What I ended up canning this week

[Danil54grl]

I don’t. I use the thick cream off the Jersey cow and let it sit in the fridge in a covered jar for 5-7 days till it gets a sour “bite” taste. Then I can it. Just cream, nothing else.

How do you can it fresh from the cow? I have canned milk and cheese fresh from the cow, but never sour cream. Would like to know your process. I have a jersey that is about to become a new momma.

 

[SHTFPREPPER]

How do you can it fresh from the cow? I have canned milk and cheese fresh from the cow, but never sour cream. Would like to know your process. I have a jersey that is about to become a new momma.

I just let the 4 gal bucket of whole milk sit in the fridge overnight. By then the cream rises to the top. I skim the cream off and put it in pint mason jars leaving 1” headspace. I put them back in the fridge for 4 or 5 days. I taste them when I think they’re ready to can to make sure they have enough “bite” flavor. When they do, I put a rack in my stockpot and put the cold jars in. I fill it with COLD water covering the jars by 2”. I turn on the gas and as soon as the water starts to boil, I start timing. I do an hour and a half for pints. When the time is up, I turn the gas off and let the jars sit for 10 minutes then lift them out onto a thick towel out of drafts and check 24 hrs later to be sure they’re sealed. That’s all I do.

 

[DirtDiva]

DD I just picked 2 5 gallon buckets of pears this morning. I do need to can some in quart sized jars but I may try doing the leather for the dehydrator and some for the freeze drier to make into powders. Think it would be interesting to see how it works out. I still have many more bucket loads to pick, bit I really won't have time to mess with them until after the upcoming wedding this next Saturday.

Dani as we get older and have less young people around we tend to try to eat a little cleaner and that is reflected in our canning. Instead of the canned fruits in syrup and the pie fillings, jams and jellies we are canning fruit if at all in a lighter syrup. We dehydrate fruit into leathers without sweeteners to eat as snacks. I dehydrate small pieces of apple and pears to add to refrigerator oatmeal along with maple syrup and cinnamon. We are eating our frozen fruit in protein smoothies or oatmeal. Leathers, powders, barks and dehydrated fruits are easily done and take up so much less space to store and can be carried so much easier in backpacks and such.

Something we are experimenting with more also are wines, liqueurs and brandies with our fruit. As our trees mature and produce more we have plenty to experiment with especially those years with bumper crops. While these may not be the healthiest they can be good for the soul in moderation.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Stopped by Amish produce stand and bought a few tomatoes to can. Probably about 15 quarts worth. Better than nothing.

 

[DirtDiva]

I have been freezing blueberries and blackberries almost daily. Froze some squash also.

Robin and Dani i tried a new zucchini recipe last night that was really good. Mr loved it! It makes like a zucchini crust with a ground beef mixture on top. I flavored my ground beef with pizza seasoning and lots of basil and garlic. Added pepperoni and mushrooms on top and then pizza cheese. It was really good!

Meaty Zucchini Casserole

 

[Danil54grl]

I have been freezing blueberries and blackberries almost daily. Froze some squash also.

Robin and Dani i tried a new zucchini recipe last night that was really good. Mr loved it! It makes like a zucchini crust with a ground beef mixture on top. I flavored my ground beef with pizza seasoning and lots of basil and garlic. Added pepperoni and mushrooms on top and then pizza cheese. It was really good!

Meaty Zucchini Casserole

That looks like a good one! My have to try this one cutting my zucchini real small. I'll just tell hunny that is is bell peppers.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Nothing better than fresh, hot, salted tomatoes when you are canning. Cures all ills.

 

[DirtDiva]

Freezing blueberries and blackberries. Refrigerator pickles fermenting. Butchered some hens and putting the meat in jars with broth.

 

[Robinjopo1]

14 quarts and 1 pint of tomatoes so far today

 

[Robinjopo1]

I was interrupted by a trip to the airport, but I was able to can 14 jars of tomatoes and 8 jars of green beans.

 

[Danil54grl]

Not today, but Sunday. . . After son's 3 wedding rehearsal dinner, I canned up the leftovers of 9 pints salsa and 8 pints of chili with no beans. Then I ended up vacuum sealing a few dozens of tamales, refried beans and mexican rice in individual meals and then put in the freezer. I still need to go back over to get my 50 year old Christmas multi-colored lights that we hung (at this point, the big glass bulbs are vert fragile) along with Granny's cake plate that I used to serve Mexican Wedding Cookies. I know the other side needed a break,. . . just like we did. I may be off on Thursday or can go get after work tomorrow.

Today found out that one of my friends at work a/c broke on Saturday and she is not sleeping well because of our heat. . . I told her she should have called me! Her and her husband has had an A/C guy out and finally determined it was an electric issue going to the unite. Today went to let borrow and install a couple window units just to keep comfortable until issue can get resolved. She is the LEGAL immigrant I have raked about recently and her husband has just been cleared of cancer after treatments so is still very weak and still gets dizzy. They are very proud people who does favors for others and it is hard for them to accept what they see as a "handout".

 

[DrJenner]

Canning small batch of relish today with some cukes. They are trickling in.

 

[DirtDiva]

Canning green beans and tomato sauce. Freezing sweet peppers, blackberries, basil and okra.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Canning green beans and tomato sauce. Freezing sweet peppers, blackberries, basil and okra.

I overdid it with the okra this year. Planted too much and it is producing like crazy. The neighbors are even tired of it.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Made some pickled okra today. Made my recipe from scratch. Maybe it will, maybe it wont.

 

[Robinjopo1]

Hoping to get enough green beans to restock the pantry this year as I ran out over winter. I should be fine with them and tomato products by the end of the growing season. I’m most excited about fresh watermelons, cantaloupes and honeydews. I never preserve them as I can’t eat enough to get tired of them!

I have green beans from 2011. No one could tell. I made sure to boil them an extra long time though.

 

[Robinjopo1]

I canned 6 quarts of kraut this morning. I have stopped making large amounts at one time in favor of small because if something messes up the batch it won't ruin too many jars. Ive had that happen and have no idea what happened.

 

[Cindyd]

I actually water bath unless I add meat, then I will pressure cook the meat time of 90 minutes.

also I cook my tomatoes in the oven till they blister so roughly a hour to an hour and a half. Rough cut laid out on a baking sheet. Run thru a blender till smooth. If you like chuncky, you can leave some. I basically ally skip step 1 & 2 by not plunging and peeling. Cooking them long enough in the oven, the skins puree up too. It also cuts down on step 5s cooking time of 4-5 hours on the stove to about an hour and a half.

Danil, I am canning sauerkraut today and am going to hopefully get to try this recipe for some spaghetti sauce before the weekend is out..thanks for the tips on blistering the tomatoes in the oven, I'll take any time saver I can get these days!

 

[DirtDiva]

Freezing asparagus spears every other day right now. Spring asparagus harvest is looking pretty good. Haven't seen any of the dreaded asparagus beetles yet. I think maybe letting the ducks in the asparagus beds all winter to have at the grubs helped.

 

[Robinjopo1]

I always have one stalk of asparagus come up. The cats used as a litter box and only one survived.