10 Pints and proud

[MountainMeg]

Ok, I finally got off my duff and, for the first time, decided to try.... canning!   

I was able to can 10 pints of bread and butter pickles from the cucumbers from my three plants.  Not as good as grandma's (she never wrote her recipe down!) but the recipe from the Ball Blue Book came out ok.  I'll check seals tomorrow.

Next up, 2 big baskets of tomatoes before they get mushy! 

[Beeherder]

 
Hi MM,

Use only clean unblemished fruit, never trim bruises etc, just eat those raw.

When i can tomato i keep a big pot of water boiling on the stove. Drop one tomato in the vigorously boiling water for one minute, remove to sink full of cold water, let it soak, add another tom to the boil, when the hot tom in the cold water is cool enough to handle peel that skin off using your favorite paring knife, hold over strainer in big bowl while you seed and quarter the peeled tom. Use a one minute timer so that you don't cook the toms and just keep moving them to the cold water while you seed and peel. Place seeded quarters in clean hot canning jars (right from the dishwasher works fine). Leave room in the top of each jar for expansion. Use the juice in bottom of the strainer bowl to top off the jars. Follow Blue Book instructions for heating full jars. No vinegar necessary this is a high acid food already.

[MountainMeg]

Thanks Beeherder!  I haven't looked at directions yet, but gotta do something with all those tomatoes coming in.  I meant to put this under food storage.

2 other things I learned today:

#1 - When using a mandolin slicer, it is a bad idea to get distracted

#2 - When the opposable thumb on your dominate hand is bleeding like heck (see #1) this is a bad time to try to unwrap the cellophane on the first aid kit!   

[Dame]

Yup!

Also

#3  When any part of your dominent hand is bleeding and needs pressure, it is a bad time to be considering where to put the first aid kit so you can reach it, rather than at the top of the 9 foot tall cupboard so the kids cannot get to it.

[Atash Hagmahani]

MEG!!!! (re: kitchen accidents). 

Tomatoes are extremely easy to "can" (jar, actually). They are acidic. Slightly tedious to get the peels off but they come right off when scalded.

[Beeherder]

 
oh Meg i am so sorry you got hurt and i hope it gets better quickly. But i gotta say you just gave me the best belly laugh of my day by the way you told your story.

Thank You!

[MountainMeg]

Well thank you all for your well wishes.  I was able to put up 7 pints of diced tomatoes today (Thanks Beeherder for the advice).  Which brings me to rule #4

#4 - Canning tomatoes after lopping a good chunk of your thumb off is a very bad idea (VBI).  The acid STINGS!

[Horsea]

#1 - When using a mandolin slicer, it is a bad idea to get distracted

#2 - When the opposable thumb on your dominate hand is bleeding like heck (see #1) this is a bad time to try to unwrap the cellophane on the first aid kit!   

I saw a sandwich-preparer at a fast food joint wearing a nifty metal, flexible glove on her left hand.  I wouldn't mind having one of those.  For both hands!

[MountainMeg]

That would be cool!  Hubby bought me a reconditioned slicer/shredder for my Kitchenaide after that accident.  Good hubby! 

Count for the season so far:

10 pints bread & butter pickles
14 quarts sliced peaches
7 pints diced tomatoes
14 quarts tomato wedges
5 quarts blueberry applesauce

[Beeherder]

 

Wow, what wonderful abundance, lucky hubby!

[oscar615]

How does one make blueberry applesauce?  I have never heard of it.  But it sounds delicious. Do you have a recipie?

[Horsea]

Re the Blueberry Applesauce. Am interested in that, too.

A relative gave me a goodsized package of handpicked, genuine, wild blueberries obtained in central-northern Manitoba, Canada, where he was working.  Picked by Indians.  Let me tell you, friends, the "First Nations" people are nobody's fools anymore.  They charge $40.00 for one of those containers.  However, it is hard, hard work.  I also have a container of the tiny wild strawberries from the same source.  (Nice to have rich relatives.)  So, I will make jam from these fruits or try the blueberry applesauce you mentioned, Mountainmeg.   

I've picked small quantities of low growing wild fruit.  Geeze, people, have you ever done this?  It's as much fun as carrying buckets of cement uphill.   At least when you are picking bush-type fruit in the woods or meadows you are standing on your feet. 

   

[MountainMeg]

When hubby was on a restrictive diet, he could handle applesauce.  Mott's makes an unsweetened blueberry applesauce that I really like.  I just prepared the applesauce per Ball Blue Book directions, but added a pound of frozen wild blueberries when I was milling the sauce.  I figure the same could be done with raspberries or mixed berries, which Mott's also makes. 

The only problem I had was I used Gala apples (suggested as the **BEST** for making applesauce) and I found the applesauce a bit too sweet.  I have another half bushel of Galas.  I may pick up a few tart apples to offset the sweet and just add until I like the taste.