Labor Day Eats

I'm not really sure why Americans celebrate Labor Day, but I'm glad we do. It means I get a day off work, and that means more time for playing with food. I spent Labor Day in Jonesboro, Arkansas, my hometown located about an hour from Memphis.

My mom made the most delicious calzones for dinner! Here's my Vegan Chicken and Ham Calzone:

Mama used meat in she and my dad's calzones, but mine contained Morningstar Farms Chicken Strips, Lightlife "ham" slices, Follow Your Heart Mozzarella, and a little pizza sauce. So, so good!

On the side, she made green bean bundles wrapped in bacon. But for mine, we left the bacon off and sprinkled them with bacon bits:

And we had some tasty Greek Salad with local tomatoes and a homemade vinaigrette:

After dinner, I drove over to my grandparents' house so Granny could teach me how to can green beans. I'd been wanting to learn for awhile. Here she is prepping the beans for canning:

After boiling for a few minutes, Granny ladled the beans into Mason jars:

Then we sealed the jars and placed them in a pressure cooker for about 20 minutes. Here's the lovely result:

Now I'll have plenty of beans to get me through the winter!