24 blueberry muffins in the freezer
2 2-cup Ziplock bags of corn in the freezer
5 1/2 pints of crushed tomatoes in the canner right now (well, I ran out of lids so the half-pint is going into the freezer)

This is all not very much by some folks' standards, and even by my own usual numbers the jars of tomato stuff are way down. Nevertheless, I am finding a lot of satisfaction this year in the ritual of putting up food for winter. I watch the pantry shelves and freezer fill up and it makes me feel cozy and contented, like I'm ready for anything. (And it's not just me who finds it reassuring to be stocked up --- my sister and her husband like to joke that when the apocolypse comes, they're coming to stay with me!)

Z

Zabby, shouldn't that be part 2. ii is usually II.

12 pint salsa canned
1/2 pint salsa in the fridge

Wich stinks because I did a triple batch last night expecting 14-16 pints and it cooked down to 12.5

Hello....my name is Annie and I'm a farmer. LOL

Zabby, I make grape jelly and can grape juice for the grandkids. Add 5 pints of Concord grape juice to my tally. The grapes are loaded this year, they are seedless Concords. I suggested that Elery make wine, but he said you don't make wine from Concord grapes, it tastes too much like Welch's grape juice. I told him we could make wine out of ANYTHING, LOL.

Hey, Zabby, I'm going to be in Toronto this weekend!

Annie

Annie,
I'm a convert to grape jam. We had it in plain old peanut butter sandwiches today, on some fresh multigrain bread (from the bakery---not being Annie, I didn't whip it up myself between breakfast and brushing my teeth.... ;-) ).
As good as any expensive gourmet sandwich!

Have fun in Toronto! Do you have work there? You will hit the end of the Film Festival --- look out for movie stars LOL. I'll be there the next weekend; sorry to miss ya! If you happen to be driving home Eastward, do pop into Prince Edward County and see me....

ronnywil, oh, my, it IS getting to be pear season---I'm just getting to doing peaches --- still some around, though I misse the best prices. Goodness, at this time of year one just can't keep up with nature.

I also just came across the recipe for tomato basil butter and remembered I've GOT to do some of that with the last of the toms and basil....

Z

70 qts green beans
6 qts concord grape juice
16 half pints concord grape jelly
60 pints Annie's salsa
30 pints diced tomatoes
20 qts peaches
5 pints jalapeno peppers
16 pints strawberry jam
7 half pints strawberry rhubarb jam
16 (? still in process) spaghetti sauce
2 bushels of apples for applesauce

in the freezer:
60 containers sweet corn
3 gal sliced zucchini
2 gal sliced yellow crookneck squash
6 quarts grated zucchini
16 pints strawberry freezer jam
3 gal assorted sliced bell pepper
12 pints crushed strawberries
6 pints whole strawberries
1 gallon dried feral hops (need time to brew some beer)

in the basement:
~5 lbs garlic
~1 bushel onions
~1 bushel potatoes

phew, after taking a quick inventory I know why I'm tired of being in the kitchen. Oh well, it'll be great eating for a long time and I'll be ready to get back at it in the spring. I have to add that everything I canned/froze came from my garden with the exception of the peaches and apples.

Zabby, I'm visiting with a couple of friends from the Cooking Forum, Elery and I are taking the train from Windsor to Toronto, and we'll do the commuter train to my friend's house in Oakville, so no driving East or anywhere else.

Look for movie stars? I'm so far out of touch I wouldn't recognize one if I saw one, I'm afraid, unless they made a movie 30 years ago, LOL. I did watch Julie/Julia last weekend, the first movie I've seen since (I think) 2003 when I watched the last of the "Lord of the Rings" installments. (grin)

Annie

Annie,
I hope you have a blast of a visit to the True North Strong and Free (as the Canadian national anthem says) with your cooking friends! Eating well is so wonderfully international, eh?

I doubt the film festival stars will be hanging out in Oakville. ;-)

I saw Julie & Julia with my mom last week and we both enjoyed it....
Z

OK, so I won't look for anyone famous in Oakville. just as well, I've been told that "happy hour" is starting at 5 pm and dinner isn't until 8 pm, so I probably would see two of any of them anyway, LOL. I'm not much of a drinker, two is about my limit!

Anyway, the woman whose house we're having supper at is a canner too, she's Chase from the Cooking Forum and she's given me a great recipe for tomato sauce and she made her own pastrami a couple of weeks ago. She's a kindred spirit. She also is the originator of a recipe that my Dad called "the world's best dill pickles", although they were open kettle packed and definitely not an approved recipe. Dad, being Dad, had his own very definite opinions and didn't really care what I said....

Annie

Added a touch of vanilla to the peaches. We ate the fourth half-pint (wouldn't fit in the canner) this morning and I think this particular batch of fruit was actually IMPROVED by being canned --- these were local peaches and had good, fresh flavour but weren't very sweet.

My DH was commenting how VERY much he preferred my home-canned peaches to store-bought ones, which always seem slimy and rubbery. These still had the texture of fruit, albeit softened.

I gotta say, I was wishing last night I had one of you guys around to can with. It felt like long work peeling and slicing four baskets of peaches all by myself. But oh, it'll be nice to open those jars up in midwinter!

Z

Could you post the recipe for Mexican Pork Stew?

A search pulled up several threads, but I didn't find a recipe in them anywhere. Pork loin and pork stew meat are on sale here.

Thanks so much!

~ Tracy

I persuaded my sister who was visiting last week to help me can Carrot Cake Jam. It sure went faster with someone to help with the peeling and chopping.

I bought a case of Honeycrips apples at a farmer's market yesterday, and spent the day today working on them. My oldest son helped some early in the day, but he's not quite 11 yrs. old, and lost interest after a while, so I was alone in the kitchen most of the day.

Here's what I accomplished:

8 pints of Cinnamon Applesauce
7 half pints of Mom's Apple Pie in a Jar (Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving)
5 half pints of Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam

On the Ball recipe, it said you could use raisins or dried cranberries, so I used Craisins, which will look good for holiday gifts, but Linda Lou's looks more like a real apple pie filling, and is a little less sweet. Both were yummy though. By the end of the day, I think I ate about half a jar of jam, because I had to keep comparing the two, LOL!

Bonnie

First jams were like syrup and better for Ice cream. now getting better as you can see in jar 2

I think I picked the last of my pepperoncini peppers. This time, I added a little calcium chloride to each quart jar as well as a couple of cloves of cut up garlic. The brine was made with the 20% vinegar, diluted to about 6-7%. I added pickling salt, enough to make the brine actually taste sweet. Almost like the way you do fermented pickles in a salt water brine. In any case, I made 3 quarts and used my very reliable vacuum pump method to get the brine inside all the peppers, and then the Food Saver canning jar attachment to make the final seals. All went well and they are still nice and crisp. Thats about it for the garden except maybe 3 brussels sprout plants yielding some sprouts. The other 26 plants are not producing, only blooming the sprouts, or they are tiny. Whatever does look OK, I will leave to pick after a frost or two, but the non producers will all get pulled out. Cukes are all gone and tomatoes are winding down. I see one baseball sized cantaloupe out there. The melons did lousy this year. Planted my Music garlic and expect about 80+ bulbs next summer. Its a big size clove suitable for pickling too. Still have a single Macintosh apple thats ripening on a colonnade tree. The tree is unique in that its ten foot tall, but only 2 weet wide as all branches grow vertically. I hope to get more from the 3 colonnade trees next year, as they are still young. Found out that Asian pears can keep well for up to six months in the fridge. My three Asian pears had no fruits this year, as they too are still young trees.

what date cup pint 3/4 quart quart other
Totals 192 23 68 14 82 5
tomato sauce 03/17/09 8
apple sauce 03/22/09 1 2
tomato sauce 03/23/09 5
tomato sauce 03/24/09 3
asparagus pickled 05/12/09 9
strawberry jam 05/25/09 9
strawberry rhubarb jam 05/26/09 3
strawberry rhubarb sauce 06/01/09 6
tomato sauce 06/08/09 3
tomato juice 06/08/09 3
tomato sauce 06/10/09 3
tomato juice 06/10/09 1
blueberry jam 06/13/09 1 6
blueberry sauce 06/14/09 5
strawberry rhubarb jam 06/14/09 1 5
asparagus pickled 06/16/09 4
strawberry jam 06/16/09 6
plum sauce 07/20/09 6
asparagus pickled 07/25/09 3 1
blueberry jam 07/27/09 5
strawberry jam 08/01/09 6
strawberry banana jam 08/01/09 3
strawberry sauce 08/03/09 3
apricots halfs 08/03/09 1
strawberry grape syrup 08/03/09 1
pear quarters 08/10/09 3
pear quarters 08/11/09 1 3
applesauce 08/15/09 1
pear pieces 08/16/09 3
pear pieces 08/18/09 3
tomato catsup 08/24/09 2 4 2
tomato sauce 08/26/09
cherry light syrup 09/01/09 2 1
salsa 09/02/09 3
salsa 09/06/09 3
chili sauce 09/06/09 2
plum salsa 09/09/09 3
chili sauce 09/09/09 1
yellow tomato sauce 09/09/09 2
yellow tomato juice 09/09/09 2
yellow tomato sauce 09/10/09 1
tomato thick sauce 09/10/09 2
tomato sauce 09/10/09 2
tomato juice 09/10/09 2
tomato plum salsa 09/12/09 1 3
tomato sauce 09/12/09 1 2
tomato juice 09/12/09 1 1
tomato plum salsa 09/15/09
tomato plum salsa 09/15/09 3
chli tomato plum sauce 09/15/09 1 1
tomato roasted sauce 09/15/09 2
tomato juice 09/15/09 3
tomato sauce 09/17/09 1 1
tomato juice 09/17/09 1 1
tomato sauce 09/20/09 1 3
tomato juice 09/20/09 1 2

I slice each clove and dehydrate it. I usually do about 3 lbs at a time.

Lynn

I finally get to add more stuff! The grapes are ripening quickly so I can add:

7 pints of concord grape juice
2 pints and 5 half pints of concord grape jelly

and, although it has no grapes:

5 half pints of fig and vanilla bean preserves. I found fresh figs at a farm market near Elery's and bought 2 pounds, just because I love the stuff in thumbprint cookies!

Annie

14 more quarts plain tomato sauce
14 4oz jars Habanero Gold pepper jelly
7 pints bread and butter pickles
2 quarts wine soaked dehydrated tomatoes in olive oil
lots more dried herbs: dill, oregano, thyme, basil
dried cayenne peppers

Abhaya

JELLY (all pints
5 three berry
9 blackberry
12 strawberry
12 blueberry lime
25 peach
5 zucchini orange (not sure if keeping - has gelatin)
5 apple pie
4 pear honey

PICKLED
22 pints/10 quarts Dill
19 pints bread and butter
7 end of garden pickles

RELISH/SALSA
21 pints Annies salsa
12 zucchini relish
10 corn relish
11 pints plum sauce
7 pints Harry and David pepper relish

GENERAL
12 qt tomatoes
65 qt peaches
29 qt pears
12 pints veggie soup
5 pints tomato garlic soup
7 quarts chicken soup
7 quarts black beans
7 quarts black beans

Annie

But I picked up a load of peaches, pears, apples - and made a stop for some famous Dudley's bread and a few flats of eggs along the way. It was a very hot day for the mountains - more than I've ever seen it.

The folks at Wynola Valley Orchard have printed a card with the available fruit dates - and the areas of U-pick orchards which I found useful. In the past, I've just had to take whatever they had when I passed through. It is nice to know that I can get good fruit - like Granny Smith apples in November - and a few others that will come in later this year. This time, tho - it was freestone peaches, Bartlett pears and an apple that was a bit soft. Later varieties should be better as cooler weather sets in. Nice to know.

Soooo-

Elberta type peaches: 14 pints canned - 4 half pints frozen.

Bartlett pears - 12 pints canned - 4 half pints frozen.

Apples - 10 pints canned - 4 half pints canned.

Presently drying a mix of peppers, and jalapeno, ancho and other hots coming along nicely. Good crop.

12 small sized pumpkin/squash - cooked/pureed/frozen - 9 half pints.

Sour dough bread has become a "regular" now, and my family has become fond of it - especially to accompany spaghetti foods and/or with spreads on it - cream cheese.

Regularly make yogurt.

A brisket or 2 was "corned" in salt brine since last posting. Need something to go with all that sauerkraut I put up last year. (makes great Ruben sandwiches).

A Natal Plum plant in my front yard has produced a lot of small sized pear-shaped fruit this year. As soon as I've collected enough, will mix them with some plum puree that I've stashed in the freezer, to make a really nice jam - at least it was the last time I made it. Most of my berry jams have long gone - only the orange/lime marmalades remaining in the pantry.

Harvesting limes and lemons - and freezing in small-sized ice cube trays. A lot of my "stash" were used in the recent fruit canning spree - and do love the nice tangy flavor of added citrus to those fruit cannings.

My cool weather garden is in the process of being planted - set out small seedlings of cabbage, bok choy, broccoli and trying to protect them from critters. Using fresh compost in planting areas - draws lots of eaters - as it has pill bugs, grubs, ants. So need to make lots of wire cages.

Bejay

Canned:
8 pints green tomato chutney
6 1/2 pints pluot jam
4 1/2 pints green pepper jelly
6 pints Annie's salsa

Other:
1 quart dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 pint candied tomatoes packed in olive oil
1 quart melenzana de aoili (eggplant packed in oil)
2 gallons refrigerator pickles
4 pounds beef jerkey
Various dried herbs
~2 gallons of red cabbage sauerkraut

In the next few weeks, I'll have about 80-100# of tomatoes to put up. I also just made some calls and scheduled to pick up a 1/2 bushel of pears, 1/2 bushel of peaches, and 1 bushel of apples, so I will be busy canning all of those in various recipes this weekend.

12 (4 oz) jars of Roasted Red Pepper Spread, plus a pint in the fridge for fresh eating
9 pints of Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce
2 gallons of sliced sweet peppers, frozen
2 (1/2 cup) servings of lemon basil pesto, frozen

Plus, the first batch of Alma Paprika peppers dehydrated, and ready for grinding, and a dehydrator full of fresh basil going right now.

There's still a bushel box full of partially ripened tomatoes to deal with, and a bowl full of mild jalapenos that I'm trying to decide whether to freeze or can.

I'm sad to see the harvesting/canning season winding down, but I am ready to get out of the kitchen, and spend more time outside!

Bonnie

I was wondering if you'd share that recipe for Vanilla/Fig Preserves posted on the 'what have you put up in '09' pt.II' thread? Sounds tasty and even better on the Christmas cookies!

Thanks, Abhaya

Putting up 8 1/2 pints of plum jelly from some beautiful plums I got at a fruit stand this afternoon. Went overboard on the fruit and have 60# of apples, plus 20-some pounds of peaches and pears. Will probably need to buy more jars!

Apple sauce
Apples in syrup
Apple butter
Spiced peaches
Peaches in syrup
Mom's Apple Pie in a Jar
Peach butter
Plum Jelly

I would like to do another batch of salsa tonight, but I'm not sure I have the energy. Habanero gold is next after the salsa!

--90 pints of salsa
--4 pints of zucchini relish
--16 quarts of tomatoes
--8 pints of Roasted Tomato Soup (I ate most of them already)
--approx 30 assorted jams, jellies and syrups - I did those awhile ago and I don't even remember what I have anymore
--There are also a bunch of jars of pickles in the cabinet. I'm pretty sure they are mush. For some reason, my pickles did not come out good this year.

I also froze:
25 ears of corn
3/4 bushel of peppers

I still need to do more corn, more tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, basil and parsley. The clock is ticking and I am feeling the crunch!!!

Fig and Vanilla Bean preserve

2 1/4 lbs. of figs(fresh)
3 3/4 cup sugar
juice of 1 lemon
2 vanilla beans

Remove stems and chop figs. Mix figs and sugar with lemon juice. Cut vanilla beans in half and scrape out the "seeds", add to the fig mixture.

Bring to a boil and cook until preserves reach gel stage, then fill half pint jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Tonight's project was apples. I found MacIntosh apples, utility grade, for $6.99 a bushel at my local grocery store. I'm told that Michigan has had the best apple year in the last 100 years this year, the trees are loaded. Anyway, these came from a local grower, as you can see the sizes vary widely:

Still, it was one beautiful bushel:

Besides the apples in the dehydrator, I got a batch of apple butter canned:

And, just because I was out, Elery and I made 15 pounds of Italian sausage from some of that fresh pork we just put in the freezer a couple of weeks ago:

Elery couldn't help himself and he brought home a second bushel of those apples, so I see Nancy's maple apple jam in my very near future. Plus, it's supposed to frost here on Wednesday night, so I've got to get the rest of the peppers out of the garden and ready to dehydrate too, and I think I have a few small eggplant.

Other than that, everything left in the garden can tolerate a light frost, although I do still have to can the rest of the beets and the collard greens, and the pumpkins and butternut squash are still waiting patiently.

Oh, and I have those Red Delicious apples to pick too, but they don't make good apple butter, I'll make some sauce out of part of them but most will go into the cider press.

Annie

I was amazed at the price for fresh bone in pork shoulder (Picnic). A local natural food store (Hanafords) had it on sale for .89 cents a pound. Now THATS cheap SAUSAGES!! Must watch for that again, as I missed out on the sale. Suggest that if you get a chance, try the high melting point cheddar cheese sold by a few sausage ingredient suppliers. Its finely diced and will not ooze out when they cook. It gives a nice creamy taste to sausages. I also made beer bratwurst with dried beer flavor. Italian sausages with peppers, onions, garlic and cheese all in one.. Yum!

All my apples were picked last month, except the single Mac from the younger colonnade apple tree, which is still ripening.

It's windy here too, Wind gusts are projected at 70 MPH on Lake Michigan, waves at 18 feet. And it was in the 80s about 2 weeks ago!

Oh and here pork shoulder is also on sale. 69 cents a pound, but I had that whole pig put into the freezer. My next project is smoking my own bacon, I have two "bellies" just waiting.

Annie

Annie

10 quarts of Beef Stock

Then I worked on...

70 ears of corn for the freezer
5 3/4 cup containers of Pesto also for the freezer

and the rest is....

47 pints green beans
16 pints bread and butter pickles
7 quarts crushed tomatoes
11 pints applesauce
3 pints splenda apple butter
19 half pints regular apple butter

I made one batch of Annie's salsa. I of course tasted it as I worked on it. I normally like a fresh salsa and only use the cooked stuff for things like red beans and rice but this was so good! The next morning I had my sister taste it she looked at the 5 pints and 4 half pints on the table and asked "Do we have enough?"

So I proceeded to do another 4 batches and ended up with 24 pints and 24 half pints.

Half a week later after giving some away to people and taking it to a high school reunion she says "I still don't think we have enough we should do 8 more batches."

So more salsa and more apples are in my future. As well as more stock and dried beans to go.

Freezer:
1 gallon bag wild black caps
1 gallon bag Oregon black berries
1 gallon bag huckleberries
1 qrt bag fresh corn
4 gallon bags zucchini, grated and chunks
2 pint bags jalapenos, diced and whole
3 dozen 1/2 pints, low sugar strawberry jam
yet to do: bell peppers, tomatoes, 1/2 gallon jalapenos, more zucchini

Add:
lots of muscadine jelly
several jars Linda Lou's Apple Pie Jam - my favorite
several jars Hab Gold - now I finally know what all the fuss is about (but sure was a lot of dicing!)

~ Tracy

And we baked 2 white fruit cakes using diced dried fruit (peaches, apricots, pears, apples, sweet cherries) and chopped cashews. Will wrap and start soaking in brandy tomorrow.

Dave

Hey, if you're new here you and your sister may not have even heard yet of the trick of adding a can of black beans to that salsa (and maybe even a little frozen corn) & declaring it to be a southwestern soup! I had a couple of glorious years of making just enough, until I learned that trick. Now it's back to rationing, no matter how much I make........ ;-)

Congrats on a hugely impressive first year!

Zabby

Here I've had the dehydrator going, so I have a gallon bag of apple slices and 2 quart bags of Royal Burgundy Beans. I have a dryer full of hot peppers going right now and tomaorrow I'll make another batch of dried apples, but I sprinkle that batch with cinnamon and sugar so Ashley can take them for snacks.

Annie

7 more pints Annie's Salsa (this batch had some chipotle peppers from a guy with a smoker at the market) A nice addition. Yumm!

16 1/2 pints Roasted Red Pepper Spread

Raisins! from some really small kind of grapes the boys brought home from market

14 1/2 pints applesauce from our unidentified apple tree

14 pints bread and butter Jalepeno Rings

14 more 1/2 pints Habanero Gold

The Pear Liqueur is done and I poured it into pretty bottles. One of the bottles has a whole pear in it that we nurtured along on the tree as an experiment to see if it would really work. It does!

That's all for now. It's getting pretty cold at night the poor chickens are molting and there are still so many tomatoes. Yikes.

Abhaya

I have no chickens but my tomatoes are molting!

They're falling off the vines like there was no tomorrow. Hmm; I think, in my tomato growing this season, maybe there IS no tomorrow --- time to pick whatever's left, I think.... ;-)

Z

I managed to add another gallon bag of plain apples and a gallon bag of apples with cinnamon and sugar from the dehydrator. I also got another 5 jars of grape jelly, 6 pints of apple sauce and 7 pints of apple maple jam.

I'm down to half a bushel of MacIntosh and a bushel of Red Delicious, so I'm making headway. I have greens waiting...

Annie

Wow, you're all so organized with your inventory. I'll have to get downstairs and count what I've done so far.

Annie, I would love your recipe for pork sausage and also your process for grinding the meat with the fat if that's what you do. I've never made sausage myself, but my uncle does. I have a Spremy tomato press and have thought about getting the meat grinder attachment for it. I want to know how easy the process is for a beginner before I make that investment, though.

Zabby cara, hi there! I have to tell you that I made your maple pumpkin butter I think it was last week (part-timer's disease..at this time of year, I can only remember what I've done part of the time) and it's absolutely fabulous. I went a little pumpkin-crazy last year and had to can chunks of it to free my freezer, but I didn't get around to using any of it last winter, so your recipe worked out very well, just perfect timing for Thanksgiving. Thanks for posting that recipe!

3 pints of pickled beets
2nd batch of Annie's Salsa
Dilled green beans

I have the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid mixer and it works well enough for the amount I do. The Italian sausage is all pork, I just trim the meat but leave a little fat, cube it up and grind it. I do between 5 and 10 pounds at a time. Grind all the meat, add a couple of cups of grated Asiago, half a bottle of Moscato, a couple of tablespoons of fennel seed, salt and pepper, maybe 1/4 cup of sugar and a couple of teaspoons of tarragon. I mix it all, cook a bit of the meat mixture to test for seasonings, adjust the seasonings and stuff the sausage.

I bought Elery a sausage stuffer for his birthday a couple of years ago and we get the natural casings from Butcher-Packer. It's in Detroit, right here in Michigan, but they have a website. So, he cranks the stuffer while I tie off the links. Then the links go into the freezer. My kids love it, it's the sweet kind, not the hot kind. You could add hot pepper if you want.

I've also made corned beef and pastrami, but you need to buy "pink salt" for that. I have the book "Charcuterie" and it has some amazing recipes. Are you looking for any recipes or information in particular?

Annie

I'm in information-gathering mode right now. Thank you for posting your method and basic recipe here, that really helps. I'll definitely check your book out, too, so thanks for that as well. I sometimes find it difficult to locate specialized gardening and home preserving books in our bookstores. More and more it seems that unless I'm looking for something hugely popular with the "mall crowd", I'm going to be sitting at my computer doing a specialized search on Amazon first.

After Mass this Sunday, Duane and I will be going over to the Italian hardware store where I got my Spremy tomato press and looking at their meat grinders. I see this as a potential time-consuming project to happily fritter away the tedious Winter months.

Next is our own maple cured bacon, I have two "bellies" in the freezer from butchering the pork.

And I'm still canning, add to my list 6 pints of collard greens and 5 pints of apple butter.

Annie

Annie

I also canned:

14 pints of rutabagas
9 pints of glazed carrots
6 pints of apple butter
7 pints of strawberry apple sauce
6 pints of collard greens

And I still have apples!

Annie

I thought I was done, but canned 6 pints of Seasoned Tomato Sauce this weeked to try and use up whats left of the tomatoes that I picked before we had our first freeze.

... and I ordered one of those apple peeler/corer things, so then I searched and found a hardware store with a couple of cases of jars, and bought a bushel of Jonathan apples from a local orchard for $18, which I thought was a pretty good price. Especially since the owner threw in another full box of mixed, small apples for the kids to eat for free! I wasn't familiar with Jonathans though, and thought they would be more tart, but they taste more like a Red Delicious to me. Do you think I should buy a few Granny Smith's or something to mix with them to give the applesauce more flavor? The last batch of applesauce I used Honeycrisp, which I thought had the perfect balance of tart and sweet.

After that, all that's left to do is dehydrate the last of my Alma Paprika's, and grind them into a powder.

Oh, and there are still carrots in the garden. I'm thinking of just slicing, blanching, and freezing so they'll be ready to use for soups and stews.

THEN I'll be done ... I think : )

Bonnie

The Jonathan were sweet? They aren't as tart as Granny Smith, but usually not nearly as sweet as Delicious. I like sauce that's a mix of apples, just as I like cider with a mix of apples, so I'd probably either use some of those small apples or pick up a few apples that are more tart.

Then again, if the sauce is for your kids, they might like it just fine the way it is, sweet and less tart.

Next weekend I'm going to press cider and I still have greens that are waiting, then I can start to experiment with cheese, since I took a cheese making class Saturday. I learned to make cream cheese, ricotta and mozzarella, the hard cheeses will be addressed in the more advanced class later.

Annie

Running tally, and this is my first year canning and drying:

Canned:

Pluot jam
Plum jelly
Peach butter
Peaches in syrup
Spiced peaches
Pear sauce
Spiced pears
Apple sauce
Apples in syrup
Apple butter
Mom's apple pie in a jar
Habanero gold - 3 batches
Peach habanero BBQ sauce
Veggie stock
Chicken stock
Beef stock
Green pepper jelly
Carrot cake jam
Green tomato chutney
Annie's salsa
Zesty salsa
Tomatillo salsa
Green tomato jalapeno salsa
Crushed tomatoes

Frozen:

Okra
Green beans
Sweet peppers
Cauliflower (ate that already)
Spaghetti sauce
Other stuff I can't remember right off

Dried:
Apples
Jerky - 2 batches
Cherry tomatoes
Indian corn (dried itself)
Herbs
Thai chilis

Oil-packed:
Candied tomatoes
Eggplant

Fermented:
Red sauerkraut

Cured:
Preserved lemons

With all of that, and a quarter of beef in the freezer and cordwood outside, I feel ready for winter!

Lpink, who put up a measly 2.5 pints of applesauce tonight.

Decided, now it was time to make "ANNIE'S SALSA" - guess I'm the only one that hasn't - yes?

Anyway, it was great, although I found that I did not have any tomato sauce, so doubled the paste, which to my thinking was a bit much, so will do another batch and have the sauce available. Still it is great anyway.

Sooo - 6 pints Annie's salsa.

Made that Satsuma/Natal plum jam that I was saving up for - using the Pomona pectin with less sugar - nice.

These little natal plums grow on bushes that are used extensively for water-saving plants that are extremely tolerant of ocean spray, so survive practically on the beach. In past years, it has always flowered - but no fruit set. Found this strange, cuz we have bees everywhere, but they didn't seem to care for it. Then, I noticed small small wasps that were attracted. The result -a great crop of natals this year.

Drying red and green ancho peppers, and freezing some after scorching skins.

Dehydrating bananas, pineapples, also.

The dried yogurt starter that I bought from King Arthur Flour Co., works very well. Ken was the one that tuned me into the fact that they sold it. It comes in a package of 5 or 6 packets. I was wondering if it might be possible to freeze yogurt in ice cube trays for future starters, but the dried commercial kind is very good.

I like all of King Arthur Flour Co.'s many recipe ideas, and as I have a nice "sour dough starter" in my fridge, can't wait to give some of them a try. My bread making is becoming quite good.

Brined another brisket and it turned out fine. I'm wondering now if I can use regular Kosher brand for my next brine. I used the last of Morton's special "Tenderquick" salt - which contains "nitrates" and I'd like to get away from using it - very salty, strong, but don't know how much regular salt to brine with then.

Soon will make another trip to the mountains for apples/pears - when I can afford the gas money. The last trip cost more in gas than the price of the fruit - when will it end!

Guess thats it for now.

Bejay

- Annie's Salsa -- double batch --- I think it came to 9 pints and 3 half-pints
- 2 one-gallon bags of tomatoes in the freezer
- a few sauteed peaches in the freezer (the ones I bought at the start of october weren't very peelable or pit-able, so we ate as many as we could) in desserts, on cereal, etc., and alas some went bad --- by the time they were no longer too hard, they were getting mouldy; I hate that!
- 2 ice-cube trays of fall rasperries from the farmer's market, pureed and seeded (for use in smoothies and maybe on cereal)
- three 3-cup tubs of jude's Hungry Man Stew; DH commented that it was indeed VERY filling; I probably should've frozen it in 2-cup tubs!
- 5 more loaves of zucchini bread in the freezer (12 breakfast portions and two whole loaves --- those ones have cranberries & pecans instead of raisins & walnuts; I'll save them for when company comes!); gave the sixth loaf to my mom

Confession: I caved and bought tomatoes at the farmer's market. There was one half-bushel of romas looking awfully nice, the price was decent, and when I said to DH that it felt like admitting defeat, he pointed out I could admit a minor defeat NOW and buy them and make more salsa, or admit REAL defeat in February when we ran out of salsa! He had a point.

I have had a real work crunch, though; it took me four days to get the salsa up --- I chopped the peppers & onions & measured stuff one night; peeled & chopped the tomatoes the next and cooked it up; and reheated it, cooked 10 more minutes, and canned it two days later. (Yes, I know, too slow according to the guidelines. It was in the fridge in between, I cooked it ten more minutes before canning, and personally I think I'll live.)

Z

110 qts applesauce
4 1/2 gallons and 16 qts apple juice

Froze lots of red and yellow bell peppers in 1 cup portions
Dried lots of red and yellow bell peppers

We've picked the yellow dent corn and still have the white to pick.

Still have to harvest carrots, rutabagas, turnips, and there are greens to pick until it gets too cold.

We have 4-5 bushels of beans to shell. Already shelled about 4 bushels. We'll can many and dry some.

I am looking forward to being DONE!

110 qts applesauce
4 1/2 gallons and 16 qts apple juice

Froze lots of red and yellow bell peppers in 1 cup portions
Dried lots of red and yellow bell peppers

We've picked the yellow dent corn and still have the white to pick.

Still have to harvest carrots, rutabagas, turnips, and there are greens to pick until it gets too cold.

We have 4-5 bushels of beans to shell. Already shelled about 4 bushels. We'll can many and dry some.

I am looking forward to being DONE!

5 pints apple butter
13 pints apple sauce

and on Saturday we pressed 20 gallons of cider for the freezer(s). I always divide the finished product up between all the kids that come to help, so I came home with 3 gallons out of the 20, LOL. Plenty for my house...

Annie

Tonight I canned:

8 pints beets
8 half pints apricot pineapple jam

I did send beef to slaughter so pretty soon I can add beef to my list of things "I've put up". And chili, I need to try to can some chili this year, I've never done that before.

Annie

No I guess you aren't alone. Even though I tried to toss in the towel a week or so ago. Today I canned:

4 pints of chipotle ketchup
5 pints tomatillo salsa verde

The other day I roasted peppers and froze 4 quarts after skinning. Put one pint or so in olive oil for the fridge.

The boys informed me there are still lots of beets down in the garden as well as carrots. Guess I need to get back out there!

I'm still picking spinach. We had a lovely salad tonight with feta. I wish I could put some hoops up over it to extend it's life. No frost yet but you know it's coming soon! The kale and chard are still holding their own as well. Last year we ate kale all winter even after our surprise snowfall.

I don't have a pressure canner, YET, so I still have some limitations as to what I can do. Maybe that is my Christmas wish!

Abhaya

Anyway, today canned 6 pints of pears in light syrup. Tomorrow morning will tackle the apples. No sense in overdoing it.

My garden is still producing all kinds of peppers - it was a good year for those, and many still going strong. Will dehydrate those tomorrow, while the apple canning is in progress.

I dehydrated quite a few peppers and some pineapple that missed the count awhile back. Hard to keep track, mainly as I just keep doing little bits of this and that.

The garden is beginning to look promising for broccoli, onion, garlic and snow peas - coming on strong. Even the pole beans are giving their all - so lots of fresh eating now. The mandarin oranges should be ripening in another month - they seem to respond to a cold snap, and mostly ripen to sweet around the holidays - a very productive specimen with heavy crops every year.

I'm trying a new idea - starting yams from slips and making a special "yam bed" - as they seem to winter over well. Always looking for something "easy" that won't require re-doing.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

The Alma Paprika peppers are finally fully ripe, so those need to go in the dehydrater soon.

I've also made another 8 pints of Apple Wedges in Cinnamon Red Hot Syrup (I really love these!), and another 8 pints of Cinnamon Applesauce. I still have enough apples for a small batch of applesauce, and I'd like to make another batch of Cinnamon Apple Jelly, which is the kids favorite, but I was canning so much there for a while that I got way behind around the house. So I'm not quite done, but just taking a much needed break.

Bonnie

Can I add 12 bottles of homemade hard apple cider? It's preserved, I suppose, but I have a feeling it'll get "used" up pretty quickly.

Oh, and I have pork belly brining in a maple solution, it's going to be smoked on Friday. Yum...

Annie

So, 6 half pints of sugar free apple butter, I cooked apples all day in the crockpot and they were ready by the time I got home.

by next week I'll be canning beef stock, chili and soups, and I have 50 pounds of potatoes in the garage along with those "gourmet baby leeks", so maybe a batch of potato/leek soup will be on the board...

Annie

I still have a few pumpkins that I should can, the leeks are still in the garage right next to the potatoes.

I did manage to get 5 quarts and a pint of beef stock canned this morning and 210 pounds of beef are in the freezer, but only because Elery is here to help me, an awful lot of time has been spent on the couch.

Annie

I've been travellng --- visited my dad's cousins in the Gaspe region of Quebec, right on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where I ate lots of lovely homemade old-fashioned food.

JUST before we left (and I mean just --- the jars were cooling on the counter as we went out the door), I put up the pears, some little Anjou ones, in light syrup. They were small enough that I left them in halves, and they look very pretty indeed.

Annie, I'm so sorry you've been poorly! Hope you feel better soon!!

Z

The mandarins are beginning to ripen with the recent cold nights we've had, so will section them and freeze in syrup. They are nice served as accompaniment to dinner menus that are otherwise heavy on the calories - meats, potatoes, etc. I also freeze them plain sometimes just in water. They are so versatile.

My trials of the dried yogurt starter that I ordered on-line from King Arthur's - has a very pleasant flavor. My own made with the commercial starters were sometimes a bit sour. I think the dried has a mix of several lactobacillus cultures that are quite pleasing and so far it has set up well.

Most of my fall garden is in - except for a few starts of cabbage and repeat bok choy to replace what the summer "crowd" found to their liking. I'm starting some sweet potato slips in the window - to experiment with - I note some vines that wintered well from last year - and am in hopes I can get a "jump" on next season when it warms up again - when I'll be ready to plant them in rich soil.

Some voles tore up my strawberry bed, and didn't take my own advice to put screen on the bottom before they were planted in their box. Had to move them.

Very busy - garden wise, grinding up and composting along with planting, so the kitchen is slow - except for baking (warms up the kitchen on cool days too).

Sorry you had the flu Annie. I had my share last year. Tried to avoid crowds this time - so far, so good.

Cheers.

Bejay

Canned:
*6 pints green tomato relish
*4 pints green tomato salsa
*6 pints pickled kung pao peppers

Dehydrated:
*3-4 quarts trombocino squash
*3-4 quarts kung pao peppers (my hand still burns, there must have been a hole in my glove!)
*1 quart or so jalapenos
*1/2 pint or so habaneros
*1/2 pint green bell peppers
*1 quart sage leaves
*1/2 pint tarragon
*1/2 pint dill

Frozen:
*3 logs of nasturtium lemon butter
*gallon size bag, 1 layer of green grape tomatoes (I had planned to do another batch of salsa but I was so tired of chopping!)
*gallon bag of sliced bell peppers
*quart bag of chopped red tomatoes
*gallon size bag w/ 1 layer of sliced green rutger's tomatoes for later frying
*1/2 quart or so of pepper brushetta
*2 containers of veggie tomato sauce
*gallon bag of roasted acorn squash
*loaf and a half of zuchinni bread

I think that's about all of it.

My freezer is packed!! I need to invest in one of those stand-alone chest type freezers to put in the basement...

I have one big bag of bell peppers left in the fridge. I am going to stuff some, and then if there are any left, roast and freeze (if they fit!).

Canned:
Apricot Jam
Strawberry Jam
Cherry Applesauce

Didn't get anywhere near what I wanted done. Still have onions.

3 qts pinto beans
4 pints pintos
7 pints black beans
5 pints enchilada sauce

Lots of dried/frozen peppers - red and green - more still waiting for some heat to ripen. (hopefully). With some Thai, ancho, jalapenos and a few poblano types still surviving.

Made zucchini bread and pumpkin waffles from frozen stuff - and must inventory the freezer for any of last harvest hiding in the bottom. I found a container of frozen boysenberries that were so great on a waffle with yogurt this morning.

Limes now - squeezing and freezing in trays. Think I will try the curd recipe that I see here occasionally. Sounds fantastic.

Onward and upward - More later !!

Bejay

Canned the sauerkraut, some pomegranate-cranberry relish, tomato sauce and pizza sauce. Also froze some excess tomatoes when I got tired of canning.

I am loving having all this stuff at the ready, though I think we'll go through most of it well before next canning season. Next year, more salsa!

Got some bosc pears last week, probably from the Niagara region where it's about a zone warmer than here --- our orchard store closed down the previous weekend. Pineapples were on sale, so I got a couple and did 8 pints of pear & pineapple chunks in light syrup. We had some for breakfast this morning with zucchini bread from the freezer and it was a nice combo.

Z

You might dehydrate some of those pineapple chunks, then store in freeze containers. They make nice additions to zucchini bread. I also zip up my granola with them too - nice.

Just my 2 c's.

Bejay

Then I also made 13 half-pints of spicy cranberry salsa. I will pair this with small loaves of cranberry jalapeno bread for co-worker gifts.

I ran out of steam before I got to apple-cranberry chutney, but I'll attempt that next weekend.

--Gina

I'm just about done with the fresh-from-the-garden canning except for some peppers I still need to pickle. I used this thread as motivation to go through my inventory this weekend. This is what I've put up in 2009 (cases are 12 jars, numbers refer to volume in milliliters):

Italian Tomato Sauce: 2 cases 500's
Golden Plum Butter: 2 cases 250's
Blackberry Habanero Jelly: 2 cases 125's
Quince Preserves: 2 cases 250's
Black Forest Preserves: 1 case 250's
Enchilada Sauce: 2 cases 250's
Picante Sauce: 2 cases 250's
Ketchup: 1 case: 250's
V-8 Juice: 1 case 1000's
Chilis in Water (pressure canned): 1 case 500's, 1/2 case 1000's
Pickled Chilies: 1/2 case 1000's
Pickled Jalapeno Rings: 2 cases 250's
Pickled Pepperoncini: 1/2 case 1000's
Spicy Garlic Cucumber Pickles: 1 case 500's
Pickled Romano Beans: 1 case 500's
Sweet Cucumber Pickle Slices: 1 case 500's
Unsweetened Applesauce: 2 cases 500's
Spicy Applesauce: 3 cases 500's
Whole Tomatoes in Water (pressure canned): 1 case 1000's
Chocolate Mint Jelly: 1 case 250's
Habanero Gold Jelly: 2 cases 125's, 1 case 250's
Cranapple Butter: 1 case 250's
Caponata: 2 cases 500's
Chicken Braising Sauce: 1 case 500's
Green Unripe Apple Pectin: 1 case 250's
Fig Jam: 1 case 250's
Cucumber Relish: 1 case 500's
Lime Basil Vinegar: 2 x 1500 jars
Red Rubin Basil Jelly: 1 case 250's
Nasturtium Vinegar: 2 x 1500 jars
Nasturtium Jelly: 1 case 250's
Anise Hyssop Jelly: 1 case 250's
Zabby's Pumpkin Maple Butter: 1 case 250's
Rhubarb Jelly: 1 case 250's
Superhot Chile Concentrate Paste: 3 cases 125's
Zucchini Relish: 1 case 500's
Anise Basil Jelly: 1 case 250's
Cinnamon Basil Jelly: 1 case 250's

Dried Stuff:

Chocolate Mint
Blue Spice Basil
Anise Hyssop
Rainbow of Cherry Tomatoes
Paste Tomatoes
Golden Plums
Chile Peppers, mild to wild

Entrees (all 1000ml jars):

Full O' Beans Soup: 1 case
Carrot-Ginger-Orange Soup: 1 case
Crab Marinara Sauce: 1 case
Split Pea Soup with Ham: 1 case
Cassoulet: 1 case
Spicy Beef Chili: 1 case

Still to Can:

Pomegranate Jelly (250's)
Acai Berry Jelly from Pure Juice (250's)
Blackberry Maple Syrup (500's)
Pickled Garlic (250's)
Pear-Ginger Jam (250's)
Blood Orange Marmalade (250's)
Blood Orange-Cranberry-Pomegranate Relish (250's)
Blueberry Lemonade Concentrate (1000's)
Red Currant Jelly (250's)
Tomato Sauce with Milled Frozen Puree (500's)

Coq Au Vin (1000's)
Gulyas or Goolash (1000's)
Boston Baked Beans (1000's)
Beef-Elk Stew (1000's)
Lasagne Sauce (1000's)
Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce (1000's)

This is a great spot to track progress and keep the inventory documented. I like that!

Annie

I don't have a dehydrator (yet!)

But if I do get one someday I'll try pineapple chunks, thanks! I don't often can stuff that doesn't grow locally (and believe me, we're a LONG way from any pineapple orchards up here), since I figure it makes sense to put my effort where there is the most freshness worth preserving. But a) the pineapple was on a good sale, b) we like pineapple for breakfast but it's a pain to peel and core it as an early-morning chore, c) we often can't get through a whole one before it starts to go bad, and d) I had some plain pears already and wanted to can these ones with something else so that I could open one jar and be half-way to fruit salad.

I am fairly pleased with how it came out, and if pineapple goes on a good sale again I might can some by itself, given items a), b), and c) above!

Cheers,

Z

But about pineapple - I buy things that don't grow well here - (like tomatoes sometimes) in #10 cans, then divided the contents and freeze, to have it handy for a dish I'm preparing. I learned the value of #10 cans when I lived on an island (accessed only by boat), so things were shopped for in larger sizes, to limit the number of trips to the mainland for supplies.

Anyway - back to harvest -

6 pints mandarin oranges for freezer (lots more as they ripen). So good and much better than commercially canned.

Lots more dried red peppers - that are slow to ripen (weather dropping into 40's), but still hanging in there.

Freezing lime juice in trays, but bought some small styrofoam cups and will make some sherbet - using condensed milk and egg base.

With the cold mornings, I'm doing more baking - and using the sour dough starter for cinnamon roles and yesterday made 10 waffles for freezer. They were OK, but still prefer the pumpkin/squash recipe that I make from last summer's squash puree.

Starting yam rootings and artichoke seedlings, to - hopefully, plant edibles to replace ornamentals - we are now at only 3 hrs. a day/3 days per week water rationing.

Hope to keep my food growing/harvesting hobby alive next year, but it's becoming more difficult.

Bejay

I'm rooting for you to keep gardening and harvesting and preserving for a long time to come. You're an inspiration and I love reading your posts and appreciate your advice!

Sorellina,
Well done! You put this fellow Ontarian to shame. I'll be right over for dinner.............

Z

It's so much nicer to can in the winter when it's cold and snowy than in the summer when it's 90!

Annie