I Can-Can

Last night, I was talking to my bff who informed me that of all of the domestic things I have begun, canning is definitely the one that surprised her the most. Last year, I helped my mom do some canning and this year I decided to try it on my own.



So far, this year, I have canned:
- Green Beans
- Garlic Cucumber Pickles
- Salsa
- Hot Dog/Banana Pepper Mixture
- Zucchini Pickles

Also, I've decided that I'm going to make some of my own baby food, so I've canned green beans and peaches for our baby. With these, I've used pint jars and not added any salt or other perservatives. Only water with the fruit/vegetables. I found this blog that has great homemade baby food information: http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/homemade-baby-food-recipes-blog.html

Since I'm a novice, my learning curve has been extremely fast in the canning area and I've learned quite a bit:
1. For green beans, always put the recommended amount of salt in your jars because if you don't, you will never be able to salt them enough to be edible.
2. Even if you pack your jars with the raw vegetables/fruits as tight as possible, when you process them, the jars will have contents will shrink and there will be quite a bit of water in bottom of the jars.
3. Use the vinegar/salt mixture for the peaches or they will turn a horrible shade of brown.
4. Many things can be canned in a hot water bath rather than processed in a canner. (ie, pickles, salsa, etc) Green beans are not one of these!

Something else that I've learned is that freezing fruits and vegetables may be easier, quicker, and just as effective as canning.



If you flash freeze (put slices on cookie sheet and freeze for 30 minutes before putting in ziploc bags to freeze) zucchini, squash, and banana peppers, then they won't stick together or become squishy in the freezer. Tomatoes are great to freeze and then use in soups or sauces. Green beans are not nearly as good frozen as they are canned. They just don't cook right.

Corn is something that I simply will not can. Too much work. As this website explains, canning corn is "not for the faint of heart." http://www.ochef.com/1169.htm

My mother-in-law taught me how to freeze ears of corn, which is so much easier. She barely opens up the top of the stalk to see if there are any bugs. If so, cut out that portion. Then, take a twisty and tie back the stalk. Then, put the ear in a plastic store bag and freeze (I froze 4 at a time so we can just pull out the bag). When you cook the corn, just take it straight out of the freezer, shuck it, and cook in boiling water as usual. Note that this doesn't work if you cook corn in the microwave.

I've also discovered that I can make the fruit mixture of cobblers and freeze them. Then, when I'm ready to make the cobbler, just take the fruit mixture out of the freezer, defrost, heat on stove, and make cobbler as usual. Super yummy and the hard work is already done while the fruit is still fresh.



On agenda for today...peaches, peaches, and more peaches.