After getting a smokin' deal on a bushel of peaches (at least I think it was), I decided that for the second time in my life I would attempt canning. My first experience was in 2002 about a month before M2 was born. I went to my friend Krystal's house and we canned I can't remember how many peaches. I just remember it taking a long time on 8-month-pregnant legs and feet. And when I brought all my treasured jars of peaches home, The Father wasn't exactly thrilled. Apparently he is not a huge fan of canned peaches. Not even fresh ones, really.
But in all my excitement for this new skill, I came across a hot water bath, a bunch of jars for canning, and all the supplies (aka the tong things to take the jars out of the boiling water) at a garage sale. I scooped up my new treasures (for $10 or something) and took them home for my next big canning day. In 2006 I still hadn't used any of them, just moved them from one house to the next and thought, "I'm never going to do that again. Why move it all again?" and gave all of my stuff to the Salvation Army before our last move to ID. Dumb.
So this past Saturday afternoon the hunt began. I drove around trying to find a hot water bath and canning supplies. Good luck with that one! It's the prime of canning season and only the early birds get the good stuff. So I borrowed a canner from another friend (thank you, Christine), bought my jars and I was ready to go.
Monday came, I had all these great peaches, borrowed canning supplies, and really no idea what I was doing. My friend Denise (notice I never attempt this stuff alone) and I geared up. M3 and I showed up at her house about 8:45 am ready to go. We washed, peeled, pitted, and syruped a bushel of peaches. But our water in the bath never boiled. So we trekked all our stuff across the street to my house for the gas stove. How does anyone cook without gas? Stoves, that is. Finally we got the water to boil, added the 2nd canner and we were off. We ended up canning 29 quarts of peaches on Monday. I tell you what--there are not many things better than 29 quarts of freshly canned peaches on your counter. Beauty.
The only problem was that I still had a whole other bushel of peaches sitting on my table. How many peaches can one family eat...we'll see how it all works out ;-).
Tuesday I took the day off, but bought a flat of strawberries (again for what I think is a screamin' deal). So Wednesday I made freezer jam. I have vague memories of strawberry freezer jam from my youth. The part that sticks out the most is going to the strawberry fields and picking strawberries for hours. After that it is all a blur. I do remember vats of strawberry goo and sinks full of water with strawberry tops floating in them. So I called my mom to find out what kind of jam we made. Apparently, it was just the quick kind. M3 and I began our jam adventures. We ended up with 8 1/2 pints of strawberry freezer jam. Mmmm.
Next comes Thursday. Remember I still have a bushel of peaches; and I have a whole bunch of tomatoes that came ripe at the same time in our garden. Something had to be done...Salsa. So today was spent canning 15 quarts of peaches, 9 pints of salsa, and 16 1/2 pints of freezer jam.
Grand totals:
Canned peaches= 31 quarts to call my own. 45 total.
Freezer jam= 24 1/2 pints freezer jam
Salsa= 9 pints
Plus some frozen strawberries, frozen peaches, and lots of eaten strawberries and peaches. It may not sound like much, but I'm really proud of myself for doing it. I'll let you know how they all taste once we crack 'em open.
M3 helping with the jam:
By the way, M1 would never have been caught dead doing a few things:
1. Being without clothes at any point during the day.
2. Not having her hair done and in a bow for any sort of picture (snapshot or not).
3. Sitting on the counter.
4. "Helping" make strawberry jam. I'm not sure you can see it, but there is strawberry jam on her face and tummy. Can't wait to eat that batch.
Isn't it funny how our expectations of our children (and ourselves) lower with each additional child? Or am I the only one? ;-)
One last side note: M3 has figured out how to climb out of her crib--neither of the other 2 ever did this. The other day I put her down for a nap (which she never wants to do, but really, still needs). When the big girls got home from school, this is how they found her. And no, she wasn't put into bed with the boots on.
But in all my excitement for this new skill, I came across a hot water bath, a bunch of jars for canning, and all the supplies (aka the tong things to take the jars out of the boiling water) at a garage sale. I scooped up my new treasures (for $10 or something) and took them home for my next big canning day. In 2006 I still hadn't used any of them, just moved them from one house to the next and thought, "I'm never going to do that again. Why move it all again?" and gave all of my stuff to the Salvation Army before our last move to ID. Dumb.
So this past Saturday afternoon the hunt began. I drove around trying to find a hot water bath and canning supplies. Good luck with that one! It's the prime of canning season and only the early birds get the good stuff. So I borrowed a canner from another friend (thank you, Christine), bought my jars and I was ready to go.
Monday came, I had all these great peaches, borrowed canning supplies, and really no idea what I was doing. My friend Denise (notice I never attempt this stuff alone) and I geared up. M3 and I showed up at her house about 8:45 am ready to go. We washed, peeled, pitted, and syruped a bushel of peaches. But our water in the bath never boiled. So we trekked all our stuff across the street to my house for the gas stove. How does anyone cook without gas? Stoves, that is. Finally we got the water to boil, added the 2nd canner and we were off. We ended up canning 29 quarts of peaches on Monday. I tell you what--there are not many things better than 29 quarts of freshly canned peaches on your counter. Beauty.
The only problem was that I still had a whole other bushel of peaches sitting on my table. How many peaches can one family eat...we'll see how it all works out ;-).
Tuesday I took the day off, but bought a flat of strawberries (again for what I think is a screamin' deal). So Wednesday I made freezer jam. I have vague memories of strawberry freezer jam from my youth. The part that sticks out the most is going to the strawberry fields and picking strawberries for hours. After that it is all a blur. I do remember vats of strawberry goo and sinks full of water with strawberry tops floating in them. So I called my mom to find out what kind of jam we made. Apparently, it was just the quick kind. M3 and I began our jam adventures. We ended up with 8 1/2 pints of strawberry freezer jam. Mmmm.
Next comes Thursday. Remember I still have a bushel of peaches; and I have a whole bunch of tomatoes that came ripe at the same time in our garden. Something had to be done...Salsa. So today was spent canning 15 quarts of peaches, 9 pints of salsa, and 16 1/2 pints of freezer jam.
Grand totals:
Canned peaches= 31 quarts to call my own. 45 total.
Freezer jam= 24 1/2 pints freezer jam
Salsa= 9 pints
Plus some frozen strawberries, frozen peaches, and lots of eaten strawberries and peaches. It may not sound like much, but I'm really proud of myself for doing it. I'll let you know how they all taste once we crack 'em open.
M3 helping with the jam:
By the way, M1 would never have been caught dead doing a few things:
1. Being without clothes at any point during the day.
2. Not having her hair done and in a bow for any sort of picture (snapshot or not).
3. Sitting on the counter.
4. "Helping" make strawberry jam. I'm not sure you can see it, but there is strawberry jam on her face and tummy. Can't wait to eat that batch.
Isn't it funny how our expectations of our children (and ourselves) lower with each additional child? Or am I the only one? ;-)
One last side note: M3 has figured out how to climb out of her crib--neither of the other 2 ever did this. The other day I put her down for a nap (which she never wants to do, but really, still needs). When the big girls got home from school, this is how they found her. And no, she wasn't put into bed with the boots on.
Comments
Now, for all this canning - where can I place my order?