Had a gap in my maters so took care of the other canning in need of done. 1 qt 6 pt of peaches. 7 qt of beets. 7 qt of dills with garlic. And a gallon of refrigerator pickles. After a the busy season day at work and up til midnight canning this boy is beat!
The refrigerator pickles are really nice and crispier than canned. I might do more refrigerator pickles from now on.
Dill pickles using Grandma's recipe. The ones on the left are marked+P for the extra gun powder I sneaked in...a little pepper power. The missing row is the missing man formation. Had 2 qt and a pint bust open in the canner.
As wild as I am anymore this is about as close to the reefer as I get. At least these reefers don't make me munchy afterwards.
I want to work in the crispiest canned I can! As far as maters canning numerous 5 gal buckets a few nights a week and maters are rotting in the garden. I've about had it with salads!
Rained the last 2 days so I am afraid how muddy I will get in the am picking tomatoes. However I braved the misty drizzle and got some crab apples and tried canning spiced crab apples for the first time. I have never had them before so I hope I like them. Back 2 rows are traditional syrup the front row that is lighter is an improv cinnamon honey lemon syrup. Hope I don't poison myself.
I only grow a few tomato plants at home so I have to pick up a bushel of meaty tomatoes like romas from local farmers market. I clean, cut out the stem cores, half them from top to bottom, season, then cook (dehydrate) in the smoker (no smoke) for several hours until they are like big red raisins. Seasoning is basic at salt and pepper with some getting a little oregano and/or garlic salt. Once done, I chill them, then freeze in ziplock bags where they are easy to grab a few at a time to add to pizza, pasta, sauces, omelettes etc. or just snack on them like a potato chips
Frost warning tonight. So that'll probably be it for the year. The Mrs has buckets and bags of maters everywhere. She'll be picking most of the evening!
Not really canning but...cooked up the squash that I don't think we can get through in the next month or two. Got 16 qt bags in the freezer. It is a new variety for me and I really like it. Bon Bon it looks like buttercup but is a little more deep colored flesh and tastes wonderful.
No wonder we are tired of canning. Just did a count and with no freezing counted in, canned and only canned we have for the year 117 qts 111 pts and 30 1/2pts.
Got around to making some sun (smoker) dried tomatoes. this week. I used some larger tomatoes this time so took a little longer. About 30 hours at 150F Getting ready with a little salt/pepper/oregano A couple hours in After about 12 hours Most done Had a sundried tomato, spinach, and feta omelet for breakfast, and some more sundried tomato cut up on a pizza for supper.