Monday, August 9, 2010

Adventures in Homesteading: canning

Guess what I did today? I canned for the first time!

I got a bunch of tomatoes from my dad and a packet of salsa spices from the canning section at Wal-mart, then used the instructions on the back of the packet in combination with my handy dandy Ball "Guide To Home Canning, Freezing & Dehydration".

After blanching, skinning, chopping, spicing, boiling, simmering, canning, boiling water bath processing I ended up with these:

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My hard water left a layer of calcium on the jars. *sigh* Before long all but THIS SHAMEFUL LAZY JAR had sealed. *points accusingly at lazy jar*

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I suspect it has something to do with it being a different type lid. I think I will stick to the Ball lids as much as possible.

Then as I was putting those pictures into the computer lazy jar decided to seal.

Rings removed, lids and jars wiped down, ready to sit on a shelf for months at a time until i get munchies and have tortilla chips handy:

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YAY! I only have, like, an hour per jar invested. lol. But I had fun, and it was an excuse to wear an apron and a kerchief all day. OK, i wasn't actually wearing a kerchief but I kinda wish i had been. lol.

4 comments:

  1. Some lids are just a little slow, I guess. :)

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  2. I've thought about trying out canning. Seems like a lot of work, but we are getting a bumper crop of pears this year so....

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  3. Whoo-hooo! We(my MIL and I) just did a bushel of peaches. Had to do the pressure cooker routine. Nothing blew up. I am sure it would have without her to help! Try wiping the jars with some white vinegar and putting a glug in the canner. Could help.

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  4. I love canning; just too dang hot to do here. I have been just throwing the 'maters in the freezer until it is cool enough to make goodies with.
    Enjoyed getting caught up reading your blog(s).

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