Canning Season

 

Around 8 years ago, I learned how to can with a water bath canner.  I hadn't done any canning since then.  Here recently, I found a new interest in canning again, and acquired 15 cases of jar.  

One of my friends tuned me into a few groups on Facebook that are geared toward canning, and I have learned so much!  I no longer fear screwing things up and making huge mistakes.  In fact, I find it pretty exciting to break out the canner and fill up some jars.  So far, I've done 18 quarts and 11 pints cranberry juice concentrate and 12 half pints of cranberry sauce, followed by 6 pints of chili.  All of these I did in the water bath canner, simply using different times for the rolling boil.  Now, I'm not a big fan of the ABC agencies that tell us what we can and can't eat and do and so on, so I am what you'd probably call a Rebel Canner.  But, I figure if our grandma and great grandma and farther back could do this without pressure canning, I can too.  

My next adventure is going into canning beans.  I've got several pounds already soaked, and there's a full crockpot of cooked down beans ready for molasses and fixings to make baked beans.  Some of the jars will have other seasonings for taco/burrito filling.  We eat lots of beans and rice, so it is great to buy inexpensive dry beans and have them fixed and ready to go for a quick meal at the end of a busy day.  

There are some great books on canning out there!  I've found some on Scribd.com (a monthly subscription audio/ebook site), Thriftbooks.com, and older books on Etsy.com.  There's a wealth of information out there for new canners like me, and new recipes for seasoned canners looking for ideas to change up flavors.  

Do you can up your meats and produce?  Jelly or jams?  If so, share your ideas below!!  I'd love to hear from you!