Last night marked the official beginning of Canning Season 2011. It kicked off with mulberry juice, of course. As it always does. Irritatingly, I found when I pulled all the jars of juice out of the refrigerator that I only had five quarts, instead of the six I thought I had. When I had added the sugar, I ended up with a little less than five and a half quarts. So I only canned five.
I hate firing up the pressure canner for less than a full canner load. But I had already psyched myself up to do it (totally requires prior psyching, yes), so I went ahead. These are the first five of what will eventually be over 200 jars of food, assuming all produces as it should and I don't just go stark raving mad around September.
I have a history, you know.
ANYWAY.
It occurred to me that while I have shown you what the shelves in the Pit of Despair look like at the end of the canning season, I have never shown you what they look like at the end of eating season.
Perhaps you are thinking that would just look like a bunch of shelves full of empty jars? Well . . . yes. That is correct. But still, have some pictures. Pictures make everything more fun.
See? We're having fun now!
WOAH. The fun! It never stops!
What you see in the first (fun!) picture is four quarts of tomatoes, two pints of salsa, one pint of tomato juice, two pints of pickled jalapenos, and the green tomato chutney that's supposed to age a year before eating. That's it. Oh, and the elderflower champagne from this year.
The second (even more fun!) photo only has what's left of the jams and jellies, which mostly includes a WHOLE HELL OF A LOT of Seville orange marmalade. The MiL is pretty much the only one who eats it, so it goes slowly. There are also some dill pickles I canned a couple of years ago and then never used because they got all soft in the canning. I like my pickles crunchy. Any ideas on what to do with limp pickles? (Don't be gross now; I'm really only talking about ACTUAL pickles.)
Someone once asked me after seeing the photos of all the jars of food in the cellar if we would actually eat all that stuff. I think you can see that the answer to that is yes. We're good eaters. It's a point of pride, really.
So now I just have to re-fill all those shelves. Luckily, I have 27 tomato plants to help me. Bring on the tomatoes! The shelves are ready.
I'll help the MIL eat that marmalade. It's my favourite.
ReplyDeleteYou really don't have much left on those shelves.
I'd ditch the limp pickles. They aren't going to get better with age. Might as well free up the jars and can some dilly beans. Those always stay nice and crisp and I think they are better than cucumber dill pickles any day.
ReplyDeleteYou done good on the eating.
This IS a beautiful site. I have wanted to can since the day I got married, over 25 years ago. My husband's grandmother used to can peach preserves from her ancient peach tree in her backyard and it was the best I'll probably ever have. I sure do mis it. There is something very special about making your own food like this. Thanks for sharing the empty side of this story, which is actually very FULL!
ReplyDeleteWhoa! We've canned some tomatoes in the past, but maybe a half dozen jars a year. I'm looking to go all in this year, but it sure can seem daunting at times!
ReplyDeleteYou must have a really low grocery bill with all that preserving!
ReplyDeleteThis will sound odd, but beef stroganoff frequently has dill in it. Maybe try adding the pickles. (This is a complete guess, and could be really horrible.)
ReplyDeleteWord verification: perse -- where I keep my munny
Maybe chop up the pickles and use like dill relish on burgers or sandwiches, hot dogs...maybe even in salads that use relish...and as Drew said maybe think of other dishes that have dill in them and try adding them chopped in those dishes. Beth
ReplyDeleteCan you chop up the pickles and add them to tartar sauce or salads?
ReplyDeleteI like my pickles crisp, too. And I'll leave the rest of that inevitable line of convo alone.
Will the chickens or sheep eat them? Pickles are meant to be firm, no matter how they are used.
ReplyDeleteI've got my own limp pickles to deal with too, I've found that chopping them up and adding them into ... say a potato salad or something like that is an easy way to use them up.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Garden Girl...potatoe salad or deviled eggs. Anything where they are combined with something creamy.
ReplyDeleteI've given up on marmalade. It's more time consuming than jam, and it takes forever to gel. At least, mine does. I've started the year's canning, too: strawberry jam and strawberry-rhubarb jam. More strawberries in the freezer, waiting until the raspberries are here and I can make mixed berry.
ReplyDelete