Category Archives: canning

Dec 31 2015

Orange Marmalade

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About a month ago two cute girls came to my door selling a box of oranges for their dance club. I bought some and a few weeks after they were delivered. When I was a kid my grandpa Tiffany would buy a box of apples and a box of oranges for us for Christmas so I thought it fitting to have a box this year. I don’t know what my mom did with all the oranges. I do remember eating quite a few of them.  Maybe we did eat them all before they went bad. Well my little family doesn’t go through oranges that fast. When I looked in the box yesterday I noticed that they were starting to get soft. I need to use them and soon. I have never canned anything after November. Usually canning season starts in June and last until November and by that time I’m so tired of it that just looking at another jar makes me nauseas. I have to say it is a little weird to be canning at the end of December.

A few years ago my sweet husband made some orange marmalade. The problem is he used the whole orange including all the bitter whites. I’m not a huge fan of orange marmalade in the first place and his was just too bitter to use for anything. So today I set out to use some oranges and make some marmalade myself. I’ve come across a couple of recipes that call for orange marmalade but I never had any on hand so I couldn’t try them. Now I will have some ready to use!

I just followed the directions on the sure gel pack and a few hours later I have some nicely jarred marmalade. There were a couple of things that I did different.  I didn’t have 2 lemons so I only used one and added an extra orange. I don’t have a zester so I used my cheese slicer that I got in Sweden almost 16 years ago. It worked great! When I got done boiling the peals and the juice I didn’t have enough for the recipe so I juiced 5 more oranges to get enough. In total I used 10 oranges! I’m so glad to make something useful out of all those oranges.DSCF5884

Tomorrow is a new year and I can’t help but look back on the past year and be grateful. We had many things happen this year but the biggest was moving. When we moved we were really blessed when so many of our friends and neighbors stepped in and helped. I had friends help me paint, pack, lift, patch, and even had some give us dinner. This move was by choice. We just wanted a little bigger place to call home. I do love this home! I Also love all the wonderful people who helped make our move smoother. We do miss our old neighborhood and I actually find myself back there quite a bit. I still like to go walking with my friends and playing pickleball with them too. The kids also like to play with their old friends from time to time and their piano teacher is still there. I love that whenever I come to visit it feels like nothing has changed. They still welcome us with all their hearts. I love these guys! I’m excited about our new neighborhood too. So far we have had many plates of cookies and a couple of dinner invites. Everyone seems very kind here and I’m excited about making new friendships too. I wanted to thank all those who made my year last year a memorable one and I can’t wait to see what the new year brings. We’ll spend this evening with some friends ringing in the new year. I can’t think of a better way of spending it.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Nov 5 2013

Catch up

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Okay it’s been too long since I posted anything.  So this is one big catch up post.  I’ll post a bunch of pictures with a short description of the event.  Hopefully that will get me caught up for the holidays.  I like to keep record of all the stuff that happens in our lives and this is sort of a family journal.  Not only is it good for me to have a record so I can remember all those great moments but also so we can share it with our friends and family who don’t get to see us often.

First we have to go all the way back to September.  YES I said September.  That is where I left off.  After school started and things start to get crazy canning season starts.  This has been great for my family’s food storage but also very time consuming.  Corey and I love our garden and we get a lot of produce out of it.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love my mom?  Well I do A LOT.  She came up for a week and a half, despite not feeling well, and helped me can. I put her right to work canning green beans.  Everyday we did something new. The biggest thing we canned was apple sauce.  We had the apples from my tree and some apples that a friend let me pick.  In the end we canned 48 quarts of apples.  I really did have a lot of fun with my mom and really do miss her when she is gone.

You're seeing right that is a 5 gallon bucket of applesauce.

You’re seeing right that is a 5 gallon bucket of applesauce.

Mom and I with all the applesauce ready to process.

Mom and I with all the applesauce ready to process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On to the next event.  Our camping trip to Craters of the Moon National park. We are fortunate to live in an area where we don’t have to travel far to get to some great camping spots.  We said goodbye to our tent trailer and got ourselves a new trailer.  We had to try it out the weekend we got it.  We joined some friends up at Craters and had a blast.  We explored caves and lava fields. This was the first time I’ve been to Caters.  I’ve driven past and wasn’t very impressed but once we explored I was amazed.  We’ll come back again.

Our new home away from home.

Our new home away from home.

Kids climbing rocks

Kids climbing rocks

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking through the giant tunnel

Walking through the giant tunnel

Exploring caves

Exploring caves

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well paved walking trails.

Well paved walking trails.

Even here pretty things grow

Even here pretty things grow

Group Picture

Group Picture

 

 

 

 

 

We have made it to October!  This was the first weekend in October.  We decided to take the trailer out one more time before we had to store it for the winter.  We ended up going to Palisades Reservoir.  Again I feel the need to express how blessed we are to live in close proximity to these wonderful places.  When we arrived it was snowing.  It was a pretty cold night and we only lasted one night before deciding to pack up and head home.  It was beautiful.  So many fall colors mixed in with the snow.

Our very snowy campsite.

Our very snowy campsite.

All the wildlife we saw. He didn't like Corey.

All the wildlife we saw. He didn’t like Corey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of the Lake

View of the Lake

Family photo

Family photo

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fall Colors

Fall Colors

Being silly on a rock wall.

Being silly on a rock wall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next there was a free ice skating lesson at the hockey shelter.  We signed the kids up and they had fun skating on the ice.  Did you know ice is slippery? It was fun to watch them skate around.

DSCF5629 DSCF5614

 

 

 

 

Last on the list and then I’m all caught up.  HALLOWEEN! We had a blast this year at our ward’s trunk or treat.  Corey and I dressed as Bert and Mary from Mary Poppins.  Sophia was a ghost, Levi a zombie, and Preston a nerd. The trunk or treat was the Tuesday before Halloween.  That was good because on Halloween it rained and was very chilly.  Sophia and Levi went trick or treating but Preston just wanted to hang out with his friends playing games down in our basement.  I guess he is growing up.  If anyone knows a cure for that please let me know.

Sophia the Ghost

Sophia the Ghost

Bert and Mary

Bert and Mary

Zombie, Ghost, and Nerd

Zombie, Ghost, and Nerd

 

 

 

 

 

 

carving pumpkins

carving pumpkins

scraping out guts

scraping out guts

 

 

 

 

 

finished product

finished product

Monkey see, Monkey do.

Monkey see, Monkey do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All lit up.

All lit up.

Aug 4 2012

Cabbage

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This year Corey and I planted 4 cabbage plants.  That means we now have 4 cabbages.  A few years ago we made sauerkraut.  I was a little nervous about it at the time but it turned out pretty good.  So this year we have decided to do it again.  As part of cleaning out my fridge (see previous post) I had finally decided to get started on the sauerkraut.  The recipe I have calls for 20lbs of cabbage.  That is a crap load of cabbage.  With our 4 heads we only had 12lbs.  I started shredding and after two I decided that was plenty of sauerkraut for us.  We only need a few jars and it last us a long time.  I used my food processor (thanks again Corey’s mom for that) to shred the cabbage.  Then you salt the cabbage and let it wilt for awhile.  After that put it in the brining bucket.  I had to make some extra brine so my cabbage was covered in liquid.  Then cover with cheese cloth and place something heavy on top to keep the cabbage submerged.  Now all you have to do is wait 3 to 6 weeks.  Yes that is weeks.  Now you see why I was so nervous about making this before.  Everyday you have to skim the foam off the top.  So I guess you’ll see the finished product in 3 to 6 weeks.

Shredding the cabbage

Salted and wilting

My brining bucket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheese cloth on top and ready to sit for 3-6 weeks

Jul 30 2012

Canning has begun

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Sink full of green beans

I spent last week up in the mountains with the girls from our ward up at girls camp.  When I came home my fridge was full of green beans.  We planted twice as many beans as we usually do and in one week we got a whole sink full.  So the canning begins.  The boys were wonderful in helping me snap the ends and then snap them to bite size pieces.  It took all three of us about 30 minutes to prepare them for canning.  When all was said and done we ended up with 19 pints of green beans.  Not too bad for a weeks worth of beans.  Next picking we’ll pickle.

A couple of great helpers.

Voila! 19 pints of green beans.

Sep 4 2011

Tomatoes

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Early Girl Tomato

Tomatoes are an essential part of my garden.  I can whole tomatoes, tomato sauce, salsa, and spaghetti sauce.  So I have to have tomatoes growing in my garden.  We planted  8 tomato plants.  Two of the plants are a cherry tomato.  So far my favorite has been the early girl variety.  It’s a smaller tomato but ripens pretty early which is necessary for this climate.  Every year I’m on the search for a new favorite variety.  I would like the tomato to be a little bigger.  I planted 5 varieties.  There are 4 early girls, 1 super fantastic, 1 Sophie’s choice (heirloom), 1 currant cherry tomato, and 1 sungold cherry tomato.

Currant Cherry Tomato

First I’ll discuss the cherry tomatoes.  I plant at least one cherry every year because I like these in salads.   This way I don’t have to use my bigger tomatoes for my salads.  They also produce a lot sooner and you are able to have them during the summer.  I usually plant a sweet 100 cherry tomato.  I thought I would try something different this year.  Wrong idea.  I got the currant cherry tomato.  These are super small and don’t have a lot of flavor.  They are also difficult to pick.  They grow like a currant in big clusters and really close to the center of the plant.  The tomatoes on the bottom of the plant were the first to ripen.  In order to get to them I had to crawl on my hands and knees and stick my hand all the way in the plant to pick.  Even then you couldn’t tell if you were getting the right tomato because they were so closely clumped together.  Many times I would end up picking a green tomato instead of the red one.  So frustrating.  I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t even care if they get picked or not.

The other cherry tomato that I picked is called Sungold. This is a small orange cherry

Sungold Cherry Tomato

tomato.  We love this one.  It is so sweet.  This is the variety that we got a few years ago when we first started gardening and it single handedly convinced my husband that tomatoes aren’t gross. Sophia, my three year old, loves this one and we have to act quickly if we want any before she picks them all.  Definitely one we’ll do again.

The Super Fantastic variety was a mothers day gift from church.  I actually like this one.  It produces a lot of large tomatoes and taste terrific.  The only problem I have with this one is that it splits easily.  I think all the tomatoes that I’ve pulled off of there so far have split.  That’s okay if you’re using it for salsa but not okay for whole tomatoes.  This might be a variety I’ll try again since I do like salsa.

Sophie’s Choice variety I got on a whim.  I was looking for just one more tomato to plant and one that produces early and is larger than the early girl.  Saw this one and got it.  It was a little more expensive because it’s an heirloom tomato but so far it has done great.  The tomatoes are larger and don’t seem to have any splits but they are taking longer to ripen then my other tomatoes.  I just hope they ripen before the first frost in a couple of weeks.

Tomatoes are pretty easy to plant.  They are very frost tender so if you live in a cooler climate like I do you’ll need to have your tarp ready to cover them.  Tomatoes are also very easy to can and great to have in the pantry.  We use our whole tomatoes in soups, stews, casseroles, and even chili.  The key is to find the right variety that works for you.

Aug 11 2011

Green Beans

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Green Beans

Green beans are a requirement for my garden.  I can green beans every year.  I do the normal canned green beans and I also do dill pickled green beans.  My kids love both.  I’ve noticed that I need to plant at least twice as many as I have. There are so many different varieties that you can plant.  You can get bush or pole.  I prefer the bush over the pole.  I just don’t like to steak anything up.  My parents like the Kentucky blue bush (also comes in pole).  That was really difficult to find in my area so when we had our own garden we asked people for their opinions.  We were looking in the local garden store and lady told me she really liked the Slenderette variety.  I had never heard of it.  One thing I don’t like about certain varieties of beans is that they have a tough and fuzzy skin.  The Kentucky variety doesn’t and so that was one of the requirements for my beans.  The lady told me that the Slenderette is tender and high yielding. It also has the soft skin.  So I bought some and haven’t gone back.  They are wonderful and produce what I like every year.  I just need to plant more.

Sep 17 2008

Tis the Season for Canning

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Yes, it is that time of year again.  It’s the time when all your food storage shelves are full of empty jars and the storage room is covered in boxes of fruit and veggies.  So you start to clean and sterilize, peal and chop, blanch and boil, and stuff and seal.  It’s a lot of hard work but well worth it when you see your shelves full again not with empty jars this time but full.  The last few weeks Corey and I have been busy canning peaches, tomatoes, and pears.  We have also froze corn and jam.  In a few weeks we will probably have potatoes and apples.

We really lucked out this year on corn.  A friend of ours told us about a stake that had a corn field that needed to be picked or it would all go to waste.  So anyone who wanted some corn could go and pick.  She gave us directions and we put Levi down for a nap and got a sitter for him and took Preston and Sophia with us to the field.  For the next half hour we would enter what felt like a jungle and pick ear after ear.  Soon we had a garbage bag full and a couple of boxes too.  We gave 3 dozen ears to our friend who told us of the place and then started counting the rest.  It ended up that we picked 11 dozen ears of corn (including the 3 we gave away).  So we shucked and boiled and cut off the cob and froze 6 dozen.  Then we gave away another 1 1/2 dozen (we kept some for Sunday dinner).  Now our freezer is full of corn.  I wish we had taken some pictures but we need to get in the habit of bringing the camera with us.