On canning. . .

DEe asked about canning and frankly untill this year I was a canophobe. I'd rather have suffered the humiliation of my husbands grandmother saying "Good heavens you don't can?" than touch a mason jar. Now I am excited about canning. These are the jars of Grape juice I did all by myself Saturday night.

So here it goes. With pictures of course. :)

K you need one small pan, a steam bath canner, a large pan for your fruit, jars, lids, rings, and at least a gripper tool to take the jars in and out of the pan. Fruit, sugar, lemon juice, and pectin.



So we picked and washed the peaches off the tree and placed them in the pan to parboil. It makes them easier to peel. Wash your bottles seals and rings in hot soapy water. At the same time fill your steam bath canner with water and place your bottles in it to warm up.

Then as your steambath canner is heating place your seals in the small pan with water and bring both to 180 degrees.



Peel pit and squish your peaches and place 4 cups of them in the other large pan. Add 7 1/2 cups of sugar if you want it to be really sweet. 1/4 cups of lemon juice and bring the peach mixture to a rolling boil. remove from heat add one package of pectin bring to a boil for one minute. (We used half the sugar for a less sweet taste.) It makes less jam but worth it for the taste I think.




Ladle the fruit mixture into the jars withiin 1/4 of the top clean the edge of the jar and place a hot seal on the bottle and then a ring tighten it and place the jar in the pan. when all of the jars are filled boil the jam for 15 minutes and remove the jars and leave them alone. The lids will "pop" as they seal.




I RECOMEND THAT YOU GET THE "BLUE BOOK" OF CANNING AND BUY THE LATEST EDITION THINGS CHANGE AS RESEARCH IS DONE. THE NEW BOK IS THE SAFEST FOR HOME CANNING.

Hope this makes sense, Enjoy.

The side effects of buying a home.

These are the actual containers of peach jam, and pickles. I couldn't find the cable to link my camera to my laptop the other day.

We bought this house without me ever seeing the inside. I saw the front as we stopped and stared at it for a moment.

When we moved in it was November and I didnt get to see the yard untill spring time. I am not a green thumb but still love certain plants. I was excited when I found that I had purple Hibiscus and coral white and lilac roses in my front yard, and that I had Peonys, Shasta daisys and Lillys in my side yard along with a golden delicious apple tree and a peach tree. We spent time this spring and summer taking good care of the trees and said plants and were rewarded with a peach tree that is bursting with peaches, and a tree full of apples too.

So as the peaches are begining to drop off the tree I have sent my kids out to gather them up. (They love picking them off the ground.) We have begun to preserve them. So far we have 14 jars of peach jam, and 11 jars of homemade pickles. I was surprised it isnt as hard as i thought and doesnt take as long either. but boy is my kitchen floor STICKY after we are done with the peaches. Next job bottling peaches and making apple sauce.