Jelly

I finally finished making apple and bullace (wild grape) jellies yesterday. I had made the juice a week or so ago and put it in the refrigerator. So after lunch yesterday, I set the giant water bath canner on the stove to heat, pulled the juice out of the fridge and got to work.

Once the jelly was made and dinner served, I realized we had nothing for dessert, so I made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

My day didn't start out too well yesterday, (see previous post) but it ended nicely. Warm oatmeal cookies make it all better.

Saturday Around the Homestead

There was lots to do around our place today and some of it actually got done. Andy mowed grass, around the house as well as down the driveway. He also fixed a faucet handle and one of the children's games.

I brushed down the pool and added chlorine, weeded about half the vegetable garden, made pickles and a yummy supper. The children and I made and decorated cupcakes for the holiday weekend.

The pickles were the big project of the day. My nine-year-old son helped me cut up cucumbers on Friday, in preparation for making bread and butter pickles today. The cucumber slices soaked in salt water overnight.

This afternoon, we combined sugar, vinegar and spices on the stove. We then added the cucumbers, simmered them for a few minutes and put them in jars. After a quick trip through the water bath canner, we now have pickles!
The cupcakes are red, white and blue in honor of Independence Day. The children had a great time adding the sprinkles.
Any plans this holiday weekend? Or non-holiday weekend, if you're outside the US?

Strawberry Season Is Here

April and May are strawberry season around here so we made our annual trip to a local strawberry farm. The children helped pick three buckets of berries which we brought home and made into jam and jelly.
To make both jam and jelly, I just follow the recipes in a box of pectin. You start by washing the berries and removing the stem and leaves. I usually cut them up a bit before crushing the fruit. Then, strain them through a jelly bag or cheesecloth. I use the strained juice for jelly and the leftover pulp for jam.


And now, we can enjoy those strawberries all winter. Mmm...

Filling the Pantry

Canning season is in full swing around here. Just yesterday, I put up 29 jars of blueberries--blueberry jam, blueberry jelly and blueberry butter and there's more than a gallon of blueberries left!

I'll use the jams and jellies to make lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches this winter, as well as for Christmas gifts.

Lots more to do; I'd better get back to work!

Canning Applesauce

I started with about 3/4 of a bushel of apples and ended up with 9 and 1/2 quarts of applesauce. First, I cut up the apples (saving the cores and bruised spots for the chickens) and cooked them until they were soft.
Next, I ran the apples through the food mill. It's amazing--just put apples in the top, turn the handle and voila'! Peels and seeds from one side, perfect applesauce from the other side.Then, I heated the applesauce on the stove.
Finally, I put the applesauce into the jars, processed it in the water bath canner and, presto! Applesauce for the winter.

Plum Jelly and Blackberry Jelly

Jars of plum jelly and blackberry jelly, as well as blackberry jam, are cooling on my kitchen island. My daughter and her friend made the plum jelly the other night, and I did the blackberry.

My husband, son and I picked blackberries until, as my father used to say, "Perspiration's pourin' off me like sweat!" A bucket full of berries only makes about six precious jars of jelly and maybe 8 or 9 jars of jam--but it's oh so worth it!

Our canning season is in full swing. How about you?

Canning Season Has Begun

Look what's cooling on my kitchen counter--six jars of strawberry jelly and 19 jars of strawberry jam! (I'm not telling which jars of jam didn't set. To my relatives and friends: you'll know if your Christmas basket includes "Strawberry Ice Cream Topping".)

Canning season begins around here when strawberries are in season. I'll soon move on to blueberries, blackberries, peaches and tomatoes. After that are pears-cubed, pickled and "honeyed", followed by wild muscadines. The season ends with applesauce.

It has a nice rhythm, the music of harvest. I love eating "in season" when fruits and vegetables are at their peak. And, oh, the joy of opening a jar of strawberry jelly in January and dreaming of warm spring days.

The (Canned) Fruits of Our Labor

Here's what we made from the pears! Well, some of it anyway. The golden colored concoction is pear honey, made from pears, pineapple and sugar. The other jars are filled with pear relish, made from pears, onions, peppers, vinegar, sugar and spices. The cubed pears are already in the pantry. We'll eat well this winter!