Monday, September 27, 2010

Yes, we canned!

I've always said I wouldn't can anything, ever. I would freeze food, I would dehydrate, but I would never can. It seemed like such a chore - a whole day spent juggling hot glass in a steaming kitchen with no guarantee that you're not just preserving the botulism for a day when your loved one decides they want some homegrown salsa.

That was before we decided to grow tomatillos. The three small plants we bought at the farmer's market in June completely took over a section of our garden. We ate them all summer, a few at a time, as they ripened, but then September came and we were overrun with the little green fruits. Bowls of them filled our refrigerator and I made a halfhearted attempt to blanch and freeze a batch, which promptly turned into a unappetizing chartreuse mush.

Fine, I thought with a sigh. Fine. I'll can some of my famous salsa. How hard can it be? I bought jars and accessories, I researched recipes and instructions, I was lucky to have Mike's help...
But that salsa? Sealed up tight & ready for chips.

15 comments:

Mike W. said...

Interesting take on Obama's slogan, and far more tasty.

NOM!

I don't think I could ever have the patience for canning.

Kevin said...

Woot! So, how much you charge for shipping?

Tam said...

So you're saying that you eat all you can, and all you can't, you can?


(WV: "durrysel" What they call a battery south of the Ohio...)

Anonymous said...

That's how I got into it too. First growing tomatoes (for sauce), then making my own hot sauce (largely out of Super Chili hyrbid peppers), finally growing and pickling my own Jalapenos.

bluesun said...

Good!

(both in a homegrown food sense and a new skill sense)

NYEMT said...

My mom canned (could?) large batches of pickles, tomatoes, salsa, jellies, jams, preserves, etc. for years when I was young, and still does from time to time when something especially tasty crosses her kitchen counter. She has never, in all the years she's done it, had a problem with preserving any nasty bugs or had anything she's canned go bad. If you're reasonably careful and pay even minimal attention in the process, you shouldn't either. The salsa looks yummy! :)

Old NFO said...

Well done Breda :-) And I'm sure it will be delicious. And I agree with NYEMT- my Mother did the same!

doubletrouble said...

Good on ya lass- it's a very good skill to own.
Mrs. DT got into it trying to save as much of our garden produce as she could.
Now she's canning everything in sight.

I rescued the cat just in time...

wv: "fineway": canning's a fineway to save yer stuff.

John B said...

I haven't canned in a long while. I do make jams and jellies. I guess I could if I actually had a garden to save.

Farmmom said...

Good for you Lady! I have a feeling that the old skills like canning our own produce are going to be necessary shortly.

SpeakerTweaker said...

So do you need my home address for shipping, or can I just pick this up somewhere?

Oh, and TAM for the win!



tweaker

Justin Unbounded said...

I'll echo what NYEMT said. My mother canned for years and years when I was growing up. Never did one jar cause a single problem. Just like any other food, if you take the proper steps and follow directions, canned food is perfectly safe.

Nancy R. said...

I don't can much as I have a black thumb, but if the produce makes it onto the kitchen counter, I'll do something with it. I put up jams and jellies for wedding favors when Shorter Half and I tied the knot.

BobG said...

I grow a lot of tomatillos, and I just freeze them and make salsa during the winter months by thawing out a few as needed.
By the way; if you leave a few on the plant at the season's end, you won't have to plant them the next year. I've had volunteers for over five years now, and the only thing I have to do in the spring is thin them out so they don't turn into a jungle. When I was a kid, we used to find them growing wild in vacant lots and eat the ripe fruit.

Weetabix said...

What they said. Also, tomatoes are fairly acidic, and I'd think salsa even more - perfect canning fodder for staying good a long time. High sugar foods do well for a long time, too.

I've just re-discovered some 11-year old raspberry syrup I'm going to break out soon. It will either a) be great on pancakes, b) have fermented and get me drunk, or, c) kill me. Whichever way, I still love raspberry syrup.