Furnace Chicken and Canning Green Beans

Furnace Chicken is not a new delicacy. It is the annual game my husband and I play as the night-time lows flirt with freezing outside and the indoor temperature coasts slowly downward. "I'm not cold. Are you cold?"

"I'm fine (putting on another layer), but you can turn it on if you are cold."

"Oh, no. I was just concerned about you."

And so it goes, with sly grins, until we both look at each other, no longer smiling, and say, "It's TIME."

I'm upping the ante (and the kitchen temperature) by canning several pounds of green beans from the farmer's market, and a mixture of sweet and hot peppers, hot pack of course. The pressure canner will be hot tonight- and so will the kitchen. Muuahaha.