Christmas is almost here, and although I'm not done with everything, at least some of my gifts were prepared early. I put up lots of jam this year so that I could give them as gifts (various strawberries, various blueberries, and plum).
Now, here they are, all ready for the gift-giving season. Of course, as soon as I put them under the tree, Dexter had to come over. He has the need to smell every package. I just wonder what he's looking for?
Okay, this is it - I'm not doing any more jamming this year!
Last night I put up 12 half-pints of plum jam. My brother- and sister-in-law have a plum tree in the backyard of their new house, and have more fruit than they know what to do with. They've estimated that they've picked 50 pounds, most of which they're going to use to make plum wine.
In the meantime, I asked for 4-5 pounds of the free bounty to make some jam. After this last batch, I've put up 60 half-pints of jams, 7 pints of pickles, and 2 pints of pickled peppers. I think that's enough for one year!
Next time: If I do plum jam again, I need to find a recipe that uses less sugar. Since I don't really like raw plums, I've never really cooked with them before. What surprised me was that when I simmered the chopped plums for 5 minutes (as directed by the recipe), they turned tangy and delicious. That's the flavor I want to preserve next time.
As I mentioned a few posts ago, the cucumbers I planted were not Straight Eight, which is what I ordered, but some sort of pickler. They were starting to stack up in the fridge, so it was time to do something besides eat yet another cucumber salad. Yep, it was time to pickle.
For the cukes, I used a recipe I found on the web for kosher dill pickles. It was a lower salt recipe, which both Spouse and I prefer. The only ingredients were vinegar, water, pickling salt, dill and garlic. We'll give them 6-8 weeks then see how they turn out.
Also pickled were all of the Hungarian Hot Wax peppers that were left on the plants. After a short blanch - and after stuffing as many as possble into the jars - I only ended up with two pints. No problem, though, as growing - and canning - these particular peppers was all an experiment this year. This was also a simple recipe, with only vinegar, water, sugar, salt and garlic.
For those who have never pickled before - it's easy and it doesn't take much time. My water was boiling and the jars were sterilized before I had finished cutting up the cucumbers and bringing the brine to a boil. As I processed the cucumbers - for 10 minutes - I was able to start preparing the peppers and their brine. All in all it took about 2 hours from start to finish, and at least 45 minutes of that was bringing several gallons of water to boil in the canner. So, if you have some extra produce and are feeling adventurous, give canning a try!
On Saturday, I did some more jamming. This may be it for jams this year, unless I get inspired at apple time.
Four hours of work and I ended up with 27 jars of summertime goodness (two jars had already gone "missing" when I took this picture). Homemade jams are perfect for hostess and holiday gifts. What was made: Raspberry, Blackberry/Raspberry, Spiced Blueberry and Ginger Blueberry.
There's nothing like having a stash of your own home-grown waiting in the pantry. No, I'm not talking about illegal herbal substances. I'm talking about jars of produce that you put up yourself.
On Sunday I made 21 jars of strawberry and rhubarb jams. In this case, it wasn't stuff I grew myself (sadly, not even the rhubarb). However, it was all locally grown produce that I bought at the Richfield Farmer's Market on Saturday.
I made three types of jam: Plain old Strawberry (from the Sure-Jell package), Spiced Strawberry, (the Sure-Jell recipe plus some ground cloves, cinnamon and allspice) and Rhubarb, Strawberry and Ginger. I haven't tried the last one yet, but the combination of rhubarb, strawberries and crystalized ginger has got to be good.
I'm not sure why people don't can like they used to. I just finished re-reading From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden by Amy Stewart, and she mentions that most of us only know about canning from our grandmothers.
In my case, my mother also canned - crabapple jelly, tomatoes, peaches - so I grew up with a very basic understanding of what is involved. It's not difficult at all, and it really doesn't take as much time as you would think. On Sunday, I spent about 6 hours making 21 jars of jams from three recipes. Probably 1/3 of the time was spent coring the strawberries.
Through the summer, I'll get the canning equipment out of the basement a few more times. I'll make more jams - peach, blueberry, something with apples. I also want to do pickles this year. I haven't done them before, but I planted enough cucumbers that I should be able to do quite a few jars. Depending on the tomato crop, I also may try either salsa, tomato sauce, or both.
The wonderful thing about canning is that you can bring out a taste of summer in the middle of winter. Plus, the extras make great housewarming or thank you gifts, or holiday presents for the aunts and cousins.
