I have one of those 9 tray Excalibur dryers, with 9 'fruit leather' sheets - each sheet takes a quart.

The trick is to make the sauce fairly thick - I add a bit more tomato paste - and once its brought to a boil, the cell walls of the veggies break down, and it dries quite a bit quicker.

I may have gone overboard, but I've been buying Contadina tomato paste in #10 cans, a case of 6. Even with a hefty transport charge, its still half the price of buying those 12 oz cans in the super market. But boy, thats a lotta paste.

This also makes a very good backpacking food.

I made 7 more pints of tomato sauce (included several kinds of mild peppers and some onion in it this time) last night, and I'm cooking up my zuchinni relish now and will can in some half pint jars.

I believe we have the Italian plums, Bonnie (it's grown in from my neighors yard, and she isn't any help on the variety because she didn't even know she had a plum tree!). So thank you for the tip on the skins being thin enough to leave on!! I found them much harder to get off then say tomatoes (even after blanching and cooling in ice water), so if I can save some time and leave them on that would be great! My first attempt at the plum peach jam tastes great, but is more the consistency of fruit butter rather than jam. So I'd like to try another batch and get it more jammy this time.

Marj

It all looks wonderful! I wish I had even some interest in canning. I've been making some killer salsa and that would be nice canned. Oh well, I've been freezing tomatoes as well as other veg's.

Yesterday, I pickled peppers and today canned salsa.

I am wondering if this cool weather will mean fewer canning episodes!!

My hot peppers are sulking and my tomatoes look bad; all except a few plants.

My canning adventures this year comprise mainly of putting up Bread and butter pickles. I have had upteen million pickling cucumbers flourishing out in the green house. I have done a few quart jars of dill pickles too but everyone loves my bread and butters...I have also made a bunch of fruit leather and frozen a bunch of fruit this year.
I have a bunch of jalapenos that I think I will roast and then freeze...I love the idea of cranberry jalapeno jelly but would love some other ideas about what people might do with them...

garlic dill pickles,strawberry jelly, raspberry jelly,ketchup and smoked salmon

David, I have that same type of dehydrator, and I love it, but I can't say that dehydrated tomato sauce sounds tasty : (

Karen, some people pickle their jalapenos, though I've never tried it. You could use them to make some homemade salsa, or let them ripen red, dry, and grind them into chipotle powder. I like to slice them into 1/4" rings and then freeze them. Over the winter I just throw a few rings into a pot of beans, or chili, whenever I need them.

This week, I made another batch of Lemon Basil Jelly, another batch of Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly, another batch of pesto in the freezer, and another 1/2 jar of paprika. Even though I'm quite happy with what I've done so far, I'm sad that I may not get enough tomatoes to do any salsa or sauce this year.

I'm going to have to try and locate some habaneros at a local farmers market. I didn't grow any this year, too chicken, but now I want to make the Habanero Gold recipe that's in the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. I'm thinking some thumbprint cookies made with that will make great Christmas gifts for the "chileheads" in my family. Anyone that likes my Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly should enjoy that jam as well I think.

So those of you growing anaheim type peppers, such as Sandia, Joe E. Parker, Big Jim, etc., do you let them ripen to red before roasting or smoking? I know you can buy diced green chilies in a can, but just wondering if the flavor would be better if they were ripe.

Bonnie

Friday we did sliced jalapenos with French tarragon and cider vinegar pickles - here on the cutting edge of 'fusion pickling' :-) .

The dried tomato sauce has its advantages in that 15 quarts of sauce can be reduced to a gallon ziplock bag that weighs about a lb, which is a whole lot easier to carry on a plane than 15 qt jars, or take on a back pack. I'm getting feedback on the batch sent with my college folk, they insist its very good.

My kids take it on their backpacking trips, and I later hear via the parental grapevine that its a major hit, much better than any of the commercial, freeze-dried foods that usually go on these trips. Certainly less expensive. I can attest that it sure smells good when I'm drying it.

So I redid my plum jam, Bonnie, leaving the skins on. It sure makes a much prettier color!! I just put them in the jars, so I'll know better tomorrow whether I was successful it getting them jammier. I believe that part is like baking bread - an art form ;^) Hope I'm better at this than bread, 'cause I never got that down!! I kept testing the jam for the gelling point described in the recipe, as well as in the Ball canning book I picked up a couple of days ago. It still didn't quite do like both of the descriptions, but I was afraid I might over cook it (I already had left it cooking longer than the recipe called for) so since it was definitely thicker than my first batch, I just went with that.

I may try to pickle some jalapenos next - got bunches!

Marj

Marj, with the lower boiling point at high altitude, you will have to cook the jam/jelly longer than the time the recipe suggests in order to reach the gel stage.

Here's today's project, Habanero Gold Jelly.

Today was my first time to ever try a Habanero, and I found them to be very unique in smell and taste. Hot, yes, but not enough to make me cry or anything.

Bonnie

Oh dear - still a canning newbie here! I missed the part in the canning instructions to add lemon juice to the tomatoes that I canned up a couple of weeks ago. So they are either straight tomatoes, or some with onions and peppers mixed in with the tomatoes. But I did not add any additional acid - lemon juice or vinegar.

Do you think they'll be ok and safe to eat? I have about 14 pints of them, so I'd really hate to see them wasted!! But if there is too much chance of spoilage and/or bacteria growing, guess I'll have to throw them out and start over. Luckily, we are still getting lots of tomatoes ripening so I should be fine with having enough of them.

'preciate the advice!

Marj

Marj, I'm afraid the ph of tomatoes is borderline enough to be safe without some type of acid being added. Don't throw out all of your hard work though. You have options. One is to buy some quart sized freezer bags, and transfer the sauce to your freezer. Lay the bags flat, and they should stack nicely. That's what I do will all of my cooked, pureed pumpkin. Be sure to label the outside of the bag with the date. You could also put the jars in the fridge, and plan to make some spaghetti soon : )

If you just canned the sauce within the last 24 hours, I believe you can reprocess with the necessary acid added, but you might want to check over on the Harvest Forum to be sure.

Hope this helps some.
Bonnie

Thanks Bonnie - your suggestion for taking some out and freezing it sounds good. I'll definitely do some like that. I posted a thread on the Harvest Forum as well, so will see what some folks there say.

You know, I don't think I added lemon juice to the jars I canned last year!! I don't remember getting sick, but don't want to press my luck ;^) I plan on making some chili tonight, so I'll use a couple of jars in that. I may toss out the earliest stuff, and just freeze up the more recent batch.

As they say, live and learn!!

Thanks,
Marj

Wow! I never heard of adding anything but a little salt to tomatoes for canning, so I googled it and discovered that just about everybody says to add lemon juice nowadays!

When I was a kid we scalded them, dipped them in cold water so we could handle them, peeled them and put them directly into the jars (with a canning funnel to keep the rims clean), then added a little bit of salt and processed them--hot water bath. Don't have a clue how long it was! Nobody I ever knew got sick from them, and we ate them both in cooked things and cold straight out of the jar! Most of the sites I looked at said to process them in a pressure canner, but we didn't have one of those, and I doubt that very many people back in the 40's and 50's did have a pressure "cooker" big enough to use for canning! And away-back-when, the pioneers certainly didn't have any sort of a pressure canner to do their canning with!

Not suggesting anybody take a chance and maybe get sick--you definitely don't want to get botulism, but if your jars and lids were sterile when you did the canning, you processed them for the right amount of time, and you got a good seal on the jars, I can't imagine you'll have a problem. I certainly wouldn't throw them out! To ensure your seal holds, store them upside down on a towel or something. It'll be obvious pretty quickly if you loose the seal on any of them. And if you're going to worry about eating them, just use them all in something that's gonna be cooked for a long enough time to destroy any Evil Spirits that might have gotten into them! Botulinum toxin IS killed by heat!

The "rules" must have changed because people DID get sick and die from canned stuff--more than just tomatoes, but if everything is properly and carefully handled, there shouldn't be a problem. I'll never take the time to can anything--got WAY enough of that when I was a kid--but if I ever get enough ripe tomatoes to want to "preserve" some, I'll just scald, peel, and freeze them! WAY easier, and no worries about botulism! Not as pretty as a row of filled jars---but---functional!

Folks got lead poisoning from tin cans too when they first started using tin cans, so changing things to make them safer is definitely necessary at times, but I wouldn't like lemon juice in my canned tomatoes AT ALL if I were going to can some! (Commercially canned tomatoes don't have lemon juice or vinegar or citric acid in them!)

In my internet travels I found the site I'll link below from CSU Extension. Best site I found! Since there are a LOT more varieties of tomatoes these days than there were in Days of Yore, and the acidity can vary much more than it did back then, you might want to just pick up some litmus paper and check the acidity of the tomatoes you're canning, and if the pH is low enough you'll know you're ok to skip the "flavorings!"

It's fun to look at all the pretty jars on this thread,
Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products

Its worth keeping in mind that botulism spores are everywhere, the soils in Utah and Colo contain higher concentrations than elsewhere, everybody breathes them in, ingests them all the time, they're likely everywhere you'd look with a fine enough microscope. Yet the incidence of botulism poisoning in Utah/Colorado is virtually non-existant. You need a moist, anaerobic environment with neutral-ish pH, say a compost pile...:-). But you'll never hear the OMG OMG COMPOST BOTULISM DANGER!!!! Because even with the perfect conditions for toxin growth, you know you've got gobs of the nasty stuff, nobody gets sick from it.

The spores are harmless, you breathe them/eat them all the time. The toxin, the dangerous bit, is destroyed at 185 F for 5 minutes, although everyone says to boil stuff for a bit longer - an over-abundance of caution. So anything you can that you later cook for a bit, you're safe.

I tried adding the recommended amount of lemon juice to canned tomatoes that I was going to eat un-heated, they were so acidic it hurt my stomach and I had to throw them out. So there is that side of the coin as well.

OTOH, when canning salsa and things that are going to be eaten raw, I'd for sure follow tested recipes that add vinegar - and one would eat that with chips or something, not a bowl full by itself.

I wouldn't worry about it. Now off to get my botox treatment. Nasty wrinkles. I believe that there are now, in the US, more cases of botulism poisoning from botched botox injections than from home canning.

Beautiful jars!

We joined a CSA (Grant Family Farms in Wellington, CO) this year and get weekly shares of two loaves of bread, farmer cheese, goat cheese, mushrooms, flowers and a double fruit share which is A LOT of fruit. We have had so many pears, peaches and cherries from them!

So far:

Canned three batches of peach jam (one with low sugar, one sweetened with agave nectar, and one sweetened with white grape juice)

Canned one batch of Pear Vanilla Jam also low sugar...this is one of the best jams I've ever had!!

Canned two batches of halved pears in apple juice no sugar

Canned one batch of Salsa- I used tomatoes from my garden but cheated and used Mrs. Wages packet of spices for hot salsa.

I've dried four trays of oven dried tomatoes (with a bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sea salt) and froze them individually on plates and then freezer bagged them.

I can't keep up with this year's tomatoes from the garden so I have frozen probably twelve pounds of whole tomatoes. I don't even cook or skin them first; I just stuff them into freezer bags after rinsing and drying. I did it last year and they came out great for later use for sauce or smooth salsa.

Frozen bags of zucchini and yellow squash cut into chunks for stir frys or what not.

I have more peaches and pears waiting to be processed and I'm getting ready to start drying the herbs!

A lot of work but I love it and REALLY love it in the middle of winter (especially after reading a bit of the book Tomatoland-which is a whole 'nother thread).

:)
Charlene

Thank you, Skybird and David, for your delightful and insiteful posts!!! I would only be using my canned tomatos for cooking in recipes, so sounds like that should be safe. I think I'll do your suggestion, Skybird, of storing them upside down as a precaution if any of the seals break - that's a clever idea. I did sterilize my jars first, and cooked them in the water bath for about 40 minutes, so that should help matters I would think. But if I find I have enough tomatoes anyway, I just may chicken out (or be smart, depending on your perspective) and at least toss the ones I canned up end of August and try to use up the ones I did a couple of weeks ago a bit sooner.

I started a thread on the Harvest Forum to get advice - my, there is a much different take on it from that group, I must say! Don't know people in that group, but these posts seems to be a bit more serious (at least on this topic): my thread. 'course, maybe they know best ... ? Judgement call, I guess!

I just may go to freezing the rest of my tomatoes this year, or at least a portion of them. Sounds so simple, Charlene - so just wash and stick them in a freezer container looks like? This is the site I've been going to for directions on preserving - it usually shows up first in google searches: Freezing tomatoes. I found their page for canning tomatoes last year, and skimmed through the instructions. It was pretty basic, so guess that's why I totally missed the last step of adding the lemon juice! I will definitely do that next time I can them, though, just to be sure. I know the Harvest Forum strongly recommends it, as do current guidelines, so I'm sure that is the safest process. I know that a couple of sites I found with recipes for salsa strongly recommended not changing proportions of their recipes because of the need for the right acid content before canning, and that's how the whole topic came up about what I hadn't done with my tomatoes!

I did use 2 jars of mine last night in my chili, with no ill results (although I did play some head games with myself for a little while afterwards :^D )

Well, David - good luck with your botox treatment ;) and thank goodness we are still allowed to have compost piles!!!

Marj

Canning,, freezing , drying eakkkkk..
We did a big batch of salsa, came out with 55 pints. great stuff has had a thumbs up from everyone who has sampled it so far..ummm got the crocks out and getting the sauerkraut fermenting, thinking of doing some sour pickles and kim chee that was as well..Maybe even some fermented beets.Been a while since I did any fermenting...
I have had to put off the Serrano/cranberry jam I make until later, the peppers will hold for a while in the greenhouse..Our habeneros are not changing colors yet so my hab gold will also be waiting a bit before I have to make it,,, whew ...The peach tree is ripe and we just had a main branch break so I will be doing peaches today , hopefully some pickled mixed vege medley(need to use up the late cauliflower and small onions,, then getting the batch of tomatoes picked that should of came in the other day,, Its looking close to another 50lbs ,, so think we are making tomato soup base to freeze, tomato jam and probably marinara sauce for the next seasons pizza oven.. and and and and ,, sometimes I think helpers would be nice,,,
Glad everyone else is enjoying the harvest
mary

I also dislike the idea of lemon juice in my canned salsa - seems just wrong!

But I use it to reduce the pH to 4. My first batch of salsa this year had a pH of 5, prior to adding the lemon juice.

I should try vinegar, but am terrified to sway from the CSU recipe...

Second batch of salsa was pH of 4.5, again prior to adding the lemon juice.

What I read, and documented on my recipe, is that a temp of 185 kills the botulism spores and that a pH of 4 prevents growth.

Annually, as I stand in front of my water bath, I wonder how my mom, grandma and great grandma ever knew when the pH was 4 and the temp was 185...(my mom said the elders canned everything - including meat)

I have pH paper and an instant read thermometer..

I bought jarred lime juice to test it's pH against the jarred lemon juice. Then I'll test the pH lowering effects of each. Then the flavor of the resulting salsas...I would love to use lime juice, vs lemon, in my salsa. I did notice quite a cost difference between the two. Perhaps I'll add white and red vinegars to the experiments...I always have volunteers ready and willing to try my salsas!!

Deb, I use Annie's Salsa recipe from the Harvest forum, and I replace half of the cider vinegar with key lime juice. I like the flavor it adds, and she lists it as an "approved" substitution. Since I'm following a tested recipe, I don't bother with checking the ph level. Haven't made a single jar of salsa yet this year though, because I STILL don't have enough ripe tomatoes!!! I'm getting a couple ripe ones about every other day, which is enough to use in my everyday cooking, but not near enough for canning. It's depressing to think I'll have to go all winter without any homemade salsa or pasta sauce.

I'm thinking I may make a batch of salsa verde, since I have quite a few tomatillos and hot peppers ready.

Got a second batch of Habanero Gold made yesterday, and this batch is a little hotter than the first one, not that I'm complaining : )

For the salsa I made, I used my own homegrown tomatoes (6lbs) but cheated adding a packet of Mrs. Wages Hot Salsa mix which is just dried hot peppers and spices. It also called for 1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar. I served the salsa last weekend to a group of friends and they all LOVED it. I think it could be hotter.

I've also made Annie's Salsa and it's good but I might prefer the cheater way Mrs. Wages haha.

I'll check Annie's Salsa recipe.

I think I wrote down Annie's Tomato Juice recipe???

I bought the tortilla chips today and have thought about trying my experiment...just need to pick the tomatoes and adjust the recipe to a smaller version...

My recipe calls for 25 cups of tomatoes, yields 8 quarts,...maybe Annie's is smaller.

LOL, guess I am probably bad about this since I grew up canning in my mothers and grandmothers kitchen.I know they have so many new concepts to canning.I still follow what I was taught and no one has gotten food poisoning nor died from my cooking yet,, LOL,,I have rarely had anything ever go bad either, other then one batch of conserve that included bananas which I am not fond of in canning..come to think about that one it came out of a Ball cookbook,
I do not test anything in my salsa,I do use braggs apple cider vinegar in it and an organic lime juice.The quantities however are based on the larger recipes.Our batch was mixed up with 44 lbs tomatoes, 20 lbs onions, and 13 lbs mixed peppers ranging from sweet bells to thai hots, since the habs have just started to ripen.
I used to can alot of meats, soups etc,, but I need to invest in a new pressure canner for that kind of fun,,LOL back to tomatoes and peaches for this girl,,

Ahh, canning. I have canned several quarts of tomatoes, and used several of them already, too. I forgot to even put lemon in a couple of them, and don't remember which ones, so I just plan on using those in pot roasts or soups and stuff.
I did get 18# of peaches that were not as sweet as I would have liked so canned in a light syrup 7 quarts of those (peach leather out of the rest of it), but gol durnit if the seal hasn't popped on several of them, and I can't figure out why. Disappointing, too, because the light syrup I used made the perfect sweet when served over ice cream, and I didn't realize until after a couple days that the seals were bum. :(
I've just about given up on canning for the year--I am thinking "dehydrate it all" since it takes less space and so much less work. I do have TONS of peppers ripe (have canned several jars of pickled pepper rings), and hubby just fell in love with pepper jelly last weekend at Lucile's, so I may not be finished canning yet this year.
I also like to do lacto-ferments, particularly with salsa, and have done several quarts of that this year, but didn't get any onions (started them too late), so have to actually go to the STORE (don't do that often) if I want to do more salsa. I am workiing on a LF chili sauce--thicker than tobasco, and probably chunkier, but I'm sure my hubby will love it over all my winter stews (I'm not a big fan of the spicy stuff).
I did read on a couple different canning info sites that the FDA recognizes that green tomatoes are high enough in acid that they are safer to can than ripe tomatoes; this makes me think that I might be able to get away with sticking a couple not-quite-ripe ones (I have LOTS) into each can and can skip the acid--I've had the upset tummy from too much acid myself. Skybird is so smart for suggesting to test the pH before canning--there are so many low-acid tomatoes anymore that you jut don't know what's safe, but that seems like a no-brainer!

I have been wanting to learn to can for awhile. Bought the tools and some jars last year but did not get around to it. Just a couple days ago, I dove in. Didn't have any extra garden produce so my first canning effort went towards a sweet praline syrup.
Turned out nice!

Next, I want to do a ginger marmalade and then a peach BBQ sauce. Eventually, I will also whip up some freezer jam.

I made a batch of salsa last night, from a recipe in the Ball canning book - yummy! Will definitely make another batch!!

Does anyone know of a local store in the Denver area and/or web resource for getting canning supplies? I have been around and around to various stores, and can't really find any one that has much, if any! Walmart has a few things, King Soopers, etc. But not really a very good assortment of things in any store I've been to.

In particular this weekend, I was trying to find some ph test strips or meter, but could not find anything. Did some web searching, and thought I'd found a good solution - aquarium supply! But went to Petco and they only had kit solutions, or this one set of strips but they didn't register low enough for food. So, question is - if it is highly recommended to know the ph of the food you are canning, how are you supposed to test it?!

Marj

This time of year, its hard to find canning supplies. Locally, the ACE hardware has a good selection, but its expensive and may cater for the local market.

Linked is a website for more accurate pH papers, scroll down to the 'acid only' papers where the pH range is 3 - 6.

I don't test my canning, its pretty simple following most canning guidelines for salsa and such where they did the testing for you. Although, I will likely get a box of these strips for next year just to see what I'm actually doing.

My canning 'blooper of the year' was this past weekend. I have an arrangement with a friend who has a stand of wild plums on his property that fruit every year. So he protects them from the birds, bears, and raccoons, then picks a big bucket and brings it to me, I buy the cranberry juice and sugar and make the jelly, then we divide the yield. This is very good stuff, and one of the prize holiday gifts.

This past year, he got married and tasked his new wife to pick the plums. She did so with some vigor, 6+ gallons worth. They sat in the back of his car all sunny day during the kids soccer games, and they were starting to get pretty soft and just starting to go off, so I had to rush things a bit. I ended up with 3+ gallons of plum juice, added two quarts cranberry juice, and instead of measuring it out into smaller batches, I tried to jell it all in two 12 qt stockpots at the same time.

Don't try this.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to pH paper

Science supply - of course!! Those sound perfect, David. I'm going to order some. I am going to use recipes from canning sources (like the Ball recipe book), but would be good to know for sure it's "officially safe" myself :^)

My - that's a LOT of plum jelly!!!! Hope you didn't have to peel them all - that is a pain!

Marj

The good new is that I got one more batch of the Cranberry Jalapeno Jelly canned today ... the bad news is that I'm now officially out of jelly jars, and almost out of sugar! This batch is milder than I would have liked, though the heat does build a bit after several bites.

Froze my 5th batch of pesto yesterday, and I have Zucchini Candy in the dehydrator right now. Hoping to either make some more paprika, or maybe Salsa Verde tomorrow. Good thing I still have some pint jars : )

Bonnie

I am bailing on the ginger marmalade. Too much work to grind all the ginger and get all the fibers out. Maybe I will do a peach-ginger jelly/jam instead.

Just found the website given below the other day. They've got canning supplies among other things.

Charlene, your Pear Vanilla jam sounds like something I'd like to try. Would you be willing to share the recipe?

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Krafts

Well, I made 4 1/2 measly pints of salsa the other day. Just didn't have enough ripe tomatoes to make a full batch. On a more positive note, I finally achieved the medium heat level, which has eluded me the past couple of years.

Also, finally made it to the Glenwood Springs farmers market today and picked up a 20# box of Honeycrisp apples, and yesterday went by Sunshine Farms and picked up 4 pints of Italian plums. Looks like it will be a busy canning week!

Bonnie

Marj, I made a batch of Italian Plum Jam today, so I thought I would add a few comments about it.

Skin-on vs. skin-off: Leaving the skins on, gives you a purple colored jam which has about the same amount of tartness as an Apricot Pineapple Jam. Removing the skins would give you a yellowish colored jam, which is does not have the tartness to it, as the skin on the plums is where the tartness comes from.

Time saver method: I started out chopping them with a paring knife, than I had an a-ha moment. I dug out the meat grinder attachment to my Kitchen-Aid stand mixer, and used the course grind insert. Then all I had to do is trim off enough skin off the stem end, pry the plum in two, and remove the pit. This saved me at least an hour to an hour and a half of prep time. Obviously, this method wouldn't work if you didn't want to use the skin in the jam. Oh, and one tip on using the meat grinder. Don't apply much pressure with the plunger thingy, or you will need to change your shirt afterwards : )

Now I need to see if I can use my fruit/vegetable strainer attachment for the stand mixer to turn what's left of my Reliance grapes into juice, so that I can make some grape jelly.

I was also thinking of using it when I make applesauce this week, but I like a little texture to my applesauce, and don't want to end up with something the consistency of baby food. Has anyone tried this method before? It sure would save time, since the apples wouldn't need to be peeled or cored first. Just quartered, cooked until tender and put in the strainer attachment to puree and remove skins, seeds, and stems.

Bonnie

I should mention that this is the 2nd year of using a steam juicer - this is a good thing. Unfortunately, the one I bought has increased in price by $20 since I purchased it, but its well made, and we've done quarts of syrup and dozens of pints of jelly with it.

It was particularly handy with the mega-batch of plums - great with grapes, apples - well its a lot easier, but not quite the yield as the other fruit.

Rinse off the fruit, load the thing up, set it so the water is just past simmer, start draining out the juice in about an hour. After a total of 2-3 hours (apples take 3) its all finished with clear juice full of pectin.

Here is a link that might be useful: link to steam juicer / Amazon

That looks nice, David! Maybe I'd order one, if I hadn't already spent so much on the Kitchen Aid attachments.

Harvested the last of the Reliance red grapes yesterday, and they made enough juice to make 8 half pints of jelly. The only problem was the color. Since I ran them through the strainer attachment without cooking first, the juice was a not so attractive green color. I'm wondering if I had cooked them for a few minutes, if the skins would have released some of their color into the juice? The flavor is mild, comparable to an apple jelly, which doesn't excite me (maybe if I added some peppers to it, hahaha), but the kids should enjoy it.

The more I look at the hole size on the fruit/vegetable strainer attachment, the more I'm wondering if it will make an applesauce with no texture, more like a puree? Sure would like to avoid the time and mess of using that apple corer/peeler thingy though ...

The canner has been working overtime the past week or so. In addition to the plum jam and grape jelly, I've also made

8 pints of applesauce
8 pints of spiced apples
8 pints of Italian style tomato sauce
8 pints of hot pepper jelly

Hoping I can make a batch of salsa tomorrow. Since we had our first frost last Thursday night, my house is overrun with peppers, tomatoes, melons, etc., so even with all of the canning I've been doing, I haven't made much of a dent in it yet.

Well, it took pretty much the whole day, but I got 9 pints (a batch and a half) of salsa made today. Sure wish I could find a shortcut to all that peeling, seeding, chopping required! Used Annie's Salsa recipe, but I leave out the tomato sauce, as I like my salsa thick and chunky. I also used Serranos and Jalapenos instead of the bell peppers, and it turned out at least a medium on the heat level. Where her recipe calls for 1 cup of vinegar, I use half a cup of cider vinegar, and half a cup of lime or lemon juice.

Here are a few more pictures of this past week's efforts:

Cinnamon Applesauce

Spiced Apples

Italian Style Tomato Sauce

Salsa

Having canned 7 out of the past 10 days, and in light of the fact that the kids are out of school tomorrow, I am taking a day off!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Annie's Salsa Recipe

The canning season is winding down now, but I did get another batch of salsa made a couple of weeks ago, and made this one mild for the wimps in my family : )

Found some pears at the local organic farm/nursery yesterday, so I made Cranberry Pear Jam this morning. It was not quite as sweet as the Spiced Caramel Pear Jam I made last year, and the Craisins added a brightness that I really liked. It could be my new favorite.

Quite a few of the green tomatoes in the garage have ripened , so I might try to make on more batch of tomato sauce before putting the canner away for the year.

Went out yesterday and brushed an inch or two of snow off of the thyme and cut a bunch to put in the dehydrator. I'm completely out, and with lows in the teens, I'm running out of time for harvesting it. I actually think it tastes better in the fall, after we've had a few frosts.

Still need to dry or freeze the rest of the peppers too.

How's everyone else doing? Are you guys done harvesting and preserving?

Hmmm another batch of salsa going down tonight and in the morning,Found another 16 lbs of ripe tomatoes in the root cellar and upper greenhouse.
Have yet to finish harvesting the pepper greenhouse,, sooooo that said we still have some of the hot pepper jellies to finish up, Probably just the habenero gold and the cranberry seranno which is the big hit for christmas giving and thanksgiving..figured we would can a bunch of the peppercini's as well, maybe a bunch of the jalapenos.. will see..Got tomatillos in the greenhouse as well probably be making some enchilada sauces yet as well..LOL,,you would think we would learn huh,,,, any way guess I better get back in the kitchen and finish the tomatoes have the chiles roasted as well,,
Snow is scheduled for tomorrow here so we will wait and see.

I'm pretty much finished and into the consumption phase. I did recently buy one of those 1.2 bushel boxes of apples for $20 and sliced up a bunch for pies and dried the rest - apple shortage this year, and the few orchards that had fruit are price gouging - :-).

The pickled jalapeno slices / tarragon is pretty good - a very mild variety of jalapeno so one can toss them around fairly easily. Next year, I'll grow a lot of them to make salsa.

The jelly made with the steam juice extractor is fabulous. We have apple cinnamon, just apple jelly with a tablespoon of cinnamon powder stirred in at the very end, and the wild plum / cranberry.

I did manage to get a batch of Italian style tomato sauce made today. There's still a few green tomatoes left, but not sure the rest will ripen or not.

There's still enough pears left for another batch of jam, so I picked up one more case of jelly jars today. Too bad they weren't on sale anymore!

Gardenbutt, you reminded me that I still have a bowl of tomatillos on the kitchen counter. A few have already gone south on me, so I'm thinking chicken enchiladas for dinner tonight to use them up. If I had more of them, I'd probably can a batch of salsa verde, but our frost came before the majority of them were full sized this year.

Tallied up my canning log today, and I'm right at 130 jars this year. I finished out last year with over 160 jars, but it was a much better tomato year last year. Plus, I made a couple of batches of jam last year, that I wasn't crazy about, and didn't make this time around, such as Kiwi Daiquri Jam, and Purple Basil and Orange Jelly, and Ground Cherry Jam. So far, everything I've made this year is a winner : )

Gardenbutt, are you canning the enchilada sauce? I asked around on the Harvest Forum a few weeks ago for a green enchilada sauce recipe that uses tomatillos and is safe for canning, but everyone kept suggesting salsa verde, which is completely different, and not what I was looking for at all. I'd love to have your recipe, if you're willing to share it!

Thanks,
Bonnie

Bonnie,
I stumbled into this one last year and the family really enjoyed it.We froze several containers full and canned a case last year.Keep in mind I used my sauce fairly quickly as enchiladas were a requested Christmas gift.LOl,,also tried this with green tomatoes and it came out flavorful but used it all fresh not sure if I would can it that way.

Green Enchilada Sauce (Kate�s Knockoff Cafe Rio Recipe)
Recipe by Our Best Bites

2-3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, minced
5-6 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 green peppers, chopped
1-2 jalapenos, seeded and membranes removed if desired (and I desire. Always.)
1 1/2 lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered or halved
1/2 bunch cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
4 c. chicken broth
2-3 Tbsp. sugar (optional and to taste; the sauce Cafe Rio uses seems to be slightly sweet, so if I�m using this sauce for enchilada-style burritos, I generally add a little sugar, but for everything else, I leave it out.)

In a large saucepan or stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Saute onions and garlic until tender and fragrant.

While onions are sauteeing, combine tomatillos, green peppers, jalapeno peppers, and cilantro in your blender. Process until smooth; you may have to do it in batches and/or add some chicken broth to make things blendable.

Pour the tomatillo mixture over the onions and garlic and add chicken broth, salt, pepper, and cumin. Simmer 15 minutes-1 hour, depending on the consistency you want. I usually turn the heat to high and boil it uncovered until I reach the consistency I want; it makes things go a lot faster. The sauce can also be simmered in a slow cooker all day.

Serve over tacos, as an enchilada sauce, inside burritos, or as a dip for chips.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post this!!! When you canned it, how long did you leave it in the BWB?

Bonnie,
I did mine for 30 minutes in the water bath for pints.Others told me that with it boiling going into the jars 15 or 20 minutes would be fine,But having 2 water baths and the Pressure cooker going on the stove at one time means they come off when I grab them...LOL,,I also looked at our altitude being a bit higher.
It was mentioned to me that with out the added lime or vinegar it should be pressure canned.... I guess I better mention it is not a usda approved canning recipe.Since then I have found quite a few recipes similar for salsa verde which do not contain added acids and are pureed which are also processed in the BWB.So I guess I am saying use it at your own discretion....

Yeah, I'd rather pressure can it, than add the acids to it. In Salsa Verde the acidity doesn't taste out of place, but I don't think it would work in the Green Enchilada Sauce. Not and still taste like it does used fresh anyway.

Still have a few ripe Serranos to use up, so I made another batch of the Cranberry Serrano Jelly.

Still haven't gotten around to canning that last batch of Cranberry Pear Jam. Maybe I'll get to that tomorrow.

Dried several trays of Sandia and Georgia Flame peppers this week. It made enough powder to fill one of the large sized spice jars, and part of another. Both of those peppers were pretty mild when eaten fresh this summer, but the ones that were harvested right before the first frost, and have been ripening indoors have significantly more heat. Is this typical?

Next on preserving the harvest to-do list is to bake and puree pumpkins. Not near as many this year as last year, but still a bit of work ahead.

Well, darn. I was getting ready to cook the 2 pumpkins from our garden and puree them, when I thought maybe I'd can it instead of freeze it, and make it pumpkin pie ready. But sounds like this is not recommended by USDA, because of the density of the squash and not being able to get the mixture hot enough in home canners: http://www.pickyourown.org/pumpkinprecautions.php.

Oh well, guess I'll just stick with freezing the puree.

Has anyone dried the seeds in a dehydrator? Wondering if that would work, instead of roasting in the oven.

Marj

I've found the best way to deal with pumpkin/squash seeds is to sorta remove the seeds from the glob, but not worrying too much about it, and put the whole big mess in a pan on top the refrigerator or some place dry and out of the way. Then in a couple of weeks, the dried glop just flakes off very easily, and its very easy to separate just by scrunching them around in your hands and blowing on them. Outside :-). I bet you would get the same effect in a dehydrator overnight.

Then you can toast them or what ever. I've had soups and stews made with pumpkin seed that are wonderful - kind of like almond soups. These weren't made with those hull-less pumpkin seeds, but regular seeds. There is some way to separate out the meat from the husk that I can't remember. But given the amount of squash seeds that I get in a winter, it would be worthwhile to figure out.

Are you supposed to separate the hulls from the seeds before roasting? I've never tried to do that. We just toss them with plenty of butter and salt, and throw them in the oven.

Finally got that other batch of Cranberry Pear Jam made today. Used the meat grinder attachment for the Kitchen Aid stand mixer after peeling and coring. The texture was perfect, but when I used the plunger to get the pears to go through, it squirted them halfway across the room, and all over my clothes! Haha! Labor of love there : )

Wish I could say that I have started on the processing the pumpkins, but the truth is I just made a batch of Pumpkin Butterscotch Bread using last year's puree out of the deep freeze. Kids are out of school all next week, so maybe I can finish everything up then.

Snowing here today, so made a batch of Candy Apple Jelly.

Well, I think that about wraps it up for my canning in 2011.

Bonnie

Ooops! Forgot to add my tally for the year. (Copied from the Harvest forum)

Lemon Basil Jelly = 12 half pints
Cranberry Jalapeno (or Serrano, etc) Jelly = sort of lost count, but think it was at least 36 half pints
Zucchini Relish = 5 pints
Italian Plum Jam = 8 half pints
Reliance Red Grape Jelly = 8 half pints
Habanero Gold Jelly = 11 half pints
Cinnamon Applesauce = 8 pints
Spiced Apples = 8 pints
Italian Style Tomato Sauce = 16 pints
Annie's Salsa = 21 pints, some mild and some medium
Cranberry Pear Jam = 14 half pints
Candy Apple Jelly = 7 half pints (not counting the ones I made in January that are long gone)

I also froze 5 batches of Pesto, and a couple of quarts worth of shredded zucchini. Plus, dried and ground several spice jars worth of peppers with varying levels of heat. There are a few pumpkins that still need to be baked, pureed, and frozen, which I'm hoping to get to sometime this week.

Feeling pretty good that I got as much canned as I did, since I got a much later start this year, due to the late tomato crop.

Now it's time to start decorating and packaging up those jars for Christmas gifts!