Can All The Things!

The Husband was gone all day, so I set up the kitchen and canned three batches of things. I completely filled the dishwasher with jars and when I was done canning for the day, it looked like I hadn’t even made a dent. The Husband came home and told me that I needed to can more. 🙂 He’s right and it was kind of funny to be reminded about how many jars I actually have. This might be about half of them.

It felt so nice to be canning again. Last year I wasn’t able to get anything canned with our schedule and moving. This year I have plans for a handmade Christmas, so I’ve got a bunch more canning to do. I even have winter canning recipes, including a spicy honey wine jelly.

I used a new cooking magazine, a recipe from the Ball Canning Website, and an online version of another recipe from the magazine. I also made strawberries for strawberry shortcake and froze 1 1/2 gallon bags of berries for eating. This is the Husband’s shortcake. He loves berries like this.

I have berries still waiting to be made into jam in the fridge, but my other strawberry recipe is a strawberry peach jam and I don’t have peaches right now. I will be freezing them today, I think. I also won’t have time to can again for a week or two, at least not in a big batch.

So, on to the recipes.

1-Strawberry Marmalade from Taste of Home Canning and Preserving, 2012. Section: Jams, Jellies, and Preserves. 

Modifications: I used a little bit more fruit than it called for. I never change sugar ratios in canning, as it can mess with the jelling times and can mess with the preservation.  I would also always find a recipe for canning. I don’t want to take the chance of making someone sick. I have a bad mold allergy too, so I am very careful to make sure everything is clean and sterilized.

The recipe called for liquid pectin,which I’ve never used before. It was a very sticky liquid, kind if weird to work with.

I ended up getting 8 half pints out of the recipe. It said  I would get around 10, but I think I cooked it down a little more than it required. I misread the recipe and thought it only needed a half pouch of pectin, not half a box, so I had to boil it a second time. It is delicious, no matter how much it made.

2-Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate from the Ball Canning Website. https://www.freshpreserving.com/strawberry-lemonade-recipe-%7C-strawberry-lemonade-concentrate—ball-br1245.html

Modifications: None. Next time, I will figure out a different blade on my food processor or use the fruit and veggie grinder attachment for the mixer. It came out a little pulpy. This made 5 1/2 pints. The half pint is in my fridge and we’ve already been drinking it. It’s lovely. The suggested ratio is 1 part concentrate to 3 parts water. When we get raspberries, I want to make a raspberry one too and maybe a peach one.

3- Rhubarb BBQ Sauce from An Oregon Cottage. http://anoregoncottage.com/in-season-easy-rhubarb-barbecue-sauce/

Modifications: I was originally going to use the sauce recipe from the Taste of Home magazine, but it called for ketchup, which we don’t eat. When looking for a substitute, I found this recipe which was pretty much the same, but with no ketchup. I had to make my own mustard using dry mustard instead, but it was pretty easy.

This isn’t a canning safe recipe, so it went in the freezer in half pint jars. I suspect it might be okay, because of the level of acid, but don’t have a way to check the PH levels to know for sure. I would just go with the recipe on this one. It did use up all my rhubarb, except for a cup or so. I’ll need to get more to make the other two recipes I have for rhubarb.

I put it on my turkey breast for dinner and it was very good. Definitely a vinegary, tangy flavor. It made 6 half pints.

There are canning instructions and tips all over the web and in books, but my personal tips are to make sure everything is clean, read the recipe at least twice, have all your prep done first. Also, have multiple towels and a spoon rest available.

These recipes were all pretty simple. I made the two strawberry recipes first and the rhubarb last. I didn’t have everything I needed for the lemonade concentrate, so had to go get things in the morning and it made things take longer.

My potential canning list is still huge. I have a bunch of peach recipes, including peach butter, brandied peaches, the strawberry peach jam, and cardamom peach jam. They may not all get made, but it is fun to dream.

I have a couple of tea based jellies on my list to make before the tea making party in August. Apple Earl Grey, flower petal jelly, and jasmine tea jelly all sounded like a lot of fun. I’ll put them in the tiny jars for favors.

I also have some interesting savory things on my list, including Thai Sweet Hot Garlic Sauce, tomatoes and chilis, caramelized onions, and watermelon pickles.

Hopefully I will have some free time to get all these made. If you see me wild-eyed and talking to myself, I’m probably just in full canning mode. It is mildly addicting, considering I was looking through all my recipes at 10:30 pm last night going “I can just make the 5 Spice Cherries. I can stay up later. I’m sure it won’t take that long.” The Husband had to pry the magazines away from me and send me to bed.

If you do try these recipes, or any canning, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Now I have to pay attention to the poor puppers, who is waiting not so patiently  for me to play.