Canning Creatively

I'm finally able to get creative with canning!! When I first learned this art, I knew there was a whole world of cool things waiting for me to explore. But I got as far as pickles, tomatoes and salsa, and got stuck. When I started using my new pressure canner, I realized that it was time to add a good canning book to my reference library. Boy, am I glad I did!!! The "Ball Complete Guide to Home Preserving", has opened up LOTS of new possibilities. That, and the food acidity list I found online (don't remember exactly where I found it, but it's from the FDA, Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition). It's a 6-page list called the "Bad Bug Book: Foodborne Pathogenic Microorganisms and Natural Toxins Handbook".

Having "the Ball Book" handy has already helped me a lot -- the recipes are amazing!! It has a jam recipe that calls for both high- and low-acid ingredients ("Carrot Cake Jam", page 39). But I don't especially care for pineapple, at least not in carrot cake, and wanted to leave it out. So I looked on the acidity list, and selected another high-acid fruit -- raisins. Lovely recipe -- the house smells like Christmas!! I also had to adapt it -- like almost all of the jam / jelly recipes, it calls for sugar -- which I can't tolerate at all. So I converted it to honey, but ended up using 'way less than the converted recipe called for. Good thing the jars are sealed -- or I'd probably have a hard time keeping my husband out of it!!

I'm planning to try some of the sauces and other condiments in the book, as I come across the ingredients for them. That's the approach I'm using -- buy whatever's on sale (or, reasonably priced and interesting or unusual), and find a way to fit it into my food storage. For example, one of the local stores has chicken leg quarters on sale right now for $.49 a pound. Over the past three days, I've bought & canned 40 pounds. Our dogs will appreciate it -- and it's cheaper, and better for them, than the canned dog food we often mix with their dry. Another local store had ham for $.88 a pound, so I have a load of pints in the pressure canner now. (I just did 21 pints last weekend, but I'm making it a point to take advantage of sales -- anything under $1.00/pound is fair game.) Last night we had some of the ham I canned last weekend, and it was excellent. Very nice, after a long day, to throw together some instant garlic mashed potatoes, steam some veggies & warm up a jar of ham. Put it right into the microwave, and we ate it right out of the jar -- no extra dish to wash! And, if & when we ever do have to live on our food storage, I'll be able to pop a jar of it into the solar oven (assuming it's a sunny day) to warm it up.

I'm trying to go about this canning (and food storage) business in an organized way, and so recently spent a little time putting the ingredients & quantities for the things I want to try into my Palm. That way, if I come across a good deal on plums, for example, I can get them, along with the other ingredients I need for Plum Sauce.

It is incredible, and extremely satisfying, to have the ability to accomplish whatever I want to, in the kitchen. And I can finally try new & unusual things, which is expanding our food storage options -- both for now and the future. In fact, a wonderful side benefit of all the food storage work I've been doing is that we're eating even better now! And not only do I always have more (and more interesting) things available, we almost never end up running out to buy a meal because there isn't anything in the house that's quick & easy to throw together -- so we're saving money all the way around!!

Now, if I could just figure out how to add about a half-dozen hours to the day...