Yes I CAN!

I can. I can can the can! I'm canning at last. I'm so excited. Way back in April Michael ordered a pressure canner for me for my birthday. We were so excited about the garden and the abundance it was sure to provide that we thought we'd better get all 19th century on it and preserve those vittles.

Anyhow, the canner was back ordered forEVER. Finally, I was downtown at Colliers Hardware the other day (supporting my local business) when I saw their lovely canning selection. They had a 32 quart pressure canner for 1/2 the price of whatever website it was that we had ordered from.

Needless to say, I canceled that web order and ran right down and got my canner. Woopie! I read all sorts of canning guides and manuals for 24 hours and figured I was an expert. Well, not an expert ... but more prepared than I was.

I began rescuing the abundance of stone fruit that happened upon us in the last week. I canned some apricot halves and pitted about a million cherries from Sunsmile Farms and popped those babies in the mason jars. (Sterilized and pressure canned according to a recipe, of course!)

Today I'm venturing into pickle country. Apparently one cannot pressure can pickles successfully. So, I'm using my big-ass canner as a water bath canner today. Now the thing is, it takes a LONG time to bring a bathtub to boil. Seriously. I'm writing in this blog while waiting for that bad boy to boil. (Because everyone knows about that "watched pot"). Of course, after many previous disasters of boil overs with things like beans, I can tell you there are some problems with not watching a pot.

Anyhow, here is the recipe I am using (a hodge podge from other recipes I've found). I will find out in about 8 weeks whether or not this was a success. But since I had a big old pile of cukes from GRUB (our CSA) and this ginormous canner, I simply had to make some pickles!

This recipe fills 3 quart sized jars. (And I probably could have squeezed in one more pickle at least).

5 Big Old Pickles from CSA cut into spears
6 table spoons of sea salt (with no additives)
4 1/2 cups water
4 cups vinegar
Tons of fresh dill & flowers from garden
1 tsp whole mustard seed per jar
1/2 tsp celery seed per jar
1/2 tsp peppercorns per jar
1 garlic clove per jar

Soak cucumbers in ice water for 2 hours. Slice into spears and pop back into ice water while getting jars and water bath ready.

Combine salt, water and vinegar in big pot and bring to boil. Pack cucumber spears into hot jars (leaving 1/4" head space). Add dill, dill flowers, celery seed, peppercorns, mustard seed and garlic clove to each jar. Ladle boiling vinegar/salt solution over cucumbers. Remove air bubbles with plastic spatula. Adjust your two piece caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water canner.

So, tomorrow I will check the seals on the jars to make sure they vacuumed up properly and then find a cool place to store these ... and the cherries ... and the apricots ... then I will get more jars and begin to make jam from the plums and peaches I anticipate. Oh, and I have to rescue all those green and yellow bush beans I have in the garden ... I have big plans this summer. Michael's next big plan will be to build out a pantry so we can store all this stuff. If you are reading this, Michael, I would like to thank you in advance. You are my Mr. Greenjeans.