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August 15, 2009

DOMESTICATED-PART 5 CANNING & JAMMING

Filed under: CANNING,COOKING,VEGETABLES — grandi13 @ 12:36 pm

I think I am thru canning tomatoes for this season.  Usually tomatoes produce until frost but ours are looking rather bad and the tomatoes are getting smaller and smaller.  If someone should give me some pretty ones, I would probably can more, but am not not planning to can anymore from our bushes.

I canned these yesterday.



8-14-09

This batch makes a total of 26 pints.  All but maybe a pound came from plants that DH put in the flower beds.

I made more peach jam Thursday using the recipe in the Sure-Jel Less Sugar Pectin package.  I doubled the recipe and it did fine.



PEACH JAM 8-13-09

The other recipe that I was using has better color.  I am going to experiment with those I prepare this afternoon, I am going to add maybe a tablespoon of pectin to the batch instead of the entire package.  Hope it works!!!  I’ll let you know.

DH came in from work yesterday saying, “I have more work for you to do” and handed me a grocery bag a little over half full of okra.  I also need to do it today.  Since the day is considered to be half gone, I need to get busy.

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August 3, 2009

DOMESTICATED-PART 4 JAMMING

Filed under: CANNING,COOKING — grandi13 @ 8:22 pm

More peach jam.  It needs to be just a little thicker, but I am not going to re-cook it.

Why does one use a recipe?  To make sure the food is cooked to perfection or as near as possible.  DUH!!  I followed a recipe for the jam or at least I thought I did.  I had read on the net to make jam cook fruits for 25 minutes at a rolling boil.  So that is what I did.  Today, I am looking at the recipe again and Lo and Behold– cooking time is 1 hour on medium heat.

Well, the “jam” I prepared last night sure is pretty and taste really good with peanut butter in a sandwich, even if it does need to be a little thicker .



peach jam 8-2-09

The bottom jars in the back are more true to color, the others look to orange.

I hope what is cooking now will be jam consistency like jam should be.

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UPDATE–DOMESTICATED-PART 3

Filed under: CANNING,VEGETABLES — grandi13 @ 7:13 pm

As I stated yesterday, I wanted to go to Rose Hill today.  I did and the trip was successful.  The lady was very apologetic and offered to refund all of my money but I did not think that was fair to her.  We agreed on refunding the price of 1 bushel of beans and $10.00 for gas.

I really wanted more beans, but none will be ready until maybe tomorrow but most likely Wednesday.  I can’t make another trip up there this week.

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August 2, 2009

BUSTED

Filed under: CANNING,COOKING — grandi13 @ 6:01 pm

The spaghetti sauce I canned has a definite vinegar taste.  I do know why, that will help when I make more.  Because of the tomato content in the sauce, I added citric acid and got too much in it. I’ll know better next time.

We will eat it, regardless!

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DOMESTICATED-PART 3

Filed under: CANNING,VEGETABLES — grandi13 @ 4:02 pm

I have been ever so busy since Wednesday the 29th.  Wednesday night I canned 6 more pints of tomatoes.



That is a total of 20 pints this year.  I have more that I need to can now, I may be able to do them tomorrow.

Thursday, I am at the Waterford Farmer’s Market before 8am, buy 1 1/2 bushels of peas and 1/2 bushel of peaches.  I take MIL the half bushel of peas.  I bring my produce home and place it over the A/C vents.  I then go to DD’s#1 and pick up the baby girls, come back home and get them ready for a drive up the country.

We go to Rose Hill, here I purchase what is suppose to be 3 bushels of green butter beans.  (More on suppose to be later.)   On the way home we detour by Surf City and drop of DD’s#2 bushel of beans.  Finally, I am home and lunch is finished and baby girls are down for their naps and I start shelling the peas about 3:30.

Peas from the farmer’s market yielded 16 pint packages and 1 package with 1 1/2 cups.  I am to get okra this Thursday and I will order peas for the following Thursday.  I usually flatten all the bags, but due to my hurry, I did not flatten these.  I flatten because they store better in the freezer and take up less room, I think.


I shelled butterbeans and shelled butterbeans and finally got the 2 bushels I had shelled.  I cooked the first bushel done and only blanched the second bushel, that is the reason for the color difference.  Mixed with the 2nd bushel of green beans were a few speckled beans.  Makes for great shelling. NOT!   Total yield was not impressive.  Only 18 pints of green and 2 pints and 1/2 cup of speckled.


I could not determine in some of the shelling which was a green bean and which was a speckled bean.  As I shelled I separated as best as I could, but when the 2nd bushel was blanched, I see lots of gray beans.  My granson helps me pick thru them picking out all the gray.  It may just be my tastebuds but I do not like the two types of beans mixed.  This is using time that I could be doing other things.

Tomorrow if nothing interfers, I will be going back to Rose Hill for a little discussion taking with me the bean hulls that have no beans in them.  I am not talking a handful but almost a half bushel basket.  The farm owners need to know so they can deal with the pickers and I need to tell them so they can make good on the beans that I paid for and did not get.

I need to start on the peach jam now.

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July 22, 2009

DOMESTICATED-PART 2

Filed under: CANNING,COOKING,VEGETABLES — grandi13 @ 12:21 pm

Well here goes another story of the work I enjoy.  I have canned tomatoes 2 more times.  I canned 4 pints on Wednesday the 15th.



and 4 pints and 2/3 on Monday the 20th.



10 pints of our homegrown tomatoes canned!!

Our tomatoes have heat spots on some of them.  This is a very hard white spot that I cut away when I am canning them.  They usually start at the stem end of the tomato and can go as far as half way the tomato, rarely even further.  I am wanting to buy some that are not damaged and can them.

I have peas to wash and prepare for freezing.

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July 20, 2009

DOMESTICATED-Part 1

Filed under: ALL ABOUT ME,CANNING,COOKING — grandi13 @ 10:00 am

Well, as promised, here is a bit of my being domesticated.

It was Thursday, not Friday that I looked in an about in three counties trying to find vegetables, with no success.  I really do not remember what I did Friday except prepare lunch for the 3 grandchildren that had spent Thursday night with us and then prepare supper.

We had spaghetti for supper.  I always make my own sauce NEVER adding a jar of sauce such as Ragu or Prego or any others.  Yes, I know I am rambling, so I will shorten the story.

We had quite a bit of sauce left and having canning on the brain, I decide to can the leftovers.  I reheat it until the bubbling stage of boiling, pour it into hot jars and I have canned spaghetti sauce that is far better than anything you can buy in the store.  Leftovers yield 1 quart and 1/2 pint.



I have been known to make a large batch and freeze the leftovers.  Because of the liquid, I can never get all of the air out or even most of it , so it doesn’t keep very well.  Careful, having a brainstorm.  Make sauce and can it—so I do.



I prepared 2 cookings of sauce and had a yield of 10 pints total.   I put 1/4 teaspoon of citric acid in the pints and then placed them in the boiling water bath for about 35 minutes.

Neither of the 3 cookings taste the same, because I use a dash of this-add extra of that-and so on until I like the taste.  I guess I really need to measure the seasonings in the future and when I get a taste ‘to die for’ use that recipe consistently.

More Domesticated in a day or two.

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July 8, 2009

TOMATOES

Filed under: CANNING,COOKING,VEGETABLES — grandi13 @ 9:33 pm

Our tomatoes are beginning to get ready for picking.  We had just a few more than we could eat, so I decided I would can them.  I put them in pint jars rather than cans.  I added the store bought ones left from July 4th that had been refrigerated.



GREAT! both of the jars have sealed, now time will tell the real story.

This is a first for me.  I even searched the web for directions, bought Guide to Preserving and guess what–did not follow any of those directives.  DD#2 told me she just boiled the tomatoes, put them in hot jars, they sealed and were fine.  I did add lemon juice and salt to the jars before I put in the tomatoes.

DH did find a canner for me last Friday when he was out and about, if I get enough at one time, I will use the boiling bath method.

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