Parenting: 4 & 5-Year-Olds Community

Yay MrsW! You are becoming quite the Becky Home-Ecky lol. I'd love to hear how you are making jam - my MIL does it every year and sends us a big box of jars, blueberry is our fave. I've never tried it myself though.

WOOHOOO!!! Canning is fairly easy. Homemade jam and jellies taste so much better than store bought. I've only done a few batches of jelly this year. I will do alot more before Christmas though.

Our farmers market sells 4 oz for $5.00 of jelly/jam. My SO always trys to buy them and I'm like why. They barely have $5.00 of ingrediants in their whole batch. Jelly is really easy to make just takes a little time.

Now you need to make some homemade bread to go with the jam. I might just have to make bread this weekend. That sounds good to me right now.

Ha - Becky Home-Ecky. As I was standing over the stove stirring the berries, I was thinking to myself, "Who is this person standing in my kitchen, wearing an apron, actually canning???"

It was SSSOOO easy, though. The longest part was just getting all that water to boil. From start to finish, it took us about 2 hours, and that included making 2 types of jam. Well, and me re-reading the instructions about 20 gazillion times.

I was going to make a batch of bread dough, but ran out of time this morning. I'll probably just do some easy drop biscuits for dinner to go with the jelly.

Sarah - What all do you can? My mom wants me to do some tomatoes next.

I can all summer long and into the winter. I mostly do hot water bath but do have a pressure canner. Also, I normally do tomotoes and or salsa every year but other items I may not depending on what I have on hand.

So Far this year:
Apple Butter
Apple Sauce (Cinnamon and plain)
Apple Rings
Apple Pie Filling
Apple Pie in a jar (ice cream topping) (I have 3 apple trees)
Salsa
Tomatoes
Tomatoe Juice
Cucumber Rings
Pickle Relish
Bread & Butter Pickles
Spag Sauce (though I don't think it is worth the time)
Peach Pie Filling
Peaches
Beets
Pickled Beets
Potatoes

All kinds of jellies and jams (I make about 10 kinds total) Unless I can get a good deal on fresh fruit I use frozen. It usually comes out cheaper and I can make it any time of the year.

My MIL and I will can just about anything at least once. I hate to see good food go to waste.

Tomatoes are really easy. They just take time. Blanch, remove skins, chop (if desiered) add salt some lemon juice or citric acid and seal. (They will sometimes turn pink when they have been setting for a long time) When I was learning to can when I was younger my grandma started me on tomatoes. She told me that's what she learned with so that's what she started everyone on. If you are really interested I would recommend getting a Ball Blue Book. Even if you pick up an older copy I think it is well worth the information. USDA (I think) also is a good resource for canning information. They have a "cookbook" that you can print for free with all kinds of recipes for canning. My biggest fear is still making someone sick. When in doubt I will toss something rather than chance it.