it's frustrating to see how small the results from such a lot of fruit! July's efforts ( photo / image / picture from CrisGzr's Garden ) I really love the pressure cooker and it does an excellent job on water bath canning too! Nothing like Barb's results but I have managed to make roasted red pepper sauce, tomato soup, rum peach sauce, white peaches in light syrup, extra garlic tomato sauce, pepper and onion tomato sauce, and a roasted garden veg tomato sauce... I've gone through a bushel of Roma tomatoes and half of a 25 pound box of canning tomatoes... I only had a few not seal, but they are being happily consumed. Quite a learning curve, everything takes longer than I plan LOL and nothing goes as planned. And my husband is not allowed to pack the peaches anymore since he loosely packed them and they look like a garnish on top of the syrup LOL But the peach syrup makes a wonderful iced tea! so all is not lost. Watermelon jelly is my next task and maybe some marmalade.
Small? Modest? Not to this gal! I've never canned anything in my life, that impresses the heck outta me! WOW!
CrisGzr, That looks great. Funny how it seems like allot of work but doesn't look like so much sitting on the shelf, but I know what you have done. You have done very well. Congrats and be proud. It's a nice thing you do. You realized you can reseal the tomatoes. Right? Barb in Pa.
Well, this whole canning thing is a bit of humilitator, I get all organized and set up and create a schedule using, oh, I don't know whatever fantasy is floating around inside my cranium.... I just finished off the last of the 75 pounds of tomatoes I thought I'd have canned in one day ROFL, sigh LOL (delusional) I made some salsa after I drove myself crazy looking for a pico de gallo that is canned -apparently pico d'gallo is fresh and can not be canned... makes sense. I did flirt with canning some crunchy stuff in the salsa to get the fresh crunch of pico de gallo but decided it might be a crazy idea. Maybe the girls from Texas... ? Anyway, yesterday I did a dozen pints of salsa with corn and black beans -my favorite. This morning still had 17 pounds of tomatoes left... so, I was discussing this with DH and I mentioned I'd really like to can things we normally buy, so I can have fresh versions and save money. He suggested the Rotel diced tomatoes. I should have known he loves spicy and it was a good idea... So, now the pressure canner is cooling down with 7 quarts of a pretty darn close substitute... an extra jar half filled is in the fridge for immediate consumption! I am a bit canned out and burned out but I still want to make the watermelon jelly, except now I think I'll make jam. I read a lot of recipes and they all seem the same. But they all seem to have an issue with the jelling. I looked in the blue ball canning recipe book and one again same recipe but they use twice the pectin, so I will too! Also, jelly has to be strained and is all clear and delicate... maybe later in the summer, for now, the jam sounds lazy enough for me! The jam also seems to keep it's color. I love watermelon a lot! So, the thought of having a watermelon fix in the dead of winter has me smiling! I also read someone just froze the puree in little cups, that might be fun too. This summer I have been portioning and freezing watermelon. I love munching on a 100gram chunk of frozen watermelon on a hot afternoon or in front of the tv. The dogs seem to like frozen watermelon too but I am not happy about sharing. Mart: here is the recipe: ______________________________________________ Zesty Watermelon Jelly p. 117 Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving also see: http://blondiescakes.blogspot.com/2010/ ... n-jam.html 6 cups chopped watermelon, rind removed ½ cup white balsamic vinegar, white wine or apple juice 4 tbsp lemon juice 5 cups sugar 1 stem lemongrass chopped (I may leave this out) 2 pouches liquid pectin (3oz/85 ml each) In large stainless steel saucepan crush watermelon with potato masher. Cover heat on low 5 minutes, remove from heat and crush thoroughly. Strain until you have 2 cups liquid (or 6 cups mashed, seeded watermelon for jam -my edit) Transfer to large pan -3 times larger than volume of mixture as it will bubble up! Stir in vinegar, lemon juice, sugar and lemongrass... Over high heat bring to full rolling boil, that can not be stirred down, Stir in pectin, Boil hard, stirring for 1 full minute. Remove from heat. Skim off foam. Quickly pour into jars (7 eight ounce jelly jars) leaving ¼ inch headspace. Wipe rim, add lid screw band until resistance is met then to finger tight. Process in water bath, bring to boil, process 10 minutes, remove lid, sit 5 minutes and remove jars. ________________________________________________ Thanks Barb, I know I can reseal them but DH wanted to taste our efforts, I am so impressed that he is enjoying this. I think it's because he is so cheap LOL. He is impressed that we've already saved enough to cover the cost of everything! We had a little rum peaches on some cake and now I've caught him flipping through the recipes a few times! I laughed when I saw the peaches. I didn't realize they have to be really packed tight but he packed them so lightly it looks like one peach to a quart of light syrup! It makes really good tea and lemonade though! Okay, I still need to make my weekly bread and maybe watermelon jelly! I think I'm addicted!
Can you imagine the day I came home with 800 pounds of tomatoes??? They were 10 cents a pound back in those days. I couldn't pass it up. Barb in Pa.
800 pounds of tomatoes......... omg! That's a lot of ketchup... I wish I had the energy I had back then! It reminded me of that Harry Chapin song 30,000 pounds of bananas...
I don't have that much energy anymore. That was in the days gone by but I John Chapman has a twig in my family tree. Barb in Pa.
Sjoerd, sadly my harvests are guaranteed, since I am going to the farmers markets for the bounty of someone else's sweat! But, next year! This fall I am felling trees, clearing land and building raised beds... I am hopeful. lol
