steelnut Posted September 20, 2007 Share Posted September 20, 2007 My son also loves pear jelly but my pear trees did not produce enough this year. I may have to buy enough for at least one batch. Last year was a good year for my pear trees and I have about 20 jars left. But I didn't get a sinlge batch of wild raspberry done last year. This year the raspberries were plentiful and not the pears. This is the first year that our pear trees didn't produce. We thought that maybe a late frost got them or something? I'm almost done canning for this year, of course I've said that the last two weekends.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snellma Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Do apples grow well that far south? You can get them in the northern part of the state and in NC. I get mine when I go to Erie (6 more days). Everything is much cheaper up there. I know I am spending a boat load on gas to get there but it is girls weekend away and I get to see my family. Concord grapes - $8 a bushel Tomatoes - $5 a bushel Apples - cheap a bushel (I can't remember how much) Bell peppers - ??? Banana peppers - ??? I never spend over $40 -50 when I go up there and I get 3 bushel of grapes, 2-3 bushel of apples, 1-2 bushel of tomatoes, and a bunch of peppers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 Those sound like good prices, especially the tomatoes. I am about done with tomatoes ( I hope! LOL) but I would like to do some other things. Canning is sort of addicting when you have a pressure canner. I have been buying tomatoes from several different people and they have all had wonderful tomatoes. I also got several bushel free from nice people who were just sick of tomatoes, as they had been canning so much. All the things that I have canned over the last few weeks have turned out well as far as I know. I opened a pint of pickled green tomatoes to see if I liked the amount of spice used. It seemed pretty spicy and I thought "I better use a lot less pickling spice. So I ate a few and then polished off the jar to get rid of it. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 After the canner on the stove is finished processing I will have done 14 quarts of vegetable soup today. Just the way I like it with a tomato base broth. I have been trying to can a variety of things this year, not too much of any one thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 I heard a good one today. Cut the tops off 20 Roma type tomatoes and split them down the middle. Toss them with coarse salt and olive oil. Spread them on a cookie sheet and dry them in a 200 degree oven for 8 hours or overnight. Layer them with large leaf basil in a quart jar. Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator. Garlic optional. I'm going to try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 I heard a good one today. Cut the tops off 20 Roma type tomatoes and split them down the middle. Toss them with coarse salt and olive oil. Spread them on a cookie sheet and dry them in a 200 degree oven for 8 hours or overnight. Layer them with large leaf basil in a quart jar. Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator. Garlic optional. I'm going to try it. Ooh, that sounds wonderful, but I'll have to wait until next year to try it. Sounds just like sun dried tomatoes, which I love. Hubby's having fits because I have the fridge loaded with refrigerator peppers, By next year he should have my second kitchen finished in the basement with another fridge. Yeah!!! But, please let me know how they turn out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 I have made romas like that before and they were delicious. I just never put them in jars like that but it sounds great. If I get any more fresh romas I am going to try it. I am just about done canning for the summer, I hope. Yesterday I got some smoked ham hocks at Polumbos and canned 7 quarts after I simmered it down and removed the bone. I added some onion, carrots and celery so that if I want to make bean soup or cabbage stew I can just open a jar and add the rest of the ingredients when I cook the meal. I figure canning it will actually save on the cost of using my gas stove because I cooked it down all at once instead of simmering a hamhock alone for each meal. You can get a lot of meat in each jar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I did soup like that this year. I had tons of cabbage so I made the stuffed cabbage soup and canned everything but the rice. I'll put that in when I use it. I usually do vegetable soup that way at the end of the season. All the odds and ends of veggies go in and I add meat or whatever when I open it. This year I had to toss the whole batch. Something got into it that was so bitter it ruined the whole kettle of soup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 is there any veggies out there for sale? I live in the city and love fresh veggies and love to freeze them. Please let me know if there are any out there for sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 is there any veggies out there for sale? I live in the city and love fresh veggies and love to freeze them. Please let me know if there are any out there for sale. Kiwi, go to the farmers market on Saturday mornings. It's from 8am to 11am. I have a huge garden, but, I've been there almost every Saturday as soon as they open. I always find some great buys. This year my hot banana peppers and jalapenos didn't do so well, so I bought mine there. There's one place that has the most wonderful veggies. She has chili peppers that are so great. I bought a peck, stuffed them and froze them. I just put them in sauce and right before taking them out of the oven, I put mozzerella all over them. Yum! The bad thing is that it's winding down now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted September 26, 2007 Author Share Posted September 26, 2007 Now I am canning some chicken in broth with carrots and celery. Roasting Chickens are BOGO at Shop N Save and that makes it about $.75 a lb. I am also canning 7 quarts of broth with carrots and celery. I will have many uses for that. I roasted them first and it is not hard at all to debone it. The bones and some other chicken that I bought will make nice broth. The second canner will go on in an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snellma Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Ok, I'm still not quite done with my apples (still have 1/2 - 1 bushel left), but here is what I have accomplished in the last 1 1/2 weeks: 90 qts. grape juice 6 batches of grape jelly 8 grape pies 40 qts. spaghetti sauce 12 pts. salsa 32 pts. tomato puree 27 qts. apple pie filling 2 batches of apple jelly 2 batches of apple butter 20 qts. of applesauce I have enjoyed every minute of it but am getting a little tired of apples now. The rest of the apples will probably just go to applesauce and go in the freezer since I am out of jars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 All I can say is WOW! I hope you had help doing all that canning. I didn't add up all the stuff you canned in the last week and a half but I think it is about what I canned altogether over the last few MONTHS. LOL and I thought I was stocking up. Someday I am going to go down and count what I have of each thing and add it up. I wish I had written this down as I did it just to see how much I made. I tried a wide variety of foods. Today is the last day potatoes are $1.49 for 10 lb at SNS here in DuBois and I am trying to convince myself to can some but the idea of all that peeling sounds horrible to me. I can already feel the blisters on my hands that I would get. Do you think I could can potatoes without peeling? The price of potatoes is usually high and they won't be this cheap again. Brenda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snellma Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I did it all myself. I really enjoy doing it, but I really am tired of apples at this point. If I could have had 2 or even 1 more day off of work I think I could have totally finished everything. Instead, I have been going to work and then coming home and doing apples in the evening. I did some investigating and you do need to peel them. One article said that the skin harbors bacteria. Here are some quick instructions I just copied. Potatoes have to be cooked before packing, so, in addition to the basic equipment for canning, you'll need a large saucepan or pot. You'll also need a vegetable peeler, unless you prefer to use a paring knife. 1. Select perfect, freshly dug potatoes. 2. Organize and prepare equipment and work area. 3. Wash potatoes well, using a vegetable brush. Peel and then wash them again. If desired, (hmmm, chuckle...various strange visions dancing in my mind's eye....) cut potatoes to fit the size jars you are using. 4. Cook potatoes in boiling water to cover for 10 minutes in a large saucepan or pot. Drain. 5. Pack hot potatoes into hot jars to within 1 inch of the tops. Add boiling water to within 1 inch of tops. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt to each pint, 1 teaspoon to each quart, if desired. 6. Run a slim, non metal tool down along the insides of jars to release any air bubbles. Add more boiling water to within 1 inch of tops, if necessary. 7. Wipe tops and threads of jars with a damp clean cloth. 8. Put on lids and screw bands as manufacturer directs. 9. Process at 10 pound pressure, 30 minutes for pints, 40 minutes for quarts. follow manufacturers directions for your canner. 10. follow basic steps for steam pressure canning, 10 through 24. Source: Vegetable Gardening Encyclopedia Typos by Dorothy Flatman 1995 Submitted By DOROTHY FLATMAN On 10-06-95 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 I heard a good one today. Cut the tops off 20 Roma type tomatoes and split them down the middle. Toss them with coarse salt and olive oil. Spread them on a cookie sheet and dry them in a 200 degree oven for 8 hours or overnight. Layer them with large leaf basil in a quart jar. Cover with olive oil and store in the refrigerator. Garlic optional. I'm going to try it. Lavender, did you try these, if so, did you use garlic and how did they turn out? I'm going to the farmers market tomorrow, and I just may pick up a peck of romas to try them, if there are any left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Lavender, did you try these, if so, did you use garlic and how did they turn out? I'm going to the farmers market tomorrow, and I just may pick up a peck of romas to try them, if there are any left. I did it and I wasn't overly impressed. The flavor was good but they were tough. Maybe I dried them too long. By the time I got around to it the romas I was picking were very small. ps Yes, I used garlic. I can't resist garlic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steelnut Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 I did it and I wasn't overly impressed. The flavor was good but they were tough. Maybe I dried them too long. By the time I got around to it the romas I was picking were very small. ps Yes, I used garlic. I can't resist garlic. Ha, I can't either, love the stuff. And it makes me so thirsty! But, that's a good thing, I'm always drinking water because of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmett1111 Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 why wont my grape jelly set?i tried twice with no luck.i used certo.so much work with bad results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavender Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Jelly doesn't set because there isn't enough sugar in it, it isn't acid enough or there isn't enough pectin. Or it didn't get cooked right. It has to come to a rapid boil and boil hard. Sometimes making too big a batch screws it up. That one is my downfall. Fruit varies in ripeness and acidity so it isn't always easy to get it right. Penn States canning bulletin says you can fix it: "When re-cooking and using powdered pectin, for each cup of soft jelly or jam measure 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Directions for jelly not setting are on the insert that came with Certo. They are almost the same as what Lavender got from Penn State. I don't put mine in boiling bath, I seal the jars and invert them on my wooden cutting board and then cover them with a tea towel until cool. When you turn them over they are sealed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snellma Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 I always use Sure-jell and it always sets up. If the sure-jel is old that may be another reason it doesn't set up. Only make one batch at a time and follow the directions and it should be fine. I never put mine in a water bath. I put hot jelly in hot jars. Then I pour a layer of melted parafin wax (Gulf Wax) on the top, and then top with with hot lids and bands. Let sit for 24 hours and they should all seal. I don't even use fresh lids for the jelly since I use the wax. They always seem to seal even if the lids have been used before. The key is to have everything HOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 That is interesting. Some of the Blueberry jam that I made this year didn't set so I just labeled it "Blueberry Syrup". LOL I wonder if I could use this method when I open it and freshen it up that way before serving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lizzie Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Put it on ice cream. I have had mine not set with both Sure Jell and Certo. I think the key is "sugar" and "Full rolling boil for one minute.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest snellma Posted October 19, 2007 Share Posted October 19, 2007 I just finished up my apples and thank goodness I am done. I was so sick of apples that I just cut up the last 1/2 bushel and made applesauce out of them. Since I am out of jars I am just going to freeze this batch. Now all that is left to do is pull the goodies out of the freezer and make my jam and jelly. That will wait for another week or two. I need a break right now. Made 2 grape pies yesterday and they turned out sooooooooo good. If anyone is interested I will post the recipe in the recipe forum. Also used a new recipe for apple butter this year and it also was perfect. Guess I can post that one too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokefree Posted October 19, 2007 Author Share Posted October 19, 2007 I never heard of grape pie. Can you post the recipe? What kind of grapes can you use? I keep tellling myself that I am done canning. Then I have someone offer me tomatoes or there is a great sale on meat or something and I am grabbing the canning jars. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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