Friday, November 6, 2009

Homemaker Musings


Hey everybody! I thought you might like to see some pictures of the canning we did this year. In the first picture, I am canning peaches (mmm...). The next picture is of oh-so-yummy pickled beets, and the last picture is of me making applesauce. In addition to the three items mentioned above, we canned apples and green beans. They were all fun to can. We used a pressure canner for the first time this year. I'll tell you how we canned the peaches and the beets:

Peaches:
First, we boiled water, then put peaches in it. We let the peaches soak for 5 minuets before plunging them into cold water. Then we sliced them in half and peeled them. We left the pit in some of them, so we could have one pit in each jar.My Grandmother told my mother that this helps the peaches keep their color.

Beets:

As for the beets, we boiled them in water, then put them in cold water to peel and slice them.


The rest of the process is the same for both. We packed the fruit/veggies in jars, and pour liquid over them. Then "burp" the jars with a knife to get all the air bubbles out. Then wipe rims of the jars. Next, we put on the seals and rims. The last step is to put the jars in the pressure canner, and let the pressure increase and boil for 30 minutes at the required pressure.Then we wait for the canner to cool completely before removing the jars. They are placed in a draft free area to cool and rest for 24 hours. As they cool, the seals will each make a "pop"sound from the vacuum sealing process. I like listening for the pops!

As for the applesauce, we cut the apples into quarters, then cooked the apples with just 1/4 cup of water or apple juice.When they are hot and tender, we put them into the Victoro Strainer, and turned the lever to make... applesauce!

Thanks for reading!