I canned for the first time today!!!!!! I'm soooooo excited!!!!!!!!!! My folks went to Chicago for the day to visit my Aunt. Princess Bear (PB) and I were just rolling with whatever felt ok. We're still hacking up a lung (or so it seems) with great regularity so the general idea was to lay low.
Somehow a trip to the grocery store seemed to fall into play. PB really wanted some Tortellini Greek Salad. We had everything BUT the tortellini. So off to HyVee we went. As were were grabbing some other things in produce that looked good I remembered seeing a recipe over at Food In Jars for Meyer Lemon Syrup. Since I'm trying once a freaking again to kick my soda habit I thought that the Meyer Lemon Syrup in soda water would be a good alternative. The season for Meyer lemons is rapidly coming to an end though so I wasn't sure if we'd be able to score any. Woot Woot!!! It was my lucky day! They still had TONS of Meyer Lemons. I grabbed 3 pounds and we were outta there.
A bit of back story. I've had my water bath canner since 2012. I bought in late summer that year. My family was convinced that I would do something wrong in the canning process and poison/kill all of us. So they tried banning canning in the house. Somehow with the Meyer Lemon syrup recipe looking good and finding them it just seemed like the right time to try canning.
I can't check the seals until tomorrow but I already heard a few pop. Color me excited!!! I did wind up with WAY more than the 4 half pints that the recipe said I would have. Like an extra 1.5 PINTS! So that is sitting in the fridge & I'll probably give it a try tomorrow. All in all the canning was a success. Warm but it was gorgeous here & I had all the doors open. I'm hoping this is my first step in a long successful canning future. It would be nice to be able to not make all the freezer jams and jellies. I always worry about the electricity going out and losing it. Also with the farming future in California looking so spotty right now and that be the big source for the nations produce I'd like to be able to can what I can a) grow at home or b) buy at the Farmers Market.
So, go me! I'm excited! It seemed to go well and I can't wait to try it again. Yes, I'm fully aware that I sound very geeky for being so excited about this but this is something that I've really wanted to try and had no one to really teach me. So considering that nothing caught on fire or broke or any other horrible thing that might have happened I'll take it as a win!
Somehow a trip to the grocery store seemed to fall into play. PB really wanted some Tortellini Greek Salad. We had everything BUT the tortellini. So off to HyVee we went. As were were grabbing some other things in produce that looked good I remembered seeing a recipe over at Food In Jars for Meyer Lemon Syrup. Since I'm trying once a freaking again to kick my soda habit I thought that the Meyer Lemon Syrup in soda water would be a good alternative. The season for Meyer lemons is rapidly coming to an end though so I wasn't sure if we'd be able to score any. Woot Woot!!! It was my lucky day! They still had TONS of Meyer Lemons. I grabbed 3 pounds and we were outta there.
A bit of back story. I've had my water bath canner since 2012. I bought in late summer that year. My family was convinced that I would do something wrong in the canning process and poison/kill all of us. So they tried banning canning in the house. Somehow with the Meyer Lemon syrup recipe looking good and finding them it just seemed like the right time to try canning.
I can't check the seals until tomorrow but I already heard a few pop. Color me excited!!! I did wind up with WAY more than the 4 half pints that the recipe said I would have. Like an extra 1.5 PINTS! So that is sitting in the fridge & I'll probably give it a try tomorrow. All in all the canning was a success. Warm but it was gorgeous here & I had all the doors open. I'm hoping this is my first step in a long successful canning future. It would be nice to be able to not make all the freezer jams and jellies. I always worry about the electricity going out and losing it. Also with the farming future in California looking so spotty right now and that be the big source for the nations produce I'd like to be able to can what I can a) grow at home or b) buy at the Farmers Market.
So, go me! I'm excited! It seemed to go well and I can't wait to try it again. Yes, I'm fully aware that I sound very geeky for being so excited about this but this is something that I've really wanted to try and had no one to really teach me. So considering that nothing caught on fire or broke or any other horrible thing that might have happened I'll take it as a win!
4 comments:
I'm so impressed! My mother used to can and I've always wanted to but I fear I would discover a new strain of botulism when I opened the jars in the months ahead. Great job.
No one is my family has ever canned. My dad's parents would do things like make their own Polish Sausage (which after watching it being made at a tender age has assured the fact that I will never ever eat it!). It was a completely new thing and I'm sure my dad is still worried about me winding up with my jaw locked shut from botulism but everything seems to point to the fact that you can tell when the jars haven't sealed properly or when it wasn't sterile enough so hopefully all has gone well!
I used to can 365 quarts of everything, while the kids were growing up. Now days I don't can anymore.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://handcraftedbyus.wordpress.com
♬♬♬ Happy Saint Patrick’s Day ♬♬♬
Linda~
Wow! 365 quarts of everything! Go you! I'm hoping to get the hang of this quickly and be able to can what we grow in the garden and things we pick up from Farmers Market.
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