Blueberries, peaches and raspberries...Oh My

This has been an amazing season in the North East for blueberries.  I don't remember one this long.  The first time I went blueberry picking was at a small farm and I was just looking for enough to make some blueberry muffins for friends who were coming to see my new place.  It was a bit difficult as my walker doesn't do heavy undergrowth that well, but it was also fun.  Below is my haul and the muffins.

Well, then my sister calls and says "you are coming berry picking with me".  OK.  The place she goes has blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries and peaches.  We went for blackberries, which were not ready yet, and blueberries.  I decided I wanted peaches too.

I decided to do the blueberries in a light syrup (1 part sugar, 2 parts water) because I want to use them later for baking.  I got three quarts of blueberries.  I then turned to the peaches.  Preserves, that sounded good.  Well, you have to peel and pit the peaches for preserves.  So, into boiling water for a minute they go, then into a cold water bath.  Most of them just slipped out of their skins, some I needed to take a good paring knife to get the skins off.  Then cut in half or quarters to get the pit out.

Dice them up, and into a large pot with sugar and some pectin (I used powdered).

Boil for a few minutes and into half pint jars.  A word here on canning jars.  I tried the Mainstay jars as they were a dollar cheaper and there were three more jars in the box...never again.  I had a few that didn't seal and that has never happened with Ball jars.  I'll stick with the Ball brand thank you.  I had a few peaches left over from the preserves recipe so I put them in a quart and a half jar with a light syrup.

Then my sister calls again.  Can you tell we come from the same family.  This time we were hunting the elusive blackberries.  I don't like blackberries, but said I'd help pick for her if she would help me get more peaches.  I wanted to try a Honey Spiced peaches recipe.  What the brat (yes, she is my older sister by a year and a half) didn't tell me is that blackberry bushes have HUGE thorns!  Yikes...several scratches on my legs and arms later we had a good haul of blackberries for her and more peaches for me.

The Honey Spiced Peaches recipe I have said to leave the fruit whole.  Well, all I could think of was trying to pit them after they have been in a honey syrup for several months...slippery.  So I decided to pit them.  The spiced part is whole Allspice, whole Cloves and Cinnamon sticks.  The honey syrup is 2 parts syrup to 1 part sugar.  I used pint jars here.

Off to the PYO farm again, this time for raspberries (the second crop was ready) and more peaches for more Honey Spiced peaches.  I also picked a small amount of blueberries as I want to make a blueberry cheese tart for Labor day

This time the peaches were persnickety.  I had to peel a lot more with a knife and they were more difficult to get out the pit.  Oh well.  I got five pints of peaches done.

The raspberries were for raspberry/jalapeno jam.  Five cups of mashed raspberries, three and a third cups of sugar and three jalapeno peppers, one and a half seeded, the other one and a half seeds and all, diced.  If the scrapings from the pot are any indication this came out fantastic.

I would like to go out for more raspberries for regular raspberry jam.  I'm done now until apple season kicks in.

Adventures in Canning - Part 2

Here are the Zucchini and Summer Squash pickles.  First cut them thin, about one pound each.  Then cut a quarter of a pound of onion, quarter it and thin slice.  Set in brine with a quarter cup kosher salt and water to cover.  Let this set for two hours.

Heat up sugar, vinegar, tumeric, celery salt and mustard seed to a boil.  Drain and rinse vegetables then pour hot mixture over them.  Let this set for two more hours.  Put everything into a deep pot and bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer to five minutes.  Pour hot mixture into sterilized jars.  Put it in the water bath for 15 minutes.

I can't give the measurements out because a friend gave me this recipe and it's her's to publish.  This yielded me three half pint jars, one jelly jar and one cup and a half jar.

That's it for now.  There will be more as the veggies in my little garden ripen. 

Adventures in Canning

As the vending season, at least for me, is winding down, the garden is ripening and it's time to look to the canning stuff.  I have some jars left from last year and I have the jar tongs, but I need a canning pot.  Last year I borrowed my Mom's and she wanted it back.  Off to Ace hardware for a new one and some lids.

A friend sent me some beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers, two summer squashes and a large zucchini.  I'll never be able to eat these myself before they go bad (the Beloved doesn't eat vegetables).  So, time to start the canning.  

Tomatoes, I use these for a bunch of things.  Everything from Indian food to chili.  So, I think I'm doing most of my tomatoes, I also have some in my garden, in their own juices.  This is easy.  A quick blanching to make peeling easier, quartering them up, or in the case of the huge one, eighthing  it up.  A couple of tablespoons of lemon juice in the quart jar and one in the half quart jar.  Tomatoes in the sterilized jars and in the water bath for one hour and 25 minutes.  That's done.

For as long as I can remember growing up, there were always "refrigerator pickles" in the summer.  They tasted very much like half sour pickles.  Here is how they are made.  In a jar, I used two quart jars, pour enough kosher salt to well cover the bottom of the jar.  Throw a small handfull, maybe a teaspoon or two, of mustard seed in and a good amount of garlic, maybe a clove or two well diced.  Fill the jar about half way with water and shake to combine.  Add the cucumbers that you have cut into spears.  Really pack them in there.  Add more water if needed to cover the spears.  Shake and put into fridge.  Shake occasionally, letting them "cure" for about a week or so.  YUMM

That's all there is to it.  Next are zucchini and summer squash pickles. 

Adventures in Canning

One of my best friends has three lovely apple trees in her yard and she is having a bumper crop this year.  So everyone is getting apples.  I decided to try my hand at canning.  I haven't done this since helping my Mom, very many years ago.  So, I started with something simple:  Apple Sauce.  I have made this before, only not canned it.  I started with six pounds of apples, peeled, cored and sliced then into a lemon juice and water bath.  Here are the apples.  They are small and taste like a macintosh, maybe a bit tarter.

I don't remove all the peel.  I don't mind a bit in my apple sauce

Sitting in a lemon juice and water bath waiting for the rest to be done.

I sterilized eight eight ounce jars along with their lids and rings in the large canning pot I borrowed from my Mom. 

Sterilized and waiting for applely goodness

With a lid on the canning jar so as not to loose too much heat from the water and the burner off, I started cooking down the apples.  The first couple of minutes you have to watch them carefully, so they don't scorch on the bottom of the pot.  I had the burner on a medium high heat.  These apples started to break apart in about 15 minutes.

Out came the potato masher and I broke them up.  I left them a bit chunky because I like it that way.  They were sweet enough and as I use apple sauce for a few different things, like baking, I usually don't sweeten it.  I did spice it with about a tablespoon of cinnamon and a half teaspoon each of nutmeg and clove.  I was able to fill all eight jars, leaving a half inch of space at the top, plus an eight ounce jar and a small container that I popped in the fridge.

Now for the water bath.  I brought the water in the canning jar up to a nice boil and gently, using the jar grippers, put the jars into the water, making sure there was at least two inches of water above the top of the jars.  I let them boil for 15 minutes, then took them out and placed them on a rack to cool.  Within five minutes I heard eight "pops".  They all sealed.

I know it's not sewing, but it is part of the whole getting back to hand made thing.  My sewing will start up again soon.  I have had some issues with my and my families health, plus several commission jobs that has set back my corset project.  I also need to make a new cloak for this coming weekend.

So, I hope you liked my little canning story.  There is more to come.  I'm going to try to make apple pie filling, apple butter and if I can get more apples, apple jam.