Photo from Taste of Home

Fresh peaches are my favorite fruit. So, after I’ve eaten my fill of the harvest, I like to find some way of preserving that fresh, fruity flavor for the rest of the year.  I think adding homemade items to my food storage is a treat, and I don’t want canning to be a lost art for my children.  We try to make it a family affair so everyone can learn a little pioneer industry! Last year I made peach pie filling and Peachy Vanilla Syrup. This year I combined the fresh peaches with some strawberries from my freezer for Peach Strawberry Freezer Jam. If you’re still enjoying peaches in your area, give this recipe from Taste of Home a try. It’s a definite keeper!

PEACH STRAWBERRY FREEZER JAM

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 1/4 cups finely chopped peeled peaches

5 cups sugar

3/4 cup water

1 package (1.75 oz.) powdered fruit pectin

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large saucepan, combine the strawberries and the peaches (I used a food processor to dice the fruit into very small pieces, almost pureed).  Add sugar; mix thoroughly and let stand for 10 minutes.

2. In a small saucepan, combine water and pectin. Bring to a boil; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add to fruit mixture and stir for 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves.

3. Ladle into jars or freezer containers.  Cover and let stand overnight or until set, but not longer than 24 hours. Refrigerate for up to 3 weeks or freeze for up to 1 year.

Yield: about 3 1/2 pints (I did 2 batches and got about 12 half-pints)

One week left to enter!

I am picking up 2 cases of peaches and a case of apples tomorrow from my local produce co-op with plans for canning and drying this weekend.  If I run out of steam before the fruit is canned, I may freeze some for smoothies too!  So, it was necessary to reclaim some freezer space.  I still had some cherries in the freezer (red tart and bing) and decided to make another batch of my favorite Cherry Vanilla Syrup.

I consider Cherry Vanilla Syrup one of the very best canning recipes in my collection.  It’s sweet and perfectly spiced, and my grandma (who is a great cook!) raves about it to all the relatives, which makes me feel like some sort of domestic goddess.  I like it best with fluffy pancakes, but it would work well over cheesecake or ice cream too. You can click on the links in this post to see the recipe and whole process for making this syrup (and cherry pie filling) from last year’s post. I consider these types of products the “luxury” items in my food storage, simple pleasures that make everything else taste better.

I canned 15 pints, and will devour the first one with French Toast tomorrow for Saturday morning breakfast!

I’ll post photos and recipes soon!

Clear Jel is what cornstarch wants to be when it grows up.   I like using Clear Jel in my recipes and have had a few e-mails wondering what it is, so I thought I would answer publicly. Clear Jel is actually derived from cornstarch and is used commercially by bakeries and restaurants to thicken. It comes in a few varieties, regular and instant being the most commonly used.  Here are some advantages to its use:

• It is clear when cooked.
• It’s smooth, and doesn’t clump like regular cornstarch when used properly.
• It remains stable when cooked so frozen foods don’t separate.  This allows you to successfully freeze cream sauces, puddings and custards.
• It can be used in jams and jellies and is less expensive than pectin. Plus, it allows you to double and triple recipes. (Jam can be frozen or processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.)

More information is available on the different varieties of Clear Jel here.

I love home canning because I know every ingredient that goes into my jars (i.e., no high fructose corn syrup!).  Whether you are canning, freezing, or drying cherries for food storage, you will want to invest in a “cherry stoner.”  Here is a link to a Suction Base Cherry Stoner on Amazon that is on a great sale. It is a handy device that quickly pits the cherries.  Although it occasionally misses a pit, it does a good job and saves oodles of time.

Once the cherries are washed, stemmed and pitted, the fun can begin.  First, to can the plain cherries, we filled pint bottles tightly with the fruit and made a mixture that was half water and half apple juice (which brings out the flavor of the cherries) with about  1/8 cup of honey per pint jar.  We then poured the mixture into the jars, covering the cherries and leaving about 1″ headspace.

(I’m not sure how the Tupperware ended up on the burner during this process, but luckily the flame was off.)

We then pressure canned these jars for 10 mintes.  We’ve decided we’ll just water-bath cherries in the future though, because the fruit holds its shape much better that way.  Still, they taste great and my husband has already eaten two pints straight from the jar.

For the Cherry Pie Filling and Cherry Vanilla Bean Syrup, I used the same basic syrup recipe with minor alterations. 

CHERRY SYRUP

In a large pan, mix together:

4 1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. Clear Jel

1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg 

Combine and add to dry ingredients in pot:

2 tsp. salt

5 c. cherry juice

4 c. water

Stir the water mixture into the sugar mixture and bring to boil.  Cook until thick and bubbly.  Remove from the heat and ADD:

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Pour the mixture over cherries in quart jars for pie filling, leaving a generous 1″ headspace  (the hot syrup expands, so this is important to ensure  the jars don’t overflow).  Clean jar rims and attach lids and rings before processing in a water bath canner for 25 minutes.

To make the Cherry Vanilla Syrup, add two vanilla beans (that are sliced open) to the syrup as it heats.  When the syrup is thick and bubbly, stir in chopped cherries to your liking. You can leave the syrup plain, but I like to add the chunks of cherry.  Remove the vanilla beans and pour the syrup into hot pint jars.  Clean jar rims, attach lids and rings, and process for 25 minutes in a hot water bath canner. 

The Cherry Vanilla Syrup was so delicious it prompted pancakes at midnight! My dad said it “tasted like Christmas.”

For the jams, I used recipes from the low-sugar powdered pectin boxes (like Sure-Jell Premium Fruit Pectin, Light, just altering the combination of fruit to total the amount needed.  If it called for 6 cups of chopped cherries, I used 3 cups cherries and 3 cups raspberries or boysenberries to total 6 cups.   

Bottled meat is practical...not pretty!

Since we purchased our pressure canner last year, we’ve wanted to try canning meat.  We love the idea of being able to store meat from the cuts that we like to reduce fat and mystery meat.  And, we can buy meat in bulk when it’s on sale and have a way to store it long-term outside of our freezer.  It’s a win-win.  Canned meat will store for 3 years if it is kept in a cool dark room.

We bottled super lean (93% / 7%) ground beef and chicken breasts in pint and quart jars.  Here is the step-by-step process we used:

1.  Start with clean bottles in new condition (no chips or cracks).

2.  Ready a large pot of hot water to fill jars, or create a vegetable stock like we did.  Combine water, celery, carrots, onion and herbs (if desired) in a large pot on a back burner of your stove to create a vegetable stock that will season the meat in the jars.  We liked adding this stock to the meat.  It is subtle enough that the meat can still be used in any recipe, but just adds a little flavor.

3. Meats need to be lean for canning.  Fatty meats may not can well because the fat can interfere with the seal of the jar.  Use ground beef that is 90% lean or leaner.  For chicken, cut raw chicken breasts into large pieces and place raw meat into jars.  We got about 1 lb. of meat per pint jar. For ground beef, brown the meat until it is almost cooked through before loading it into the jars.  Fill the jars with meat up to 1/2″ from the rim.  Some sites online say to add 1/4 – 1/2 tsp. of salt to each pint jar at this point.  We had read that with pressure canning, the salt is only added for seasoning rather than preserving, so we left it out to reduce sodium.  I don’t know there is an official rule on this.

4. Using a canning funnel, pour water or stock over the meat up to within 1/2″ of the rim to fill in around the meat.  Use a canning wand or handle of a wooden spoon to poke into the jars and release any air bubbles in the jars.

5.  Wipe jar rims clean of any grease or meat pieces. Place lids on jars (it is good to place the lids in hot water for about 2 minutes to soften the rubber seal).  Tighten on rings, but don’t twist them on hard or you may cause your jars to crack during cooking.

6.  Put the rack into the pressure canner (Remember this process does not work correctly in a pressure cooker. You need a pressure canner.) and add 2-3 inches of water (refer to the instruction manual for your canner) and about 1/4 c. white vinegar (this will keep your jars free from hard water marks during processing). Place filled jars onto rack.  Attach the canner lid and secure it on.  Leave the weight off of the vent port.  Turn the burner to high heat and “exhaust” the canner–wait until a steady flow of steam is leaving the open vent port.  Let this column of steam flow continuously for 10 minutes.  After exhausting the canner for 10 minutes, put the weight on.  Watch for the gauge to get up to pressure.  For our elevation, we canned at 15 lbs. pressure.  Once the canner reaches the appropriate pressure, reduce the heat to maintain the poundage.  Closely monitor this at first to assure that the gauge is staying where it needs to, and adjust burner as necessary.

7.  Once the pressure is where you want it, begin timing. Pints: 75 minutes.  Quarts: 90 minutes.  If you are canning fish, add an extra 15 minutes.

8. Continue checking on the canner to monitor pressure.  Never leave the canner unattended.

9.  When the cooking time has ended, turn the burner off and allow the pressure to fall slowly on its own.  When the pressure is down to zero, remove the weight (or release the pressure valve, if that is how your canner is equipped), take off the canner lid, remove the jars with a hot pad or canning tongs and allow the jars to cool on the counter away from drastic temperature changes.  DON’T TRY TO RUSH THIS PROCESS.  If you try to remove the canner lid before the pressure returns to zero, your jars may break.  The jar lids should start making a plinking sound as they seal, and should all be sealed within about an hour.  If any of the jars don’t seal, you can refrigerate the meat to use right away or reprocess it using a new lid.

10.  After the jars have sealed and cooled down, wipe the jars clean, remove the rings and place them on your pantry shelves.

The meat is surprisingly delicious prepared this way.  The chicken ends up moist and just falls apart the same way as it does after cooking in a crock pot.  It’s great used in any recipe calling for shredded chicken like soup, enchiladas, etc.   Once you’ve tried canning meat, you’ll see how simple the process is, and you’ll enjoy all the fast and tasty week-night meals you can create.  If you want, you can customize the recipe as your canning by adding peppers, onion or celery to the ground beef…or even a tomato base to make jars of sloppy joe that are ready to go! 

Happy canning!

Our local fruit stand had beautiful apples and peaches this year, so we have devoured about a case of each and preserved several other cases in a variety of ways.  We flash froze some of the fruit for smoothies, and bottled apple and peach pie fillings and Spiced Apple Syrup (with diced apple pieces…yum!).  We used Jonathan apples for the pie filling and syrup for their texture and tartness.  The pie fillings make great cobblers (in fact I’m looking for great cobbler toppings if you have a recipe), and they are truly spectacular on pancakes. 

We had never bottled pie fillings before so I scoured the internet for recipes and tips and then made a few alterations.  They turned out absolutely delicious!  Here are the recipes we used:  

APPLE PIE FILLING

In a large pan, mix together:

4 1/2 c. white sugar

1 c. Clear Jel

4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Combine and add to dry ingredients:

2 tsp. salt

8-10 c. water (depending on your preference for the thickness of the syrup.  I used 9 cups.)

Stir water mixture into dry ingredients, bring to boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add:

3 Tbsp. lemon juice

Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings and keep hot. 

Peel, core and slice 6 lbs. of tart, crisp apples.  Pack the hot canning jars with apples, leaving 1″ of headspace.  This is important!  The hot syrup will expand and will leak out of jars if overfilled, keeping them from sealing correctly.

Fill jars with hot syrup, clean jar rims, apply lids and screw rings on tightly.

Process in water bath canner for 20 minutes.

YIELD: 7 quart jars

SPICED APPLE SYRUP

Use the same recipe as above, but substitute apple cider for at least 5 cups of the water.  Dice desired amount of apples.  Stir into syrup and fill jars as indicated.  This will make about 7 pint jars (because you are using less apples).   This makes a sweet gift paired with a homemade Pancake Mix.

I’d love to hear how these recipes turn out for you.  Happy canning!