I can't recall exactly how I came to Jessie Knadler's blog Rurally Screwed , but I've been coming back to it again and again ever since. A former Manhattanite who left the big city for love in a small southern Virginia town, Jessie is a new mom (baby June and I share a July birthday!), wife to Jake (who just shipped out to Afghanistan for at least a year), a writer with a killer wit and a keen eye for finding the humor (and the crazy!) in her new surroundings, and, now, co-author of a gorgeous cookbook! Tart And Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes For The Modern Kitchen (Rodale, 2011) is Jessie's joint venture with Brooklyn-based chef Kelly Geary. It's a stunner, I've got to tell you. Full of enticing recipes, beautiful photography and exquisite styling, this book is one you definitely want in your canning repertoire. And, if the "fickle finger of fate" (something my 10th grade chemistry teacher used to say during impromptu audible quizzes) falls on you, it can be yours, for free!
For this week's giveaway, leave a comment detailing something you've canned, something you intend to can, or something someone has given you that they've canned and you've enjoyed. If none of those apply to you, just say what you think about the whole canning revival in general. Foreign friends, I must offer my sincerest apologies, as this contest will be open to U.S. readers only.
I'll hold the giveaway until next Monday, the 25th, at midnight EST. And do check out Rurally Screwed. Jessie's musings on everything from deer meat tacos to the insane (inane?) antics of her community members are sure to elicit a chuckle or two from you.
I just planted 26 tomato plants, so I am thinking about canning a lot (hopefully) of tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteI forayed into canning for the first time this winter with a batch of apple chutney over the winter, with ginger, onions, and lots of delicious Northwest apples. It turned out great! We love to eat it with simple meat, with cheese and crackers, and swirled into yogurt.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning on learning to can this year... starting with lots of berry/fruit jams!
ReplyDeleteI've done my fair share of canning, but when it comes to sharing within the family we've always left that to my Great Aunt who used to dole out preserves, pickles, chutneys, sauces, etc. every year for Christmas. Now that her health is sadly failing, this will be the first summer that my aunts and I are going to take on the gigantic task of canning the fig preserves. I've got the family recipe and my fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteLast year was my first year canning, but there was lots of it that got done: 20 lbs of blueberries, 45-ish pounds of apples, 4 pecks (whatever that weighed out to...) of peaches, and a fair amount of citrus experimentation over the winter. Now that we're in the suburbs (with yard!) I'm looking forward to growing a lot more produce than we used to on our little balcony in the city and canning some of that goodness, along with near monthly trips to various you-pick fruit farms around the area starting in May :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm excited for another canning season. Last year's winner was Plum Jam, made with a random mix of plums cooked down (no pectin, just a little sugar). So delicious.
ReplyDeleteThis year I want to try chutneys -- I've never canned any, but I love a cheddar & chutney sandwich... maybe apple chutney to start. Oh, and onion chutney or jam... that sounds so good.
I can everything I can! From mushrooms on sale at the grocery store to my own home grown veggies and chickens!
ReplyDeleteAside from some salsa, jelly and jam last year, I have been a canning slacker of late. One of my favorite things to can (because they are easy and I love them) is pickled green beans. I hope to grow and can them this year.
ReplyDeleteI have never canned, but I would love to learn to so that I can preserve the lychee and loquat fruits that grow in our yard!
ReplyDeleteLet's see, my favorite canning recipes?! How about the Carrot Cake Jam (those 8 jars didn't last long at all) or the walnut syrup or praline syrup or my personal favorite (because it reminds me of my Dad) Bread and Butter Pickles. We once at 3 jars in 4 days at my house! mmmm they are so good!
ReplyDeleteI canned a bunch of jam and salsa last year, and the clear favorite was vanilla strawberry jam. I'm planning to can about 20 pints of that this year. :-)
ReplyDeleteI just made basil strawberry jam...yum!
ReplyDeleteMy first jam was Strawberry...when I gifted a jar to my coworker, she expected the worst, knowing I was a canning newbie!
ReplyDeleteWhen her husband tried it, his farm-raised palate not only approved, but raved! She returned the jar after two weeks, sparkling clean, and gave me money to go pick and can more for him!
Pickles are what I wanna take my first steps into canning with. Bread and butter pickles especially!
ReplyDeleteI plan on learning to can this year... we just signed up for 2 worker CSA shares at a local farm. That means not 1, but 2 (!) boxes of vegetables each week for 20 weeks. Oh my!
ReplyDeleteI want to try Orangette's pickled grape recipe. Usually I do jars upon jars of tomatoes, fig preserves, cranberry sauce. . . I'd love to add new concoctions to the list, though!
ReplyDeleteThis looks great. Thanks for introducing me to a pretty new blog, too!
ReplyDeleteMy friend Melissa gave me 6 or 7 canned items that she put up last year for the holiday season. I almost cried! Fig preserves to tomato jam to pickled okra. I know the time and love put into each jar and it meant more than any bought gift ever could.
ReplyDeleteFor reasons I don't fully understand, I am obsessed with canning pickled okra this summer. If I get around to nothing else, I must do this one thing.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite canned things right now are hot peppers with garlic and onions- my mom's recipe. Some crackers, cheese, wine and those peppers make me a very happy girl!
ReplyDeleteI've decided to learn how to can this summer, and I can't wait for the weather to turn so that I can start planting tomatoes which (fingers crossed) will become jars of sauce!
ReplyDeleteI've been canning for about 20 years now (I'm 38) and am so excited to be on the "cutting edge of cool" now, haha!
ReplyDeleteThe last couple years I've been more focused on preserving the fruit from my apple and cherry trees and making the BEST grape jelly from the grapes grown in my backyard. Apples = caramel apple butter, cherries = pie filling frozen in a pie plate so they can be slipped into a crust and baked anytime.
This year I'm going to try my hand at hard cider.
Last year was my very first go at canning, gardening even. And this year I am planning already..I just came in from planting 5 rows of pickling cucumbers and several rows of tomatoes. Last year I canned pickles,jams,jellies, green beans for the first time, and had a great time doing so,but I lack the those "goto" recipes you know the ones you use every year and they never fail you. I gave away many jars of kosher pickles and and jams last year to family, they enjoyed my hard work! I have to save I have never been given anything canned by anyone else..I'll just keep waiting for that gift!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog! : )
I am moving and just packed up the 2 dozen jars of marmalade my sister made me. Needless to say, I did not need to make any of my own this past season! Still eating grapefruit marmalade from last season...
ReplyDeletei always love when a particular member of my nonprofit's board hosts our meetings at her house, because she serves us things like pickled watermelon rind and pickled green beans. they're always the perfect snacking food (the watermelon rind is *fabulous* on whole-grain crackers!), and this summer i'm determined to try my hand at making them. :)
ReplyDeletei have a friend who canned collards this year. i'm thinking i might try that.
ReplyDeleteI started canning last summer. Strawberry, strawberry/rhubarb and raspberry jam, salsa, dilly beans, beans, potatoes and spaghetti sauce were on the list last summer and again this summer. I also want to try pickled asparagus, pickles, corn and a couple recipes from your book!
ReplyDeleteI'm aching to begin canning this year, having realized that I am at the end of last season's efforts. First up, as soon as the strawberries ripen, are batches of strawberry lavender and strawberry rhubarb jam. A few half-pints for me, a few half-pints for holiday gift giving.
ReplyDeleteLast summer I finally bit the bullet and made my first forays into canning. Words cannot express my happiness when I heard the ping of the lids sealing :) At Christmastime I gave everyone a jar of some sort of jam I'd made and was amazed at how happy they were to receive them. After opening gifts we sat down for a breakfast of fresh baked scones and opened one jar of my raspberry jam. Having picked the berries myself in the warmth of summer, it was pure bliss to share their sweet tangy flavor with loved ones, in the heart of winter. I understood the word "preserves" on a whole new level. Now I'm canning small batches of pickled asparagus and looking toward summer wondering what lies ahead. This year, maybe everyone will get two things: one tart, and one sweet!
ReplyDeletei love canning pie fillings
ReplyDeletelast year i canned/jammed pretty much every fruit i could find in northeastern ohio - strawberries, sour cherries, peaches, elderberries, raspberries, blackberries, black raspberries, blueberries, apples, and probably some others i forgot. i also canned peppers and sauces and tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteI have pickled grapes, which was delicious. I want to master a really great dill pickle.
ReplyDeleteBeing from the South, I am really partial to the Mayhaw Jelly and Pepper Jelly that people seem to give as gifts a lot down here. I love both of them on crackers with cream cheese. Yum! One of these days I intend to try making my own pepper jelly....
ReplyDeleteWe can a bunch of things each year, but our favorite is red onion relish. So simple, so versatile, so good.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love marmalade in both sweet and savory dishes, so I'd love to give making some myself a try.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I recently came across a recipe for pickling and canning nasturtium seed pods to resemble capers, so i would love to see how that goes too!
I've canned mostly jams, I just canned some wonderful Strawberry Jam from your book Canning & Preserving over the weekend. This summer I am hoping to expand beyond jams, hopefully with canning some things from my garden.
ReplyDeleteMy new canning set, which was a Christmas gift, is going to be used to can the fresh rhubarb found at the market this week. It's going to be a learning experience!
ReplyDeleteI try to can one new thing every year. Being comfortable with applesauce, pears, and strawberry jam, I'm going to try canning some sweet pickles this year.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I have canned is raspberry jam, but I'm hoping to can some tomatoes and lots of other goodies this year.
ReplyDeleteI have not tried canning yet, though I hope to this year as we planted some strawberries and tomato's. We also, planted apple and pear tree's this year so by next year I hope to be a canning wonder LOL.
ReplyDeletewww.talesfromridgetopfarm.blogspot.com
I always do jams, but this year, I'm planning on canning homemade pie fillings so that I can have next-to-fresh fruit pies in the dead of winter!
ReplyDeleteI canned my homemade spaghetti sauce for the first time last year. I recently got a Squeezo food strainer, so this year I will be able to remove all the tomato seeds pretty easily. This year I would like to try canning pickles and apricot jam for the first time.
ReplyDeleteI'm dying to start canning, but am slightly intimidated by the whole process. Reading a book like this would help!
ReplyDeleteMy brother & I have been doing some canning together for the past few years & we really enjoy spending the time together. We make lots of mistakes & have lots of adventures while canning. My most memorable time was in 2009 when we picked all the beans in his garden & canned 78 jars of dilly beans - we are still eating them!! Our ongoing joke with each other is that we are going to bury dilly beans with us when we die because it will be the only way we will ever get rid of all of them! LOL! Thanks for a great giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteWendy A.
I want to make spicy pickled carrots. You know the kind some Mexican restaurants serve with jalapenos. I'm growing lots of carrots this year in hopes on making them.
ReplyDeleteCrabapple jelly and pickles (dill and sweet) as well as pickled okra.
ReplyDeleteApplesauce is hands-down my favorite canning item. Easy, delicious, and appreciated by all ages (the baby just doesn't like pickles that much!)
ReplyDeleteWe planted a dozen fruit trees this fall, so probably not going to be canning this year, but hopefully in a year or two.
ReplyDeleteYay Canning! I just started canning two summers ago (part of my crazed nesting frenzy when I was prego with my little boy) and made a ton of sugarless apple sauce, sugar-loaded apple butter. The next summer I had grand intentions but life with a wee one was a bit more hectic than I anticipated so I only made a big ol' batch of pear butter to give freinds and family for Christmas. So this year I've adjusted to mommyland, joined a CSA and a have a mighty list of things I want to try canning! Starting with pickles. So simple I know but this bbq joint my hubby loves (he's a southern boy on a constant search for decent bbq in New England) and they have the MOST amazing homemade pickles... I dream of discovering the magic concoction (or at least making a variety of awesome pickles that satisfy me) this year!
ReplyDeleteI canned peaches last Summer for the first time (my first time canning anything!) and now I am hooked. I can't wait for strawberries to come in season so I can make jam!
ReplyDeletep.s. and I already have your canning book to try out this year! let me know if you suggest a pickle recipe ;P
ReplyDeleteI've canned so much citrus this year that I'm marmaladed out. Bring on the ramps! I see ramp pickles in my near future...
ReplyDeleteLast year, I made some peach melba jam that was heavenly. The Armenian eggplant pickle...not so much. That being said, I've declared 2011 "The Year of the Pickle".
ReplyDeleteI've canned applesauce and apple butter - this season I want to do more fruits and jam!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great giveaway! I am Type I diabetic so I try to stay away from sweetened jam, but I like to use all natural sweeteners too. Last season, I successfully canned blueberry jam, sweetened with xylitol (an all natural sugar replacement) and it turned out really good! I can't wait to experiment more this season!
ReplyDeleteLast year I canned some blueberry cinnamon jam. It was low sugar so the berry flavor was right upfront. I am so sad to be down to my last jar!
ReplyDeleteSo far I've canned a whole lot of lemon curd and some blueberry pie filling. I am going to try my hand at tomatoes this summer! I had this book out from the library and would LOVE to have my very own copy!
ReplyDeleteI'm making gratitude jam for some people who've bailed me out of some sticky situations this winter (pun not intended). What does that look like? Strawberry.
ReplyDeleteThis is something that I'm becoming really interested in. I ordered your "Canning and Preserving" book. It should arrive this week and I'm excited. I'm hoping that we'll have lots of home grown tomatoes this year and I'm looking for ways to enjoy them all winter long.
ReplyDeleteGrowing up, my mother always made pickles. I and my younger siblings were always recruited to wash, brine, and dry the hundreds of little cukes. Then she would pickle, pack and can them into dozens of jars. What an ordeal! (But I have yet to taste pickles as good as her homemade ones)
ReplyDeleteLast year I was most proud of using Pomona's Natural Pectin to create low-sugar raspberry peach jam. The raspberries were picked on a nearby farm in Vermont and the peaches came from my home state of Pennsylvania. When I sent some to my brother in California, he sent me an e-mail to tell me how much he loved eating it with Greek yogurt (I agreed).
ReplyDeleteI can everything I can. One of my favorites is canned meat. My husabnd and I hunt and we can a lot of vennison and elk. I know it sound weird but it is awesome!
ReplyDeleteI love my mom's canned peaches...they are like warm fall days in a jar :)
ReplyDeleteI would like to can some myself this year, as well as some tomatoes. If that goes well, perhaps we will invest in a pressure and can all sorts of things!
Thanks so much for the giveaway...I love your blog and your books.
I haven't canned anything yet, but am hoping to can some of the produce from my very first gardening experiment this summer. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am set on canning this year, once the bumper crop of tomaters from my dreams manifests and I find the perfect recipe for tomato sauce. My grandmother still cans and makes the most delicious sweet fresh tasting strawberry jam and I also can't wait to finally be given this recipe so I can recreate it for many years.
ReplyDeleteI've made jams for years, then added pickles and freeze lots of peppers each year. I want to add canned green beans this year.
ReplyDeleteWe've been canning for about 5 years, but last year we decided to can shredded zucchini in pineapple juice, so it's like crushed pineapple. It was easy and super good!
ReplyDeleteI have been wanting to start canning for a couple of years. I'm thinking this is the year. I haven't gotten my garden planted, but if I won the book it would be a great start to get me on the right path.
ReplyDeleteI've found that a row of home canned goods qualifies as true beauty!!! And makes me proud if they're my handiwork or inspired when it's someone else's!
ReplyDeleteI've canned tomatoes, peaches, grape juice, applesauce, and jams. I've made refrigerator pickles, but I'm looking into lacto fermentation, and I'd like to try dills this year.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to recreate some Strawberry Balsamic Jam I had once. Yum.
ReplyDeleteI just have to keep the chickens out of the strawberry patch!
We have lots of young tomatoes and I hope they will be my 1st ever canning subjects. I would love an interesting recipe for them...
ReplyDeleteOne more thing I really want to do before I turn 50 soon.
I would love to add this book to my library. I have been desperately trying to wind down my winter marmalade-making habit (is there some kind of support group for that?) and I look forward to learning more about low- and no-sugar preserving as summer fruit comes in. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI canned for the first time last year--blueberry jam in summer and apple butter (using the recipe in your book) in the fall! Yum!
ReplyDeleteLast year, on a whim, I went out back, picked as many blackberries as I could hold (from the invasive but delicious Himalayan bushes that cover the northwest) and made blackberry jam. It was such a trial, but the jam was AMAZING and now I am hooked. I have big plans for this season!
ReplyDeleteOooh...How timely. I've just been reading "Canning For a New Generation" by Liana Krissoff. I can't wait to make her Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam. I LOVE strawberry and rhubarb together...the combination of tart and sweet is magical!!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are giving Christian co-housing a try this summer, moving into the basement apartment of some friends' house and starting up a little community garden. I hope to put up some of our produce this summer!
ReplyDeleteWe're most looking forward to making pickles with our fresh cucumbers!
ReplyDeleteI'm still learning my way around the world of canning, but so far my favorite successes have been blackberry jam and dilled (pickled) green beans. I'm excited to keep trying and learn more about canning in today's world!
ReplyDeletePeaches canned in the heat of August are bliss on top of hot oatmeal in the cold of January. (and, bonus! they are soooo pretty sitting on the pantry shelves!)
ReplyDeleteMy father has gotten HUGE into canning the past year--reclaiming the lost arts of his youth. His pepper jelly is amazing with cream cheese.
ReplyDeleteI really want to can some tomatoes this year. I've made jam and salsa before but never had enough tomatoes to make it worth my while to can them. This year I have planted a ton of tomato plants so I'm ready!
ReplyDeleteI signed up for a CSA this summer, and am so looking forward to preserving as much as I can from our share!
ReplyDeleteSome friends shared pickled okra with us last fall. I'd love to try canning some this summer (If we get enough heat in MN this summer.) and use your recipe!
ReplyDeleteI made lots of fruit preserves last year - found out there is such a thing as too much jam!
ReplyDeleteHI, I have canned wonderful salsa, I hope to can many jars of stewed tomatoes this year, as well as applesauce, jams and butters, and I have recieved a wonderful sweet pickle from a friend, which I would strive to learn to do soon :) thanks for the chance to win this book, cannot wait!
ReplyDeleteWould love to can lots of tomatoes for future Italian concoctions!
ReplyDeletehave canned: pickled okra after your demo
ReplyDeletewant to can: anything in a pressure canner. just splurged on a new one and can't wait to use it!
best thing i've ever eaten that someone else has canned: your cardamom apple butter. un-freakin'-believable!
thanks for all the giveaways :)
I'm a newbie to canning but my dad and I canned/jarred (??) some salmon a couple of months ago. Now I'm ready to can more stuff.
ReplyDeleteLast summer, I did my first bit of canning. I made a batch of pickle slices (Polish dill) and the banana pepper rings in a garlicky tomato sauce. I put it on everything!
ReplyDeleteLast fall, as my first venture in canning, I made and canned pear-ginger marmalade for holiday presents. Yum! Working on our last jar now... waiting for Washington pear season again.
ReplyDeleteLove canning lots of things and finding new recipes. My mom always canned something I call "tomato stuff" but my brother-in-law calls "soup base" with tomatoes, onions, celery, green peppers..it really is lovely for soups. :) Thank you, Ashley!
ReplyDeleteThe most delicious canned treat I've had is rhubarb strawberry jam. YUM!
ReplyDeleteSo far I have only canne djam, but we have our frst garden this year so I am hopeful more canning will happen in my kitchen this year!
ReplyDeletewe wanted to pickle and can some cucumbers last year, but a teeny tiny bunny ate the cucumber plants, then become a gigantic bunny. this year we got a fence and a lot of jars!!
ReplyDeletethe only thing i ever tried to can was some pickled carrots...and that ended badly. but i am not done trying! my grandmother was famous for her jams, and i'd like to try my hand at that, too.
ReplyDeleteI can lots of jams and tried my hand at marmalade for the first time this year using your orange vanilla marmalade recipe. delish! I also can whole tomatoes and marinara in the summer. And pickles. I'm interested in canning vegetable soup this summer, then apple butter in the fall. And I've been drooling over this book - thanks for the chance to win!
ReplyDeleteI love it when "my" blogs know each other and I love Jessie's rantings! I'm sure the book is great!
ReplyDeleteThe book has been on my to-buy list for a while now! One of my favorites from last year's canning was bread and butter jalapeno peppers...I'm down to one last jar. I've been known to eat them straight from the jar while standing in front of the open refrigerator!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteGreetings,
ReplyDeleteMy home is in Wyoming where the growing season is short! As a result, I can green tomato relish, a sweet, delicious relish used in a variety of menu options.
Canning was a skill I learned from my mom as my brothers and dad embarked on their yearly hunting trips. One thing I tried recently was canning deer and elk meat. Delicious!
With a few tomato plants dwindling at summers end my favorite thing has become curried pickled green tomatoes.. Throw in some onions, garlic, and you can't beat 'em on crackers and of course Asheville local goat cheese. I call 'Em curried TOM's after my papa. Yum yum good!
ReplyDeleteLove Jessie's blog! I so look forward to reading her canning book (on my Amazon wish list). I'll definitely be canning my apple butter, applesauce and pickles again this year, but I am really looking forward to canning some violet jelly and more pickled veggies. Thanks Ashley for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteOn my "someday" farm, I want to can tomatoes, green beans, black-eyed peas, squash, apples, and nectarine preserves. And especially muscadine jam...my grandma used to make that, and it's just about the best thing ever!
ReplyDeletehave hopes to can pickles with my grandfathers recipe....but so far my endeavors have only gone so far as homemade strawberry jam. and i loved every second of it! pass along the knowledge please, this book looks too good to be true!
ReplyDeleteI just started canning last summer and one of my favorites was the pear chutney I made from your canning book. I hoarded tons of free organic pears that my office manager brought in for the staff (I let them have some too) and then gifted her a jar of chutney made with the pears from her tree. She was delighted! And it was delicious!
ReplyDeleteI'm new to canning as well, but last Christmas I gave hand-made goods in a basket and it was a huge success. I've got intentions of doing a lot of preserving this year so I have more variety for gift giving next year. I've also got the beginnings of a sizable garden in the works, WAY more than the rooftop garden I had at my previous place. Go canning!
ReplyDeleteLast year I canned for the first time: applesauce. This year i want to do TONS of tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteI just purchased an All American pressure canner and have big plans for serious canning this summer! I have various tomato seedling growing inside and will be planting in the next three weeks or so! I received your book for Christmas and have excellent intentions of trying some of your recipes out this summer as well.
ReplyDeleteI have a good friend who refers to Rurally Screwed often, and I have always enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI also recently tried eating bratwurst with chow chow, and have now vowed (it's a chow chow vow!) to find a great recipe and can it this summer. I can't wait. :)
The last thing I canned was a savory fruit compote. It had pears and apples in a spicy honey mustard sauce. It tasted kind of harsh before I canned it but I'm told that sitting on the shelf works wonders for it. I'm going to open one up the next time I roast a chicken.
ReplyDeleteI have 7 or 8 cucumber plants in my urban porch garden...I hope to a lot of pickling this summer!
ReplyDeleteAs another WNC gal, I started canning to help preserve more than just food--but the Appalachian values I grew up with, and to be able to teach them to my daughter. I have done everything now from tomatoes and peach chutneys to huckleberry jam. Thanks for the great giveaway!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to can some dandelion jelly this year. Just need some more flowers which after it rains again wont be a problem - front yard has millions of them.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to can tomatoes, green beans and blueberry conserve this year. I'll be growing the tomatoes and green beans. Blueberries for the conserve will come from a local farm.
ReplyDeletei'm waiting for the rhubarb to arrive. my friend gave me a jar of her rhubarb jam with rosemary, and it was so good that i'm going to make a batch of it for myself this spring!
ReplyDeleteMy hubby and I can 4 runs of 6 quarts of Salsa every year. It's my sister's recipe and it's so good we could sit and eat it straight from the jar with a spoon.
ReplyDeleteThis year, I'm doing marinara!
I'm an (eager!)novice, so freezer jam is the only thing I've ever "canned".
ReplyDeleteMy parents have a bumper crop of oranges this year though, so I'm hoping to pop my canning cherry with some marmalade.
We started canning a couple of years ago. Got a thing for spicy stuff so it has been three years of working the kinks out of salsas, jalapenos, peperoncinis, thai chilis, and any and all varieties of peppers we can grow. But there is nothing more exciting than finally opening a new recipe and finding out how you really feel about it.
ReplyDeleteI've done pickles almost every year now. This year I want to venture into jams and tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite thing I've canned ever is the batches of wild blueberry jam I put up the two summers I lived in Alaska. Ah, those wild berries were so tart and flavorful... and the experience of picking them was unbeatable!!
ReplyDeleteThis year I'm just learning so I going to start off with Strawberry jams and jellies.
ReplyDeleteI've just recently learned that the mystical art of preserving and canning is alive and thriving--My husband's Aunt Martha (who I now say is MY Aunt Martha) has been threatening to show me how to can beans and okra, and much much more. though I'd really just love to sit back and watch her in action while snack on her home made (and canned) salsa....you've never tasted anything like it!
ReplyDeleteI canned strawberry jam for favors for my wedding last June...two days before the wedding because the strawberry season just had to be the latest on in like the last 50 years. I did it with a canning pro friend, and we had a good time, and the jam got rave reviews. I plan to can a lot this summer.
ReplyDeleteIt's been ages since I've canned anything. But a lovely batch of strawberry jam sticks out in my mind. Maybe this year!
ReplyDeletemy mom & i have always canned applesauce, but this year i'm excited to expand my repertoire a bit :o) i signed up for a CSA...AND added a few extra fun shares - a pesto share & a canning tomato share. so i'll be elbow-deep in tomatoes for a bit & can't wait to try out some different ideas & recipes. i'd love to fawn over jessie's cookbook while i explore :o) THANK YOU!!
ReplyDeleteI had the most delicious harvest grape and walnut conserve at a bed and breakfast. The innkeepers were able to visit the vineyard just down the road from their inn at the end of the harvest to gather grapes, from which they made and canned the conserve. It was SO DELICIOUS. They sent us home with a jar! I've been wanting to can since.
ReplyDeletePlum Ketchup! Yummmm!
ReplyDeleteI've canned pickles and spicy carrots and I intend to start jamming soon with summer berries!
ReplyDeleteBlueberry Lime Jam from the Ball Blue Book of Canning - Delish.
ReplyDeleteI mostly can tomatoes, but would like to start canning other fruits and veggies.
ReplyDeletechristysfarm@yahoo.com
Tomatoes, tomatoes and more tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteI canned tomatoes for the first time last year...after boiling, peeling and prepping what seemed like 500 tomatoes, I got two jars full of canned tomatoes...I think I did something wrong??? We didn't die when we ate them so I must've done something right! Can't wait to try again this year!
ReplyDeleteChristine
I've thus far been too intimidated to can, but I'm hoping to take better advantage of my CSA this summer and preserve some stuff for the cold, gray Portland winter.
ReplyDeletemberghaus(at)hotmail(dot)com
I pickled some of last summer's beets using cumin in coriander. They were awesome with a punch of indian spice!
ReplyDeletetomatoes, pears, pickles etc. etc. so many things i want to learn!
ReplyDeleteCodygrrl_1@Hotmail.com
I am determined to make my first batch of strawberry jam this summer
ReplyDeleteWe've been canning strawberry jam, peaches, peach jam, tomatoes, and pickles for the past few years. We're hoping to tackle salsa and strawberry salsa, and beans (both green beans and October beans).
ReplyDeleteWe really appreciate all of these awesome resources--we're teaching ourselves as we go!
I picked asparagus recently! Super yummy, I loved it.
ReplyDeleteA long time ago my husband and I tried our hand at canning homemade salsa. Unfortunately it didn't turn out very well and no one (not even us) wanted to eat it! This past winter we found ourselves the recipients of a ton of jalapeno peppers so we made and canned homemade green pepper jelly. Thankfully, this time around people are actually happy to eat it!
ReplyDeleteLast year we canned jam made from our berry bushes and some tomato sauce from tomato-seconds we picked up at the farmers market. We also pickled some beets (love pickled beets). This year we've doubled the number of tomato plants in our garden and are focusing mostly on varieties that are good for preserving. We'll do beets again, hopefully with some from our own garden. Of course there will be jam. This fall we hope to make sauerkraut again, after a couple year hiatus.
ReplyDeletewhat a pleasure to find your blog! I am a farmer and can LOTSA stuff for our sustenance as well as to sell. I guess I have a little over 250 jars of various goodies right now. I am currently fermenting chinese cabbage, carrots, and scallions for kimchee to be canned next week. The local nursery just gave us FREE tomato plants, 40 of them! And we already have 20, sooooooo, lotsa tomato stuff this summer!
ReplyDeletewhat a pleasure to find your blog! I am a farmer and can LOTSA stuff for our sustenance as well as to sell. I guess I have a little over 250 jars of various goodies right now. I am currently fermenting chinese cabbage, carrots, and scallions for kimchee to be canned next week. The local nursery just gave us FREE tomato plants, 40 of them! And we already have 20, sooooooo, lotsa tomato stuff this summer!
ReplyDeletemy grandma used to make insane pickles that she used a whole bottle of green food coloring to dye. she made dill pickles and these sweet pickles that had cinnamon sticks in them (!). they were crazy and delicious and the fact that I never learned how to make them is one of the sadder things in my life.
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There is a mulberry in the backyard of the house I just moved into. I'm thinking of participating in some freeganism, and making some preserves. This is also going to be the year that I finally pickle some of the okra I grow instead of freezing it all.
ReplyDeleteMatt and I were married last November and as gifts for our guests we made and canned 60 quarts of homemade ketchup for everyone! Mercifully my best friend came for the canning weekend to assist. It was a wonderful experience, our friends loved the ketchup and even better I was able to participate in something that brings back fond memories of my grandmother.
ReplyDeleteNothing, absolutely nothing, beats my husband's great aunt's bread and butter pickle recipe. We can as many as possible every summer. I've also wanted to try dilly beans (though I know they won't beat the bread and butter pickles).
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for the okra. My 8yr old daughter packed some pickled okra in her lunch today.
ReplyDeleteI love to can applesauce. We like our applesauce peeled (I know, I know), and chunky. :) It's really a family affair... my husband runs the apple peeler and I cut up the apples. We cook them down with a little bit of apple juice concentrate and add a little cinnamon at the end. Mmm.
ReplyDeleteOh, this looks sooooo good! I think my favorite thing to can is cucumber pickles - we eat them like fiends, and the process (slice, salt, brine, repeat) is fun. Tomatoes are probably the most practical, as we eat them all the time, but they're a good bit more time-consuming. And jam. I musn't forget the jam.
ReplyDeleteI saw some nice kumquats at the market so I'll probably try out your kumquat 5 spice recipe.
ReplyDeleteI'm fine with making the jam but still a little timid/lazy about actually canning. But I need to change that so I can enjoy the fruits of my labor longer.
Dreaming of summer for fresh raspberries and peaches! Tried canning for the first time last summer and the raspberry jam lasted almost to Christmas. My four year old wouldn't eat store bought jam afterward!
ReplyDeleteI made blackberry jam with hand-picked berries from our mountain house last year and plan to make more... as long as the black bears will let me have them!
ReplyDeleteI can like crazy & it's a great feeling! Since we have ducks & chickens, I'm planning on making pickled eggs with beet juice. I also am planning on joining a friend this Summer canning smoked salmon she'll be catching!!
ReplyDeleteI'm putting up some strawberry jam tomorrow using gaviota's from McGrath organic strawberries
ReplyDeleteI plan to pickle everything possible this summer... my children LOVE pickles, so I'm hoping this will be a way to sneak in some veges ;)
ReplyDeleteThis year I plan to can tomatoes, my first time. I found a pressure canner at a garage sale. That should do the trick.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter and I are planning to make pickles like my Mom used to make. She has all of my Mom's canning equipment. I am really looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteI just canned my very first batch of Orange Marmalade =)I was a little nervous (being new to the whole canning thing) but after three days, it seems to be gelling so I must have done something right!
ReplyDeleteI just signed up for a beginners canning class. I have made jam in the past, but am looking forward to making so much more and esp canning tomato sauce!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opportunity!
Just canned lemon & lime segments for the. First time. I love finding things in every season to can!
ReplyDeleteMy family used to can just about anything when we had the family farm. When my grandfather and grandmother moved to Kentucky, we sold the entire farm to move here to be with them, as both were dying of cancer. Since their passing, we are finally starting to look into this new life here in a small town without them and the farm. My mother and I are beginning to implement container gardening, and are planning trips to the farmers' market to get fresh things. We will be using my grandmother's canner and canning loads of things this year, including pickles; sweet, dill, bread and butter, brine, hot-- you name it. We love pickles! My daughter, who is 16, will be canning for the first time, and is so excited to try it. It's been a long eight years without any kind of farming/canning--but it will be like 'coming home' all over again!
ReplyDeleteMy grandma and I can something every time we're lucky enough to get together. I'll be see the family at the end of the month. I don't care what we put up, but it's going to be fun and fabulous!
ReplyDeleteMy plan is for the white cherry/peach jam from the Blue Chair Jam Book.
ReplyDeleteJust got some pickled watermelon rind from a friend...have to try it out myself later this year. Also on the to-can list is a lavender jelly from my own flowers. Maybe a rose jelly. Something to compliment lemon curd with tea and scones...
ReplyDeleteI canned tomato sauce for the first time last summer. It was all gone before Christmas. This year, I need to make at least three times as much.
ReplyDeleteI made tomato garden jam for the first time this year. It's great on grilled cheese sandwiches with canned spicy tomato soup.
ReplyDeleteI just cracked into my last jar of sour cherry jam from summer 2010, and am looking forward to many more canned cherries in 2011.
ReplyDeleteThis week I canned strawberry Jam, Grape Jelly, and Orange Vanilla Marmalade! I also made homemade butter! I am LOVING your book on canning! Next is Tomato Basil sauce!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis year was my first real foray into canning! I made a lot of jam - strawberry, blueberry - and some peach butter. Some of them were great, and others...not so much. Looking forward to trying again!
ReplyDeleteI received the most luscious jar of applesauce - golden delicious green apples if you can believe it - from my sister in Florida who shops at an Amish fruit stand w/access to the orchard. She added whole vanilla bean and sweetened slightly with a little tiny bit of brown sugar. It was heavenly!
ReplyDeleteI am an urban farmer, crunchy con, baby boomer mom of kids from 30-7, and we finally left the city for the country...and I am telling you there is 100 years of difference between us! My first canning endeavor entailed 250 lbs of potatos! Nobody out here in farm country had ever heard of canned potatoes!! We love em...and are totally digging this urban farming meets country.....love your blog! Thanks!
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ReplyDeleteI harvested the first berries from my young 'Ben Sarek' variety black currant bushes last May. Having enough of the fruit for just one batch of 'something', I decided to strain out the seeds and cook the fruit down to a thick, sweet-tart jam. At the last minute I added ground cloves and fell in love. Velvety, rich, spicy, black currant goodness. The last jar sits carefully guarded in my pantry in the 'good friends only' section.
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ReplyDeleteIn the last few weeks, I have made dandelion jelly and lime-ginger marmalade that were canned in a water bath. I also froze batches of lime curd, lemon-ginger curd and violet jam. Last summer I made some killer blueberry-lime jam too.
ReplyDeleteMy canning experience so far has been limited to making jams. I have made tomato sauce from my garden crop but I put it in the freezer because I'm afraid to try canning it. I really want to get brave and do a lot more with my back yard crops besides freezing or dehydrating them. Thanks for this post. I would like to learn more about canning.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite canning project from last summer was a corn relish. It is sweet and tangy- excellent on tacos. On the darkest days of winter, we would open a jar and dream of seeing the sun again. Only one jar left, thank goodness summer is coming soon.
ReplyDeleteI think the best thing I canned, ever, has been an Italian plum jam with a hint of cinnamon. It's incredibly delicious. I gave a few jars away, and word of mouth has spread about this particular jam amongst my coworkers and circle of friends. Everyone wants more, so I I have a feeling I'm going to be making A LOT of this come September/October!
ReplyDeleteMust replenish my Strawberry Rhubarb and Vanilla Jam--last year's batch was quite wonderful. I look forward to pickled asparagus, as well. However, my favorite canning project will be Bread & Butter pickles.
ReplyDeleteI have been canning for many years, first with my Gramma back in upstate NY and then my mom and now I am teaching my grandkids to can just about everything! We recently purchased a Pressure canner that we will be working with but have made all kinds of pickled veggies, Asparagus was the last & we recently made Banana Jam!! LOVE LOVE LOVE this & its so easy even the 4 yr old grandson can help!
ReplyDeletei want to can everything... or at the very least, just learn to can... i know its so easy... i'm just not there yet! maybe this book can be my inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI want to can pickled green beans this year. And I want to do balsamic-strawberry jam again. YUM.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to canning this year and so excited, last year was my first year canning just a couple jars of jam with my Mom, this year I have big plans :)
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to my first year of canning. Plan to do berry fruit preserves/jams, dill pickles, & lots of tomatoes.
ReplyDeleteLast year my new favorite was a Roasted Red Pepper Ketchup but you can't go wrong with wild huckleberry jelly!
ReplyDeleteI canned salsa for the first time this year and all winter I was reminded of the wonder that happens in my garden during the summer months. I loved it.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother grew and canned all her fruits and vegetables. My mother did the one thing...tomato marmalade. I have my grandmother's recipe box and the recipes are fun to read but impossible to follow. So I have never re-created any of her canning recipes, only the baking and cooking.
ReplyDeleteI have canned for 30 or so years now. My children like the salsa and jam best, my husband likes all the tomatoes, jams and various relishes. I like the tomato marmalade and orange marmalade myself. I have always used the Ball Blue Book and last summer I bought the 100th Anniversary edition of it.
This summer was my first foray into canning, and my best friend and I made THE MOST INCREDIBLY raspberry jam I've ever had. Just organic raspberries & pure cane sugar. Insanely delicious! We also made some awesome tomato sauce in the fall. :)
ReplyDeleteI do a lot of canning, but it's only last year that I came across a recipe for fig jam with cardamom - what a revelation! These are two flavors that just belong together.
ReplyDeleteI canned plum butter and pear butter from urban-foraged fruit last summer. Win!
ReplyDeleteI love canning! I even canned favors for my wedding. 80 pints of chunky apple jam. My husband and I never wanted to see apples again for awhile, but I thought it was fun!
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to can Apple Butter from apples on the trees in the backyard of our new house this fall. I have not been canning for 12 years since we moved overseas. I am ready for my rural life to return, this country mouse has been in capital cities too long!
ReplyDeleteI made jam for the first time last year - blueberry lemon, ginger peach, and blackberry lime. I gave it to family and friends for Christmas and everyone has been requesting more for this year, so I am planning on trying lots of new jam recipes!
ReplyDeleteI really want to make salsa this year. I have been making jams/marmalade all winter and want to venture out.
ReplyDeleteLast year I canned lots of jam and fruit butters. Plus applesauce, peaches, tomatoes, green beans and salsa. It was great. This year I plan to try adding some new stuff. I just have to decide exactly what.
ReplyDeleteFor me, last year's favorite was "Cowboy Candy" ~ candied jalapenos are a perfect addition to most everything save oatmeal! ...and I don't enjoy oatmeal. But, the pickled nasturtium buds were a hit with friends and family. Viva la canning!
ReplyDeleteI'll share what we used for dinner last night! Back in Feb. I found so quickly dying organic tomatoes for sale & had to get them. What to do with slowly decaying tomatoes? Make & can Enchilada Sauce! I have to say - it turned out splendidly!
ReplyDeleteWe are very deliberately assessing how much of last year's tomato sauce we need to last us till this year's harvest (and if there is any excess at all to take as hostess gifts this weekend). We ponder this over homemade rye toast with cranberry apple jam and great mugs of tea.
ReplyDeletelast year I had the previledge of dehydrating foods and refrdge canning my beef and chicken stocks. this year I am trying my had at old fashioned canning.
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