Green Tomato Relish

 It's so exciting to find a family recipe for something I can can and give away for Christmas!

Green Tomato Relish

https://merrymeetingmenu.blogspot.com/2021/04/green-tomato-relish.html

Meyer Lemon Curd

This curd is a lemon meringue pie in a jar. I chose the recipe from Marisa McClellan's book Food In Jars but a similar recipe can be found on her blog. Here is her blog post is for Meyer Lemon Curd. 

I highly recommend trying your hand at making a curd, it is not as scary as it seems, and the only special equipment you need is a thermometer (preferably a candy thermometer) and a double boiler which can be easily made with a stock pot and a large bowl. Here is how I made mine:

I processed mine in hot jars for 25 minutes in a hot water bath. It is shelf stable once canned for two months, so for long term storage it is best to keep it in the freezer.  Any left overs that don't fit in the hot water bath can go in a jar for the fridge. Here is my left overs placed next to my clementine marmalade (recipe coming next) and our neighbor Anne's marmalade (in the fancy jar!) Enjoy!

Canning Storage

I'm rather impressed that this is so well stocked at what is typically the weakest time of the year to have thick stocks!

What looks like beer or O'Douls is actually Maple Syrup, just like the bottom shelved items.

I made Marmalade! Food in Jars Mastery Challenge for 2017

Yesterday I completed my first challenge for the Food in Jars Mastery Challenge for 2017, a monthly skill based challenge for people interested in expanding our knowledge and skills in canning and preserving foods.

Here is the calendar for the 2017 Challenge:

Calendar of Preserving Skills
January – Marmalade
February – Salt Preserving
March – Jelly
April – Quick Pickles
May – Cold Pack Preserving
June – Jam
July – Hot Pack Preserving
August – Low Temperature Pasteurization
September – Fruit Butter
October – Drying and Dehydration OR Pressure Canning
November – Fermentation
December – Fruit Pastes

I had never made Marmalade before yesterday and while it was a lot of work I can say I am a new fan! Looking at the calendar I can say that February's challenge with salt preserving slightly terrifies me, cold and hot pack preserving I have never heard of,  I'm fascinated to learn what low temperature pasteurization is, and  I will definitely need some tools and supplies for fermentation. Needless to say, I am stoked about opportunities that this Challenge will create.

I should start by saying that I found so much serendipity in the facts that a) My husband brought home Cara Cara oranges from snow making without knowing that I had a Marmalade challenge and b) Of all my canning books with Marmalade recipes, only Marisa's book Food in Jars (of the #fijchallenge) had a Cara Cara recipe. 

Yesterday was a long day in the kitchen as Marmalade takes more work than other recipes for sure!

I thought about how much ginger I needed to peel and realized this could be a long day.

I sat at the counter and got to work, minus about a bazillion kid interruptions. Seriously, no sooner did I send them to the sled hill and set out my mis en place when they were back and asking for food!

Ginger Juice was a first for me!

This is my 'scant' one cup ginger juice!

After that I needed to zest my ten oranges. 

 That's a lot of zest and my hands were tired!

Then I needed to peel and Supreme my oranges. 

While I did that I needed to cook my confetti zest and reserve the water. 

And then it all stated to come together and cook. Look at those beautiful colors!

I couldn't find my candy thermometers anywhere so I had to use a meat thermometer. I asked SP after the fact and he told me that one broke in the drawer and then he broke on making maple syrup. Well if you can see the thermometer well enough, it is well over 220. I also used the saucer test on it and it passed, or so I thought, on the second test. However, my marmalade never really set. 

 I am more than pleased to have my first Christmas 2017 gift put up on January 8th - another first!

Thank you Marisa!

August

Trout with curried cauliflower, caught in town and grown and canned at home. 

I need a new shelf for my new shelf!

My jelly cabinet is full so I started a new shelf.

Well it filled up rather quickly


























And then yesterday, my blueberry jam was the final straw. 

I need a new shelf for my new shelf.

Canning in August

Canning in August is so much better outside.

Strawberry Jam

That first pint went awfully fast but at least I have a start on my gift giving!

Strawberry Rhubarb Freezer Jam

A good start on my summer canning!

A busy canning weekend

5 cans of green beans, 4 pints of chutney, and two more cans of sauce! It was a very productive weekend canning and I am the proud new owner of a pressure canner!








The chutney is extra special dear to my heart - Mom's recipe but made with fresh tomatoes for the first time! It is a little lighter in color because many of the tomatoes were beautiful yellow ones.

Pickled Tomatoes

Thanks to the Ball Blue book, I found something to do with all my sungold and sweet 100 tomatoes!!!! There were four jars, but Heather took one home last night!

Bread and Butter Pickles

A family favorite, I put up six pints of bread and butter pickles yesterday. I must say though, that I should have added a dash extra sugar when I added a dash extra vinegar to cover them in the pot. They are almost Bread and bitter pickles! None the less, a crowd pleaser that makes my tuna salad quite lovely!

40 Apples a day

I realized last night that I am processing at least 40 apples a day. I think this should continue through next week since I still have 2 large bins to get through.

The picture on the left is yesterdays apple butter. I like it even though it was oven baked for about 6 hours. I finally got around to canning it at 11:00 last night! The recipe, "Marion's Apple Butter" is from Preserving the Harvest by Carol Costenbader.

I am also making dehydrated apple rings for the kids snacks. I can fit about 8 apples at a time in my dehydrator. It takes about all day to dehydrate them completely. The picture below is the batch Daughter helped me get going yesterday afternoon. I had to turn them off when I went to bed, so they are finishing up right now!

Preserving the Harvest

I just received this book as a birthday present from Ms. Judy. I am SO excited to use it. I find that my Ball Blue Book is getting worn and is also limited in terms of my options. I am really looking forward to putting this book to good use! THANKS MS. JUDY!!!! And thanks to Carol Costenbader for writing it!

3 bags of Wyman's berries...

...yielded 6 jars of jam! The baby has been yammering all afternoon, "I want jelly! I want jelly!" which either means he can not handle one more peanut butter and (local) honey sandwich, or else I make the best darn jam in the whole wide world. I am going with the latter, because my house smelled lusciously of raspberry-blueberry-strawberry-blackberry-sugar simmer and boil that even SP came home and said wow! Now, watching those six jar cooling on the counter, I too can not wait until breakfast so I can sample it, and maybe, just maybe, I will make another loaf of acorn bread tomorrow and discover that I really have created my own piece of heaven on earth!