What have you canned or preserved today?

[hangin'witthepeeps]

Italian Style Sauce:

I never measure (when people tell me that I get mad), I just know there are a lot of tomatoes that need canning or they will go bad. So I put a large 12 quart stock pot with water to boil. When it boils I put 4 or 5 large tomatoes in and scald them for 1 minute. I dip them out and lay them on cookie sheets to cool as I scald the others. I then cut off the tops and any bad spots an put that in one container for the chickens. I put the peels in the other. If you scalded them good (water boiled) and they were ripe, they will slip out nice and easy. I cut the tomatoes in another 12 quart stock pot until I have all my tomatoes done and turn them on medium high to cook. I then put the peels, one big onion, 2 or 3 large bell peppers, a hand full of fresh oregano leaves, two small basil tops, a hand full of parsley, and whiz it all up until the peels are mush. Sometimes I add a bit of the tomato juice to get things moving along. I then add this to the cooking tomatoes and tasted the product and added salt and pepper. I cooked over 8 quarts for about an hour and it reduced to 6 quarts and I jarred it up in quarts and then processed in a water bath for 20 minutes.


eta: Forgot the garlic, 4 or 5 small cloves in the food processor with the peels.


With is recipe you can't go wrong, just make what you like adding fresh herbs or dried. Make it to suit your tastes. The key is no oil or meat, only fresh veggies. If your tomatoes aren't very acidic, add a 1/2 cup of vinegar to the pot. If I use a bay leaves, I take them out before canning. To me, it goes bitter canned.

 

[Ridgerunner]

18 pints of Black Turtle beans plus a one gallon bag full for the freezer. I freeze the dried beans to kill any weavils. Funny how the black beans lost their color during the canning. I promise you they were black when they started soaking. They were a little purple after soaking but before processing.

I think dried beans are one of the easiest things to can. Wash the beans, then put just barely 3/4 cup of dried beans in a pint jar of water overnight. After they have soaked 12 hours, rinse them well and refill with hot water+. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Pressure can for 75 minutes. The beans are cooked and ready to use.

 

[ducks4you]

First jar of the year!! It was only a 1/2 pint, but I'll bet there will be enough more to can by Sunday.

I didn't have enough for two 1/2 pints, so I refridgerated them in a 1/2-pint jar with a clean but used lid for cooking soon, or adding to the next canning batch.

 

[hiker125]

Does anyone have a good recipe for sweet hot peppers, maybe like a sweet and hot relish type of thing?

 

[vfem]

I guess I'm not the only one hitting those tomatoes today! Once those things start, they just KEEP ON COMING!!!

Those are the few I got done, I still have 2 boxes full to blanch and peel.... and I haven't even picked any today that are ready. And there are PLENTY ready.

I'm going to be eating really well this winter.

Hiker, I don't have a sweet recipe for the hot peppers... I usually just pickle them.

 

[baymule]

Does anyone have a good recipe for sweet hot peppers, maybe like a sweet and hot relish type of thing?

These are so yummy!

Cowboy Candy

Preparation Instructions

Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all of the jalapeno peppers. The easiest way to do this is to slice a small disc off of the stem-end along with the stem. Discard the stems.

Slice the peppers into uniform 1/8-1/4 inch rounds. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, granulated garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar. Turn heat up under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices. Insert a cooking chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped pockets of air. Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and fix on new, two-piece lids to finger-tip tightness.

To can, place jars in a canner and cover with water by 2-inches. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack. Leave them to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth, then label.

Allow to mellow for at least two weeks, but preferably a month before eating. Or dont. I wont tell!


Ingredients
3 pounds Firm, Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Washed
2 cups Cider Vinegar
6 cups White Granulated Sugar
teaspoons Turmeric
teaspoons Celery Seed
3 teaspoons Granulated Garlic
1 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper

 

[baymule]

I didn't can, but I bought a bushel of purple hull peas and 1 1/2 bushels of okra Friday. I cut okra for 5 hours and loaded up the dehydrator and froze the rest on Friday. Saturday, I finished cutting the okra (I blanch it on cookie sheets in the oven) and loaded up the dehydrator again. I shelled peas Friday night and Saturday night watching TV with DH. I blanched them and froze then today. I got 8 cups of dehydrated okra and vacuum bagged them. Dehydrated okra makes a great crunchy snack. Will find out later how it does tossed in soups. I wonder if the dried okra will be as slimy as fresh.

 

[Carol Dee]

Yesterday I made a batch of Apricot Jam. Today we put 14 quarts of sweetcorn in the freezer.

 

[lesa]

Froze 3 dozen ear of corn (off the cob)- and expecting to do 6 more dozen tonight. Need to get some peppers frozen, too. While I was out in the garden yesterday, I saw an actual tomato turning red!!! My plants are loaded, but they sure have been slow to ripen... So, hopefully, canning tomatoes in the next couple of weeks.

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

We made 15 half pints of strawberry jam. The local Aldi's had strawberries for .99 a pound and they were really sweet, so I bought 8 pounds.

Then my friend had a container of plums that were going down hill and I made 5 half pints of plum jam and 4 half pints of nectarine/cherry jam. The jalapenos are pouring in at her son's house so I made 16 half pints of escabeche. Then after supper I made 14 half pints of monkey butter. We got about 10 pounds of ripe bananas for 1.49 at the grocery store. At my grocery store I always ask the produce man if they have anything they will be "trowing out" and I get some good deals that way. Most of it I feed to my pet rabbits. edit to add: I did cut the bruises off the bananas first.

MONKEY BUTTER
5 perfectly ripe bananas, no bruises
1 20 ounce can, crushed pineapple in natural juice (do not drain)
3 cups sugar
1/4 cup coconut, (I used sweetened shredded), finely chopped
3 tablespoons bottled lemon juice
pinch of salt

Put pineapple in pot. Slice bananas directly into the pineapple. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Cook over low heat until mixture thickens, takes about 30 minutes. Fill sterilized jars, and process in for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.
Remove from bath and let cool for 24 hours before removing bands and labeling. Enjoy!

credit where credit it due because it's not my recipe.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2z5kfULzX4