We didn't do canning at home when I was growing up so I never learned how to do it until I was an adult. When my children were young I was given a water bath canner from one of the church ladies along with a couple bushel of pears. She told me what to do and we had our first batch of home canned food.
There's vacant land next to our home that has an old apple orchard. Nobody ever came along to harvest the apples. I inquired at the court house to find the owner so I could ask permission to harvest them. They lived in Florida, so I harvested apples. Then I had apples in my pantry.
My all time favorite though has been black raspberry jam. We no longer have the wild bushes and it's been years now since we did. All that water bath canning going on and I never had the chance to stock up on meats and veggies that could not be done in the water bath canner.
About a year and a half ago I came across videos on youtube that teach how to use a pressure canner and recipes for about anything you want to put up. I knew I would be quitting my full time job in the near future and a pressure canner was on my list of things I had to get before I didn't have the money.
Here are the ladies that I have learned so much from and will forever be grateful for:
The first recipe is meatloaf. She gives you a recipe to follow but if you have one you like then you should use it. I like mine better than the one she shares. The most important part of the video in this would be the procedure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SvCdJ-t3tc
The next recipe is for meat and tomato sauce. This video is the same lady. I used her recipe for chili but stopped after the #10 can of crushed tomatoes but added the salt because that is necessary for canning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKWjCb8H4AI
When I want to make chili, I open a quart of the meat sauce, put contents in my pot and add the peppers, cumin, chili powder and 1 Tbl. sugar. Heat up and then add a pint of the beans that she also has a video on canning. You could also use a can of store bought kidney beans.
If I use the meat sauce for spaghetti, I add basil. I add 1Tbl. sugar to both chili and spaghetti sauce because I was told it reduces the acidity of the tomatoes.
This year I will have my own tomatoes. I plan to process some in meat sauce and some alone. I like having her recipe using the canned tomatoes though should I ever just want to stock my pantry with it.
I will post again with links to other excellent ladies who teach a number of valuable skills. If we are going to be even a little self sufficient, we need the old skills.
There's vacant land next to our home that has an old apple orchard. Nobody ever came along to harvest the apples. I inquired at the court house to find the owner so I could ask permission to harvest them. They lived in Florida, so I harvested apples. Then I had apples in my pantry.
My all time favorite though has been black raspberry jam. We no longer have the wild bushes and it's been years now since we did. All that water bath canning going on and I never had the chance to stock up on meats and veggies that could not be done in the water bath canner.
About a year and a half ago I came across videos on youtube that teach how to use a pressure canner and recipes for about anything you want to put up. I knew I would be quitting my full time job in the near future and a pressure canner was on my list of things I had to get before I didn't have the money.
Here are the ladies that I have learned so much from and will forever be grateful for:
The first recipe is meatloaf. She gives you a recipe to follow but if you have one you like then you should use it. I like mine better than the one she shares. The most important part of the video in this would be the procedure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SvCdJ-t3tc
The next recipe is for meat and tomato sauce. This video is the same lady. I used her recipe for chili but stopped after the #10 can of crushed tomatoes but added the salt because that is necessary for canning.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKWjCb8H4AI
When I want to make chili, I open a quart of the meat sauce, put contents in my pot and add the peppers, cumin, chili powder and 1 Tbl. sugar. Heat up and then add a pint of the beans that she also has a video on canning. You could also use a can of store bought kidney beans.
If I use the meat sauce for spaghetti, I add basil. I add 1Tbl. sugar to both chili and spaghetti sauce because I was told it reduces the acidity of the tomatoes.
This year I will have my own tomatoes. I plan to process some in meat sauce and some alone. I like having her recipe using the canned tomatoes though should I ever just want to stock my pantry with it.
I will post again with links to other excellent ladies who teach a number of valuable skills. If we are going to be even a little self sufficient, we need the old skills.
This is wonderful, thank you for the past and all these links!! I'm purging the site in my pressure canned right now for my first batch of green beans this year -first ever from my own garden, too!! I hope to post about it tonight. Happy canning!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it wonderful to be independent? We don't have to settle for what's offered to us in the grocery stores! Thanks for stopping by Annie.
ReplyDelete