Well, after getting into cooking more & more, we are making our first batch of salsa, & trying canning for the first time.
Should be interesting, I hope it works :)
Think we got everything sterilized pretty good, & using a pressure cooker to seal everything up after.
Anyone else out there can stuff?
Next I'm going to try a batch of pickles.
GREETINGS SHARK,
MY WIFE MAKES AWESOME SALSA AND CANS 35-40 QUARTS EVERY YEAR WITH OUR FAMOUS GRAINGER COUNTY TOMATOES. ONCE WE GET SETTLED WE HOPE TO HAVE A LARGE GARDEN AND CAN MANY THINGS. I GREW UP ON HOME CANNED GOODS. IT DOES NOT GET ANY MORE ORGANIC THAN THAT.
TAKE CARE,
MARK
Hi, Shark--
We started canning as soon as we got through the main construction here. We have an older orchard on our property, so I have plenty of fruit to experiment with, some years. I've done all things you can water-bath can, rather than needing a pressure cooker. High elevation makes processing times longer here, but I've only had maybe a half-dozen lid-seal failures in three years of serious canning.
I had grown up with home-canned foods, so I was anxious to make my own. I find people are really surprised, anymore, when they hear that you can. Heck, a lot of people seem to barely COOK! :lol:
But to anyone reading this who's not done it, I recommend it. I was happily surprised how good my results were on my very first attempts. To can jams and applesauce and other acid things, you need very little in the way of equipment. Lehman's Non-Electric and other catalogs have starter sets that are quite inexpensive (and usually come with the Ball Blue Book, a good overview of the processes, with lots of recipes to get you started.)
If you don't want to make even that much investment, you can try freezing before you jump into canning. During construction, I froze apple butter, applesauce, and peach jam, cooking in our motorhome! It was all so delicious, next year I decided for sure I'd really can. I'm totally hooked now.
I know a couple other LHBA members who also can, too.
Sara :D
PS... Kola, we also do jerky and dried apples. YUM!
If you want some interesting canning tips, try the magazine "Backwoods Homes". There's a section called "Ask Jackie" she has a lot of advice on canning. Surprising how much stuff you wouldn't normally think of canning.:shock:
http://www.backwoodshome.com/advice/askjackieonline.html
Ahh, good website.
I forgot to mention, my fiance bought me a dehydrator last year, so there's been plenty of jerky around the house.
On that note, if you have a Gander Mountain store near you, they have some great jerky spices/salts. & cheap too, $1.99 makes a couple pounds.
Also in the jerky section, they have a Jumbalaya mix, again, $1.99, & just mix it with whatever meat you want, we use turkey sausage sometimes cut up. Tasty meal for 2.
Our salsa turned out great, first jar gone in 1 night :)
Howdy. New member here. Just completed the class this last weekend.
Although we still live in "the suburbs", I've been canning for years. I usually put up green beans, applesauce, tomatoes, apple pie mix - basically whatever I can find at the farmer's market that's inexpensive.
Let me know if you want the apple pie mix recipe. It's a little work, but really worth it in the middle of winter!!
:D
I have sucessfully canned tomatoes, blackberry jam and blackberry pie filling. I tried a salsa recipe, but it called for way too much vinegar, and i didn't like it!
I'd be really interested in some good canning recipes for salsa (especially if they contain cilantro), and that apple pie filling recipe!
cheers,
2 cents
Hi, all--
I'd be interested in a good salsa recipe suitable for canning, too. (I make a good fresh salsa, but don't know how well that would "translate" to a canned version? Has anyone else converted a fresh salsa recipe to canning?)
But" 2 cents", you can add cilantro to any recipe! :D I actually don't like cilantro much, but I'm with you... I never feel my salsa's quite right if it doesn't have some cilantro.
Hmmm... this thread is making me HUNGRY! :lol:
Sara :D
Here's the recipe I got from my Aunt.
The salsa is actually a little sweet (see brown sugar) so it's easy to eat alot of it :)
Pretty mild I notice, so if you like some kick, be sure to add more jalapeno.
This recipe made 6 PINT sized jars (we used a pressure cooker to seal em). - I knew quart didn't seem right, they're pint sized jars! Sorry :lol:
SALSA (MILD)
4 1/2 lb tomatoes
3 green chilies, mild and chopped
( I use a can of green chilies)
1 large Spanish onion, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
1 medium red pepper, chopped
3 to 6 canned, or 4 fresh, jalapenos
5 1/2 oz can tomato paste
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp coarse salt
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or 2 gloves, minced
Scald, peel and chop tomatoes (remove seeds if you like). Chop all other ingredients. Mix in large pot all ingredients and boil uncovered, 60 to 90 minutes until thickened to desired consistency. Can or refrigerate. Serve chilled with tortilla chips
Thanks, Shark, looks good. I'll have to write that one down.
It looks like your Aunt's cooked salsa recipe is fairly similar to what I do fresh, except I don't use peppers. Sometime I might also try just cooking mine and see what happens to it. It ought to be plenty acidic with all the tomatoes plus vinegar and/or wine I put in.
Happy canning, everybody!
Sara :D
PS... you guys must eat salsa fast in large quantities if you're canning it in quarts! :D :D :D
Ahhh..canning!
Several years ago I was offered 1/2 ton, then another 1/2 ton, then
a ton, then SEVEN TONS of beautiful looking asparagus. And the price?
Hey, it's me! You have to ask?
Actually I was out of time of the seven ton day and I was only able to
pick up two of the seven tons.
I canned pickled asparagus. After that I canned, and canned more
pickled asparagus (no, not all two tons). Made jars and jars of it.
Didn't even last through the summer. I might be able to keep a
national secret through much torture, but wave a spear of home
canned pickled asparagus in front of my nose and I'll spill the secret
receipe for Coca-Cola. Ohhh heaven! The stuff is wonderful!
I got the big load from a warehouse in Mattawa, Washington. They used
to sell off the "culls". The #1 asparagus went to Japan. The culls
were better looking than the asparagus I see in the supermarkets,
and much better looking than the wild asparagus we picked as kids.
Sadly, those beautiful looking culls are now being sold also. It was
nice while it lasted.
It's good to remenisce.
-Rick
Hi, Andy! Hope all's well with you guys! How're the house plans?
120 quarts? That's a lot of green beans!!! Wow! :D
We're just starting to experiment with homegrown veggies here, so normally I'm not canning much until the peaches and apples in our orchard are ready in the fall. Late snow/freeze came at just the wrong time here this spring, though, so I'm probably largely skunked this year. Oh, well, next year. :D
Sara
120 quarts? That's a lot of green beans!!! Wow!
120 qts is a lot.
For me that is a 4 month supply considering I ate a jar a day.
With that and some elk and deer meat I could get through a winter almost. I love green beanys..thank God they are not ones that make ya toot... that could easily turn into a firework display coming out of my tipi smokehole for all to see!
A few questions for the canning experts.
Has anyone ever figured out what it costs to actually can or jar? taking into consideration the price of the jars and lids, seeds, plants, fertilizer.
Can you reuse the metal lids/seals? or do you have to buy new ones?
The greatest thing about jarring and canning is that it is fresher than any thing bought from a retail store. Once retired I have plans for my own greenhouse and will be a canning and jarring fool. My favorite jarred stuff is sweet pickles with onions ans garlic thrown in.
drooling,
Kola
Quote:Has anyone ever figured out what it costs to actually can or jar? taking into consideration the price of the jars and lids, seeds, plants, fertilizer.
Can you reuse the metal lids/seals? or do you have to buy new ones?
You can reuse the jars, & lids, but you need to buy new seals, which are pretty cheap.
The biggest savings would be if you have your own garden, but the salsa we made still turned out to be cheaper then store-bought, & we got the veggies at the local store. Farmers market would likely be cheaper.
Kola--
I was just reading some food preservation/storage information on the 'net yesterday that said that, even when you are using your own homegrown produce, generally the cost of home-canning is higher than store-bought-- especially if you factor in how darned cheap you can buy stuff in big cans or multiple-can packs at Smart & Final or Costco or somewhere like that. I don't know that you can come up with a specific price comparison across the board, since, like our log homes, each of us has a whole different set of "materials" and cost variables when we can (how much you're canning, how efficient you are at it, how much help you have, where you got your jars/lids, where/how you got your produce, what method of canning you're using, what heat source you're using, etc.)
The article said, and I agree, that the cost savings can be an issue, if you have an orchard or are growing a good garden, since that's produce you have already invested in (not "free", but something you've already commited the expenditure for), rather than if you're going to a farmer's market and buying a flat of something specifically to can. And of course, preserving the part of the harvest you can't use/share is definitely thrifty and consciencious. But in general, as you said, I think it's the quality of product that is the real reason for canning. You know how fresh the produce was at time of canning, and you control what/how much was added to it. You also get to decide how much garlic you want in those pickles! :D Memories of the wonderful taste of home-canned pickled beets and quince sauce and wax beans when I was a little kid were the reason I started canning when I grew up!
Oh, and I see Shark's weighed in while I was typing. I wonder if something like your salsa, Shark, which requires more individual ingredients and more prep-time (cutting, etc.), is more likely to come out cheaper than, say, Andy's green beans?
And I agree with Shark... replace the lids, but re-use the rings. I know a couple of people who re-use lids if they can (the ones with the best looking rubbery part), and if they don't seal right, they just re-process them with a different one. But that's probably an extreme money-saving thing. With new lids, I've had just the tiniest number of seals fail (my fault, always, too!), so I'd personally rather spend a little extra on new lids to save the time and potential for a seal going bad and my losing some of my product.
Sara :D
Hey Sara
We're stilling working on the plans and the model some- but we were out of town on vacation for nearly 2 weeks so its been a little slow on that.
120 quarts isn't really all that much- I'm surprised they're quitting this early. I think it may be because they already have about 30 left from last summer. Some years back we put up about 370 quarts of beans. This is the only thing they can- the rest is frozen(pink eye peas, turnip greens, okra, butterbeans) or in the crawlspace('taters). Now if you ate a full quart of beans a day, that is a lot for one man.
We're digging potatos this weekend too- dug 8- 5 gallon buckets full off of one row that is 110' long. We have 3 more rows to do today.
It'd be nice to have some fresh peaches but we don't have any trees left. The local peach farms were hit hard by a late frost this year so I expect they'll be expensive.
I don't know that its any cheaper than buying since you have the cost of the tractor/tiller, fertilizer, TIME- lots of it, etc. The beans are far better though and I have a hard time eating store bought beans. They just aren't the same, since I was raised on garden grown food.
Good feedback guys..thanks. For me being a heathfood nut (with a sweet tooth..hehheh) I think the quality outweighs the price differences..and since I choose to eat mostly organics I have that choice as well. I would rather pay more for something better and it is also good health insurance.
Are they any "must-have" books or "bibles" that deal with jarring for the beginner?
I am getting the "itch" to tackle this challenge.
rookie-jarboy,
Kola
Kola--
I can't recall if it was anywhere else in this thread, and I'm in a rush so won't bother to read through again. But if you get one of the "starter" kits for canning from Lehman's Non-Electric or somewhere like that, they usually include a Ball Blue Book, which gives a very nice overview and some good introductory recipes. (A "kit" isn't a bad deal for a beginner, as it gives you all the basic implements, and allows you to get started. You can look for additional equipment later, if you get hooked. :D)
You can buy the Blue Book separately, too, and lots of cookbooks and homesteading/self-sufficiency books have overviews of techniques and more recipes. Once you get the hang of the process and the dangers, though, I think that a lot of canning is common sense. So, once you know the basics, you can use any recipes you want and/or make up your own. I've done the latter with good success.
Sara :D
I just ordered this:
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=1581&itemType=PRODUCT&iProductID=1581
bring on da beans!!
"Jarhead" Kola
soo..is jarring the same as canning? Lehmans calls it canning but you are putting the stuff in jars...hmm.
You ought to be set to do some experimenting with that, Kola. Have fun! :D :D :D
Most people call steam/pressure preserving things in glass jars "canning". However, you will occasionally see materials/instructions for home-canning in cans as well. I also think that the LDS food storage facilities can in cans. I don't know anyone who's done it, but some people evidently do.
Sara :D
Initial cost can be kept low by watching at farm auctions or yard sales for canning jars. The rings can be used over and over, but you do have to buy new flats each time. That's what actually does the sealing.
Other costs can be kept low by storing rainwater to water the garden when it's hot and dry, and using natural organic methods of fertilizing and pest prevention. No need to buy those expensive fertilizers and pesticides!
And the quality!!! There's no comparison - health-wise or taste-wise!
When my middle daughter was in college, one day in the cafeteria at lunch she commented that she would sure love to have some of "grandmomma's green beans". The young man sitting across from her said, 'what's different about her green beans, doesn't she buy them in a can at the store like everyone else?' He was absolutely amazed to find out that she actually grew them in her garden and canned them in jars herself! (He probably didn't know how the milk got into those plastic jugs at the store either! )
Good luck!
Sara :lol:
Hey, all--
This thread got me hungry, and I was bumming out about the orchard getting frosted too late to bear this year. So I tried canning some salsa yesterday. Overall, I'd call it a success. Since I'm generally a fan of "salsa cruda", fresh tomato salsa, anything heated has a different taste than we're used to, but what I got as product is quite tasty, nonetheless. I'd suggest to anyone else who's used to making fresh, you might need a little less liquid than you're used to, since the moisture comes out of the veggies when you heat/process it. Another time, I'd go a little "drier" than I did this time. Other than that, I thought the flavor translated well.
For "2 cents" (aren't you the one who wanted cilantro?) and in return to Shark (I owe you a PM, I'll contact you tomorrow, probably) for sharing his Aunt's mild salsa recipe, I'll just post my ingredients, in case anyone's interested. I do my own version of a salsa cruda recipe I found years ago. I don't generally measure anything, batch sizes vary, and everyone likes different proportions of flavors anyway, so I won't try to guess at amounts. But like on a package's ingredient list, the biggest amounts will be toward the top, smaller amounts toward the end.
Tomatoes, chopped
Yellow onions, finely chopped
Green chiles, finely chopped
Garlic, pressed
Cilantro, chopped
Green onion, sliced thinly
Lime juice
Dry mustard, ground
Vegetable oil
Salt
Seasoned pepper
Dash of cider vinegar
Dash of beer or white wine
Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, guys. It'll be fun to have homemade salsa without having to chop veggies first. I'm sure some experimentation would get me some even better results in the future.
Oh, and Kola, if you're still reading this thread... the one additional piece of equipment I bought right away after my first canning foray turned out well was another big granitewear pot for heating the jars for filling. The pots I had were all sort of small and inconvenient. Mine's a menudo pot from "WallyWorld" , and although it was quite inexpensive, it's been a really useful purchase. The other thing I still want is a good stainless steel canning funnel. The plastic one that came with my "kit" works great, and it didn't even take on hot salsa smell yesterday. :D But I like working with stainless in the kitchen, and I've seen a nice one I'll treat myself to one of these days. (Maybe I'll hint at it to Jeff for a stocking stuffer? :lol: )
Take care, everybody. Sara :D
Sara, that sounds yummy!
Well, I think we're finished with the bean canning- 195 quarts including the 30 something left from last year.
We also finished digging potatos. All total it came in at about 30- 5gallon buckets full. :shock: We have a lot more big and jumbo size ones than we've had in a long time- some are bigger than a quart size canning jar.
Hi, Andy--
Congrats on finishing the beans and potatoes. Sounds like a job well done. :D I was wondering, though, where do you store that many jars and buckets? Do your parents keep them all, or do they share them around with the family, or ? I've found that I end up sharing a lot, and here in California, you don't can everything at exactly the same time as much as some places (marmalade is "off-season", for example, and I like to do cranberry sauce, so that's winter, too), so you are using things up as you're canning new stuff. But I'm currently designing the permanent shelving for our pantry, and it looks like room for 200-300 canning jars on the shelves dedicated just to those. Ought to be enough for what I have the produce to put up, but I was thinking the space you'd need for the numbers of quarts of green beans you guys have done in the past! :D Do they have a basement, root cellar, or?
Was sorry to hear about the peaches, though. Did Georgia lose a lot of trees? That would be quite a shame! Our blooms got frozen this spring, so no fruit set this year, but the trees look very healthy, so next year (if the snow/frost cooperates better) we may well have a better-than-average harvest.
Hope you two had a good vacation. We just got back, too, and are trying to get back in the swing of home projects and chores. Take care--
Sara :D
Sara,
We store the potatos in the crawl space- to keep them out of the heat of the summer, and to prevent freezing in the winter. They usually last until January/Feb. before they get too dry to work with.
My mom has a huge kitchen to store the jars. Somehow even when the house was 850 sq ft, they found room to store the vegetables. She has 2 deep freezers for all the frozen stuff. Greenbeans are the only thing she currently cans- though she used to do a lot of jams. We're making sure to provide enough pantry space in our house to store cans/jars/dry food- even if its just to stock up on things while they're on sale.
Digging potatoes wasn't too hard, btw, when you have a backhoe. :D We should have corn, butter beans, squash and tomatos coming in soon. In a few weeks we'll plant the pink eye peas where the green beans and potatos were.
We had a great vacation- a week in Sarasota, FL, and a few days in NJ. Back to work now... :cry:
The frost didn't kill many trees so far as I've noticed- just the blooms. A lot of the early blooming fruit were damaged- peaches, apples, blueberries.
I meant to add a few posts back that you can often find old canners at thrift stores- not many folks are doing it anymore. We use the old green Sears canners. Seem to work ok...
Kola, root cellars work well- for potatos you want to keep them from freezing or they won't make good bakers. Around here some of the cellars seem to have problems with water leaching in.
Thanks for the salsa recipes, Shark and Sara! I will try them as soon as I have tomatoes. I got a late start with my garden this year.
I would like to add that I have acquired most of my canning stuff from thrift stores. Just look for glass jars with no chips on the rims, and rings that have no rust spots.
I have bought jars & rings, a large water bath canner, a jar rack, jar lifter and funnel, as well as some books on canning, all found at Goodwill, Value Village and a couple other local second-hand stores.
I tried buying a pressure canner second hand, but it was too old. I was able to find an appliance shop to test the pressure gauge, and they said it worked fine, but they could no longer get rubber seals for the lid, as they were out of production. It is recommended to replace the seal every year or two. They estimated the canner was made on the 1950s! Ooops. I didn't think about that part of the "maintenance"when I bought it. But it is kind of cool-looking, and will make a good heavy-duty pot for other uses. I ended up buying a new pressure canner from Target, which I have not had the chance to try out yet.
You and others are right, 2cents.
You definitely can pick up home-canning supplies lots of places. Most of the quart jars I have Jeff picked up for me at a garage sale. They'd belonged to an old woman who was no longer canning. I almost hate to give away anything in quarts because I like all the different old-fashioned styles to the jars. Almost all of them were in perfect condition, and Jeff paid next to nothing for a couple big boxes of them, plus a couple sealed boxes of lids and rings.
You can find jars, too, from younger folks in the suburbs, though. I've bought canning jars a couple of times at garage sales from gals who bought canning jars for craft/gift projects, and then didn't use them all or didn't do the craft. You can't imagine the shock and amazement on their faces, though, when they realize that you're actually going to CAN with them! :D
You'll have to post a product review when you test out that Target pressure canner. :wink:
Sara :D
I'm just learning how myself. I've done some freezing (apples - YAY!) and have a great book about canning and freezing. Hoping to get more of that done this next year. I grew up eating canned jams/jellies, fish, pickles, onions, etc. I just tried a recipe for kelp relish (yes, actual kelp from the ocean) and it was tasty! I may give it a try next spring...
Catherine
Class of 9/2-3/2006
Hi, Catherine--
I saw a recipe for kelp relish, chutney or jelly (can't recall which) the other day. Seems like it might be quite healthful, and several different cultures around the world use kelp in lots of things.
The Alaskan recipes I saw recently that I'd love to try are fireweed jelly and spruce tip jelly. We don't have either fireweed or spruce trees here, but we did in New Hampshire, and I bet those would be good. (I'm a big fan of spruce beer, and we used to chew spruce gum/pitch when we were hiking and cutting firewood.) Maybe those will be next on your repetoire? You have lots of good things to can up there, that's for sure!
Have fun! : )
Sara
Hi, Catherine--I saw a recipe for kelp relish, chutney or jelly (can't recall which) the other day. Seems like it might be quite healthful, and several different cultures around the world use kelp in lots of things.
Any recipes for canned Krispy Kreme donuts, or Reese's Peanut Butter Cups?
Actually Klapton, seaweed has been a staple in European diets for thousands of years, only most people don't call the dishes "seaweed."
If you've ever had Dulse, well THAT is seaweed. Also known as "creathnach" in Ireland and "söl" in Iceland. It is commonly used as a snack and as a garnish in dishes like stemed clams & clam broth.
Many commercial gelatin deserts are made with gelatin that comes from certain types of seaweed that boil down into a gelatinous mass. It does not have much flavor in itself and takes on the sweetness of the desert--much like Jell-o.
Old Euell Theophilus Gibbons mentions a few types of seaweed, their uses and how to prepare them in his book "Stalking the Blue-Eyed Scallop" (1964).
I've used that book several times camping on the Pacific Coast.
-Andrew
Hi, Klapton--
You might find something that sounds better than kelp relish here:
http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/mostpopular.htm
That being said, in all seriousness, one of the beauties of canning is that sometimes you can take something either yucky or normally wasted and make something good out of it... if you add enough sugar, spices, vinegar, etc. : ) I think that's a neat thing. I was canning wild high bush cranberries the other day. They smell a little stinky when you cook them, but once the jelly, jam, etc. is done-- delicious! I've had home-canned geranium jelly some other unusual things. And people can watermelon rind and all sorts of weird things in pickling solution and like them. I think it appeals to my thrifty ancestry! : )
Sara
Actually, I do like some yucky foods, including kelp, hehe. I'm a big fan of fresh, well-prepared sushi / ngiri (sp?). I also love several yucky vegetables like brussel sprouts and asparagus. I'm not a big fan of pickled things, however.
When I was a kid, we would pick berries and my mom would make jam, so I'm not unfamiliar with canning either.
But if someone COULD somehow preserve in a jar the sweet, squishy, don't-even-need-any-teeth goodness of a Krispy Kreme donut! Mmmmmm...
In the south sushi is another name for "bait"! We also grew up canning. My grandfather had seven brothers and each had 1-3 acre gardens. At harvest time "everyone" helped. Then we would sit together and shuck corn, peel peas or prepare what ever was ready at the time. Then we would share the harvest amongst the family. Most of the canned goods were kept in our tornado/root cellar. Now days most of us probably only eat about 5-10% of our foods fresh from the garden, the rest is store bought canned or frozen. I miss those days.
Glen
"Never squat with your spurs on"
Rod, that got me to thinking.
My Dad's family canned, pickled, dried and fermented most everything you can think of.
My own limited memory revolves around the "red eye" one of my great uncles used to make with the raspberries on his property. Tasted like cool-aid, but two drinks and you had to go to bed (I'd try to stay up as he'd always have a great adventure story about his experiences in WWII).
My Dad remembers his uncles and the old people, as they sometimes were called (my great-great grandparents) making sourkraut, pickled beets, pickled eggs, pickled herring and their own recipe for a horse radish condiment--- They wore old WWI vintage gas masks while stirring the pot!
I think that the day I look in the pantry of my log home and there are several seasons of preserved goods from the hands of myself and my family, I will consider my home a success.
-Andrew
I know it's an old thread but I have a GREAT website for this that the wife and I use all the time. www.canningusa.com
Great info there.
Tom
TY Tom for the link.
IMO canning is making a HUGE comeback.
This is one more step for us commonfolks to becoming independant and getting a better quality product to boot!
In one year I have acquired almost 2000 mason jars and lids and plan to start canning this summer.
This thread shoud be bumped ("jarred") every week!
you "CAN" do it!
Kola Kannery Row
Yeah Tom, I have been called wacky, since birth actually! ....been called quite a lot of other things too! I like Nugents beliefs but hes nothing more than an old fashioned "survivor" with a rough edge. It's a passion we all have, for some of us, it comes easy and for others they need a good kick in the butt. I got my kick in the butt in my teenage years! It made me realize I couldn't chase women and get drunk all the time AND that I actually had to do SOMETHING to make a living in this world. AND, I didn't want to be a slave to no one!
BTW, most of us here at LHBA are survivors.
Hank Williams Jr's song "Countryboy Can Survive" says it all"
The preacher man says it’s the end of time
And the Mississippi River she’s a goin’ dry
The interest is up and the Stock Markets down
And you only get mugged
If you go down town
I live back in the woods, you see
A woman and the kids, and the dogs and me
I got a shotgun rifle and a 4-wheel drive
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I can plow a field all day long
I can catch catfish from dusk till dawn
We make our own whiskey and our own smoke too
Ain’t too many things these ole boys can’t do
We grow good ole tomatoes and homemade wine
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Because you can’t starve us out
And you cant makes us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We came from the West Virginia coalmines
And the Rocky Mountains and the and the western skies
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trout-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
I had a good friend in New York City
He never called me by my name, just hillbilly
My grandpa taught me how to live off the land
And his taught him to be a businessman
He used to send me pictures of the Broadway nights
And I’d send him some homemade wine
But he was killed by a man with a switchblade knife
For 43 dollars my friend lost his life
Id love to spit some beechnut in that dudes eyes
And shoot him with my old 45
Cause a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Cause you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run
Cause one-of- ‘em old boys raisin ole shotgun
And we say grace and we say Ma’am
And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn
We’re from North California and south Alabam
And little towns all around this land
And we can skin a buck; we can run a trout-line
And a country boy can survive
Country folks can survive
Welcome Home!
Kola
Hi, Tom--
Thanks for posting that website link. Looks like a great site! It's always nice to see a variety of recipes because it gives you ideas about things you maybe have not tried. I also liked that this site included "dinner" and "canning" sized recipes where appropriate. So any of you who are reading this and aren't ready to can, you might want to check it out anyway. : )
BTW, Nebraska is a great state. : )
Kola--
Jeff and I love that song! Hope all's well out at your beautiful place.
Take care, everyone! Sara : )
I too have been following the urge to can, grow more of my own food, etc. It does go hand in hand with the lifestyle most of us here tend to pursue.
I have a new client, a chiropractor actually, who asked me to help out his dad's family farm with some overdue payroll tax returns, and when I realized it was a pretty small scale deal, I decided to offer my work in exchange for blueberries and maybe even a few bushes. Well, guess what's in season?! Yesterday when I dropped off some paperwork, he had a huge bag of berries for me. I'm talking about 20 pounds of berries. Good thing I LOVE blueberries. (Of course, a little advanced warning would have been helpful, but I'm not complaining.) And he'll have even more for me tomorrow.
Anyway, I had just read an article in the most recent Backwoods Home Magazine about making low sugar or all fruit jellies and jams using a new (or at least new to me) pectic called Pomona Universal Pectin. I definitely prefer to keep that scary white stuff out of my food as much as possible (though I'm certainly not a sugar snob - I'll take sugar over that even scarier fake sugar stuff any day!). Anyway, the only all fruit jams I have made in the past were just tiny batches for the fridge, so I knew I needed to research it a bit. Funny how the Universe seems to toss things in my path just when I'm ready for them (now about that property I'm "ready" for..).
So I tried it last night and it seemed to work great. It's a bit of a different process than regular pectin, so be sure to thoroughly read the insert if you try it. And starting it before 11:00 p.m. is not a bad idea, either. Even though I left out the "calcium water" by accident (okay, it was nearly 1:00 a.m. by then). I was actually a little hesitant to add something that sounded so much like a chemical food additive anyway. I need to do a little more research on it, but suspect it is just a naturally derived substance since the product is primarily sold at health food stores, for what that's worth. (Monocalcium phosphate - The package and website did not list the source. Anybody out there know anything about it?).
Google "Pomona Pectin" to find info on it.
Happy Jarring!
Louanne
Louanne, I've tried to find a recipe for making my own pectin from apple peels but haven't been successful. Have you ever seen anyone do this?
Several years ago, my daughter and I were touring a local historic home and the really old lady giving the tour told us how back in those days, everything was used and little wasted. There was a device called an apple peeler and she told us that the apple skins were not discarded but used to make pectin. I would love to know how to do this.
Frances
Try these.
http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/The_Forager/pectin.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/9684/pectin.html
http://www.pickyourown.org/pectin.htm
http://books.google.com/books?id=8vqp_XLfNKYC&pg=PA534&lpg=PA534&dq=pectin+from+apples&source=web&ots=OY9b5bVw4M&sig=TeL-Qb7npjiK_OPnsCGkg1ZdARw&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=4&ct=result
You can find more if you google "homemade pectin" or "pectin from apples".
JD
Joined: 2006-02-23