Canning the bounty of God's earth
Hello my long lost bloggie friends!!! Oh my goodness it has been so long. I feel like I've been away, for-ever! Sorry it's been about a month since my last post... oh dear oh dear.... but I do have a REALLY good reason for not posting.
My awesome parents have a huge garden and my dear Dad (whom I lovingly refer to as the produce man this summer) has been keeping me well stocked in veggies. We couldn't possibly eat all of the veggies so I have been canning. First thing I needed, was a new water bath canner... found this one from Ball.... isn't she pretty? Vintage'ish navy enamelware with the screenprint... LOVE!
They have had a bumper crop of cucumbers this year and what do you do with all of those cucumbers...? Make pickles of course! So far I've canned kosher dill pickles in hamburger slices and spears, bread and butter pickles and kosher dill hot (horseradish) pickles.
(pictured below are the spears and bread and butter)
What do you do once you think you have enough pickles to last through the next; oh 5 years (around 30 pints so far...)? You start experimenting with other recipes.... that's what I did this past Sunday night. I experimented and made and water bath canned Sweet Relish. My hubby thinks it looks like it will really be delicious on a good grilled hot dog or brat!
I also received an abundance of organic cherries (Bing and Rainier) this summer from a source in Oregon. Oh my goodness, they were so good, you could make yourself sick on them. I knew that of the 10 pounds (yes, you read that right 10 pounds) of cherries that I got I knew we couldn't EAT all of them, but didn't want them to go to waste; so I've been making jam and jellies with them. I canned Bing Cherry Jelly and also a Berry-Cherry Jam (strawberries, blackberries and bing cherries).
(first photo is the Berry-Cherry, bottom photo is Bing Cherry Jelly)
In all of these canning endeavors I found a great recipe for "quick" homemade grape jelly (just as yummy as good 'ole Welch's..... and without all of the preservatives; awe-some!). You make it with low sugar grape juice or find you some organic grape juice and about 20 minutes later you have grape jelly setting up, within 24 hours you are ready to chow down. My hubby loves it!!!
Tomatoes haven't been as prolific this year (we have had some majorly hot weather this summer... which causes the blossoms to fall off. No blossoms....no tomatoes...boo hiss) but with some of them that we have been blessed with I have been making salsa which will be delish in the cold, snowy, Kansas winters.
We are so lucky that my parents share the bounty of the good Lord's earth with us. God has been good to and provided wonderful vegetables and fruits for us to enjoy throughout the coming year.
Doesn't this look so pretty? I love all of the colors of the earth!!!
(a snapshot of how I store some of the bounty...)
Thanks for being patient while I have been CIA (canning in action... ha!). Have a great day!
Hugs,
Wheeze
My awesome parents have a huge garden and my dear Dad (whom I lovingly refer to as the produce man this summer) has been keeping me well stocked in veggies. We couldn't possibly eat all of the veggies so I have been canning. First thing I needed, was a new water bath canner... found this one from Ball.... isn't she pretty? Vintage'ish navy enamelware with the screenprint... LOVE!
They have had a bumper crop of cucumbers this year and what do you do with all of those cucumbers...? Make pickles of course! So far I've canned kosher dill pickles in hamburger slices and spears, bread and butter pickles and kosher dill hot (horseradish) pickles.
(pictured below are the spears and bread and butter)
What do you do once you think you have enough pickles to last through the next; oh 5 years (around 30 pints so far...)? You start experimenting with other recipes.... that's what I did this past Sunday night. I experimented and made and water bath canned Sweet Relish. My hubby thinks it looks like it will really be delicious on a good grilled hot dog or brat!
I also received an abundance of organic cherries (Bing and Rainier) this summer from a source in Oregon. Oh my goodness, they were so good, you could make yourself sick on them. I knew that of the 10 pounds (yes, you read that right 10 pounds) of cherries that I got I knew we couldn't EAT all of them, but didn't want them to go to waste; so I've been making jam and jellies with them. I canned Bing Cherry Jelly and also a Berry-Cherry Jam (strawberries, blackberries and bing cherries).
(first photo is the Berry-Cherry, bottom photo is Bing Cherry Jelly)
In all of these canning endeavors I found a great recipe for "quick" homemade grape jelly (just as yummy as good 'ole Welch's..... and without all of the preservatives; awe-some!). You make it with low sugar grape juice or find you some organic grape juice and about 20 minutes later you have grape jelly setting up, within 24 hours you are ready to chow down. My hubby loves it!!!
Tomatoes haven't been as prolific this year (we have had some majorly hot weather this summer... which causes the blossoms to fall off. No blossoms....no tomatoes...boo hiss) but with some of them that we have been blessed with I have been making salsa which will be delish in the cold, snowy, Kansas winters.
We are so lucky that my parents share the bounty of the good Lord's earth with us. God has been good to and provided wonderful vegetables and fruits for us to enjoy throughout the coming year.
Doesn't this look so pretty? I love all of the colors of the earth!!!
(a snapshot of how I store some of the bounty...)
Thanks for being patient while I have been CIA (canning in action... ha!). Have a great day!
Hugs,
Wheeze
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