Accidental collector: canning jars

There is just something about canning jars.  From as far back as I can remember, canning jars have been a practical part of our family system.  My mom and grandmothers fed their families by preserving food from gardens and orchards, all in Ball and Mason jars.

Beyond the practical, canning jars are beautiful and fascinating.  I love this article in The New York Times from last August. Canning jars have always been beautiful to us, but they are also suddenly hip and trendy. I am guilty of following the madness, as I am lusting after the new purple Mason jars. And, I may or may not have purchased a t-shirt with Mason jars and the saying, "I eat local because I can."

Canning jars also show up around my house as decor - holding wooden spools of thread, crafting supplies, vintage dominoes, puzzle pieces, and other treasures.  In the kitchen, the jars hold pasta,  muffin cups, baking soda, and other pantry staples, in addition to home canned fruit and vegetables.  I also just have some antique jars as stand alone beauties.

During a trip to Target this fall, I found some Italian jars for food preservation on the sale aisle.  Am I the only person who cruises the sale end caps at Target and gets sucked into the impulse buy? For these particular jars, I picked them up and set them down several times and ended up bring them home with me.  And then, they joined the piles in our spare room. I wanted to do some research on the jars and didn't want to use them for anything less than a worthy purpose.

The Bormioli Rocco company makes these jars - embossed on the sides and just the right size. The jars are so beautiful, I wanted the best possible use for them.

My answer:  sprinkles.

In an organizing frenzy this weekend, I decide that I would put together all of our baking supplies, including our surprisingly large collection of sprinkles.  I realized that I could combine several of the smaller containers and I could use my Italian jars!  I was pretty pleased with myself for cleaning the cabinets and for using the jars and for finding a beautiful and practical way to solve a problem.

Canning marathon

One of my major jobs this Labor Day weekend is to work up three boxes of peaches.  My dad picked several bushels from the trees on his farm and he offered to share with me.

We picked them up last weekend when we were back from the church service in our new church.  I spent the week hoping that they would ripen in time for the weekend.  If the peaches held over into the following work week, I knew we would be sunk, but our chickens would be thrilled.  As we got to Friday night, I knew that we would have much of the batch ready to can.

Thankfully, my mom offered to pitch in and help.  She encouraged me to start researching recipes and we found some winners.

Despite the monster task, I am really enjoying every second.  The peaches aren't perfect, but they have a great flavor and are the base for several recipes, including a peach salsa that is really beautiful.  This recipe also calls for peaches that are slightly green and that is perfect for the peaches we have on hand.

When we got the first batch into the pot, I told my mom that it was so pretty!

And, it looked pretty in the jars...

And, it was pretty when it came out of the canner...

See, pretty, right?! After taste testing it tonight, I think that we needed to make it a little spicier.  We will have more opportunity to try again.

In addition to the Fiery Peach Salsa from Little Jars, Big Flavors, we also made Maple Bourbon Peach Butter, Vanilla Honey Peach Butter, and Peach Sriracha Butter.

We still have a box of peaches left and tonight's task is to find a few more recipes - the canning marathon continues.

Jam pan!

 Earlier this week, I was super excited to see that I had a delivery at the house.  We were about to leave for a short run, but I insisted on opening the box first.

My husband was curious about what I had ordered and I was building it up and telling him how happy I was that "it" had finally arrived.  So, when I opened the box, he responded with an unimpressed, "What is that!?"  And, I yelled back that it was a jam pan!

He then teased me for the entire two mile run about being excited for a jam pan. We also decided that it sounded like some weak attempt for a hip name for an outdoor music festival. "Jam Pan." 

 I kept telling him about all of the great features - the pour spout, measuring lines inside of the pan, the non-reactive surface, the size, how it heats evenly, etc.  I also told him about the great sale price and free shipping!  I am not sure he is nearly as excited, but I am sure I can win him over if I can actually make something with it.

It's tomato season

 It's tomato season which brings with it some emotions.  While gardening and canning are very relaxing activities for me, there is a moment when it feels a little like a giant race against the clock.

We are extremely grateful for the delicious tomatoes to enjoy fresh and the chance to preserve some for us to enjoy later - it just isn't easy or fast work.

We have these brief flashes of panic and stress because the tomatoes ripen at their own pace. We may not have the time or energy to deal with the volume of tomatoes that presents itself at any given time.  However, you can't put off ripe tomatoes.  They just don't wait for anyone.

I usually feel that all of summer is a balancing act of joy and gratitude for a crop that we GET to process into delicious salsa, sauces, and more, and pure panic and stress that we will let good food go to waste or will spend hours in the kitchen when we are so tired that we can hardly stand.

This week was a great example.  We had a very hectic weekend with a lot of driving all across the state to meet our various obligations.  We picked tomatoes and canned a batch between going here and there.  We already had enough waiting for another round of canning and my husband asked me if I had seen the garden.

This was what I found!

After Monday's haul, we had every flat surface in my kitchen covered in tomatoes!  My mom joined me on Tuesday night to put up a batch each of pasta sauce and salsa.

While none of the tomatoes are blue ribbon material at this point in the season, they are delicious.  There is nothing better than a counter with beautiful jars of salsa and pasta sauce.  All the hard work pays off when we enjoy the great food.  In the meantime, I spend time calculating how to arrange my schedule around canning sessions.

Canning tomatoes

Canning merges several of my loves.  My plant geek, garden loving fool gets very excited to see our work result in delicious food.  My foodie/cooking fanatic side loves the challenge of finding new recipes and perfecting the process.  Our canning and preserving efforts are a family affair with me learning at the elbow of my mom.  And, I know that by gardening, canning and learning from my mom, I am honoring a long legacy of women in my family who have participated in these same activities.

I will forever savor hearing the "POP" of a jar sealing as it rests on the counter, fresh from the canner.  And, for as long as I can remember, my mom and I count them together as they sound off during the sealing process.

This season has been productive so far.  We have several quarts and pints of pasta and pizza sauces and a spicy tomato sauce that is something new for us this year.

We have likely reached the last of our big batches of tomatoes for the season.  The tomato plants are looking really sad with the heat and lack of rain.  I am holding out hope that we will get some moisture and they will rally for a late summer crop.

My more realistic thought is that I will start to scout the local farmer's markets for some tomatoes. At Saturday morning's market, there were a couple of vendors with canning specials on tomatoes, so I will have to do some more investigating.

One of the fun things about canning is that it turns your kitchen upside down.  I would give my kitchen high marks for cleanliness, but the clutter is laughable.  There is never enough counter space and you have to have enough supplies on hand which means jars, lids, rings, bowls, pots, and other canning tools everywhere.  The process is like musical chairs - moving and stacking, moving and stacking.  Last week I went through all of the supplies and tried to consolidate.  Now, I have neatly organized piles and stacks.

Still, I love this season.  One of my favorite ways to relax is to peal a pile of tomatoes and work them into a counter full of beautifully preserved food.

Summer fun: Canning tomatoes

It seemed like the tomatoes would never ripen this summer.  Our cool temperatures early and then extremely hot temperatures late in the growing season made it hard on the plants.

We finally had enough to make canning worth the time and effort.  Maybe it was the fact that our temperatures were finally below 100 degrees or that we got a little rain, but whatever the reason, we had ripe tomatoes!

Last weekend, my mom and I whipped up our favorite pizza sauce from last year.  It was so good we also used it as a marinara sauce.

It is a really easy recipe and very delicious!

Pizza Sauce

Yield: 5 pints

Ingredients

5 pints tomato sauce or about 20 pounds of tomatoes
1 1/2 cups chopped onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped sweet peppers or bell peppers
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons salt
5 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 teaspoons basil
2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch
a small amount of tomato juice


Instructions 

1.  Wash, skin and core all of the tomatoes and then place them in a large pot to cook.  We have a hand emulsion blender which makes the process of blending ingredients to the right consistency so much easier.  Some people will use a food mill and will cook the washed and cored tomatoes with the skins.  They will run the cooked tomatoes through the food mill to remove the skins and seeds, then return to the pot.
2. Cook onions, garlic, and peppers in a pan on the stove with a little tomato juice from the large pot until tender before adding to sauce.
3. Mix the white sugar, salt, oregano, black pepper, basil, and arrowroot or cornstarch with a little tomato juice from the large pot.  This will help keep the arrowroot or cornstarch from clumping.
4.  When all of the ingredients are added, stir the sauce to mix thoroughly and bring to a boil so it thickens. You may need to add more of the arrowroot or cornstarch depending on your tomatoes and your own preference.  We use the hand blender to do the fine chopping and to make sure things are well mixed.  Be very careful with the hot sauce and make sure that you follow the directions for the blender.
6. For canning, put into jars and process for 25 minutes (for pints; 35 minutes for quarts). Follow all of the usual techniques for sterilizing jars and equipment used in the process.  Again, be very careful with the hot water, hot materials and sauce that all come together at this point.