I've been busy doing things around the house all week. My business is slow. I "should" be getting ready for the Gathering Show in Las Vegas. Instead I am canning peaches and tomatoes from last year that have been frozen. I have to make room for this year's haul.
On the kitchen table above are 12 jars of peach jam...I left it chunky. Also a UFO peter pan squash that was hiding and got larger than edible. Bob helped last night with the hot water bath. He had never canned before. He said he remembers his aunt canning with parafin wax. I have no memories of this from my childhood. Women on the North Shore of Chicago didn't can. When I moved to the farm, I did a lot of canning. Bob and I plan to do pickles next, then dilly beans.
This photo is the inside of the canning pot. It has a rack to put the jars on. This pot is HUGE!
Somewhere out in the universe are my canning tools from the farm. When I bought this pot a few years ago, it could only be found at Walmart. I called around. Believe me, NO ONE knew WHAT a canning pot was! In Walmart I was holding it my arms waiting in line to pay...a man came up to me. With tears in his eyes, he said: "I love a woman who cans. I suppose you have a significant other? My late wife and I used to can together before she passed away." How sweet was that? We shared some of our canning favorites, and some disasters. People around us could hear, and looked stymied. I mean really...who cans anything today?
You'd be surprised. Many of my Etsy sisters commented on a canning treasury I created. So there are closet canners. :-) Ball published a book that is the easiest guide to canning: "The Blue Book."
Thanks for reading. I'm still amazed that you do.
xo
Suz
LOL! I live in the South. Everybody I know cans. It's where I learned!
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful meeting with that man in Walmart. It must have been bittersweet for him.
Blackstar I live in the Southwest...why aren't you closer! :-)
ReplyDeleteI can too... and live in the rural south, just east and a state over from Katie/BlackStar. Did a blog post a couple weeks ago about canning tomatoes... salsa and pasta sauce. It's a fabulous experience and in the wintertime, I am so thankful for the hard work put into those hot summertime afternoons in the garden and at the stove.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE TO CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!! I used to can EVERYTHING when I had a garden bigger than my house in Missoula, MT but now that I live in Seattle my canning days have been non-existent. Your Post has made me realize how much I miss it!! I still have all the accouterments to can....maybe I will turn my urban unused front lawn into a raised garden bed.....
ReplyDeleteThanks Suz..you ROCK....AND CAN!!
xoxo
Of course my EPE teammates can Can. Maybe we should do a group canning project and donate proceeds to ACA from our Etsy shop, yes EPE needs a team shop!
ReplyDelete...slaps her forehead...duh, why don't we have a team shop???