Well, not quite...

I posted on Mon. that I was glad my canning season was over. Well, I should have said "mostly" over. My husband made a run through the remains of the garden & came in with a big basket full of jalapeno peppers. So yesterday I canned 5 more pints of sliced peppers.
I see lots of nachos and spicey food in our future!

How to can jalapeno slices:
#1 most important tip is WEAR GLOVES!!!
Next wash and slice the peppers. (you could remove the seeds, but who really has time for that?)
Place in clean jars.
Then in a big pot fill with half white vinegar & have water.
Put 1/4 tsp salt into the jars on top of the peppers.
The pour the very hot vinegar water mixture on leaving the headspace.
Quickly wipe rims & put on your lids & rings.
Leave untouched on the counter & they will seal.
--Now, technically the book says you have to water bath process these for about 10 minutes. So I need to add that. --However I don't & they have lasted for years. So it's up to you.

Canning season

My summer canning season is over...whew!

Now time to start some decluttering that's gotten away from me!

Homemade Ketchup

It is a tad spicey for my daughter's taste so later in the week I made a batch omitting the cayenne pepper...and it was DELISH!

The rest of the family LOVED the spicey flavor. My son said it was the best ketchup he's ever had!


It was a bit time consuming but, as with all other homemade goods, I know exactly what's in mine. to make 5 pints there was 1 cup of sugar, tomatoes, 1 onion, vinegar, & seasonings. 1 cup of sugar is not too bad when you figure that's divided among 5 pints. -Most ketchups contain lots more sugar and/or corn syrup along with loads of other un-pronouncables.

So homemade ketchup gets a big thumbs up. I now have 9 jars preserved and 1 in the fridge!

Ketchup

Going to attempt to make ketchup for the first time today!

A little of what I've been up to...

I made 17 jars of tomato juice today & 17 jars of tomato sauce. In the picture are some jars of pasta/spaghetti sauce I made a couple of days ago.

Tomorrow I've got a bushel of tomatoes & peppers waiting to be made into chunky salsa. Whew...

Tomato sauce

Making tomato sauce again today. Using my most favorite & easy recipe from heavenly homemaker.

Wash & core tomatoes. Put in blender & blend up. Put in pot and cook down to desired consistancy. Then waterbath for 25 minutes.

Perfect, yummy, fresh sauce everytime!

...today will make 10 pints jarred up!

Food Storage Update

8 pts jalapeno slices

2 qts jalapeno slices

4 pts & 2 half pits of grape jelly made

4 half pints apple jelly made (this one didn't set up so now I need to see what I can do with it) Any ideas???

Also got some squash blanched & frozen & 3 gallon bags of bell peppers.

Today's kitchen tasks:

Make 2 loaves bread & 1 batch sandwich buns

Make granola

Make 1 batch cookies

Get stew going in the crockpot

I figure since it's going to be in the 90's and I'll have to run the big oven I may as well get several things done at one time. Mostly I use my little electric oven out on the porch during summer. The crockpot is run outdoors mostly too!

Tomatoes...

Well, we picked our first 4 red tomatoes yesterday. So as for my plans next week...I'll probably be up to my eyeballs in tomatoes. That's when the real fun begins..cough...lol
I was trying to decide if I wanted to buy a tomato press, or food processer for my tomatoes this year since my blender is barely moving.
We decided on a blender called the Ninja. It's a biggie with 3 blades in it. I'm hoping this will do the job. If not, an express order on a press will be going out to amazon.
Hope ya'll have a good day!

Getting ready...

So I'm getting ready for canning & preserving season.
Today I picked 10 yellow squash from the garden. Tonight I'll use a couple of them in our chicken stir-fry over rice. The rest will probably be used later this week. After that I'll make up some squash dressing casseroles to freeze. --We don't care alot for frozen squash sliced up so I would prefer to do it as casseroles and also shredded up for squash fritters. yum!
My plans this year are similar to last year.
I plan on freezing the following:
soup & chili starter (made with peppers, onions, tomatoes & italian seasonings)
bell pepper (sliced & chopped)
onion (sliced & chopped)
corn on the cob
Also frozen tomato paste in ice cube portions (as suggested by one of my readers)
purple hull peas
blueberries & blackberries

Canned:
tomato products (plain sauce, pizza sauce, pasta sauce, whole, salsa, & tomato juice)
whole kernel corn
creamed corn
green beans
potatoes (for quick parsley potatoes & potato salad)

Blueberry jam
Blackberry jam
Apple butter & jelly
Peach jam

Let the preserving begin...

I had a package of pectin in the pantry from last season so I made some apple jelly!

Picked some some bell peppers & squash from the garden. Stuffed bell peppers & squash fritters for supper tonight!

Home canned tomatoes

Friday evening I discovered that I'd used my last jar of home canned spaghetti sauce. Not too bad as I purposely did not try to conserve it to see how long it would last. I still have other tomato products on the shelves though. So to make the spaghetti sauce I just used a quart of tomato sauce, some of my homemade tomato paste, & the usual seasonings. Turned out great! I've still got about 8 quarts of regular tomato sauce & 5 pints.
Our garden is looking really good so far. We planted: bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, yellow sweet corn, green beans, yellow squash, brussel sprouts, cucumbers, potatoes, & of course, lots of tomatoes!
Best wishes to any other fellow gardeners out there!

Sweet potato count...

I used a few from my other box & ended up with 19 qts and 1 pint of sweet potatoes!!!

Locally Grown Sweet Potatoes

We went to the local produce stand and bought 2 big boxes of sweet potatoes yesterday. One was a box of nice pretty medium sized potatoes for $15. The other was a box of "culls" for $5. When I got home I went through the culls box. Peeled, washed, and canned 13 quarts.

I'd never done this before so I looked on the internet and tried 2 different ways.
The first I just cut up the raw potatoes into chunks and placed them in the jar. Added 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and then filled with boiling water. Put into the pressure canner at 11lbs for 90 minutes....yes it was a long one! This is also how I can regular potatoes.

The second I cut them up in chunks and boiled them for about 5 minutes. Then placed into the jars with 1/2 tsp salt & 1 tsp lemon juice. Filled with boiling water & again pressure canned at 11lbs for 90 minutes.

Here were the results of my canning. Anyone want to know what one looks pretty & what one looks blurry?


The uncooked, salt & water only are to your left. The cooked ones with the lemon juice all look blurry. Of course they are perfectly fine but I think I'll stick with method #1 when I do it again.

So I paid $5 for the box. Ended up with 13 qts. and enough to make about 4 more. So lets say 17 qts. I had the salt & lemon juice (which I won't use again) So let's add the salt in to the price...So I'll be generous and say .30 for that. I already had the jars & seals but you always need new seals so let's add $1.50 for those. I really don't know how much propane it took to cook them so let's add in one more $1. Total would be $7.80.
So per jar would come to: .46 per jar. Not bad when last I checked Wal-Mart was selling their cans for $2.50 each!

Canning Log 2010

This is just what we grew and canned this year.

7 qts/1pt crushed tomatoes

5 qts/15 pts tomato sauce

13 pints red enchilada sauce

15 qts pasta sauce

15 half pints pizza sauce

18 pints salsa

7 qts green beans

6 qts potatoes

9 half-pints strawberry jam (I bought the strawberries at farmers market)

8 pints peach jam

11 half pints squash sweet relish

6 pts/4 half pints pickled banana peppers

5 pints pickled jalapeno peppers

I still had quite a bit from last year so we are pretty much full for a while on most things.

Homemade Relish

I made squash relish today. It tastes really good & can be used in the same way you would use sweet pickle relish.

Squash Relish

10 cups finely shredded squash (I used zucchini & yellow)
3 T. salt

Wash squash & cut out most of the seeds. Then shred it. I put mine through the food processor. Then put it in a bowl & sprinkle with the salt. Allow this to set in the fridge overnight.

Next day- Drain off the water. Put it into a big pot & then add:

1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. ground turmeric
2 1/2 cups white vinegar
5 cups sugar

Stir & bring this to a boil. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
Then put into clean jars.
You may water bath can this, but if it's boiling and you get the seals & bands on it will seal on the counter.

This made 11 half-pint/jelly jars full.

What a lovely sight

A view from my Mom's kitchen...

Good lookin pickles & tomatoes!

Around our homestead...

On the agenda today...yep dealing with more tomatoes. Today's canning will be just whole tomatoes. Peeled, and packed into a jar w/lemon juice & salt.

We will be hanging out around home & enjoying the pool & a grilled lunch/supper. Pork chops, veggie packets, & homemade bread. Yum!

Grilled pork chops- liberally sprinkle with cajun seasoning & grill

Veggie packets- chop fresh, bite-size squash, potatoes, carrots, corn, peppers & onions. Toss with olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper. Put into a "pocket" made of heavy duty aluminum foil. Seal up & grill for about an hour. --Can make 1 giant one or 1 for each person.

Hope you enjoy your Sunday!

More Salsa

Ok. I'm just about tired of looking at tomatoes! lol
My husband said the salsa I made the other day was "ok" but requested I find a recipe without the vinegar in it as he didn't really like it "that much." ~He's been here while I've canned before & knows how much time & work goes into it so I don't think he'd dare say much...smart man.
So I found this recipe that doesn't use vinegar. http://www.pickyourown.org/salsa.htm This is the one I will be making today. (I will be using cilantro in place of the oregano though)
Our 17th wedding anniversary is tomorrow. We were trying to plan something to do last minute but really didn't come up with anything. Besides, I really haven't been feeling too great yesterday or today. I actually have a little surprise for him but it will be delayed 2 weeks...shh...
So today I'm trying to relax a bit this morning & drink a bit of coffee. Everyone else here is sleeping so it's pretty quiet.
If I feel better later I'm thinking we could all go for a drive. We like to go out through the country sometimes & just look. They are building a highway through around here & we haven't went and seen the progress in a while.
I hope ya'll have a nice day!

Salsa & Canning

I've got tons of tomatoes sitting on my counter & porch waiting to fully ripen. So tomorrow we will be making & canning salsa. There are several recipes here http://www.salsagarden.com/Canning_Salsas.html We will be using the "Home Canned Salsa" recipe. I will need to run to the store to get some onions, salt, & seals but other than that I have enough to make probably at least 5 batches.

My husband & son really like their salsa! lol

So far this season I've canned & stored:

strawberry preserves

Green beans

whole new potatoes

chopped potatoes

tomato juice

crushed tomatoes

enchilada sauce

pasta/spaghetti sauce

pizza sauce

Still in pantry from last season:

dill pickle spears

dill pickle slices

bread & butter pickles

pickled squash & onions

cowboy candy (candied jalapenos)

jalapeno pepper slices

banana pepper slices

green tomato salsa

It may seem strange, but it's so neat to open the pantry and see things that we've grown & preserved ourselves. ~Hard work pays off~

Canning tomato juice

Here is the easiest way I've found so far...

First go out to your garden & pick all of the red tomatoes. *If you don't have a garden, you may buy them at a farmers market, from a neighbor, or at the store if you must. Now, make a note to yourself.

~Dear self,

Plant a garden next year!

Next, wash the tomatoes in cool water.

Cut out the stem and any bad spots out.

Place them in a blender & blend.

Pour the beautiful pink colored juice into a big soup/stock pot.

Bring this to a boil then turn it down to a simmer.

Allow to simmer for about 1 hour. ~Until it's the desired consistancy you like. The more you cook it, the thicker it will become.

Now ladle this into your clean canning jars.

Whipe the rims, put on lids, & place in water bath canner.

When water is boiling process for 30 minutes.

Carefully remove jars and allow to set untouched until the seal "pops."

Notice you do not have to peel the tomatoes? If you've done this before you will appreciate that you don't have to fool with that!