for years.  Well, okay, maybe I'm not that bad, but today I realized that I was on the verge of cukeness when I made a quadruple batch of whole wheat pancakes just so that I could freeze them and then I looked over at the counter and saw the dryers going at it with my third batch of banana chips.  Then my eyes traveled to the floor where all of my canning jars are stacked.  It's a scary thought, but I'm turning into my mother.

I remember my mom in her long blue mu'umu'u slicing pears, apples and bananas, carefully spreading them on trays before sliding them into the food dryer.  I remember climbing onto the back of the couch and leaning on the counter, craning my neck to watch the food dry.  I'd check back in every couple of hours just to watch the fruit shrivel.  I could never understand why it too so long for the fruit to be ready.

Of course, I think I've surpassed my mom in cukeness in one area.  She never had an EXTRA freezer.  I have stacks of marinated lamb, chicken and beef.  I have trays of lasagna and spaghetti, containers of pumpkin soup and tortilla soup, and tubs of ice cream.  Okay, I don't make the ice cream, but still, I must have at least 50 gallons of ice cream in my freezer.

Of course the pancakes don't go in the big freezer.  They go in the the regular freezer in the kitchen because I discovered something during my freezing mania:  I CAN MAKE MY OWN FREEZER WAFFLES AND PANCAKES.  Talk about freedom for mommy on school mornings.  I just throw a couple of pancakes into the toaster and breakfast is done.  Some morning it's chocolate chip pancakes or buttermilk or whole wheat or just plain white, but at least I know what's gone into them, and I don't spend a fortune at the store.  I haven't really gotten into the waffle making part.  Mainly because you need a big waffle iron or else you spend all day making waffles and my mini iron just doesn't cut it. I do have a big griddle.  I can make six pancakes on it and a quadruple batch cooks in about 1/2 an hour.  So, there you go.  I am just a little cukoo, right?