Preserving Tuesday

Okay, so I have been toying with this idea for awhile. Tell me what you think. I have been canning all my life, first with my mom, then for the past 30 years on my own. So I have accumulated a little bit of experience and knowledge. I decided that on Tuesdays, I will share a little bit, sometimes some recipes, etc. I hope to get you enthused about canning and preserving food, for health reasons and for monetary reasons. There will be shameless plugs for stores and websites I love, even though I have no part of them as far as ownership. Share with us anything you find that you think will be of interest! Let's get something going!

First off, Tiffany (my daughter) and I went to a Preparedness Fair in April at the Ucon Elementary School (if you were involved, it was awesome!) It inspired me to keep doing the things I do (canning, dehydrating) and try some new ones (sprouting)! One of the ladies had the book, "Putting Food By". As Tiffany and I thumbed through it, we really liked it, so I came home and got on http://www.amazon.com/ ( a great place to find things cheap), and found it and several other books, so I bought them!

Here are the titles of the books shown in the picture:

Putting Food By, 4th Edition, Newly Revised (Janet Green, Ruth Hertzberg, Beatrice Vaughan) This covers all kinds of preserving, has some recipes and has dietary tips to minimize salt and sugar!

Preserving Summer's Bounty (Edited by Susan McClure and the staff of The Rodale Food Center). This has ended up being my favorite book! Talks about what to grow, how to use it fresh and how to preserve it. Clear language and explanations. Lots of recipes! Excellent Book!

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving (Edited by Judi Kingry and Lauren Devine) What can I say, 400 recipes! Some wonderful, some really wild (like Jalepeno Jelly that my daughter swears by)! Yummy stuff!

So let's get canning! Most of the vegetables are not ready yet, but the cherries are starting and you can always do jams, either from your garden or hit the local farmer's markets. Today I am sharing 2 recipes with you, Pie cherries and Kidney Beans. The kidney beans are so easy and you can do them any time of year. The cherries are starting on and some of the fruit stands have Utah fruit now. If I had known how easy it is to can cherries, I would have done it years ago. As it is, I was dragged into it, when my husband planted a pie cherry tree about 7 years ago. Let me tell you, they produce! And when you pick them, you better be ready to can right then, because they don't sit. After figuring that out and buying a cherry pitter (a real time and hand saver) I loved canning them!

Cherry Pie Filling ( from Susan Scott)

6 quarts pie cherries, pitted

7 C sugar 2 tsp almond extract
1 3/4 C Clear gel
9 1/3 C water
1/2 C lemon juice

2 tsp red food coloring

In a saucepan, combine sugar and clear gel. Add water, almond extract and food coloring. Cook on medium heat until thickened (boiling), stirring constantly. Add lemon juice and stir 1 minute. Add cherries. Put in jars and water bath for 30 minutes.

Clear Gel can be hard to find, but I get mine at http://www.4seasonsfoodstorage.com/, either on the internet at their local store.

Pressure-Cooked Beans (from Maureen and Colleen Scott)

In quart jars put:
1/4 C chopped raw onion

1/4 C chopped raw celery

1 1/2 C dry beans (kidney or pinto)

1 1/2 tsp salt

fill jars the rest of the way with water, to the rim. Add lid and ring. Pressure cook 12 lbs for 55 minutes. For pints, use 3/4 C beans and pressure for 35 minutes.

These beans can be used in any recipe calling for storebought canned beans. I use them to make chili, refried beans and in bean salads!

My last tip for the day. Go to http://www.pickyourown.org/! It is an awesome site that can hook you up with pick your own farms, has tons of recipes, canning tips, and links to where to get anything you would ever need! Check them out!

Well all this canning talk has made me hungry! I think I am going to make a cherry cobbler tonight! Hope you try something new today!

Chris