Latest Canning...

Liljegren's Hickory Hill Farm - Canned Carrots, Sliced Mushrooms, Alfredo Sauce and Mushroom Pieces

I started more canning on Saturday. By the end of the day, this is what I had to show for it...six pints of carrot sticks, six half pints of sliced mushrooms, six and a half pints of Alfredo sauce, and two pints of mushroom pieces.  But wait, there was one more that day...

Liljegren's Hickory Hill Farm - Beef Stew

I also canned five quarts, plus 1 pint of beef stew. I prepared all the ingredients for this, which means nothing dehydrated or freeze dried. Everything was cut into bite-sized pieces - beef stew, potatoes, carrots, onion, celery, and tomatoes. 

The beef was partially sauteed and then put into my Kilner pot with the raw vegetables, beef broth and spring water. After that was brought to a boil and cooked for five minutes, all the ingredients were jarred, sealed and then processed in my pressure canner. Actually, everything I processed Saturday was pressure canned. The recipe I used was from The Complete Guide to Pressure Cannning by Diane Devereaux that I told you about when I first started my pressure canning journey.

Have I mentioned how glad I am that I overcame my fear and got the canner and book to give me this confidence? Looking back, I ask myself, "What the heck took you so long?" Reaching for it now is nearly second nature.

Liljegren's Hickory Hill Farm - Pinto Beans and Ground Beef Taco Meat

Sunday was spent with family, so I got back to my To Do list Monday. There were things I meant to do but couldn't get to on the weekend. After we got home from our son's home, I pulled out the gallon jar filled with pinto beans. I measured 110 grams and put that amount into each clean half pint jar. Then I topped them off with water to soak them overnight.

In the morning, I poured each jar (one at a time) into my strainer, rinsed off the beans and checked for any duds that I would want to remove, rinsed that jar and then filled back up with the beans. After I'd done that to each and every jar, I refilled them with spring water, wiped the rims, added lids and rings, and then into the canner. When they came out, I placed them on a towel and covered them to finish sealing. 

Then, I turned my attention to taco meat! I mean, what good are the pinto beans without the taco meat to accompany them? We recently purchased the deal offered at the butcher shop about three miles from here, and there were ten pounds of ground beef, individually packed. I grabbed four of them out of the freezer Sunday night after putting beans in jars, so the meat could thaw overnight.

The ground beef is also hot packed, so I browned the meat, put 2 1/2 t. of taco seasoning in the bottom of clean jars, and then added the beef. Once all six pints were filled with meat, I topped the jars off with boiled spring water, sealed and processed them. After they were finished and the canner had depressurized, I placed those jars on a towel and covered them, too. They sat overnight with the beans to cool down and seal. Hearing the jars "ping!" is the best sound when you've just done a bunch of canning.

Liljegren's Hickory Hill Farm - Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

Last of all was a recipe I've been eyeing for a while. This is referred to as "rebel canning" because it's not an FDA-approved method. They don't like us canning dairy, but it's actually been safely done by homemakers for decades upon decades. That alone wouldn't have convinced me, but I also listened to three different, experienced canners who explained the whole "botulism" thing having done their own extensive research. They come from canning families who have also done this for decades, and they have successfully done these recipes for years, so I was convinced. (Fully disclosure - The Alfredo sauce is another rebel recipe, too.)

This recipe is done in the oven, where the cheesecake is actually baked the traditional method (jars sitting in boiled water in a pan) with the lids off. After I made the raspberry sauce, I topped the finished cheesecakes, added the lids and rings (this time really turning down the lids rather than "finger tight"), and back into the oven for ten more minutes. That was it. I had ten beautiful, wide-mouth half pints to show for it. Handsome tried one last night and gave it a big thumbs up!

I wasn't interested in making a big dinner after finishing all that so I grabbed a quart of beef stew that I'd put in the refrigerator on Saturday. That jar hadn't sealed (along with one half pint of sliced mushrooms, and one pint of mushroom pieces), so after I got that in the pan, I added half the jar of mushroom pieces to the mix. Once it was heating, I added enough of my homemade beef gravy mix (about a tablespoon) which thickened it up nicely. We enjoyed a lovely warm stew with a side of warm rolls, and declared that recipe another winner.

There is something so rewarding about doing all this work over the past three days. Seeing everything on the shelves and knowing that we don't have to leave home to do a lot of grocery shopping; knowing exactly what is in the food we're eating; and the gratitude I get from family who enjoy the fruits of my (and sometimes our) labor is just the best feeling in the world. Bonus is that I sleep like a baby on the nights after I've been in the kitchen all day! I'll share photos of the full pantry shelves later this week.

I'm off to the station for my six hour shift today. I'll be back tomorrow to share the recipe for the cinnamon rolls that I make. I'm not a recipe miser. If someone is interested, I think recipes should be shared. The more the merrier! This recipe is expecially simple and easy, and has tremendous (feedback) reward for the effort. So, you won't want to miss tomorrow's post with the recipe! Gotta run...

By Jove, I Think I've Got It!...

I really accomplished a lot yesterday. I spent the entire day in the kitchen, and it was heaven for this happy homemaker. 

I tackled the twenty plus pounds of tomatoes first. I blanched the first batch to remove the skins, cored them, and then crushed them to raw pack in jars. Seven quarts of beautiful, red goodness in no time.

I decided to make stewed tomatoes with the rest. I got two full quarts with tomato, green peppers, celery, and onion. The other two quarts were more juice, but there is pulp in them, too. I'll use those for chili, and they'll be delicious.

I didn't want the day to end without processing chicken breasts. I had ten pounds of breasts, which I cut into 2" cubes, per the recipe. I raw packed the meat into hot pint jars, and they took and hour and fifteen minutes to process at 11 pounds of pressure. They finished processing just as Handsome came in the back door with takeout Friday fish dinners for us. The canner depressurized while we ate, and then I could remove the jars to photograph them for you. 

I'm so tickled to be able to say I'm a pressure canner now. There are so many foods I'll be able to process now that I couldn't with the water bath. I actually used my electric water bath canner today to keep my jars warm. I'll continue to use it for many things, but this pressure canner is going to get a real workout! Hear me roar! lol (Well, maybe just meow.)

Not Bad At All...

I did it! I jumped right in yesterday, and put up twenty two ears of sweet corn. As I was shucking the corn in the morning, I tasted some of the corn that I was breaking off. It was so sweet, I served two ears with our lunch. The rest were processed for the pressure canner.

I read and reread the instructions, and then read them once more. I set everything up exactly as advised, and then read what I would need to do when the fifty five minute processing time was up. 

There were no incidents whatsoever! No damaged ceilings. No blown lids. No minor (or major) explosions. It was actually the easiest thing ever.  

I waited for the canner to vent all the pressure on its own. I certainly didn't want to try to rush the process and ruin my hard work. I watched television with a cup of tea, actually. When I went back to check an hour later, the gauge was back to "zero", and the little pressure popup "thingy" was back down. I slowly turned the lid to unlock it, and there were my nine beautiful jars of shelf-stable, canned corn waiting for me.

I am so glad I faced my fears, challenged myself to push forward, and having so much deliciousness to show for it. I'm quite chuffed, actually. Today, I'm going to do tomatoes. No luck needed. I think I've got this.

I've Been Everywhere, Man...

Can you believe I have not one single photograph of any part of my day yesterday? I spent most of my day behind the wheel of my Explorer, running errands hither and yon. Tag was my wingman. 

Together we traveled from home an hour and a half northwest to my brother's home to pick up tomatoes he'd grown; stopped at a farm local to him to purchase sweet corn (only $5/dozen!); went to the Fleet Farm store; stopped at Primitive Gatherings to pick up backing for my Everlasting quilt; made a fuel stop closer to home; and picked up more tomatoes just up the road from our farmhouse. whew!

By the time I got back home, I had an hour and a half to rest a bit, change clothes, and drive back to town to chair a meeting of our 50th (high school) Class Reunion planning committee. I ordered dinner from the restaurant where we were meeting and took it home afterward. I decided that cooking dinner was definitely not on my agenda.

I went to Primitive Gatherings to choose backing fabric for my quilt to match the outer border (darkest fabric above) of the Everlasting quilt. I'll use the same flannel fabric for the binding when it's all finished and returned to me.

When I stopped at my brother's, he pulled out a pressure canner he hadn't been using and gifted it to me. It needed the pressure weight (jiggler), so I went to Fleet Farm to see if they had a replacement. They didn't, but they did have the exact same pressure canner I had on order from Amazon for $30 less! So, yes I bought the one at Fleet Farm, and as soon as I got back in the Explorer, I cancelled the online order. I'll order the replacement piece online.

Tag rode in the cart at Fleet Farm, and got all kinds of attention. He took it all in stride, and was grateful for the extra pets and giggles. ("Look! It's a Corgi!") I have to smile just thinking about it.

I was pretty well gassed by the end of the evening, went to bed early, and slept like a log. Today, I'll be putting up tomatoes. I'll let you know tomorrow whether I used the water bath canner, or if I decided to dive in and use the pressure canner. I'm going to mull it over a cup of coffee and breakfast. 

Are You Ready For Another Story?...

If you've been around here for a while, you may remember the story I told about my Committee. If you're newer than 2017 to my blog, or if you've forgotten, HERE is the link to my first story on the subject.

Before I begin my new story, I want to tell you that I reread that original post, and all the comments that followed. At the time, I didn't know how to set up my posts to be able to reply. As I can now do that, I may take some time to go back and thank everyone who responded to it. I seemed to have touched a common theme with my friends back then, and I'd like to honor their messages to me. So, if you commented on that post, don't be surprised to finally receive a response to it.

So, back to the Committee. My mum had a pressure cooker when I was a child. Apparently, she wasn't as knowledgable as she needed to be, or perhaps she just made a mistake, but one day when she was using it, she blew the top off that cooker. From then on, I never heard anything except how dangerous they were. 

As a result, even though I've owned two used pressure cookers, I never used them, and I've either sold or given them away out of fear. My Committee kept reminding me that a cooker would blow up and they were too dangerous to use.

But, here's the thing. When you have something you want to accomplish really badly, you can overcome a fear. You can overcome the Committee and those (sometimes unfounded) voices in your head. I'm afraid of heights. I don't know how that came about, but I know it to be true. When we first moved to the farmhouse, I purchased a beautiful, big metal compass. I really wanted to put the compass in the peak of the (now) Compass Barn. So, I asked Shelly to hold the ladder, and I climbed. I beat my acrophobia and hung my compass. I came down the ladder with shakey knees, but I'd done it. Why couldn't I do the same with a pressure cooker?

Actually, I want a pressure canner. I want to be able to preserve foods without having to sweeten or pickle them. I want to safely and stably preserve meats and things like squash or potatoes. If the freezer goes out again, or we lose power, we'll still have food that won't have to be refrigerated to be safe to eat.

I had a talk with Handsome, and I metaphorically climbed another ladder. I figured if I buy a brand new pressure canner, all the parts will be new, ready to use, and safe. What did he think? (Remember, he's watched me buy and sell two before.) He responded that if I were committed to following through this time, I should go ahead and purchase one.

I searched for the best price on a nice-sized pressure canner, and ordered it over the weekend. In addition, I also purchased this guide to pressure canning so I'll have good information and more than a few recipes to safely use my new purchase. The book will be here this week, and the canner will be here soon after.

I'll also be watching a few YouTube videos, and check to see if Presto has a site with more information and tutorials. I have to say I'm really excited about this. I'm going to turn my fear into butterflies, and really, who doesn't love butterflies? I can do this. Right? I'm sure going to find out - and I promise to let you know how it goes.

This Could Get Interesting...

My New Pressure Canner

 

You've watched as I've learned about how to safely preserve my canned creations since moving back to Wisconsin and the farmhouse. All those foods have been preserved via water bath canning. Until now, I've avoided a pressure canner/cooker because I was told when I was a young woman that they were a good way to blow up your kitchen (one of those misguided members of The Committee I mentioned in THIS and THIS post.)

I'll be reading my new manual from cover to cover, and I intend to view whatever I can find on YouTube, and glean additional information from my online canning group, to learn how to safely use my new tool. (Oh, and I'm challenging another mental entry from The Committee, who I'm equally sure, in this case, will be proven wrong.) While nervous, knowledge is a powerful thing, and I intend to be fully educated before I tackle my first project with my new pressure canner.

What I do see in our future, is more preserved food - meats, low acid vegetables, and fruits - that I can put in our pantry. We'll know what's in those foods, that they were safely preserved, and available even when the snow is deep and the roads impassible. I'll be able to put much more food on the shelf than I could ever store or access in our freezer. It's also a frugal way to store away food when the best cuts or choices are on sale, and they won't require the additional vinegar, sugar, or salt that are required to safely can in a water bath. 

 

It may take a while for me to inform myself, but I'm sure that as soon as I'm ready, I'll be canning up a storm using my pressure canner. I'll be sure to share what I learn, and how it goes. You know me. I'll share the successes (and failures, if any). I always thank you for following along. I'll keep you posted.