Canning

Ok, well this post is more to the point of controlling your food. I started canning with my Mother and Grandmother when I was young. My mother got too busy and stopped doing it when we were really little but after my parents divorce and the ensuing lack of money she started doing it again when I was about 12. My Grandmother would come over and show us how to do it. I have a lot of memories of those times, it may be part of what draws me to keep doing it. I KNOW it is the reason that I am not "scared" of canning. Most people I talk to have a misconception that it is "hard", or easy to "mess up". It's not, truly, it is actually very simple. At least the basics are simple. You need produce, jars, lids, rings and a canner. That's the tools. The other essential thing is a basic book about canning. For beginners I always recommend the "Ball Blue Book of Canning". It covers all the basics - What to do, How to do it right, and a good amount of basic recipes.

Now, so you don't blame me later. It can be hard work, depending on what you decide to tackle. Word of advice, start small, one batch at a time. I have had marathon canning days where I was dead tired afterwards. But just tackling a batch of jam is a simple and rewarding evening project.

Now why do I can? Many reasons. Now that I have long ago bought and paid for the tools and jars it is a very cost effective means of setting food aside. There is an initial cost involved and to some it seems over whelming, in that it makes for an expensive jar of tomatoes when your able buy a can at the store for a dollar. You must factor for the years of use you will get from these items. For me, now, each jar I put up has very little financial investment. Also, I know EXACTLY what is in that jar and where it came from. This is becoming more and more crucial for me as time goes on. My jars of tomatoes were not trucked across the country. They walked from my garden to my kitchen, jumped into my canner and plopped on my pantry self. Other then the electricity for my stove there was no fossil fuels involved. The ideal would be to be able to grow everything I need to can for the year but on my urban lot that is not feasible so the other things I either swap with friends (helps to have farmer friends) or buy at farmers markets, it's the next best thing to growing it myself. If you are very industrious you can often find people with fruit trees gone crazy and they will give the fruit to you if you come and pick it. I had a couple of those occasions this year and scored some very nice plums which I made into some plum chutney. Also if you have any food restrictions canning can be very helpful. I add no salt to my canned tomatoes, if you are on a salt restricted diet this is very helpful, as that is hard to find in the stores. Also none of my canned goods have any items that I can not pronounce - preservatives, artificial colors or flavors etc. You also get to make things you just can't find on store shelves - for instance Peach Raspberry jam, or Apple Pie Jam, or different chutneys etc. However the biggest reason I can is that I find it very rewarding. I like making things myself. There is a lovely sense of accomplishment when I gaze upon my pile of goodies in their various colors and sizes.

Also, if you can find like minded people it can be a lovely social occasion. This year I got together with two friends and my Mother for a Pepper Jelly making bonanza. We made 5 flavors and a total of 64 jars. It was a nice afternoon and with enough hands on deck no one has to work too hard. Of course a food processor helps a lot as well, there is no way any one wants to chop that many peppers.

A bit of advice though. It is very easy to go over board. Only put up a bit over what you actually think you will eat in a year. A good rule of thumb is to only keep your canned goods for a year. Anything unused is a waste of time and money. That said, canning items can be great gifts for the right person. I used to give away a lot more then I do now. I found that some people just don't eat it, for what ever reason. So now I only give canned gifts to people that I KNOW will eat and appreciate the product and effort involved. Also it helps if it is someone that will give you back the jars afterward, that is a big future cost saver.

So here is what I have canned this year, just for ideas, and the season isn't over. I am just now getting into Tomatoes (since they were slow to start this year) and apple season isn't even in full swing. I have dried a few tomatoes already but haven't had enough at one time to break out the canner.

List so far:

Asian Plum sauce - 16 half pint jars
Peaches - 8 Quarts
Peach Jam - 10 half pints
Peach Habanero Jelly - 8 half pints
Apple Pepper Jelly
Apricot Jalapeno Jelly
Sundried Tomato Jalapeno Jelly
Mango Jalapeno Jelly
Dill Pickles - 8 quarts
Dill Relish - 8 Pints
Dilled Green Beans - 12 Pints
Plum Chutney - 12 half pints

To do list:

Tomatoes
Salsa
Apple Sauce
Apply Pie filling
Apple Pie Jam
Apple Chutney
Maybe some pears.......

Give it a try, it's worth it.