Steam Canning Guidelines....

Even if you blog staulk me I eventually learn about it, in more ways than one. ;-P

After reading my pie filling post a friend of a friend email a friend to share concerns regarding the guidelines for steam canning.... or rather the lack of guidelines.

Admitedly I have not researched this. I take great pride in a wonderful family with reliable information. I trust in their recommendations. (isn't that what we all do in life, gotta luv family) I have canned for years and come from a long family history of canning. Steam canners, however, are new so they have not gotten set guidelines on temp and timing. 

Here is what I do know....

1- steam is higher temp than water, the sealing occurs as the food cools producing a vaccuum and sealing the jar and preserving the food.

2- steam canning is used in place of water bath canning for high acid foods only

3- high acid foods don't run the same risk of bacteria that vegitables do. The "canning" process is for sealing the bottles rather than killing bacteria. Pressure cooking is needed to kill/control bacteria. Bottles should always be checked after sitting overnight for proper sealing.

4- when opening home canned food always inspent the quality of the seal, color of food, and for any odor. When in doubt- throw it out.

So, help me out. Leave me a comment and educate us all. I know there are lots of fantastic and very knowledgable canners out there. In the meantime I will have to do some research and let you all know.

Tina...you are usually my go to gal for issues like this...What do you have to say???

Canning Apple Pie Filling

I finally got to those apples sitting in the basement. I have been meaning to make pie filling but kept putting it off. Unfortunantly I could no longer procrastinate. They were starting to get a bit soft.

I used my apple, peeler, corer but some of them had to be peeled by hand. Made me learn my lesson to get them canned while they are still crisp!

Add a bit of nutmeg, cinnamon, and sugar for the syrup. Then stuff the jars to the brim with apples and syrup.

Is your mouth watering yet?? he he he

This past fall I got in on a great deal for a steam canner. You use it in place of a water bath canner for high acid foods- fruits and tomatoes.

Because it used steam you only have to boil a couple of inches of water rather than a barrel of water.

My dear sis-in-law let me use hers last year so I had to jump at the deal to get one.

I have to say I like mine better for this one reason....

It has a wire rack rather than a more solid one. This way I could see exactly how much water was left in between batches and didn't have to worry about scalding the pan.

My other tool that spoils me when I am canning is this baby...

Dear hubby got this for me years ago. It simply has a magnet on the end to get the lids out of the boiling water wtihout worrying about scratching my pans.

Thanks Babe!

Once your bottles are preped and filled place them on the rack and cover.

Once the steam starts to come out you set your timer. Because you're only heating a couple of inches of water it doesn't take long.

Then, before you know it, you have pie filling to enjoy throughout the year!

Anyone got some vanilla ice cream?

Canning Salsa...project 34 of 52

I made it to the fruit hyway over Labor Day weekend and picked up some tomatoes. I only got 1 basket for $12. I didn't care for paying for tomatoes since I usually grow our own but the garden went by the wayside this year with the move. I managed to get some tomatoes planted but just for table eating. 

Fast forward to Tuesday and the tomatoes are VERY ripe. After washing they looked delicious. I put them all up into salsa. A nice surprise for Robin, his favorite salsa. Thankfully I had the ginormous pot you gave me Tina! I had it 3/4 full of salsa. Mix in the jalepenos I had frozen from Bountiful Baskets a while back, add a dash of cilantro, savor with salt and spice it up with Spicey Hot V8 and VOILA!

32 pints of the best salsa. Last year I made 2 seperate batches (this was 3x the recipe) and they lasted a little over a month. Wonder how long this will last? Of course I shared lots of it last year too. I also made this more chunky but I wonder if the boys will like the smoother blend of last years batch. We will see. Of course then I had to make another trip to Home Depot for more shelves. I have already filled what shelves I had. I added shelves under the stairs. I love to have things stacked neatly on shelves. The boys love that mom is so organized and can tell them EXACTLY where the salsa is.
Here is the recipe:

Homemade Salsa

5 quarts peeled and diced tomatoes (about 20-25)
5 Tbs cornstarch. Sprinkled over and mixed with cold tomatoes
2 lg bell peppers diced (1 3/4 c) or use a variety for color
3-5 cloves of chopped garlic (or 1/8 tsp dried garlic)
1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
3Tbsp salt to taste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper seasoning
5-14 Jalapeno peppers depending on how hot you like it. Use rubber gloves when chopping. I used about 5.
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp cilantro
2-3 small cans of spicy hot V-8 or about 3 cups

Combine all ingredients. Place in a large oven proof pan in the oven at 250-300 degrees. You want it to simmer for about 1 1/2 hrs. Stir occasionally. Place in hot clean jars. Pressure cook for 10 minutes at 13 pounds of pressure.
Makes about 14 pints. Beware- they will soon be gone. The recipe doesn't call for onions but I added a couple.....
I'm sure you could use a water bath to seal the bottles too with all the acid already in the recipe you don't have to worry about high temps to kill bacteria....
Sharing this recipe.....

Canning Pears: project 30 of 52

We love pears! My boys love them with lunch or especially with toast in the morning. Even more than peaches, which is not a big surprise, my family was the same was growing up. The pears never stayed around for long. So when pears showed up to get with Bountiful Baskets last week I decided to get a couple of boxes. I usually get some from my aunt and uncle who get them from Caldwell, Idaho. These were from California and I have to say, although they are good they were not nearly as tasty and sweet as the Idaho pears. Now, I just need to test the Utah pears to determine a true winner. ;-)

Of course once they are bottled the boys don't know the difference and don't really care. They just love them all around.

If you have ever bottled fruit you know it can get a bit sticky. You have to make the syrup, peel and core the fruit and get it in the bottles before the fruit starts to turn brown or else let it sit in a brine. Well, not here! A couple of years ago my aunt shared her secret- mixing the syrup in the bottle.

It's a 1:4 ratio

1/4 cup sugar plus

1 cup hot water.

pour it into the bottle and stir to disolve the sugar. Then you can peel the fruit and place it directly in the bottle. When you have 7 bottles full, start the water bath, then onto the next 7 bottles. WOW! It made things go so much smoother. Plus if your house is like mine interuptions happen non-stop. Now if I get interupted it is easier to find a stopping point without much hassle.

Another added bonus is the syrup is very light. The fruit is sweet enough without a heavy syrup that the Kerr canning book calls for. Give it a try and you won't go back to making your syrup any other way.

Yeah, they look pretty don't they. I think I ended up with about 45 bottles. 

Sharing at Keeping it Simple

Homemade Salsa

My coworker gave this recipe to me last year and we fell in love with it! I had a moment of panic when I couldn't find it this morning but *whew* we found it!

Homemade Salsa
5 quarts peeled and diced tomatoes (about 20-25)
5 Tbs cornstarch. Sprinkled over and mixed with cold tomatoes
2 lg bell peppers diced (1 3/4 c) or use a variety for color
3-5 cloves of chopped garlic (or 1/8 tsp dried garlic)
1/4 C. apple cider vinegar
3Tbsp salt to taste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper seasoning
5-14 Jalapeno peppers depending on how hot you like it. Use rubber gloves when chopping. I used about 5.
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp cilantro
2-3 small cans of spicy hot V-8 or about 3 cups

Combine all ingredients. Place in a large oven proof pan in the oven at 250-300 degrees. You want it to simmer for about 1 1/2 hrs. Stir occasionally. Place in hot clean jars. Pressure cook for 10 minutes at 13 pounds of pressure.

Makes about 14 pints. Beware- they will soon be gone. The recipe doesn't call for onions but I added a couple.....   

I'm sure you could use a water bath to seal the bottles too with all the acid already in the recipe you don't have to worry about high temps to kill bacteria....

I plan to get some tomatoes to make this over Labor Day weekend. I might do some fruit too. I need some more apple pie filling. Anyone have a great recipe for that? 

I have several other projects to post but haven't gotten to them yet...

T.I.M.E. is a 4 letter word ya know. 

With school back in session I am looking forward to slowing down from the crazy summer pace. So for now I am focused on finishing projects. We are starting to mud and texture Josh's room; hoping to finish it next weekend. We are going to wait on carpet until we get Keegan's room done then carpet both at the same time. Josh is so excited to get his own space again. He has been a very patient young man for which mom and dad are grateful. He is a good kid! I will post pictures when we finish. I have before and after pictures but not many in between.

Online deals

With Christmas just around the corner would you like to know how to have all your shopping done from home, delivered to your house AND get great deals? Just check our the Screaming deals online thread at PYP. I did most of my school shopping this way. I still love to shop in the store for myself but for my family- especially the boys- online is becoming my favorite way to shop. Besides, I get to do it in my jamies! I have gotten some amazing deals, toys, clothes, shoes, and lots more from online deals. Most of the time there is a code to get free shipping.

Check out this thread for awesome thrifty ideas. Tina, you are my inspiration and go to gal. Whenever I need to cut spending or just a thrift idea I know right where to turn. I have never seen someone mix thrift and style the way you do. You are truely amazing. Let the kids think all they want about the "cheap police", they will one day thank you. My thrifty idea for tonight is to take your empty clorox wipes containers, remove the cover and recover with at 6x12 sheet of paper. Add a ribbon or other embelishment and VOILA! you have a stylish bag holder; you know for your recycled bread bags, sandwich bags, or grocery bags. I am going to make several for the bathrooms, to keep garbage sacks in and one for the bread bags that make my drawer a disaster. I have also cabbaged onto baskets or containers left at the hospital with old flowers in them. Dump the flowers, add confetti (gonna try shredded comics), some candy and hand sanitizer, wrap and VOILA! a great teachers gift and I only bought the hand sanitizer. Oh, wait, I can make the sanitizer now too!! Even less $! I am loving this. I only wish I had more time. But alas, T-I-M-E is a 4-letter word!

One more, okay 2 more threads ya gotta check out.... Albertsons Sale and the Smiths Sale. They are both great. Smiths is left over from last week. I stocked up on Welches, canned tomatoes (gonna plant more of these next year), personal products, and Flintstones vitamins for the boys. Who knows what I bring home from the hospital so I have been pumping them full of immune boosters. Albertsons is a great deal this week too. From there I got soup, broth, yogurt, paper towels, chex mix and more. Great sales, now if only Lowe's would have a great sale on shelving so I have more room to put all my great finds. We are really starting to need more shelves.

I am trying to decide whether or not to can my left over pumpkins... I have heard the pumpkin crop was not good so the canned pumpkin is gonna be in short supply. We love pumpkin stuff.....Hmmmmm, perhaps on Saturday. I will be sorting clothes tomorrow and finishing laundry (is it ever REALLY done) tomorrow and then I work tomorrow night.

Laptop MIA

I sooo miss my laptop. They were backloged and hadn't gotten it finished when Robin called last week. I can't believe how dependant on technology we become. The pc is ok but now has mostly Robin's settings. *sigh* Hopefully we will get it back today. In the meantime I have been working on Josh's costume. He will be Harry Potter this year. I made his robe, black with red lining and a button front. Robin ordered a Gryffindor patch so hopefully that will come quickly. I was so excited. I think it turned out fabulous. Now I have to get Tyler's Slytherin robe done. Can you just picture it- Tyler as Malfoy? I think it will be great. I am also crocheting scarves of the appropriate colors. Josh was excited I think. At almost 10 you are becoming too cool to google over mom's handiwork. Tyler loved it and can't wait for his to be done. He changes his mind each day as to which costume he wants to wear. I gues that is the glory of being boy #3, you have more choices. Once again, when I get the laptop I will have to post pictures.

Then it will be on to Christmas projects. I love Christmas!! It is my favorite time of the year. I try to keep it simple. My favorite thing is sitting by the Christmas tree listening to Christmas music and sipping hot cocoa! No other time of the year gives me the warm fuzzies all over like the holiday's. Next week we be getting ready to put up Christmas decor. Yeah, I'm one of those. I don't really skip Thanksgiving, I am very thankful each year for family, friends, bountiful harvests, and that I can put Christmas up any time I want. I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS!

Saturday we canned 50 some odd bottles of applesauce and I still have 3 boxes left. We are going to store some through the winter and I am going to make some pie filling out of the others. Mom, I will get yours to you. You will love it! The apples were so sweet we hardly added any sugar. Robin's sister Tina was awesome. She spent her day with us and let me use her Victorio strainer; would never do applesauce without one. We get along so well she should be a sister instead of a sis-in-law. Robin loves this. He enjoys seeing the 2 of us laugh and joke and simply enjoy being together. I hope Tina enjoys it as much as I do. Josh, Keegan, A.J. and Nate all had a blast too.

Ok, this weeks coupon tip: ever notice the cycles of sales? Once you learn these you will be able to plan your shopping and stocking up based on these. For example, Quacker oatmeal products go on sale in February-ish and again about September. I know when it will be on sale again and thus am able to judge how much to buy. Also each September there are the "spagetti sauce wars" between Prego and Ragu. PYP has a great list of these cycles. Last year when we were looking to get our laptop we noticed all the sales at Christmas but it wasn't in our budget. We talked of getting one then to not miss the sales. Well, I checked out the cycle on electronics and computers and saw that it went into the first of the year. Yep- come January we were still able to get a great deal AND we did it within our budget plans. Gotta love it! Check out the list here: Sales Cycles , or just print it out. I have mine in the front of my coupon binder. You won't realize how often you will refer to it. Happy Shopping!

200+ bottles

Last week I was a canning fool! We held our own canning marathon. I needed to get the house cleaned up but first had to finish the canning. I got home from working all night and set in immediately. At 9pm I shut the stove off and drug myself up to bed. I was exhausted. I had not slept in over 24 hours!

71 bottles of corn, frozen broccoli....

pickled beats....

jam and corn.....

more corn....

peaches and pears....

18 quarts of beans
By Saturday night I had canned over 200 bottles of pears, peaches, jam, pickled beets, green beans, carrots and corn and frozen numerous bags of broccoli. WHEW! Now the fruit room is stocked full. I only have salsa and stew left to do. It is a lot of work but I have very happy to see my storage built up. We may be out of a job but we will still have full bellies. The Lord is watching over us and blessings abound. (I just have to remember this EACH day!)