Summer Canning 2014

[kklibrarian]

So Far --

Dewberry Preserves (3 pint jars)
Dewberry Jelly (2 pints and 4 cup jars)
Pepper Jelly (4 cup jars)

Up Next --
More Pepper Jelly
Salsa Roja
Salsa Verde
Dill Pickles
Blackberries in Syrup
Blackberry Vinegar
Stawberry Preserves (if I can find strawberries that I trust for the right price)

Deeper in to Summer--
Peach Butter
Figs
Spaghetti Sauce
Creole Sauce
Wild Currant & Lemon Jelly
Field Peas
More Pickles

Later Summer Early Fall
Muscadine Jelly
Pears in Syrup

I'll post quantities as I get them done. I have other things that I want to try but am uncertain if I can grow or acquire the produce for them at this point. If I make them I'll add them to the list.

Post your plans and accomplishments, and I'll drool along. ;)

Blessings,
Kelly

[RiverRock]

What a great idea!

I plan to do the following this year:

Up next
-plum sauce (using fruit from the freezer)
-strawberry jam

Later in the summer:
-raspberry and blackberry jam
-apricot jam
-peach salsa
-peaches
-damson plums if I can find a new source (we removed our trees last year)
-blueberry chutney

End of summer:
-diced tomatoes with added veggies (I use this for a base in a lot of soups and stews)

If I feel up to it:
-beef soup (I have a lot of bones in the freezer that need to be used, and a good recipe for canning beef soup)

[sprout]

getting ready to do some strawberry jam

[kklibrarian]

I picked some more early blackberries or dewberries today. I think I'm going to boil these out for juice and then I can decide a bit later if I want to make a blackberry syrup with them or jelly or whatever. I'm really thinking about adapting a strawberry-lemonade concentrate recipe that I have to use with blackberry juice instead of the strawberry pulp.

I am thinking I may not be able to get enough peaches to make peach butter this year. A late winter storm has fairly decimated my local u-pick peach orchard. Sad face. :(

[shaslove]

I want to can. not sure if it will happen w/ new baby. :cup so I'll follow along.

[sprout]

canning would be so much easier in a community. I think this often......very often....

[canadiyank]

2015? You're so far ahead of the game! ;)

[RiverRock]

canning would be so much easier in a community. I think this often......very often....

I grew up canning with my mom and grandma. I do a lot of canning alone, but when my mom is around to help, she somehow gets everyone working together. She doesn't live close to me anymore, so now she usually cans with one of my cousins as the fresh fruits and vegetables become available. Canning in community sounds good. :tu

[kklibrarian]

2015? You're so far ahead of the game! ;)

Fixed the original post. ;)

[sprout]

yes, big canning parties sound like good fun to me.

[kklibrarian]

I had a big bucket of dewberries, lemon juice, honey, and a small jar of lavender sugar. I puzzled a bit and came up with lavender-berry-honey jam. It is some awesome stuff if I do say so myself. 3 pints cooling on the counter as we speak and hoping to make more.... :yum

[Soliloquy]

I'm a canning newbie! I'm going to start with thimble berry jam later this summer. :yes I wanted to make rhubarb-champagne-thimble berry jam but we eat the rhubarb as fast as we can pick it. :lol Note to self--plant more rhubarb.

[kklibrarian]

I'm going to post the Lavender-Berry-Honey Jam Recipe, if nobody minds. If I don't write it down, I'm going to forget it. I just know it.

6 cups of pureed blackberries or dewberries (about a gallon of fresh berries)
3 cups of local honey
1/2 cup of lavender sugar
1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a heavy pot. Heat over medium heat until boiling. Boil gently, stirring often, until jam sets (about 45 minutes). Test set with a chill test. Fill jars and place lids and rings. Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.

[canadiyank]

but we eat the rhubarb as fast as we can pick it.

What do you do with it?

[Peaceful Meadows]

Rhubarb pie
Rhubarb tapioca
Rhubarb cake
Rhubarb crisp
Rhubarb cobbler

ETA:
Here are a lot of rhubarb recipes (http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipes).

[kklibrarian]

Today is Salsa Verde. I'll come back and post how many jars I get done. :)

I didn't have many tomatillos, so only got 3 half-pint jars. However, it is delicious! :yum

[RiverRock]

Rhubarb pie
Rhubarb tapioca
Rhubarb cake
Rhubarb crisp
Rhubarb cobbler

ETA:
Here are a lot of rhubarb recipes (http://www.rhubarbinfo.com/recipes).

I couldn't see a recipe for rhubarb tapioca in that link. Can you share your recipe?

[ArmsOfLove]

So jealous! Now that the oldest boy is 16 he eats things almost as fast as we can prep them - we hardly ever have leftovers anymore and even when we get a case of tomatoes we eat tomato soup for a week and it's gone :lol

I miss canning and having plenty all the time. Living vicariously!

[Blue Savannah]

We love roasted rhubarb clafoutis, too. ETA: I freeze lots of rhubarb and eggs so we can eat it all winter.

I did 8 pints of rhubarb syrup last night; 32 c chopped rhubarb, about 4 c sugar, cooked it down and canned it. We'll mostly use it to flavor yogurt.

[Soliloquy]

What do you do with it?

My kid beg me to make rhubarb crisp. It takes about 8 cups of chopped rhubarb. I love rhubarb pie, rhubarb cake, pretty much anything rhubarb. I think I'll plant a whole patch of it. :lol

[kklibrarian]

We had watermelon for Memorial Day. I have the rinds, although not many. Trying to decide if I want a couple of jars of preserves or a couple of jars of pickles. :think

[canadiyank]

Hubby made a rhubarb crisp from ours.

I've never had watermelon rinds.

Sent from my Event using Tapatalk

[MrsDuck]

I've been thinking about what I hope to can this year. I planted tomatoes, and hope to get enough all at once to can. I might order cucumbers to make pickles from our CSA. And peaches & apricots from my friends orchard. Maybe something with berries, but we are pretty well stocked in jam still.

The other thing I really want to try is beans, both black and kidney since that's one of the few things we use canned a lot. Would love to do that at home instead of buying bpa lined cans. But it never has to be done "right now" since I will just buy dried beans and go from there. So it never gets done. Sigh.

[Punkie]

I am counting down the seconds until I can make some more HUGE batches of the Strawberry Maple Vanilla jam from Taproot magazine. I made it last year, and it was amazing. We are on our last jar now.

[kklibrarian]

I've never had watermelon rinds.



It's kind of a Southern thing, but I did learn today while searching the Internet for something new to do with them that apparently they are also a delicacy in Serbia, Croatia, and Macedonia. Who knew?

I am considering trying to convert them into something that I can use as a pie filling later rather than doing a straight-up preserve or pickle. Something like a mincemeat filling perhaps.

Blessings,
Kelly

[shaslove]

I am counting down the seconds until I can make some more HUGE batches of the Strawberry Maple Vanilla jam from Taproot magazine. I made it last year, and it was amazing. We are on our last jar now.

I want strawberry jam :pout

I'm totally going to miss the strawberry season here-June.

[RiverRock]

We love roasted rhubarb clafoutis, too. ETA: I freeze lots of rhubarb and eggs so we can eat it all winter.



This recipe too, please. :)

[kklibrarian]

Okay, so Salsa Verde was so good I made more. :yum

I also made more pepper jelly as my peppers have taken off.

I'm still searching for strawberries I don't feel gross about paying what they are asking for.

I did get some raspberries on sale this week and am going to try raspberry lemonade concentrate. My kids love flavored drinks and I feel so rotten about the stuff that comes in the little powder mixes that I thought I'd try to make my own.

Also, I made a berry cobbler for breakfast this morning with my berry preserves and my kids all went back for seconds.

I am hoping to have peas ready to can in a few weeks.

[Blue Savannah]

This is the clafoutis recipe I use. It takes a bit longer to cook if you make it with frozen rhubarb (more juices after roasting). Either way, it's amazing. I double it for my family. I double everything for my family. ;)

http://savour-fare.com/2011/06/02/roasted-rhubarb-clafoutis/
(http://savour-fare.com/2011/06/02/roasted-rhubarb-clafoutis/)

[kklibrarian]

A bushel and a half of nectarines at the u pick place means I've got to come up with enough canned goods to make this a good investment rather than a waste of money. I'm planning on nectarine butter, a savory jam with peppers, a chutney, and just putting some in syrup for cobblers and tarts later. I'll post back with recipes of what I ended up doing with them.

[kklibrarian]

Nectarine Butter
24 cups of whole nectarines, washed and stoned but not peeled
4 cups of turbinado sugar (adjust to taste)
1/3 cup of lemon juice

Combine nectarines and lemon juice. Add enough liquid to prevent sticking (about 2 tablespoons or so depending on the juiciness of the fruit). Cook over medium heat until fruit is soft. Process fruit in a food mill to remove skins. Strain fruit puree to remove excess juice. Reserve 2 cups of juice and save any more excess for jelly later. Place fruit puree, one cup of the juice, and sugar in crock pot or roaster. Cook over low heat until proper consistency and flavor is achieved, adding juice as needed or desired to prevent sticking. When butter is set (will mound on a spoon and hold its shape), put butter in jars and seal with clean lids and rings. Process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes. Yield 10 half pint jars.

[Soliloquy]

Can you share your recipe for watermelon rind preserves? We eat tons of watermelon in summer and I think it'd be fun to try this.

[kklibrarian]

Watermelon Rind Preserves

1 ½ quarts prepared watermelon rind

4 tablespoons salt

2 quarts cold water

1 tablespoon ginger

4 cups sugar

¼ cup lemon juice

1 ½ quarts water

½ cup thinly sliced lemon

(about 1 medium)


To prepare watermelon rind: Trim green skin and pink flesh from thick watermelon rind; cut into 1-inch pieces. Dissolve salt in 2 quarts water and pour over rind. Let stand 5-6 hours. Drain; rinse and drain again. Cover with cold water and let stand 30 minutes. Drain. Sprinkle ginger over rind; cover with water; and cook until fork-tender. Drain.

Combine sugar, lemon juice and 1 ½ quarts water in a large sauce pot. Boil 5 minutes; add rind and boil gently for 30 minutes or until syrup thickens. Add sliced lemon and cook until the melon rind is transparent. Pack hot into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust caps, process 20 minutes in boiling water bath.

Yield: about 6 half pints



From the Ball Blue Blook

---------- Post added at 08:20 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:16 AM ----------

Today, I'm trying my hand at Nectarine Pepper Jam, a fruit salsa, and a nectarine blackberry combo. I've got to get these nectarines cleared out before it's tomato canning time.

[kklibrarian]

Nectarine Pepper Jam
8-10 cups of nectarines - stoned, peeled, and chunked
2 TBSP lemon juice
3-4 hot peppers (banana, cubanelle, jalapenos, whatever you've got)
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
vanilla (optional)
1 package pectin
4 and a half cups of sugar

Remove skins and stones from nectarines. Crush fruit and add lemon juice. Slice peppers lengthwise and seed. Place peppers and fruit pulp mixture in a non-reactive container. Add vinegar. Allow mixture to rest in refrigerator over night. Remove peppers from mixture. If mixture is very thick add enough water to make the consistency of a slushee. Place this mixture in a heavy pot and stir in pectin. Heat mixture on medium heat stirring frequently until it comes to a steady boil. Add sugar and the vanilla according to your taste and return mixture to a steady boil. Boil for 1 minute. Ladle mixture into hot jars and affix lids and rings. Process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Yields approximately 7 half pint jars.

[Soliloquy]

:ty for the recipe! I've seen many people recommend that book. I should get it.

Fresh or dried ginger?

[kklibrarian]

:ty for the recipe! I've seen many people recommend that book. I should get it.

Fresh or dried ginger?

I have always used dried ginger. It's less trouble to me, and it is easier to sprinkle on the rinds.

The copy of the Ball Blue Book that I have is my grandmother's. :heart You totally need the Blue Book. It is my go-to canning resource. I use it as a starting point for a lot of modifications and alternative recipes that I have made over the years.

Blessings,
Kelly

[kklibrarian]

Okay - Lavender Berry Nectarine Jam is on the schedule for today. The recipe is essentially the same as Lavender Berry Jam upthread except I used some of the nectarine pulp to round out my dwindling supply of berries.

Also, I made nectarine lemonade concentrate and will be doing more nectarine hot pepper jam before the day is out. Are you sensing a theme here? :shifty

I've got watermelon rinds on to soak in salt water. I'm going to try a lemon watermelon rind marmalade. I'm going for something spreadable that my kids will eat like jam. Right now, my husband and I are the only members of the household that eat watermelon rind preserves.

[kklibrarian]

I managed to get the watermelon rind into a marmalade type consistency with lemons. It could stand some refining so that it will gel up a little better, but I'm well on my way. It's very pretty too. My oldest daughter (watermelon rind hater, but lemon lover) pronounced it "very good". :)

---------- Post added at 05:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:58 PM ----------

I did some blackberry infused vinegar that I decided had steeped long enough today. It's in the refrigerator now, settling. I have to decide whether to can it or just keep it in the refrigerator for salad dressings, etc.

Would any of you mind if I posted some pic of my work? I don't want to be a bore, but I will post if anyone is interested.

I've gotten quite a lot put up, and am seriously considering a couple of entries into the state fair canning contest. The deadline for entry is July 25. I'd welcome feedback on whether or not I should go for it. :)

[kklibrarian]

Today is special requests. I am making mayhaw jelly from juice my parents gave me because I have a friend whose grandmother always made it for her. I am also going to try either today or tomorrow to make a Haitian grapefruit marmalade that another friend of mine described to me. I've never really done marmalades until just recently, so please pray this works out for me.

[kklibrarian]

I got some almost soft tomatoes from the farmers market and I had a few of my own, so today I am putting up marinara sauce. This is the first time to break out my pressure canner this season. I'm also looking at doing some more jellies (mayhaw, nectarine, and maybe blueberry) either today or tomorrow. Soon it will be fig season here. That's the next major canning extravaganza. :yum

[Soliloquy]

You are making my mouth water! You should start a preserves CSA!

I have a question. I made my very first batch of jam. Marionberry (fancy blackberries) followed the Ball cookbook recipe exactly using regular pectin. It's too sweet for us and there's a texture issue . . . hard to describe. It's not grainy. It has this texture to it that I don't exactly like, the gel portion feels kind of powdery? :shrug I'm wondering if I can add some lemon juice and use less sugar and less pectin? Or will that mess it all up? I do have one pkg of "low sugar" pectin and I'm pretty sure my Ball cookbook has recipes for that kind (I guess I should've looked there before posting here :doh.)

Just wondering what to do if you like your jam less sweet and more tart.

[kklibrarian]

I'm not sure that you can salvage this batch, but I would use the low-sugar no sugar variety of pectin for the next batch. I keep it on hand for using with those juices that are rather sweet to begin with as I don't like excessively sweet jellies.

[Soliloquy]

This batch it's almost gone. :lol The kids think it's the best thing EVER. :tu DH and I think it's too sweet and too set.

Thanks for the tip, I'll try the low sugar recipe next time.

We're busy picking thimble berries, trying to get enough for jam! Hoping the bears stay away. :wow

[CelticJourney]

Question :raise I've been following along but am more of a newbie, so.... I was given a bag of plums. I'm trying really had not to let anything go to waste but these are fading fast. I usually just make the sugar intense freezer jam because I give it as Christmas gifts :shrug3. So, I bought some pectin and you apparently can't make freezer jam with plums :scratch So I am game for doing the cooking, BUT I don't have a specific 'boiling water canner'. I do have this basket you can put jars into boiling water with and a pot deep enough to put them all the way down ...... is that sufficient?

[kklibrarian]

Elizabeth,

As long as you have a deep enough pot to cover the jars and something to hold them up off the bottom of the pot so the temperature stays even, you should be able to can. :)

[Punkie]

Yesterday we picked boysenberries and blackberries and I canned up 6 pounds of them. So yummy!

I instagrammed a pic of it: http://instagram.com/p/qPrRJ0MgLN/

[CelticJourney]

Elizabeth,

As long as you have a deep enough pot to cover the jars and something to hold them up off the bottom of the pot so the temperature stays even, you should be able to can. :)Thanks. Made some today. I wanted too long and only had enough for half a batch, but if I give a jar to the neighbor who has the tree, maybe there will be more to come :shifty

[kklibrarian]

Tonight is pepper jelly. Tomorrow is blueberry butter and some more blueberry lemonade concentrate. Also, maybe some blueberry pancake syrup.

[CelticJourney]

Tonight is pepper jelly. Tomorrow is blueberry butter and some more blueberry lemonade concentrate. Also, maybe some blueberry pancake syrup.Just got home with about 8 lbs of blueberries.....what is 'blueberry butter'?

[kklibrarian]

Blueberry butter is like apple butter only made with blueberries rather than apples. It's an intense flavor, but I really :heart blueberries. I cook them down just a bit with just a little liquid, run them through a sieve or a food mill to lose the skins, and then add a little sweetness (sugar or honey, your choice) and cinnamon for spice. Finally, I cook it low and slow until it will mound on a spoon and can it up. :yum

[CelticJourney]

Ok.....break it down for me.... when I make jam, I check for stems and leaves, then put the berries in the food processor, and then cook them. Are you saying you do it the other way around for butter?

What are the ratios? I have sugar and honey right now, which do you prefer? How long should I expect to them to need to cook? And they go into the water bath after you jar to seal it and then they can stay at room temperature, yes?

Fun....I learn SO much on GCM :)

[kklibrarian]

You can wash, stem, and check your berries and then grind them up if you prefer. I like to soften mine a bit on the stove after I've washed and stemmed and then use my food mill. It's totally your preference there. Once they are converted into pulp, I add about 2-to 3 cups of sugar and/or honey depending on the sweetness of the berries. You can cook it in the crockpot for several hours on low or on top of the stove for 30-45 minutes. If you do stovetop though, you have to stay close so that it doesn't scorch. :yum

[CelticJourney]

You can wash, stem, and check your berries and then grind them up if you prefer. I like to soften mine a bit on the stove after I've washed and stemmed and then use my food mill. It's totally your preference there. Once they are converted into pulp, I add about 2-to 3 cups of sugar and/or honey depending on the sweetness of the berries. You can cook it in the crockpot for several hours on low or on top of the stove for 30-45 minutes. If you do stovetop though, you have to stay close so that it doesn't scorch. :yumThanks! I'm going to try the slow cooker. I'd love to use honey, but I think that would almost wipe out my jar and it's $16 a jar, so....nope....

[RiverRock]

Lisa, you might want to try a long boil method for your berry jam. The long boil recipes usually call for less sugar than recipes that call for pectin. Pectin is naturally found in fruit, especially underripe fruit. The jam might take 30 or so minutes on a gentle boil before it sets. Any underripe berries will completely cook down before the jam is ready to put in jars. I keep bread plates in the freezer to test the gel stage of the jam. A drop of jam on the "frozen" plate should quickly set to the thickness you like. Maybe you know all this already. I rarely use packaged pectin because of the extra sugar needed and the firm gel consistency that often happens.

[CelticJourney]

Uh....help? I started some Peach Butter this morning. Had everything in the crock pot around 10am. The directions said '3-6 hours'. I've been stirring and it hasn't been thickening. Just now I saw that the crock pot was not on low but on warm. Is it ruined or can I just put it on low and restart the clock?

[kklibrarian]

I am just seeing this. I am sorry. I hope you didn't toss it because it should be fine for you to just cook it at the correct temperature under those circumstances.

I got a ton of figs from my aunt and uncle. Making blueberry fig jam today. :yum

[3PeasInAPod]

I love pamonas pectin! ! Made apricot jam and raspberry apRicot jam with little sugar and it came out awesome! !

[Mother of Sons]

I've been canning too. Jams I've made so far:

Carrot cake
Kiwi lime
Kiwi coconut daiquiri
Apple pie
Strawberry kiwi (no pectin)
And rhubarb BBQ sauce

I need to do something with the peaches I have but I want it to be something interesting.

[kklibrarian]

This weekend is fig preserves, pickles, and pepper jelly. I am signed up to do a vendor booth at our church fair in October and DH hopes to be in the farmers markets by October. I need to have plenty of jams, jellies and pickles for both of these venues. :)

[derdsgirl]

It is my first year canning on my own (I canned with my grandma growing up, but it has been years!), and this is a late start, but well, it counts right? ;)

A few weeks ago I made 18 pints of strawberry jam. I'm currently canning 80 lbs of san marzanos - I think it will make 30-36 quarts. Not quite enough for a year, but enough to get us to next summer. :)

Oh, and earlier this summer we froze about 1.5-2 gallons of blueberries. Not NEARLY enough for us for a year. Last year we did about 3 and we ran out. We probably need more like 4. :( Hopefully next year we can actually make it.

I have to buy everything from farms around here since all we have is a concrete patio at our rental. Even when we lived at a place with a garden, I was terrible about upkeep, so this is probably better.

Question: The new ball book says to simmer for 40-45 minutes. I remember grandma doing a hard boil for 15 minutes (or there abouts). Does anyone know where the change came about? (sorry if this was asked earlier in the thread, I've just skipped to this page :bag) I'm following the new rules, but still, it seems weird to me, and like it won't actually seal this way.

[CelticJourney]

Apple Butter time at our house.

[sprout]

completed....grape jam, corn, peaches

in process of finishing up...spaghetti sauce, salsa, green beans

need to get started...apple sauce and pie filling. I might do some apple butter. I have four five gallon buckets, one cooler, and three totes full of apples.

I also just picked all of our sweet pumpkins. I am thinking bread and pie filling.

I also need to work up a full box of zucchini into bread.

I started canning in late July...you would think I would be "more finished". I just bought more jars and picked the apples today. OH, we also got some pears, but I think we will just eat those.

by the time I finish it should be hunting season.

[kklibrarian]

Today is apple butter, tomatillo lime pepper jam (like a salsa verde but with a jam consistency), and a creation of my own that I'm calling Hummingbird Cake Jam (pineapple, coconut, banana, nuts - like a hummingbird cake but you can spread it on toast).

I also picked up some lavender sugar and will be doing some more Berry Lavender Honey Jam that I did upthread.

[sprout]

today is applesauce and apple pie filling

[CelticJourney]

I was thinking about substituting honey for sugar in my next apple butter - does anyone have a general idea of the conversion for that? It calls for 2 cups of sugar. I was thinking 1/4 cup of honey :think

[sprout]

I personally would just taste it and see what you like. =) and slowly add more until you get it to where you like it.

[kklibrarian]

You may need to reduce the amount of liquid to sub honey for sugar.

[CelticJourney]

You may need to reduce the amount of liquid to sub honey for sugar.I've only used one reciepe and it just said apples, sugar and cinnamon :nails

[kklibrarian]

Then you should be fine. You might have to cook it a bit longer for it to firm up.

[kklibrarian]

Today is more lavender berry jam, more apple butter, and more pear persimmon jam if my persimmons will ever fully ripen. We were in the farmers market last week for the first time. I sold 20 jars of jellies, jams, and preserves! :woohoo My best sellers were Fig Blueberry Jam and Apple Butter, followed closely by Tomato Pepper Jam. I have plenty of tomato pepper jam already jarred up ready to go for this Saturday, but more apple butter is a must do. I can't make anymore fig blueberry jam because I'm out of frozen figs. :(

[CelticJourney]

Today is more lavender berry jam, more apple butter, and more pear persimmon jam if my persimmons will ever fully ripen. We were in the farmers market last week for the first time. I sold 20 jars of jellies, jams, and preserves! :woohoo My best sellers were Fig Blueberry Jam and Apple Butter, followed closely by Tomato Pepper Jam. I have plenty of tomato pepper jam already jarred up ready to go for this Saturday, but more apple butter is a must do. I can't make anymore fig blueberry jam because I'm out of frozen figs. :(
:rockon

[kklibrarian]

Today, when I get home from work, I'm going to harvest cactus pears to make jam. I have never done this before and will report back on how it goes. The jelly I have seen is this amazing purple color and has a delicate floral taste I've been told.

I made 3 jars of beautyberry jelly with local honey and low sugar pectin. I don't really :heart the texture of low sugar pectin (it's a bit slimy, IMO :shifty). However, this jelly was something that I was doing on a wild-crafting/foraging kick that I've been on lately, and I picked the berries largely because they are supposed to be good for you (high in anti-oxidants, good for rheumatism, building up your immune system, etc.) but they have a very insipid flavor raw. So, I picked them specifically to make jelly with them and wanted to use minimal sugars and combine them with local honey both for the health benefits and to mask some of the less pleasing flavors of the berries themselves.

Using honey at a reduced amount meant that I had to use the low-sugar pectin. It's pretty good and the color is nice if I do say so myself. I just wish the jars didn't have sediment in the bottoms. I know it is nothing to worry about if I was eating them myself, but I like for everything we sell at market to be perfect. I'm thinking of calling it Bee Healthy Jelly..... get it? ;)

[kklibrarian]

The cactus pears were picked, steamed, and juiced last night. Tonight, I make jelly. The color of the juice is GORGEOUS! It's purple and red - almost like beets. I think the jelly is going to be beautiful. I just hope it tastes great. I've got a batch of cactus pears on my property that aren't ripe yet, so if this goes well I should be able to do at least one more batch.

I'm also making more apple butter, lavender berry jam, and pear persimmon jam, I think I'm going to hold off on the beautyberry honey jelly until I perfect things. The batch I made day before yesterday tastes fine, but isn't as aesthetically pleasing as I would like.

[kklibrarian]

Last night, I made and canned pear persimmon jam, blackberry lavender jam, and cactus pear jelly. They cactus pear jelly is beautiful, and the flavor is mild but pleasant. :yum

[CelticJourney]

We picked a basket and a half of pears from a tree at dh's office today. Now what? :shifty

1) do I have to peal them to make pear butter or something. They are small and it might not be worth it (I would pass them along to friends with chickens and goats, so they wouldn't go to waste)

2) do I need to consider adding something else to a butter to give some additional taste - I have access to frozen blueberries and that might taste good.

[kklibrarian]

I'd make pear honey (crushed pineapple and pears) if it was me. Most recipes recommend peeling and coring the pears, but you could just core them, blanche them, and put them through a food mill with holes small enough to trap the peels if you have a food mill.

Pear honey is amazing with small green pears. AMAZING! :yum

[kklibrarian]

Made rose petal jelly last night. Really great color. The flavor is not noticeably "rosy", but it is good, and it smells like a bouquet of roses. It's pretty awesome. :yum

Tonight is another try at beautyberry jelly. I'm going to take a little more time with the juice extraction and see if I can improve the color of the final product.

[kklibrarian]

This week at market we have apple butter, cranberry citrus marmalade, tomato pepper jam, rose petal jelly, and green cactus fruit jelly. I am hunting desperately for some more purple cactus pears so that I can make cactus fruit jelly with the amazing color that people want. The green tastes fine, but it just isn't as visually appealing.

[kklibrarian]

I made pear honey last night. I've got to get some small green pears to make more. Dang, that stuff is good! :yum

Pepper jelly is made, but will all go to pre-orders, so I'll need to make more for myself.

This evening is cranberry apple butter, blueberry citrus jam, tomato pepper jam, and muscadine jelly (unless DH gets any of them done before I get home).

[charla]

You are amazing, kk! :rockon

[CelticJourney]

I started a 2015 thread....with a question of course :shifty

http://www.gentlechristianmothers.com/community/showthread.php?p=5919881#post5919881