Preserving the Harvest: Strawberry Jam

I know that its a little late in the season for strawberries.  In my defense we moved this summer so we wanted the least amount of stuff to move, then I was waiting to buy a new freezer (which I'm still waiting) so I could make freezer jam.  I finally just gave up and decided I better make some strawberry jam before the prices start going up.  The process was really simple just a little time consuming.

I cut up and smashed about 4lbs of strawberries to get 2 quarts of crushed strawberries.  Actually my daughter did the smashing and thought that it was one of the coolest things.  I could see boys loving this as well.

Then I moved the strawberries to a pot and added 6 cups of sugar.  I turned the heat on and slowly brought it to a boil, stirring every so often to help the sugar dissolve.

The next step is to let it boil rapidly until its thick.  It takes about 40 minutes.  Stir frequently to prevent sticking and burning at the bottom.  When it was thick I poured it into half-pint jars that had been sterilized and were hot, I put the lids on and put processed them in a Boiling Water Bath for 6 or 7 minutes.

I removed them from the bath and set them on the counter to cool and finish sealing.  I love hearing all the pops as they seal.

Preserving the Harvest: Strawberry Jam

This last week strawberries were $1.50 a pound and considering that I didn't get to see that low of a price last year and where gas prices are heading I figure this was the only time that I was going to see them this low, so I bought enough to make strawberry jam.  I'm sorry that you can see the flash in the middle of the jar it was the best picture that I had of it and there is not really a yellowish\orangeish spot in the middle of the jam.  Here is what I did.

I washed and cut up 4lbs of strawberries and smashed them to get around 8 cups.

Then I transferred the crushed strawberries to a pot and added 6cups of sugar.  I then slowly brought it to a boil then cooked it until it got thick.  This took about 40minutes.

Then I poured it into hot jars and processed in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

I made one batch and it made 7 half-pint jars.

Strawberry Jam

2quarts crushed strawberries

6cups sugar

Sterilize canning jars.  Combine berries and sugar; bring slowly to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.  Cook rapidly until thick, about 40 minutes.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.  Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.  Process 5 minutes in a Boiling Water Bath.

Preserving the Harvest: Drying Pineapple

It is that time of year when pineapples are cheaper and really good to eat.  I thought that I would try drying one and see how it turned out.  Here is what I did:

First I cut off the top and bottom, then cut the skin off but very thin so I didn't lose a lot of the "meat" of the pineapple.

Then of cut off each side around the hard middle part of the pineapple, then cut those sides into small equal sized chunks.

 Then I started spreading them out on the trays.

One regular sized pineapple filled three trays. 

Then let them dry until your desired dryness.  I did ours for about 7 hours.  Enjoy, it is yummy.

Preserving the harvest: Dried Peaches

Another thing that we did with the peaches was we dried some in our food dehydrator.  Peel the peaches and then slice them as evenly as you can.  Then lay the peaches out on the trays so they are close together but not overlapping.  This is a great activity for kids to do, my daughter did about three out of the four trays.

Then when your trays are filled start your dehydrator and set the temp for 135degrees F.  Then let them dry all day, about half way through the day I rotated the trays so they were able to evenly get dried.  The peaches will probably darken as they dry.  Allow them to dry until they are at your desired dryness.  I pulled them off when they were still soft but not sticky anymore.  

These ones are going to go into our 72 hour kits.

Preserving the harvest: Canned Peaches

It seems almost wrong to have peaches and not can them.  When we got peaches my husband and I saw that they were very ripe and we had to work at getting them done soon.  So that night after the kids went to bed we made it a date night and canned peaches together.  I was bad and didn't take pictures of the whole process.

A little trick that I just absolutely love about getting the skins off of peaches.  Put the peaches in boiling water for 30-60 seconds and then put them in cold water and the skins will come off so easily.  I give props to whoever discovered that years ago!!!

We packed our peaches in light syrup which is a cup of sugar to a quart of liquid.  Then we put sliced peaches in the jar filling it until there was 1/2inch headspace then filled it with the liquid.  This next part is important make sure you get all of the air bubbles out from around the slices!!!   Then wipe your rims and adjust the lids then process in a boiling water bath for 30 minutes.

They are so pretty.  We did 3/4 of a bushel and ended up with 25 quarts of peaches.

Preserving the harvest: Jams

I have already made two different jams/jellies this summer.  The blueberry jelly was my first one and raspberry jam was the other one.  We bought a bushel of peaches and they needed to get used fast.  I remember my mom making peach freezer jam when I was little.  I don't have any room in my freezer so I made some that I could can. 

Here it is while it was cooking.

The end result it looks so pretty and it tastes pretty yummy as well. Here is the recipe and directions that I used.

2 quarts crushed, peeled peaches

1/2c water

6c sugar

Sterilize canning jars (boil in water for 10mins).  Combine peaches and water; cook gently 10 minutes.  Add sugar; slowly bring to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.  Cook rapidly until thick, about 15 minutes; stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Pour hot jams into hot jars, leaving 1/4in headspace.  Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.  Process 5 mins in a boiling water bath.

If you want to make spiced peach jam tie 1 teaspoon whole cloves, 1 stick cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon whole allspice in a cheesecloth and add to the jam during cooking.  Remove spice bag before pouring hot jam into hot jars.  Process as directed for peach jam.

Preserving the harvest: Freezing Corn

First of all, SORRY for not put anything up last week.  I don't know what happened but it just wasn't flowing or something.  It was a busy week.  We have been canning and freezing all week.  I thought that I would share with you what we did throughout this last week.

The first thing we did was freeze some corn that a friend gave us from her garden.  It was great because I was able to have my daughter help me out a lot of this one.   She helped shuck the corn and handed me ears to put in the water.  

After shucking the corn I actually just cooked it for 5 minutes in boiling water and then pulled them out and let them cool.

After they cooled enough so I could touch the cob I cut the kernels off and put it in a bag.  My wonderful daughter labeled the bags for me.

With 8 ears of corn we were able to fill two quart size bags for the freezer.  It was a great little activity to break up the day for us and to have corn to enjoy later.

Preserving the harvest: Raspberry Jam

On Saturday we got up and went out to a farm and picked some raspberries.  It was nice we had the bushes to ourselves for about 45mins and were able to pick to our hearts content.  When we came home I got straight to work.

I rinsed off some berries.  Don't they look gorgeous? :)

I put them in a big pot and smashed them, the recipe calls for 9 cups of crushed berries.  I think that I was really close to that.

I think added 6 cups of sugar and boiled it until 220 degrees F.  My thermometer decided to quit going up at about 200 degrees and so after a little bit I took a little bit of the jam and put it in a little glass and put that in the freezer for a minute then checked to see if it gelled up and it had so I knew it was done.

Then I scooped it into the jars. Then put it in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

Here are the beauties.  They are a big hit with the family!!!

Here it the recipe and directions that I used:

9 cups crushed berries

6 cups sugar

Sterilize canning jars.  Combine berries and sugar.  Bring slowly to a boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.  Cook rapidly to or almost to, jellying point, depending upon whether a firm or soft jam is desired.  As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.  Pour hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.  Wipe jar rims and adjust lids.  Process 5 minutes in a Boiling Water Bath.

Preserving the harvest: Blueberry Jelly

It's blueberry season around here.  We have a farm nearby that we can go pick blueberries and they are so yummy!!!  We went out and pick tons last weekend, while I was picking I thought that I should make some blueberry jelly.

First I had to extract the juice from the blueberries:

Put 4 cups of washed berries in a pot with enough water to prevent scorching and smash them to help the juice come from the berries.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

You are then suppose to have a jelly bag hanging over another pot and pour the blueberries into the jelly bag and allow the juice to drip through.  I didn't have any jelly bags or cheesecloth, instead I have a strainer that has really small holes and I set it on top of a 8 cup measuring bowl.  Next time I do this part I'm going to do it the night before and let it drip all night.  

Have clean warm canning jars ready.  I used half pint jars.

Then in a pot add 4cups of blueberry juice, 7 1/2cups sugar. Stir together on high heat continue stirring constantly and bring to a full roiling boil that cannot be stirred down.  Then add 2 bags of liquid pectin, heat again to a boil.  Boil hard for 1 minute.

The next part went by really fast I didn't take any pictures.

Remove from heat; quickly skim off foam.  Pour jelly immediately into hot canning jars, leaving 1/4inch headspace.  Wipe jars rims and adjust lids.  Process 5 minutes in a Boiling Water Bath.