Canning

Cherry Butter

Prepared this way, the jars have a shelf life of 18 months to 2 years, and require no special attention. A side benefit is that your house will smell wonderful while it is cooking - much better than potpourri!  You can also skip the last canning steps, and just store it in your refrigerator (2 or 3 months) or freezer (indefinitely).

 

Ingredients

 

Apple Butter

Ingredients:

4 lbs apples

Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Macintosh

use an assortment of apples

(about 18 peeled and cored and chopped)
4 cups sugar

2 tablespoons apple pie spice

(add more to taste)
1 cup apple juice

1 bottle of apple sauce

(about 16 oz)

Spiced Peaches

2-3 pounds of large peaches or 8 pounds of small peaches

3 1/4 cups sugar

5 cups water

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp vanilla extract

Wash the peaches. Peel by dipping them in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds, then plunging them into ice water to cool quickly. Slip off the peel, halve the fruit, or slices, then pit and scrape the cavity to remove the red fibers, if desired (these fibers tend to turn brown during storage).

As the peaches are halved, prevent darkening by placing the fruit directly into an anti-darkening solution

Apple Pie Filling

6 quarts sliced fresh apples (firm crisp apples are best)(about 30 apples)

5 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups Clear Jel

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups water

5 cups apple juice

3/4 cup bottled lemon juice

Peel and core apples and then slice the apples about 3/8 inch thick. Place apples in a large bowl of water. Crush about 5 – 500mg vitamin C tablets in the water to keep the apples from browning. Prepare 7 quart jars lids and rings.

Hot Giardiniera

1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and sliced to 1/8-inch thickness
1/2 lb. celery, sliced into 1/4-inch thickness
2 red bell peppers, medium dice
1/2 lb. cauliflower florets, about 3/4-inch in size
1/2 lb. green olives, pitted and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
1 lb. hot peppers of your choice (I did half jalapeño and half serrano)
1 cup pickling salt
4 quarts water
2 cups white vinegar
2 tbsps pickling spice (purchase or easily make your own)
1 1/2 cup sugar

Mandarin Oranges

1. Clean your jars, rings and lids. A dishwasher works great for this. I usually put them in a pot of boiling water and then place them in the oven on the lowest temperature while I prepare my fruit.
2. Peel your mandarins. Remove as much of the white pith as possible. These little Kishu Mandarins took no work at all to remove the pith, but their smaller than golf ball size did involve a lot of peeling.

Grandma's Dill Pickles

Ingredients

  • 11 cups water
  • 5 cups white vinegar
  • 1 cup canning salt
  • 12 pounds pickling cucumbers, quartered or halved lengthwise
  • 9 dill sprigs or heads
  • 18 garlic cloves
  • 18 dried hot chilies

Directions

In a stockpot, bring water, vinegar and salt to a boil; boil 10 minutes. Pack cucumbers into nine hot quart jars within 1/2 in. of top. Place one dill head, two garlic cloves and two peppers in each jar.

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