We've Been Canned! (Last week's edition)

It had been a busy week. It all started last Sunday. I spent two days in Binghamton canning peaches with a dear friend. I have tried canning peaches for the past two years, but they never turned out great. The peaches were mushy and very unappealing. I had tried some of my friend Stephanie's canned peaches this past summer and made the passing comment that we should can some together when the appropriate time arrived. She took me seriously and called me up a few weeks ago and we made plans to can our peaches together. I am so glad she called. I purchased the three bushels we thought we would need and drove down to her place. Once there the two of us set about canning our 40+ jars of peaches. Stephanie showed me how to cold pack the peaches, which produces a much tastier finished product than the hot packed peaches I had been making. We spent all day canning. Honestly it was so much fun having someone to share the big job with and we thought we were making good process. By the time we had our jars filled, our feet were getting tired and our bellies getting hungry. But we still had at least a bushel left on the table... I ended up having to make a run for the store to buy more sure jel, sugar, and jars. We made an additional four batches of peach jam before hitting the sack for the night. And even after four batches of jam, we had enough left over peaches for both of us to put some in our freezers. It was such a great time and I believe that we'll do it again next year, though I think we'll only purchase two bushels then... I have some lovely pictures of our jars of fruit, but alas, they are not on this computer, so I will add them later. The jars are so pretty filled with their golden peaches all lined up in a row. And the peaches are delicious. Cold packing is definitely the way to go!

When I returned from my peach packing adventure, I was raring to go! My garden has been producing tomatoes by the basket full and since I don't eat too many tomatoes in their fresh state, they were dangerously close to going bad. I have never canned tomatoes or sauce before, but since I was on a roll already, I went to task making very basic tomato sauce. Adam loves to make his own sauce when we have pizza, so I just left the seasoning all to him. I'm sure he'll do a good job at it, when the time comes. I was feeling so good about using what was in the garden, and being slightly concerned about everything going to waste in the next week and a half, I blanched and froze three bags of Brussels sprouts and a few bags of green beans as well. The only thing I didn't put up this past week has to be my cucumbers. But then again, I had already done a batch of Kosher dills and a batch of bread and butter pickles. I can't wait to put up the pictures of my shelves filled with tasty garden treats. I just hope that we won't forget about all the hard work that we put into those jars... I can't imagine letting all that good food sit down there forgotten all winter. That's the only thing I worry about... But if you fear that I will forget that good food, just invite yourself over to try some for yourself. I'll be more than happy to share. :)