You can eat the pickles right away, but they're better if they sit for a week or more because they absorb more of the brine.

There's a safe recipe for salsa that is approved for canning on the Harvest Forum search for Annie's Salsa - I haven't tried it, but it get raves over there. Make sure to do a search for specifics over there before posting questions (Ken gets grumpy answering the same questions over and over, but everyone else will answer).

The problem with canning salsa is the variety of veggies it contains with different acidity levels and the density. Annie has worked with her extension office to get one that's safe to BWB. There are also a lot of recipes in the Ball Blue Book, but again I haven't tried them. I know in most approved recipes you can sub hotter peppers for milder peppers (or vice versa) depending on your taste.

That big cuke could be used for relish and of course there's recipes over there. I lurk over there a lot at this time of year.

Jen

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Forum

I forgot, there is also "The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving" that has a bunch of different salsa recipes that are approved for canning.

J

Thanks, Jen! I went over there and printed it out. I posted a canning question over there a few weeks ago, so I think I know who you are referring to. I have the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving, but was interested in seeing what recipes were favorites with folks around here, so maybe I'll start with Annie's recipe.

It is a relief to have the first time canning over with. Now I know how to work my canner, and the basic process, so hopefully I won't be so nervous next time.

Now if I could just get more than one tomato to ripen at a time, maybe I can make a batch! Actually, I'm still waiting on the peppers to ripen, so it will probably be another week or two before I can try it.

Bonnie

Congratulations Bonnie,

I can get in real trouble trying to do things the easy way. I'm glad you canned your pickles and wonder about your success with the freezer type. I was really disappointed last year making freezer pickles. I looked at a number of recipes, even after I realized that they weren't to my liking. All of the recipes had waaaaay too much sugar for me.

In fact, tasting them makes me think of how the Three Stooges reacted to their homemade "scotch" whiskey. You remember the stuff that burned a hole thru the wicker chair? The stooges and I could have been trying my freezer pickles.

Next easy way to do something (but it seems to work real nicely): You know how you place a pepper under the broiler so that it chars and the skin is peeled easily. You can do that with a tomato, too. I suppose you already know that . . .

After you've roasted and peeled your tomato, you can place green onions and cilantro and wilt them thoroughly. You gotta watch the cilantro in particular - those leaves don't take long to burn.

Once the green onion is somewhat soft, you can mash up the 3 ingredients with a little salt in a food processor. It makes a real good, quick salsa. I think. Haven't a clue how you might preserve it - if it would freeze okay, or not. It is really quick & tasty to do with fresh ingredients.

digitS'
ok,. you can all laugh at me now

With the pickles you don't have to put sugar in them at all if you don't want to; it's mainly to counter the vinegar flavor.

I'm not gonna laugh, but if you're gonna do a quick fresh salsa then you have to have some chile pepper, lime juice, cumin & marjoram at least. And garlic (can't forget that)

When we make salsa here (we've canned it before, but shouldn't have because it has olive oil in it) we use:

No amounts because we go by taste.

Roast a head of garlic, an Onion & Peppers (about 6-8) (jalapenos, serranos, Anahiems, poblano & fresnos - but whatever is freshest) - tossed with olive oil, salt & pepper, and cumin seed. Put peppers in a bag to loosen the skins.

Peel the peppers, quarter the onion. In a food processor put roasted peppers & onion, quartered tomatoes (you can roast these too like digit said), a couple of fresh jalapenos and/or serranos, garlic (at least 4-5 cloves), a large handful of cilantro, juice of 2 limes - you will probably have to do 2 stages of processing. Put everything in a large bowl. Add olive oil (a tablespoon or so), ground cumin (we toast and grind the seeds), chili powder. Taste, add more lime, more garlic, and a can of crushed tomatoes. The can of tomatoes gives is more for texture. Don't use Hunt's canned tomatoes (that brand just tastes too sweet to me); we get the cheapest can available.

Jen (I also have a secret "recipe" for guacamole but you have to make it when you have the salsa)

Congrats,
It was not all that hard was it.I think with pickles its more of a challenge to keep the baby dills crispy.I found I cannot use our tap water because its a bit on the hard side.
I used to make salsa by the cases, not sure if I have the recipe anymore, did not get all my cookbooks when I divorced,bah, whine.Anyhow cannot find my apricot pineapple jam recipes either.or my cherry conserves, or my hucklberry cordial,,,,.Bummer because they had my no and low sugar recipes in after years of experimenting.SO todays task is to try and remember how in the heck I used to make my apricot pineapple jalapeno jam with stevia.which I guess I better get my butt busy, have jars to toss into the dishwasher and pans to dig out.
Keep working at it you will be a pro in no time
M

I take clean, empty wide mouth qt jars out to the garden, and snip a couple-three dill heads worth of seed in the bottom, and throw in a sprig of washed tarragon. I do check for bugs and stuff, but I'll confess I don't wash the dill seeds. Bring the jars into the kitchen, then go pick all the small, 3 to 4" cucumbers I can find. Wash those off, scrape off the spines and flowers, and stuff into the jars. Then I pour organic, raw, unfiltered cider vinegar in, eyeball it up to half-ish, add a teaspoon of salt, and fill up to the head space with water. Wipe everything off, pop on a clean lid, and boiling water bath for 15 minutes.

These take at least 6 weeks to really get the flavors. And you can tell, I'm doing it for crisp pickles with a lot of flavor, not get a ribbon at the county fair for looks - but they sure are crunchy and good.

We do the same with green beans.

Remember, there is no such thing as too much dill. :-)

But hot peppers, eh.... too much and nobody wants any of it, and not enough, it wasn't worth the effort. That would require measurements and stuff.

We used to do a pickle with French Fillet beans, white wine vinegar, tarragon, white pepper corns, corriander seed, mustard seed, anise, and some other stuff, it would take all morning to make 4 quart jars. I was always amazed how many of those beans would fit in a qt jar. My kids would always find something else really, really pressing to do other than help. And then, when they were opened, the same kids would snarf the entire jar down in about 12.4 seconds, and I rarely got to even taste one of them.

Those huge, Kings Banquet beans are a whole lot easier.

The night before last I gave a few cucumbers to our next door neighbor, this afternoon I gave a few more to the neighbor around the corner, and I still had more than a half dozen ripe one, so I made a small batch, 2 quarts, of refrigerator dill slices this afternoon.

David, I read your post while the pickling liquid was simmering on the stove, so I ran out and snipped a couple of sprigs of tarragon to throw in the jars (after washing of course). Thanks for describing your pickle making process/recipe. I'm sure the more I do it, the more I will personalize it.

Gardenbutt, thank you for the encouragement! I was so afraid I was going to do something wrong, and kill my whole family with botulism. Now I am confident that as long as I follow an approved canning recipe, that everything will be fine.

Since the tomatoes and peppers have decided to take their sweet time ripening, maybe I'll get some locally grown peaches and try some preserves next. Any tips or recipes for jams/preserves, or are the ones in the Ball book pretty standard?

Bonnie

LOL,, I think alot of people just learning have those worries.I guess growing up with the granny and mom canning everything it has been second nature for me.Peaches are an easy one, the basic ball recipe is okay.I like to do the peach and pineapple jam, its got a bit more flavor then just peach .Then there is conserves, which contain other goodies, made a batch of that tonight that is fantastic.2cups of pineapple, 2cups of apricots one cup of bananas, 1cup peaches,1/4 cup coconut,1/2cup pecans..1 cup sugar, low sugar pectin,1/2 teaspoon banana, coconut and almond flavoring yum,,
Really though Ball has some great recipes, just do not be afraid to twist them to your families preferances.I still have 8 more batches of apricots to go, Did six today.
Just have fun with it,and make it family time with the kids if you can , thats what really important
Mary

Only tip I have is to remember to adjust for altitude :-). First jam I ever made was with a couple bags of mixed berries from the frozen food section, box of SureJell pectin and sugar using the recipe in the pectin package. With fresh peaches don't forget the fruit fresh (or vitamin C).

I want to try the habanero gold jelly recipe.over on harvest and try canning peaches. I just need to coordinate my free time.

Mary - Is it anything like this one from the Harvest forum

Apricot-Pineapple Conserve

1 1/2 cups finely chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 1/4 cup strained fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons strained fresh lemon juice
1 (8 oz) can crushed pineapple
1 tablespoon grated orange zest (or more, to taste)
4 cups sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds (I omitted)
1 (3 oz) pouch liquid pectin

In stainless or enamel pan, mix apricots, raisins, orange juice, and lemon juice. Let stand 2 hours. Add undrained pineapple and orange zest. Stir in sugar. Heat stirring constantly till the sugar dissolves. Stir in almonds. Increase heat and bring to a full boil. Stir in pectin and return to a boil, stirring. Boil, 1 minute. Remove from heat and skim foam. Allow conserve to cool about 5 minutes to keep fruit from floating. Stir gently to distribute the fruit. Put into jars (makes 6 half pints.) Leave 1/4 inch headspace. Cover with hot lids and process half pints in bwb for 10 minutes, or 15 minutes for pints.

Below is a link to Splenda's Jam recipes. Another option is to use Pomona's pectin (I haven't used it, but it will apparently gel anything and you can use as little sugar as you want or use a sugar substitute like Splenda)

We need a canning party!

jen

Here is a link that might be useful: Splenda Jam recipes

It has certainly been a busy canning week for me. Thursday, I made Spiced Peach Jam, then bought some amaretto, and made Peach Amaretto Butter. Yesterday, I made my first batch of Annie's Salsa, which turned out very nice.

If I can find more 8 oz. jars, my son wants to try something with apples. Since our apple trees are just seedlings, I will try and find some locally grown ones. There is a recipe in the Ball book called Mom's Apple Pie in a Jar that sound pretty yummy.

Anyone else do any canning this week?

Bonnie

We had raccoon issues earlier with the peach trees and breaking branches, and had to pick 'em all - they finally ripened up this last week, and we made a batch of peach cinnamon jam, and another of peach ginger jam. My official spoon-licken' tasting panel, aka DD10, give them a rousing two thumbs up.

We also did a few jars of dilled/tarragon green beans, and that will be a big thing this coming week. Also roasted two bushels of green Hatch chili on the home grill, along with almost-a-bushel of home grown Big Jim, and started a couple gallons of the famous '52 fermented chili sauce as well as loaded freezer bags with mesquite roasted chili. (note to self - you always, always, over do it on mesquite. try something else, like peach wood from broken branches).

Apple season here has taken a turn for the worse ever since the bears moved into the big orchard down the road. That was awesome for a while - an elderly couple whose parents had started the orchard around the turn of the century, would leave the fruit on the trees until the flavor was just right, so after a dozen or so frosts, and sell them at $8 a bushel. We'd get several bushels of Jonathan and Wine Sap every year. Big crocks of apple butter, sliced and frozen for pies, lots of apple sauce and fruit leather. They've both passed away, and the bears run the place now.

I peeled and chopped about 15 lbs of tomatoes tonight ($0.49/lb since mine are all still green) and ended up with enough to do 4 batches of Chunky Basil Pasta Sauce which I will probably do Saturday night or Sunday depending on how much time I have. Saturday afternoon I'm helping a neighbor do the Peach Jam for Cold Mornings since he likes hot, hot, hot. I talked him through pickles last year and now he wants to try something besides the basic strawberry jam from the Sure-Jell box.

I signed up for the UofGeorgia's Home Food Preservation Self Study course and have made it through the first two sections. We'll see how the rest goes.

Jen

Cool, Dafy! You'll be our RMG canning expert now. I know what you mean about the green tomatoes. I'd like to do one more batch of salsa or tomato sauce, but there's only about 8 or 9 ripe ones out there, and we are getting closer and closer to that freezing mark at night here.

Seems like I saw a salsa recipe that used green tomatoes. I might need to look that up. Of course, there's always fried green tomatoes, which being from the south, I have no objection to : )

Yesterday, my oldest son and I made Candy Apple Jelly, which was fun. It's a beautiful color, and would make great gifts with the jars decorated a bit.

After that, we made the Carrot Cake in a Jar recipe out of the Ball book. I tasted the leftover jam, and I'm not sure it really reminds me of carrot cake, but it was yummy. It's basically crushed pineapple, grated carrots, and chunks of pear, with some spices and tons of sugar. I need to make some muffins to go with it though. Whole wheat toast just won't do it justice!

Bonnie

Kraft's website has a recipe for Holiday Fruit and Nut Jam that reminds of the dreaded fruitcake, but is oh so yummy since it's all dried fruit and nuts. There's also a Banana Nut Bread butter that is really good too, but can scorch easily. On their site, go to the search bar and it will bring up a browse by category where you can select Jams, Jellies and Preserves.

Here is a link that might be useful: Holiday Fruit and Nut Jam

Thanks for the link, Dafy! There are tons of great recipes at that site. I'll pass on the nuts in the jam though. It's just a texture preference. Besides, in our family of five, three separate people have allergies to three different kinds of nuts, so I have to be very careful.

Last night, I made a Mexican lasagna recipe, one of those that uses tortillas in place of the noodles, and used my first jar of Annie's Salsa that I made. Mmmmm ... that stuff really is delicious! It was so good, I had it again for lunch today. I subbed more sweet peppers for the hot, to please DH, but I might make a hotter batch, just for myself : )

Bonnie

Bonnie, can you give us the recipe for candy apple jelly?
It sounds great. thanks julie

Welcome to RMG, Julie. Just to let you know, Bonnie posted on another thread yesterday that she had to leave town suddenly, so it might be a little while before she sees this and has time to reply to you---but I'm sure she will!

Skybird

Julie - Bonnie had posted it over on Harvest and Welcome to RMG!

jen

Here is a link that might be useful: Candy Apple Jelly