Canning Day!

Leave it to me to pick a gorgeous sunny nearly 90 degree day to do my canning.  Unfortunately it couldn't have waited any longer, with the fruit and veggies dictating when I should can as opposed to me picking a day which works better for me. 

So what am I canning?  Let's see... Pineapple Jam with Chinese Five-Spice, Mango Jam with Lime, and Quickest Kosher Dills.  These are all from Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff - I LOVE this book!  Prior to this year I had absolutely no canning experience, this book has changed that, it's that good of a book.  I also bought the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving which provides some good information about canning safety, but Liana's book has really made me a canner - and I mean that in the best way possible!

I started with the first recipe in the book, Strawberry Jam, then I moved on to Quicker Kosher Dills once my garden had produced enough cucumbers for me to make these (I still need to try Long-Fermented Kosher Dill Pickles, but fermentation scares me a bit), and last weekend while I was at my parent's house I took advantage of their air conditioning and in one long night I made Brandied Sweet Cherries with Red Wine (delicious!) and Holiday Cherries (exceptionally sweet... hopefully they mellow out some with storage...).

Is there a more satisfying sound than that of the tops popping as the vacuum seal sets?  It gives one a great sense of satisfaction.

Well the mango jam is cooking away on the stove while I wait for the canning water to reboil, the pineapple jam jars all sealed, and now I'm not sure I'll get to the pickles.  Oh well, if class doesn't run too late tomorrow maybe I'll make them then.  But for now, I eagerly await the end of tonight's canning,  my kitchen is hot!  I've got 2 pots on the stove, a pizza in the oven for dinner, and once the pizza is done the beets are going in for with lunch tomorrow...

As for the beets, I'm looking forward to those... I'm going to roast them, they're all wrapped up in foil ready to go in the oven as soon as the pizza is done and I raise the temperature.  I've got them wrapped up with olive oil, several cloves of garlic,  a few sprigs of dill and sea salt, and then I'm going to make a simple dill vinaigrette to dress them with tomorrow - yum!

Tomorrow I'll try to remember to post photos of my canning efforts of today!