What have you canned or preserved today?

[ducks4you]

I have a small selection of these old, glass lidded canning jars, like these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4-vintage-ATLAS-1qt-canning-or-storage-jars-/111230996045
2 are ATLAS, a few are BALL, a couple of them are KERR
I don't want to put in liquids or fruits or vegetables, so I thought they would be perfect for dehydrated vegetables, like onions and peppers.
I still can't find a local place that carries the rubber rings. Online the S & H is 3x the price of the item, so that's out.
Meanwhile, I've almost dehydrated ~ 5 1/4 pounds of onions, so I'm storing the other ~25 pounds in the basement, where it's cool and dark.
I'm such a frugal nut that I feel a little bit like a hoarder. I've had these jars about 15 years and not ever used them before. They belonged to my, now passed on MIL.
I guess the new blue BALL jars are really new.

 

[bobm]

Bobm, our families live in Fresno so I have a fairly good idea the area you are talking about. It's a shame the deer are gone. I think if we just let animals be they will take care of their own population control. I could be wrong. I sure hope I don't start a heated discussion on that!

I had do read the price of that yearling right to be sure I was looking at the right number of zeros. Wow, had no idea an animal could go that high. Except of course race horses. :/

Mary

Yea Mary... that filly's granddady was an undefeated halter stallion. He was the Champion stallion at the Salon du Cheval , then 3 years later , he was sold for $3.2 million at public auction. We bought one of his daughters who just happened to be out of his own mother. ( he was bred back to his own mother to produce her ). The filly that was killed was sired by one of this mare's sons.

 

[ducks4you]

Yes, the bleeding hearts win again. We now have cougars in Illinois. YIPEE!!! They are back to killing livestock in the Quad cities, north of Chicago, and down in Shawnee National Forest, in the southern tip of the state, where they can lair and hide AND kill livestock. =/
Illinois has a very healthy deer population bc every kill has to be noted and a sample sent to the state lab to be tested for disease. Some of the adjoining states don't do this. We were hit on the side of our SUV several years ago when 4 deer ran across the road. One of them slipped on the ice and slammed into our driver's side back door, but no damage. You could SEE how healthy they were, filled out, good coats, clean, bright eyes. I even have a previously citified GF who bow hunts deer and manages 1-3 each Fall. There are also wealthy Cook County (Chicago) hunters who have bought farm property in the center and southern counties JUST for deer hunting. I keep 3 horses and have ~30 chickens (until we start butchering the young roosters), so I have stake, too. Somehow I don't think any of us would hesitate shooting a cougar on sight.

 

[ducks4you]

Back to the thread...
It has taken about 3 days to dehydrate about 5 1/3 pounds of onions. Should I be putting them on trays with an empty tray in between to speed this up? Any thoughts?

 

[journey11]

I have a dehydrator from Wally World that my mom got me, definitely not high-end, but it does the job (just wish it were bigger!) It usually takes me a day or so do my onions, about that many onions give or take. Maybe the humidity is high in the room you are running it in? Or they need a little more space between them on the tray? That seems like an awfully long time. I hope your dehydrator is not going kapput on you! If all else fails, you can put them on cookie sheets in a 200 degree oven (or lower if it will go...mine goes to 170) and crack the door open. That should do them up in just a few hours. I used to do my jerky in the oven before I got the dehydrator.

 

[ducks4you]

I like the oven idea, especially in this cold weather! I think I really pack my trays, so I'm sure that doesn't help. We've owned this machine for about 20 years, but I think I've used it more in the last few months than ever before.

 

[ducks4you]

I canned 5 pints of mint sauce yesterday. In early November I picked some spearmint from my patch, left it in a bag, discovered it Before it started rotting, baked it dry in the oven, then put it in a pot with a lid...where it moved around in the kitchen and sat all the way through Christmas. There were 8 cups of dry leaves, so yesterday I FINALLY canned them.

 

[unclejoe]

We had about half of a 14lb ham left over from Christmas. I cut up about 2lbs of it, ran it through a food processor and made ham salad. Canned 4 pints.

 

[ducks4you]

I had celery that got a little soft, so I dehydrated it yesterday. The whole big thing fit inside a 1/2-pint canning jar by the time I was done. Better than just throwing it out to the chickens. =b

 

[Smart Red]

I blew $48 dollars for top round and made beef jerky today. Tomorrow is son's birthday and Mom knows what he likes. I also bought a turkey for dinner (he complains that turkey shouldn't be reserved for Thanksgiving only) and will bake either an angel food cake or apple pie -- or both -- for my baby's 37th birthday.