Good Morning

A fun surprise to find this morning in my Winter Garden....Cauliflower ready to pick and eat!  

Stew with Vegies

Last week I spent an entire day canning stew. With another successful deer season behind us my freezer is full and stew is a great way to store the meat. However, stew is tricky and after a long day I swore I wasn't canning it again...Ever! BUT I want to document some tips... just in case.

1. Do not follow recipes that say you don't need to boil the ingredients....The recipe that I am adding below is the exact way to do it, don't try shortcuts.
2. Never add the seasoning to each jar .... add it to the whole batch before putting in jars. Too much salt or too much seasoning ruins the stew. Potatoes absorb salt...trust me this is gross.
3. You can also make stew, cook it, and freeze it.


Recipe
4 to 5 lbsw of stew meat (Beef or venison)
1 Tbsp oil
3 quarts cubed and peeled potatoes (about 12 medium)
2 quarts sliced carrots (about 16 small)
3 C chopped celery (about 5 stalks)
3 C chopped onions (4 small)
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp pepper

Cut meat into 11/2 inch cubes, brown in oil. Combine meat, vegetables and seasonings in a large saucepot. Cover with boiling water. Bring stew to a boil. Ladle hot stew into hot jars, leaving 1 inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two piece caps. Process pints 75 minutes, quarts 90 minutes at 10 lbs pressure in a pressure canner.
Source: Ball Blue Book

Caliente!

Out of my Garden :)

Food Storage Christmas Gift Idea

We don't eat too much Applesauce at our house. I still have a ton from canning it in 2009. I decided that this Christmas craft/gift idea was perfect for it! Cinnamon Applesauce Ornaments. They turned out great and the house smells wonderful!

I bagged them up with this scripture attached;

Matthew 2:10 "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."

Tomatoes Packed in Own Juice

Follow steps 1-6 in the previous post, "Tomatoes packed in Water" However, when its time to pack the tomatoes in the jars, Press gently on tomatoes until the natural juices fill the spaces between the tomatoes leaving 1/2" headspace. Follow with steps 9-18.

Tomatoes packed in Water

These went pretty fast once they were all cored and scored.

You will need:
25 lbs tomatoes (we used Roma's)
salt
bottled lemon juice
12-13 clean Quart jars
Boilng Water

1. Put jars (without seals or lids) on a cookie sheet in 200 degree oven while you prepare tomatoes
2. Core and Score tomatoes, see this post
3. Drop tomatoes in boiling water for few minutes (known as blanching)
4. Remove tomatoes from boiling water and put in ice water. Skins will easily peel off
5. Remove jars from oven
6. Put 2 Tbsp lemon juice in each quart jar and 1 Tbsp lemon juice in each pint jar
7. Carefully pack blanched tomatoes into hot jar leaving 1/2" headspace
8. Ladle boiling water over tomatoes
9. Add 1 tsp salt per Quart jar or 1/2 tsp salt per pint jar
10. Boil seperate water for the lids. Do not boil lids, just let simmer in water
11. Using a rubber spatula release trapped air from around inside of each jar
12. Clean jar rims
13. Place lid on jar and firmly secure bands
14. Set jars on elevated rack in boiling water canner
15. After all jars are ready bring water to rolling boil
16. Hot water bath Quarts 45 minutes, Pint 40 minutes
17. When water bath is complete let jars cool
18. Check seals and enjoy

Source: "Ball Blue Book guide to preserving" and "Food in Jars"
Notice how the tomatoes in the picture are "Floating" in the jars, see what Food in Jars has to say about Floating. "This is because there are air pockets inside those tomatoes and when you pack something with some internal trapped air in a liquid, it will float. No big deal"

55 gallon Water Barrel Instructions

Cleaning the barrel - fill the barrel about 1/4 full of water and pour in some bleach (with no additives). Bring the barrel to its side and roll it around sufficiently. Stand it back up and let it sit for one week then empty. It is now ready for water storage.

Fill barrels with water - Do not use filtered water or osmosis water for storage, tap has the chlorine chemicals to help kill germs. Hot water is preferable. Choose the location for the barrel and if possible lay two bricks between the barrel and the ground. With water inside the barrel will weigh approximately 400 lbs. Choose a place out of the sun and UV light.

Treating the water in barrel - After the barrel is cleaned and filled add 1/4 C bleach (no additives, thickeners, or scents) per 55 gallon container OR 2 ounces of "Aerobic 7". Cap the barrel with permanent lid. Refill every 3 years when the barrel has been out in the sun, every 4 years if out of the sun. Stored water should be checked every few onths to determine whether containers have leaked or if any problems have developed in appearance, taste, or odor.

For more on Water Storage CLICK HERE