Saturday, September 3, 2022

First Canning of the Season

 Our weather has taken a turn cooler.  That means I can do some canning in the kitchen without boosting the temperature up above 75°.

I didn't think I had any pickling cucumbers ready but, much to my surprise, this morning I found some big ones.


Either I'm going blind or they exploded into this size overnight!  No problem.  Even though they're too big for Dill Pickles, they are just the perfect size for my Bread & Butter Pickles.


Here they are all scrubbed and ready to be sliced.


The end product on the counter right now:  Eight pints.  I'll plan on doing one more batch like this which should be a two-year supply for us.  I try to plan it so I have to plant and grow pickling cucumbers only every other year.

Tomorrow what will the canner hold?  My first batch of strawberry jam.  (Oh, Papa Pea will be so happy.)  In July I froze berries to make into jam when the weather cooled a bit.  The next ten days for us are to have highs in only the 60s so I'm planning on getting as much canning done as I can.  Sure, it's a bit of work, but I enjoy it so much that I don't mind at all and get a big bunch of satisfaction in seeing all those full jars on my pantry shelves.

4 comments:

Michelle said...

Ah, those sneaky green cylinders!

Mama Pea said...

Michelle - Ya gotta watch 'em every minute! ;o)

Rosalea said...

Those are some fat and sassy cucs! The shelves are filling here as well. What a beautiful sight!

Mama Pea said...

Rosalea - I was very pleased with the way the pickles turned out. And it felt good to be canning again. Nothing like seeing those shelves start to fill up with winter goodness . . . and beyond! Of course, the challenge now is to keep up with the harvests coming in and processing the berries I froze earlier this summer. But it's a good thing!