Cook Can Spin Dye » canning

Spring is FINALLY here!

Sarah — Wed, 18 May 2011 22:00:30 +0000

With the weather in Chicago finally becoming warmer (it’s hit and miss still at times), I am looking forward to the many hobbies that I can start back up. Like canning, cooking local/seasonal foods, and trying my hand at gardening. Yes, I am truly a novice gardener. And to be honest, I’m not easily inspired to garden most days. Most of my results start and end like this:

But, given my love of local food and the urgency to be cheap, I decided to try my hand yet again at growing fruits and veggies this year. One cheap way of starting seeds is to use a used strawberry container. Here is a picture of mine.

Wish me luck.

Canning the Fungi

Sarah — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:04:05 +0000

I love mushrooms. I think that it’s due to a diet low in potassium and the other nutrients found in fungus because there are times when I simply cannot eat enough mushrooms. This grosses out my husband to no end (he hates the fungi), but I just ignore his faces. I decided to can mushrooms because I go through them a lot and the store by my house had the sliced/washed ones on sale for a dollar a bag. I couldn’t pass up that sort of deal!

Make certain that you only can domestic mushrooms that are certified as safe. Make certain there is no discoloration on the mushrooms and cut off anything that looks weird.

So, here’s the modified recipe that I used:

Mushrooms weights are always approximate	1/2 Pint 1 lb.	Pint 2 lbs.
Boiling Water	as needed	as needed
Ascorbic Acid	1/16 teaspoon	1/8 teaspoon

P ressure Canner Processing	45 minutes	45 minutes

Trim stems and soak mushrooms for ten minutes.
Wash in clean water.
Slice mushrooms.
Boil covered in water for five minutes.
Drain and reserve water for canning.
Can mushrooms using hot pack method, and then add boiling water,
maintaining 1″ headspace.
Process with a Pressure Canner 45 minutes for half-pints or pints, at
10 pounds for a weighted gauge.
After processing, remove from boiling water and place the jars on a towel, separated
by 1” to cool naturally.
Label with the date.

This is my canning setup:

Below is the picture of the mushrooms boiling. I used a slightly smaller lid to submerge all of the mushrooms. I don’t know if this was necessary but I did it anyway.

Then I drained them.

Into the jars they go to be pressure canned!

And then the final product after canning. Perfect!

Keep in mind that this could be done with many veggies and fruits if you ever run across a great sale. It’s a perfect way to save money/be frugal.

Canning Beef Stew

Sarah — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:11:40 +0000

With the weather being cold and crappy here in Chicago, there are many nights when I want dinner to be warm and comforting after trekking around outside in the snow. I can think of no better dinner than beef stew with a side of fresh bread. Admittedly, beef stew is somewhat a pain in the neck to make individually with all of the steps that need to be taken to make it successfully. However, canning beef stew is done in very large portions at one time, so it can be for several night’s worth of dinner. One Saturday afternoon is worth the time and effort saved during the week in my opinion. Below is the ingredients being ready for stewing. I unfortunately don’t have pictures of the braising of the beef – I will make sure to take some the next time. I love how colorful it looks!

The recipe that I use is from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving which if you are even halfway serious about canning, you should purchase. Trust me, it was worth the 15 dollars. I have used this book about twenty times now.

The best part is that I had leftover bones from the roasts so I was able to make beef broth, too! This recipe is also out of the Ball canning book.

I can’t wait for dinner!