What are you canning now?

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and well wishes. I will tell you it is not something that I will put on my top 10 list of things to do again. Normally only one hour is needed and I was there for 2 1/2 hours. The procedure itself was not that bad just the darn position that I had to lay in and hold completely still for like an hour+ at a time. They gave me about a 3 minute break in between and helped some. My neck was hurting pretty bad by the time all was said and done. Should have results hopefully by late Wednesday afternoon. Went home and made a batch of Lemon Curd and then I had some tasty limes so I decided to do a batch of that. Boy are they good. Tomorrow will be a lot of cooking but as for all of us my favorite thing to do. The cherry on top is that it is cold and rainy here so perfect day to stay in and cook.

Again, thank you.

Sandee

 

[Dragonfly Ranch]

Quote:
Check out these two web sites and see if anything works for you there

http://www.specialtybottle.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=30
http://www.containerandpackaging.com/itemlist.asp?itemtype=Hex_Glass

Sandee

 

[Scoop]

Sandee-Hope your tests results come back ok!

Has anyone ever tried the reusable canning lids?

http://www.reusablecanninglids.com/

or

http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitche...r_id=bcngoog&gclid=CKSj5sHziqcCFYQXzQodvRaGfQ

I'm skeptical because seriously, you'd still have to get the rubber rings as rubber dry rots eventually.
Soooooo... is it really worth it???

 

[breezy]

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I have them and I love them. Easy to use and so far they have reused nicely. Just take good care of them and they are supposed to last 10 years or more. I dont put my rubber rings thru the dishwasher because I think the dishwasher wears things like that out faster. they were worth it for me at any rate. I am canning for 2 people and I dont sell anything so they make sense for me

 

[Bare bottom farm]

H all, so I'm new to canning but I put but jams and jellies last year... I realy realy want to make my garden go far this year.. With the price of food going up..
can anyone help me with recipes for like main meal stuff and what to do with potatoes??? Thanks

 

[elizabethbinary]

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I found the best way to preserve potatoes is to simply keep them in dirt... they preserve themselves pretty much in enough dirt.

 

[Olive Hill]

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I found the best way to preserve potatoes is to simply keep them in dirt... they preserve themselves pretty much in enough dirt.

Unless you're in an area that gets hard freezes... in which case a root cellar is your friend.

 

[Scoop]

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If you pressure can potatoes you might want to just use the regular jars and not wide-mouth. I did some recently and the wide-mouth jars all had leaked some of the water out of the jars. None of the regular jars leaked. Don't know why, probably just the physics of it all, but I won't be using wide-mouth jars again for pressure canning that requires a long processing time.
If you are looking for a potato recipe I can give you the recipe I used tonight. Ham may be too expensive to use soon but that could be eliminated.

Ham & Potato Casserole

2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup peas

2 cups cubed ham
2 Tbl. chopped green pepper
2 Tbl. chopped onion
3 Tbl. butter

3 Tbl. flour
3 Tbl. butter
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

Mix first 3 ingredients and boil just til tender. Drain and put in a 13 x 9 pan. Add peas to pan. Put cubed ham in pan. Put green pepper, onion, and butter in small bowl and microwve for about 60 - 90 seconds just til softened a bit. Add to pan. Melt butter in a porcelin coated pan if you have one. Add flour to mixed. Then, very slowly add the milk a little at a time. Mix continually with a wire whisk. Continue to add milk very slowly and then just bring to a boil and let it boil just til it's thickened a bit. Turn off burner and remove from hot burner and add the cheese and mix it in with the whisk. Mix it well and then add salt and pepper. Then pour it over the rest of ingredients in the pan and mix well. Heat in the oven, covered with foil, for about 30 minutes at 350*.

 

[farmerlor]

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I highly, highly recommend my canning email group on yahoo called canning2. We have hundreds of members who can help you with any question you might have and a recipe file FILLED with tried and true recipes that are safe and delicious to can.
As for potatoes....my favorite way to use them is to run them through a french fry cutter so the potatoes are cut into long strips. Raw pack them in wide mouth pint jars with some water and some canning salt being careful to leave an inch of air at the top of the jar. Can in the pressure canner for 45 minutes at 10 pounds sea level. Now when you use those puppies, drain them and then toss them on a paper towel until they dry a little and then flash fry them in hot oil. Wonderful french fries. The other way to use potatoes that I like is to dehydrate them. Just slice 'em, run 'em through a rinse with a little salt water and put 'em in the dehydrator or in the oven on the dry cycle. They work GREAT in casseroles and scalloped potatoes.
In the files of that canning group that I was talking about there's a vegetarian soup made with tomatoes, beans, veggies and potatoes that is excellent. My kids adore the stuff and it was one of the first things I ever canned.
If you have any other questions feel free to PM me or reply here because I can talk canning all day every day since I am canning SOMETHING at least once a week. Tomorrow I'm canning sliced mushrooms that were on sale at the store this week. Yummers!

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
I found the best way to preserve potatoes is to simply keep them in dirt... they preserve themselves pretty much in enough dirt.

Unless you're in an area that gets hard freezes... in which case a root cellar is your friend.

Cold... I dun know no stinkin' cold....