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...

More For The Pantry...

Venison

Well, I graduated from physical therapy Thursday morning. I was ready. It was a short session, without the bicycle, power tower, parallel bars or other machinery. It was mostly answering a questionnaire, and then questions from Jenna for her reports, along with a few feats of strength (mine) for good measure.

When we finished, she actually came outside with me to see our dogs, and a little retrieving demo from Handsome and Carly. When they were done showin' off, Jenna and I hugged and I said I'd see her again (hopefully in the spring) to rehab "BoB". That's how she refers to my bone-on-bone right knee now, too. 

Handsome and I made a side stop before coming home to pick up a few things at the grocery store, but were soon on our way back to the farmhouse, where I already had a plan for the rest of the afternoon.

I had started thawing out venison received from a friend last season so that I could pressure can it for the pantry. When that was finished processing, I had five pint jars of venison and onions, as well as one and a half pints of ground venison.

Mexi-Chicken Thighs

I also processed seven pounds of chicken thighs with a taco seasoning blend that I mixed up myself. Those seven pounds yielded eight pints. (I'd already put half of them away when I realized I needed a photograph.) 

I've done this before, removing the skin and any extra fat but leaving the bone in. When I'm ready to use a jar, the bones lift straight up out of the thigh meat, and then I just pour the rest of the jar contents into a bowl to mix with other ingredients, depending on what I'm going to make. 

Most of the time, these become chicken enchiladas or chicken burritos, but I'm sure I could concoct a casserole with them, too, layering all my home canned pinto beans, chicken, yellow rice, and then topping with lettuce, cheese and green onions before serving. Mmmmmm. I just might have to try that now.

I work tonight, so I'm going to relax and stitch today. I still need to take it easy so I don't get sore from overdoing it on my feet. By the time I've finished running around and standing for three to four hours at work, I still swell up a bit and am sore. I'm trying to avoid that.

So, here we are with another weekend...this being the first one in October. Honestly, where has this year gone? If you get winter like we do, I hope you'll do what I do and try to soak in every gorgeous day between now and when the snow starts to fly. Our leaves are beginning to turn, and now Mother Nature will show us just how much she loves to paint the trees. Enjoy!

Weekend Canning...

I found some really great deals I couldn't pass up, so I did a little canning this weekend. It began when my nephew, Dan posted on Facebook about a sale on butter at our local grocery store. Usually $4.29 a pound, the sale price was $2.39 a pound, so I ran to town and bought a case (30 pounds). My plan is to freeze some and to can some. Yes. You can preserve butter in jars. 

As I was entering the store, the first department is produce, and I saw a digital coupon sale on pineapple. As it's my favorite fruit, I immediately downloaded the coupon into my phone. The lowest price I'd seen for a single, fresh pineapple recently was $2.89 each. With the coupon, I could purchase up to five pineapples for $.88 each! I grabbed five beauties and then headed to the dairy section for the butter. Overall, I save $70 on my purchase.

It's cool enough these days that I can safely keep the butter in a large cooler out in the garage for now. The pineapple were more perishable, so they were the most important to put up first. 

I cut up all the pineapples and put the pieces into my large Kilner pot. I added spring water and brought the golden chunks to a boil. Jars were already prepared and lids were in the water getting hot. Pineapple is water bath canned, so my canner was already heated and ready for the jars.

Once the pineapple boiled, I turned it down to simmer ten minutes, and then I packed the jars. I ended up with ten pints of pineapple, and a bonus five pints of pineapple juice! 

I also purchased English beef roasts when the store had them on sale late last week. I bought about eight pounds for $25 and change. Once I'd trimmed off the silver skin and fat (to be rendered into tallow along with the other trimmed beef fat I've had in the freezer), I ended up with close to seven pounds of meat to preserve.

I put up three pints seasoned with the last of my Betts Seasoning. Sadly, during covid the company that manufactured this seasoning closed its doors. I've been unable to locate more of since, and it's really a favorite. If any of my Florida friends know where to find more (or get it and mail it to me), I'm happy to pay for it.

There were an additional four pints seasoned with a recipe from my pressure canning cookbook. While the pineapple is sweet and acidic enough to water bath, the beef has to be pressure canned to be safely preserved. Each jar of meat contains two servings, and I added onion and garlic, too. That costs less than $4 a jar, making it well worth the effort.

In the photos I've shared, all the jars were fresh from their canners, without labels. After dinner, everything was cool enough to remove the rings, clean the lids, and label the jars. Once the jars sat out a bit longer, I could put everything into the pantry...always a satisfying task.

Later this month, I'll be canning more hickory syrup, the butter, and more meat. I have frozen turkey and chicken that I can preserve in jars. It's much more convenient when choosing a meal for the evening, rather than having to wait for things to thaw. I also still have fourteen one-gallon bags of frozen tomatoes to be canned into pizza sauce, homemade Rotel, and stewed tomatoes. I'll roll out of April with a completely filled pantry!

As it's already a new month, I have book work to do, along with finishing the ladybugs, and a new project for my shop. I also have the mockingbird, plus there's a wedding on April 20th, and I'm going to embroider a monogram to frame for the bride and groom. I guess I'd better make up my schedule so I can keep on track. 

Handsome is doing much better, and I know that your prayers had a lot to do with it. Added to mine, he's healing well and almost ready to resume his regular activities. He's taking it easy, as he has a rehearsal tonight for an upcoming concert. I'll just be making sure he doesn't overdo it. I can be a real thorn in his side if I have to, and that's no April Fools!

Monday Kitchen Production...

Monday was a perfect day for a little pressure canning. We had taken three big round steaks out of the freezer for just this purpose over the weekend. After they'd refrigerator thawed they were ready to prep. 

I pulled out my pressure canning book and made a chili spice blend while handsome trimmed the meat. It didn't take long after that to heat up the meat, add spice to each of our prepared jars, and then fill ll with meat and the broth it created. 

We ate dinner while we tended the canner to be sure it maintained the correct pressure, and now we have five lovely pints of chili meat, ready for a quick fall or winter meal. 

We've picked more ripe tomatoes, so they'll be on the agenda again very soon. Don't you just love this time of year? I sure do. 

Nary A Needle In Sight...

Surprise! I never even picked up a needle yesterday. I got up early and decided that I would have a "quick canning session". Don't laugh, now. I began my process at 9 am and left the kitchen at 5 pm.

These beautiful, white chocolate scones were actually the last thing I made for the day. I'll be taking them with me to Portage today for the tea party Adrienne is hosting after our morning of crafting. I actually made two trays of them, knowing that Handsome and I would want to enjoy our own with morning coffee. He gave them two thumbs-up after tasting the first one.

What actually lured me into the kitchen were the English beef roasts Handsome had brought home for me to pressure can on Thursday. I began by trimming off all the fat, silver skin and gristle, leaving lovely, bite-sized marbled pieces of beef.

The method for these from my handy dandy pressure canning "bible" said that beef should be hot packed, which means that it needs to be cooked prior to filling jars. So, I browned all the beef, drained off that liquid (per the recipe), put it back in the pot with onions, garlic, some of my favorite (now discontinued) Betts Seasoning, and beef broth. Once it all came back to a boil, I packed the hot jars and popped them into the canner. These jars are the result.

One hour and 15 minutes to process, plus 30-45 minutes for the canner to depressurize and cool down, and then I could move these jars out of the canner to use for the potatoes (up next).

While the beef was processing, I peeled eight pounds of potatoes. Then Handsome helped me cut them up into 1-1/2" pieces. They also were hot packed, so I put those into a large pot with cold water, brought it up to a boil, cooking for 5 minutes, and then packed these wide-mouth pint jars. If I remember correctly, they processed for less than an hour.

I couldn't start the oven until the jars were removed from the canner, as I didn't want the heat of the oven to keep the canner from depressurizing and cooling down. While I waited, I had a cup of tea and visited with Tag, Claudette and Crystal on the porch. Tag loves being out there all day, and the cats don't mind him one bit. After I'd finished my tea, I was able to remove the jars from the canner, take the canner off the stovetop and turn on the oven.

As I was placing the scones into the oven, Handsome offered to pickup carryout Friday fish fry dinners for us. It's a Midwest thing, and every restaurant, bar that serves food, and even local gas stations that have little restaurants in them offer tasty renditions of this tradition. Ours frequently comes from a gas station down the road. They really make great meals, and their fish fries are delicious. So, I was off the hook for making dinner, and I was most grateful for it.

By the time dinner arrived, the kitchen was cleaned up, the scones had cooled so I could frost them, and we were able to sit down and eat. Handsome really is the best!

I'm on my way to Portage now, and will be there by 9 am. I may have to stop at the farmer's stands on the way home to see if there's something we need to add to the pantry (or have as part of this evening's dinner). I'll share photos of our creations on Monday. I can't wait to see what we're making this month! I'd better get on the road if I don't want to be late! Happy Saturday!

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.)

That Was Quick!...

My pressure canning cookbook arrived in the mail yesterday. I've already started reading it, and can say that Diane Devereaux offers a wealth of information between the covers. 

She begins with the history of canning, explains the difference (not only in the obvious, but also in processing times, ingredients, and safety features) between water bath canning and pressure canning. There are two recipes she suggests novices try to get "fluent" in the use of the pressure canner, and then many more involved recipes for later.

The two practice recipes are for green beans, and for chicken breasts. Once pressure canned the chicken breasts are ready to add to any recipe, and she offers more than a few ideas for that, too. As I really want to be able to can meats so they're shelf stable, I'll be purchasing chicken in bulk as soon as the pressure canner arrives. (Amazon hasn't shipped it yet, but says it will be here on or before September 12th. I have plenty to do in the meantime.

I'm driving to my brother's today to pick up some of the tomatoes he's grown. I'm also going to augment them with another twenty pounds I located on FB Marketplace, so I can do a large batch. When I go back to pick up the rest of his, I'll take jars of stewed tomatoes to him as we agreed to split the harvest. 

He and I both love beets. Handsome isn't a big fan, so I'll share a few jars with my brother. I'm also going to surprise him with zucchini relish, which I'm sure he's going to love. (Actually, I haven't met anyone yet who doesn't!)

So, I'm off to eat breakfast and have some coffee before I get in the car and drive to my brother's. It's going to be a busy day! Oh, and in case you're interested in the cookbook, I bought mine in hardcover from Amazon. I paid just over $13 for it. They also have a spiral bound version for around $17. 

Adding my disclaimer: I have been in no way compensated (unfortunately) for sharing this cookbook with you. I've paid for it just as you would. My reviews are strictly my own.

See you tomorrow!