Concord Grape Jelly

It’s almost Concord Grape season in our area.  I had one quart and one pint of homemade grape juice that we canned in 2015 left in the cellar.  Last night was the perfect night to process it into some beautiful, sweet grape jelly.

You can see how we process our jelly on an older post here:  Concord Grape Jelly

Cherry Season!!

It’s cherry season here. It’s a little early and unfortunately the cherries are splitting because of all the rain we have had.  But we were able to take the kids and get a good few bucket fulls of sweet beautiful cherries.

I process our cherries 3 ways to have throughout the year:

1) Canning them

2) Flash freezing

3) Cherry Pies stored in the freezer (these are just like store bought, you pull them out and bake them when ready)

You can see our recipes (and the awesome technique for pitting) on our Facebook page here:  Cherry Season

Cranberry Sauce

In our area you can buy fresh cranberries between October and December and then they are very hard to get.  The stores have great sales on them so I always try to grab them and make our supply of cranberry sauce and can it for the year.  I also froze 6 bags so I will be able to utilize fresh cranberries when we need them (especially since my son saw the batch of cranberry sauce I made today and said “mom that won’t last until Christmas”).  He LOVES the stuff.

I made it today using my recipe at the bottom of the post.  I made a double batch so you would need to double the recipe if you are making a double batch also.  I find it best to only double the batch and make multiple batches if you want more than 6 jars as it sets up better.  I will make another double batch next week to can.

First wash cranberries.

In a pot add 1 cup of water per 12 oz bag and 3/4 cups sugar and bring to a boil.

Place cranberries in boiling sugar water and boil gently for 10 minutes (they will start to pop and foam and look like this picture).

After 10 minutes take the hot cranberries and pour them through a fine strainer or use a food mill to separate.  I have done both and there are not lumps or pieces of fruit in the sauce after you strain it.

  Today I used the food mill.

Once you have it separated you can do:

1) if storing in the fridge, pour into the containers, let cool and then place in the fridge for up to 10 days.

2) if canning it get the jars prepared and water bath

THIS IS FOR CANNING:

Take the strained juice and place it back into the rinsed out stock pot.  Bring to a boil and add 1/2 bag pectin (1.75 oz box) or 3 heaping tablespoons.  Boil for approximately 1 minute.

Ladle into hot prepared jars and put them in the water bath.  Once the water is boiling again, time it for 15 minutes with the lid on and boil gently.  After 15 minutes turn the heat off, remove the lid and let them sit for 5 more minutes.  Remove and place on a towel or wire rack and let sit for 24 hours before moving.

This was a double batch

 

Store in a cool dark place for up to a year.

As a tip when we are going to eat one I pull it out and put it in the fridge for a few hours so it’s chilled!!

CRANBERRY SAUCE RECIPE (for 12 oz bag)

12 oz bag cranberries rinsed

1 cup water

3/4 cup sugar

pectin (if canning)

Bring water and sugar to a boil.  Add cranberries and boil gently for 10 minutes stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and pour into a bowl with a fine mesh strainer or use a food mill to separate skins and stems.

IF REFRIGERATING — place in jars or container and let cool.  Cover and store in fridge for up to 10 days.

IF CANNING — have water bath boiling and jars/lids hot

Place the strained cranberry sauce back in the rinsed out stock pot and bring to gentle boil.

Add the pectin and boil for 1 minute stirring frequently.

Remove from heat and ladle into hot jars and cover with lids and screw bands until tight

Place in the water bath and bring to a boil and boil gently for 15 minutes.

Turn heat off, remove cover and let them sit for 5 more minutes.

Remover from canner and place on dish towel or wire rack and let sit for 24 hours before moving them.

Store in cool dark place for up to a year.

IF YOU WANT TO FREEZE YOUR CRANBERRIES YOU DO IT THE SAME WAY AS I HAVE SHARED FOR OTHER FRUITS SUCH AS PEACHES.  DIRECTIONS HERE:  Flash Freezing Fruit

Sharing the tradition

These beautiful mums on our kitchen table were a thank you gift from a young friend of mine.  (Lulu’s Musings should be proud of my decorated table inspired by her posts!!)   She had asked me to teach her how to can.  She made apple butter and brought it over to can at our house.

Canning gets such a bad rap.  I hear all the time about why people don’t can because it’s so much work.  The truth is canning is not the work, it’s preparing what is going into the jars that is SO much work.

When we were finished, which took all of 25 minutes as the apple butter had been prepared ahead of time, she was pleasantly surprised how easy canning truly is.  She is going to make another batch for Christmas gifts and can them on her own.

And another canner is born 🙂

Grape Juice

This is the best grape juice you can have.  All natural, naturally sweet and full of the health benefits of purple grapes.

To make our grape juice I use 12 cups of grape juice extracted (see how to do that here.)

12 cups pure grape juice

3 cups water

1 cup sugar (adjust to your taste if your grapes are sweet or tart)  There is no exact measurement as each batch of juice is different depending on the grapes.  I don’t even use sugar half of the time as the grapes are so sweet themselves.

Bring all to a boil and place into prepared jars.  Process for 10 minutes and store in dark cool place after cooled for up to 10 months (it won’t last that long 🙂 )

 

Grape Jelly

This is phase one of the 1/2 bushel of grapes….Grape Jelly

Phase two will be juice

I canned 11  half pints of concord grape jelly today.  You can see my recipe on my facebook page

here:  https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1526615870885696.1073741842.1515956535284963&type=1

 

Canning Peaches

Peach season is in full swing in our location and the time to can or make jam, preserves, or jelly is right now!!!  You should also freeze some slices to make a fresh peach cobbler or use in smoothies.  You can see how to flash freeze peaches here.

I canned 17 jars of peaches in various size jars last week.  As always I make the most for our family, a few as gifts, and a few to sell.  (step by step pictures at the bottom of post)

Last week at our camp out my son and his friend wanted to catch fireflies.  We were all back at the campsite and he asked me where the mason jars were to use for the bugs.  I told him exactly where they were.  So off the boys went to get a jar.  When they returned they informed me they did not see any empty jars only the peaches so they opened one, ate the whole jar, and now had their empty jar!! UGH…can we at least save a few for winter please!!!

Here is my method for canning our peaches.  If you do not know how to can, you can google it or follow instructions I posted on another blog here:  Canning procedures

I use a hot pack method with my peaches as I believe it helps to retain their color while stored.

Prepare a large bowl with water and 1/4 cup lemon juice.

You will need 8 cups of water and 4 cups of sugar

25 peaches or more

Slice your peaches all the way around and twist the top off (see procedure at the bottom of this page)

Peel your peaches (I have been told to blanch them, however I have never found it to work for me and I like my peaches more on the firm side rather than ripe with soft skins).

Peel one peach at a time and slice or cut into chunks and place in lemon water to keep the beautiful yellow color.

Once the peaches are all sliced and in the lemon water take a stock pot and fill it with 8 cups of water and slowly add 4 cups of sugar stirring constantly until the sugar is dissolved.  Bring it to a full boil.  (you can use more or less sugar if you would like.  I find the half/half method good for fruit that is a bit more firm)

Using a slotted spoon add the peaches to the boiling syrup and bring to a light simmer for 6 minutes (time after you place the last peaches in the pot).

Get your prepared jars and fill each jar to the rim with peaches again using a slotted spoon.

Use a ladle and fill the jar with syrup to 1/4 inch from the top. (the peaches may float up just gently pat them down with the back of a spoon).

Using a plastic knife carefully slide it around the jar to help the peaches settle.

Wipe the rim of the jar with a wet papertowel.

Put on the hot lid and the screw cap until just tight.

Fill all the jars and then process them in the hot water bath once the water comes back to a boil for 25 minutes.

Remove and let cool.  Once cooled, test the top by pressing gently to make sure that it is sealed.

I know this looks like a lot of work but the hardest part is peeling all the peaches.  The rest is very simple.

This is a great way to enjoy fresh summer fruit during the winter months!!  Please do not hesitate to ask questions if you have them!!

Peaches

This is our 2nd batch of peaches.  Sometimes it’s very busy trying to fit in the old traditions with today’s world and conveniences.  It’s just as easy to stop at a store and buy your peaches, but there is a feeling that goes along with knowing you had the only hand in making your own things.  That is something you CAN’T buy.

Last night at 9:30 p.m.  I hot processed and canned our last batch of peaches.  It was the night before our first day of school, we also had a duck brought to our home earlier in the evening as it was stranded as a baby and we will nuture it until it’s old enough to fly off.  There were barn chores, hockey practice, dinner to be cooked, and I worked until 4:00.  So it was a full packed evening but when we open that jar of peaches during the winter, it will make it ALL worth while!!

First batch of peaches we canned

I will share my canning procedure in a different post soon!!

Flash Freezing Peaches

Flash frozen and ready to store in the freezer

It is peach season and they are so sweet and juicy right now the whole house smells wonderful from them.

I had bought a bushel on Thursday to can on Sunday.  The bushel had 31 peaches in it.  My children at 12 of them!!  YES 12!!!  So we had to run to the farmers market again on Saturday to get another bushel.

The farmers market is a great place to get low priced fresh vegetables and fruits.  There is a stand that sells cakes and of course the tween begged me to get a pound cake to try.  We are driving in the car and this is what I see:

She unwraps and bites the pound cake like a cookie and the boy in the back seat has somehow reached into the back and gotten himself a peach!!!

So guess no one else is going to eat that cake and if there is traffic I am going to have to head back to the market as the boy will surely get himself another 2, 3 or 5 peaches before we make it back over the bridge home!!

So I salvaged 27 peaches out of the bushels from Saturday until Sunday morning when I canned 9 jars (will put those in another post) and I flash froze 2 gallon size bags to use for peach cobbler, smoothies, and frozen treats later in the year. 

You can’t find a good peach in our area after October and by December they are not even in the stores.  It’s a wonderful feeling to pop open a can and have some of that summer goodness during a winter storm or relaxing by a cozy fire.  My children love them right out of the freezer bag letting them thaw just slightly.

Flash freezing helps to ensure your fruit will not stick together and become a big clumpy mess in the freezer.  You can pull out one peach or ten as they will stay individual.

lemon water

laid out ready to freeze

four hours fully frozen

Here is how I flash freeze the peaches:

Peel the peach and cut into slices (TIP on how to peel and slice peaches below)

Put the slices into a bowl of water with 1/4 cup of lemon juice (should be a large bowl).

Keep the sliced peaches in the lemon water until you are done slicing as many as you are going to freeze.  The lemon water will keep the peaches their beautiful yellowy red color and not let them brown.

Once they are all sliced line a cookie sheet with a heavy duty paper towel (I use Viva or Brawny as they hold up better).

Using a slotted spoon or your hand remove the peaches and lay them on the cookie sheet not touching eachother. 

Once they are all on the cookies sheets use another paper towel to pat them dry.

Place them in the freezer or at least 4 hours.

Remove them and they should be frozen through.  Remove them from the paper towel and place into a gallon freezer bag and store in the freezer for up to 8 months. 

TIP FOR PEELING PEACHES

Slice the peach all the way around the middle

hold each end and twist until the top pops off

top has no pit, bottom as pit.  Peel them both

use knife to cut pit out

will look like this

Slice into size you want

Summer sweets all year long!!

Dilly Bean and Dill Pickles

I hit up a local farmers market today on my lunch break and they had a perfect selection of beans and small (perfect pickle size) cucumbers on sale. I am still waiting to harvest ours so I bought some.  I spent less than $5.00 and made 5 pint and 1 quart size jar of dill beans and dill pickles.  I canned them and they will sit now for about 2 months before we will open them as the longer they sit the stronger they!! 

Dilly Beans are a fabulous treat.  The bean flavor combined with the dill and garlic makes for a wonderful eating sensation.  My kids will eat at least one jar a month sometimes more if I let them.  I also can some for them to sell in their stand they set up in our yard. We sell pint jars for $5 and people buy them right up!!  That covers the cost of the ingredients and the jars with a little left to add to the “kids” fund.

Here is my recipe and pictures are at the end:

Dill Beans and Dill Pickles

2 cups Cider Vinegar

6 cups water

1/4 cup pickling salt

2 Tablespoons minced garlic

put all in a pot and bring to a boil.

Wash and cut the ends off the beans. Discard the ends. Then trim the beans to fit into your jars (I have used all sized jars it doesn’t matter if you want them long or to fit into a 6 oz jar).  DO NOT THROW OUT YOUR TRIMMINGS!!  You can put them in a freezer bag for soups or you can steam them for a dinner!!!

(you have to follow canning methods same as any other item you can)  If you don’t know how to can, please google it.  It’s so easy!!

Using the hot jars, stuff them with the beans/cucumbers making sure to rotate the jar so they are standing upright and not shoved in.  Stuff in 3 nice size sprigs of dill in between the beans/cucumber.

Using the funnel, ladle the hot brine in to cover the beans/cucumbers completely leaving 1/2 inch headspace at the top of the jar.

Wipe the jar and place the hot lid on.  Place the ring around and tighten until just tight.  Process in a hot water bath (canning method) for 10 minutes.

The brine makes enough for about 5 pint size jars.  If you are worried about running out, make a double batch.  Whatever you don’t use, let it cool and store in a sealed container in the fridge until you are ready to can more.  You can reheat it or add it to the new batch you make.  I made a double batch as I will make another 5 jars of dilly beans when our beans are ready and I will make at least 8 more jars of pickles (sliced larger cucumber style) again when our cucumbers are ready. It’s stored in the fridge and I will add it to the next batch of brine I make when the time comes.