Canning: Cherries

I recently came into some cherries. They are so good but I wanted to save some so obviously canning came to mind.

Canning cherries is simple too...like beans.


Just open up your canning book and see that you make a syrup (water and sugar) and pour this over the cherries in the jar. Then water bath for 25 minutes.

Then find them a home for the winter and remember to eat them!!

Save some bucks, can some beans

I have started canning my own beans lately. Mostly pinto beans but I've also done kidney and garbanzo (for quick hummus). Do you have a pressure canner? If you do, you can do this. It's so simple and so cheap.

I especially like having the pinto beans in larger portions so I can make up refried beans on the fly.

Ready?

Here's what you do...



Soak a big ole' pot of beans for a day or two.

Drain them.

Fill clean quart jars with beans to about 3/4 full.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt per quart, then fill with hot water and process 60 minutes, 10 pounds pressure.

After two simple evenings of turning the stove on and babysitting it for a bit, I have 14 more quarts of beans.

They are so handy to have in the pantry, like money in the bank.

If I can you can

I've been canning quite a bit these days. Canning USA has some nice videos like this one on canning chili.

With all the talk of the economy pressing down on us, I figured it might be a good idea to can some food at today's prices. Why not can food that costs less now for eating when the same food will cost more?



Chili

4 lbs. ground beef

4 tsp. salt

2 c. onion, chopped

6 T. chili powder

2 garlic cloves, chopped fine

2 tsp. paprika (optional)

2 qts. canned tomatoes

1 tsp. pepper


Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic. Add remaining ingredients. Cook slowly for 15 min. Fill jars to within 1 inch of top. Process quarts 90 min. 10 pounds of pressure.

Thelma and Louise

Mrs. Dashwood and Mrs. Brown had a thrilling day last week.

They went where few chickens have gone before...maybe?

They went for a swing.

These two were so calm and almost sleepy, not struggling a bit. Mrs. Brown kept closing her eyes. They seemed to like it actually. I wonder if it made them feel like they were roosting?

You should try it with your chickens, the next time you're out swinging.

On the food preservation front, I have been dehydrating. Here are some elderberries from our orchard that I dried. I have bought them before from The Bulk Herb Store to make the Children's Composition Formula from The ABC Herbal. I've used that dozens of times when the little one starts getting sick.

By the way, Shoshanna has made a DVD called Making Herbs Simple that looks really good.

I dried pears which are DELISHHIOUS!! They are so sweet, they're just like candy! They won't last long.

I dried tomato slices. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them, but I thought I would rather have sun-dried tomatoes than canned tomatoes.

Does anyone out there know what I can do with them? I put some in a little jar of olive oil but they didn't plump and soften up like I'd hoped.

Please share if you know.

Bluebird, bluebird, through my window

This is how crazy I am, visually.

This morning as I poured some cream in my coffee this is what I saw. Well, honestly, it was better than this, but as soon as I saw the swirling colors of the coffee, cream and the beautiful blue cup I ran to the other room, grabbed my camera, ripped the lens cap off, turned it on and then took this picture.

The glory had faded a bit, but you get the picture. Literally.

I suppose I could stage it tomorrow and get a better one, but who's got time for that?



I just love these cups. I bought them the other night at a thrift store. They were .99 cents each. They had three, and they all came home with me. I even love the bottom of the cup. The colors! Believe it or not, these cups make me happy somehow.

It's so cute, my T2 son thinks that they are made of stone and won't break. He calls them "the stone cups". I guess T1 said they were 'stoneware'.

Hee hee.

So I thought I'd share some pictures I took today or yesterday and so you can see what I see.

Don't break into song.

(Do you see what I see?)




Hmmm...these eggs resemble the colors of the 'stone cups' don't they. No wonder I love them so.



Like money in the bank or chicken in the freezer, it's nice to see the wood all stacked and covered and ready for the first frost.



Dill pickles and green beans before I took them out to the shop.

I love the wrinkled cucumbers.

Yesterday they were on the vine. Today they're pickles.

Eeww!

I was looking through this old canning book and saw "Brains", or how about some Bunny Sausage?

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

And just so everyone will know what life is really like behind the camera, this is the REAL view through my window. At least it was last night in the midst of canning chaos.

Let the canning begin!

As I spent time in the garden yesterday I realized I have my work cut out for me. I made this quick list. At this point, I'm a little excited. We'll see how far I get. I will probably burn out and fade away. But, as of last night I've canned 14 quarts of green beans with just a few more to go. (woo hoo!)

I've realized that in the past, once the cold weather and rain starts, I just never want to go out and put the garden to bed for the winter, so I don't and it's a big mess in the spring. This year, I'm trying something different. I'm pulling things that are done producing while they are still green and feeding them to the cows. I'll let you know how it goes. The cows are certainly liking this new system. They just hang out by the garden fence and basically beg.

I found a bunch of great articles from Backwoods Home Magazine on self-reliant living while looking for some canning recipes. Have a look! Although I must warn you, you may get stuck there for hours.

If you don't hear from me, you'll know what I'm doing.

Canning isn't for wimps

No one ever accused me of lacking passion. We're up past 30 quarts of grape juice now and out of canning jars!

Canning grape juice

Our Concord Grapes are beginning to ripen. I borrowed a juicer from a friend and have started making grape juice. It's very simple. I send my pickers out to harvest the grapes, they bring me back bowls heaping with beautiful purple globes. They get steamed and out comes hot grape juice into canning jars. I checked at the health food store, organic concord grape juice is $5.99 a quart. So far I have 16 qts. And that was just one evenings worth of work!!

Today when my youngest son came tromping up with a bowlful of grapes he had his wooden sword tucked into his sweatpants. He handed the bowl to me and said, "Mama, don't you think it's a good plunder?"

Yes, son. God's bounty is great.

Too much zucchini

Do you have zucchini coming out your ears? Try these recipes, they are tasty and very economical. My cousin Glenda gave me the first two recipes. She got these from our Aunt Avis. I have made them and can vouch for their tastiness. I thought the pickles would be fun to try, but have yet to try them. If you make them, please let me know how they turn out. Happy canning!


Zucchini Jam
12 c. chopped zucchini (peeled and cored)
1 c. lemon juice
Simmer for 1 hour

Add:
2 pkg. pectin
7 c. sugar
1 can crushed pineapple (drained)

Bring to a boil, cook for 6 minutes.

Add 2 packages Apricot or Peach Jello.
Pour into hot jars then waterbath for 10 min.



Zucchini Relish
10 c. zucchini (no centers) ground or diced
4 c. onions, diced
2 green peppers, diced
2 sweet red peppers, diced
1/2 c. salt

Let stand overnight in refrigerator.
Drain, then rinse in cold water.

In cooking pot add:
1 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 T. cornstarch
1 tsp. celery seed
1/2 tsp. pepper
2 1/2 c. vinegar
4 1/2 c. sugar

Boil for 20-30 minutes. Pour into hot jars, waterbath for 10 min.



Zucchini pickles
2 pounds zucchini, sliced (about 8 small)
1/3 pound onion, quartered and sliced (about 1 small)
1/4 cup canning salt
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon celery salt
1 teaspoon turmeric
3 cups vinegar

Combine zucchini and onion in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and cover with cold water. Let stand 2 hours. Drain mixture, then rinse and drain again. Combine remaining ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour vinegar mixture over zucchini and onions and let stand 2 hours. Bring all ingredients to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer 5 minutes. Pack hot zucchini and liquid into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps and process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner. Yield: 4 half-pints