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How to Make and Can Applesauce

September 5, 2008 by Laura 75 Comments

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***UPDATE***

I no longer peel my apples, nor do I slice them. I simply wash them, core them, cook them as described below, then run them through my Blendtec Blender. It is much healthier and saves so much time to do it this way! And the applesauce is delicious. That’s always nice. :)

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One of the best “fall smells” I can think of is applesauce cooking on the stove. It is SO YUMMY!!!

Here’s a step by step of the easiest way I’ve found to make applesauce. (But be sure to read Canning 101 first if you’re unfamiliar with the basic steps of canning safely!)

I slice my apples like this, then peel each slice.
I find this to be much easier than peeling the whole apple first and then slicing it.

As I slice and peel, I put my apples into a big pot. At the bottom of my pot is 5 cups of water and 3 teaspoons of ascorbic acid (powdered vitamin C).

As I continue to add apples, I stir them into the water/ascorbic acid frequently so that the apples are all coated with the mixture and are much less likely to turn brown.

Once I have my pot 3/4 full of apples, I put it on the stove…

and bring it to a boil, then simmer it (uncovered)
for about 30 minutes or until the apples are tender.

Then, I spoon the tender apples with some of the liquid into my blender (I highly recommend the Blendtec now)
and blend it all up until it is smooth.

Isn’t it pretty!!! Next, I pour the applesauce
into sterilized jars with a wide mouth funnel.

I hot water bath my jars for about 25 minutes.

And like always, after I pull them out of the hot water, I set them on my counter for several hours (or days) so that I can admire them and feel happy about my applesauce. Ahh…..beautiful!

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Freezing and Canning Peaches for Winter

September 1, 2008 by Laura 142 Comments

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I mentioned that over the weekend I received millions and millions (okay, maybe not millions) of peaches from a lady in town. I’ve been busy preserving them for winter and thought I’d walk through the steps with you.

Please note: These peaches were so awesome and juicy, and since there were so many of them, I felt that none of us needed to hold back on how many we ate. So, as I was standing in my kitchen peeling and slicing peaches, and peach juice was running down my arms…I was also biting into peaches as I worked, because I just couldn’t resist. Therefore, I also had peach juice running down my chin. But with peach juice all over my hands and running down my arms, it’s not like I could do much about my chin, you know? Not one of my finer moments.

Thought you might like to picture that.

If you remember, I was given four boxes of peaches. (I did share a few with some friends.)

In the past, I’ve always peeled my peaches with a knife…and that’s been fine. But I had so many peaches this time, I went ahead and tried this method of peeling, and whoa was it a time saver! Just put your peaches into boiling water for about 30 seconds…pull them out…

And those skins just peel right off!! It was awesome. Except for when they didn’t peel right off, which happened with a few of them for some reason. (Just thought I’d tell you that so that if not all of them peel right off for you, you’ll know that you aren’t the only one!)

(You don’t have to peel your peaches if you’re going to freeze them. They’ll be more nutritious if you leave the peelings on, and it will save so much time too!)

To freeze peaches, just peel, slice and lay the peach slices on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put the pan into the freezer until the peaches are frozen, about two hours. (Or longer if you forget they’re in there.) Then put them into a freezer bag and you’ve got great peaches for smoothies and slushies!! And cobblers and crisps! (If you feel like skipping this step and simply just putting your peach slices directly into a pan without freezing them individually like this first, you can…but you’ll end up with one big gallon sized frozen peach-sicle, and you may be very frustrated when you want only part of the rock hard peach-sicle for a smoothie. Just so ya know.)

Now…to can peaches…this is what I do. There are other ways to do it…this is just the way I do it! Please be sure to go back and read Canning 101 for the canning basics!

I make a honey/water solution on my stove…which is 2 T. honey to every 5 cups of water. Heat it on the stove and let it sit warm while you prepare your peaches.

Sterilize your jars.

Take out a hot jar and put in about 1/16 teaspoon of ascorbic acid to keep your peaches pretty. Just dump it into the bottom of the jar. (Some people use lemon juice)

Ascorbic acid is powdered vitamin C. I get mine at a health food store.

Fill the jar with sliced peaches. Then, use a funnel to pour your honey/water into the jar, to about a half inch from the top. Place a sterilized lid and ring onto the full jar.

Now it’s time to give your full jars a hot water bath to seal the lids. Put your full jars into the water. Once the water is boiling, boil the jars for about 25 minutes. (And yes, this is actually a picture of applesauce jars boiling…I forgot to take a picture of the peaches boiling and I’m too tired to go can more peaches just so that I can go take a picture of the jars boiling.)

Oh, and boil your jars with the lid on the water bath pot…I just took off the lid for the picture. :)

After the jars have boiled for 25 minutes, take them out with tongs…or better yet, this cool gripping tool made especially for jars and hot water baths. Then you get to listen for the caps to seal. I can’t think of a way to blog the way it sounds…but after all your hard work, it sure is a cool sound to hear them seal! (Thhhhp!) (Or something like that!) You can be sure they sealed if you can push down on the top and it is down firm. It takes anywhere from 1 second to 30 minutes for the lid to seal after you’ve taken it out of the water.

Then, just leave your canned peaches out on the counter for a few hours or several days so that you can admire them and smile and feel happy every time you walk into the kitchen and see them. (Okay, that’s what I like to do anyway.) (Because I’m weird like that.)

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Canning 101

September 1, 2008 by Laura 86 Comments

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Just in case you may be unfamiliar with the beautiful art of canning fruits and veggies…I thought I’d do this post to explain some of the basics. Then later, I can post about the specifics!

Here are some of the basic supplies you will need in order to can food. Some of these supplies are not entirely neccessary…just really, really helpful. Some of these supplies are entirely neccessary.

If you are planning on canning fruits or veggies, you will need jars.
(Oh, how I love jars!) I like having both quart and pint sized…
and my favorites are the wide mouth jars.

You’ll also need lids and rings. The rings you can re-use year after year,
but in order to have your lid seal, you must use new ones each year.

This handy dandy tool is a magnetic wand, which I use to retrieve lids
and rings out of hot sterilizing water. (See below) I love this tool!!

This tool helps me grip the jars as I pull them out of the hot water bath.
Since I’ve had this tool, I have broken fewer jars and burned myself less often.
I SO recommend one of these.

This wide mouth funnel is a lifesaver when you’re trying to get
your produce into the jar without making a big mess.

A water bath pot is pretty neccessary…
if you’re planning to seal your jars in a water bath.

Okay…next…

Here are a few things you need to know if you don’t want to die from botulism…

*Using the hot water bath system to seal your jars is only safe if you’re canning something acidic. Otherwise, food must be sealed in a pressure cooker. Food that I know of to be safe to can in a hot water bath: tomatoes, apples, peaches, pears. If you aren’t for sure what’s safe…please look it up to be sure before you use a hot water bath to seal your lids!

*You need to sterilize your jars, lids and rings before you put food into them. All I do is put my clean jars upside down into a shallow pan of boiling water for a couple of minutes.

I do the same with my lids and rings.

See, this is where that magnetic wand comes in very handy!

*When you put your jars full of yummy fruits or veggies into the hot water bath, I recommend putting them in before you start to boil the water. If your water is already boiling hot, you run the risk of breaking your jars and losing all of the work you put into filling. So, put your jars into the pot of water, then turn it on to begin to get hot. Once it finally starts to boil, then start your timer for the recommended boiling time.

Okay…this will all make more sense with my other posts about canning specific fruits and veggies. But…that gives you the basic information you’ll need so that those posts will make sense. Or maybe none of it makes any sense and you’d rather just come over and watch. (Watch, nothin’. I’d hand over a knife and some apples and tell you to get busy.) :)

Stay tuned…canning peaches and applesauce coming soon!
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Find more kitchen tips on Tammy’s Recipes.

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Putting up Corn for Winter

August 8, 2008 by Laura 30 Comments

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No. 1 thing to know about preserving produce for winter: It takes hard work and time and might make a big mess.

No. 2 thing to know about preserving produce for winter: In the winter when you get to pull yummy things out of your pantry and freezer…all the hard work and time and big mess will have been worth it. Very worth it!

Here’s a bit about how I put up corn…and you should also check out this post at Amy’s Finer Things because she blogged about this already. I really liked her technique for cutting the corn off the cob!

First…here is our happy little party of Nebraska Cornhuskers….

Check it out…they make a game of how far they can throw the husks. Hey, whatever it takes to get the work done with a happy attitude!

Meanwhile…I’m in the kitchen sticking those ears into boiling water. Just for a short time. Two to three minutes. Blanching stops the aging process of your produce.

Ah, but you don’t want them to continue to cook…so you immediately pull it out of the boiling water (with tongs of course) and run it under cold water to try to cool it off right away. (And Amy recomended putting it in ice water…a much better idea!!)

Now, I line up my ears (hehe…line up my ears…hehe)

And then I cut the corn off the cob into a bowl with a sharp knife. If you have an electric knife, you can use that too. Or do it the way Amy does it. (Oh, so many options.) (But no matter what option you choose, your hand will probably cramp up and feel like it will never again be them same by the time you’re done. But don’t worry, after several operations, you’ll be okay again.) (Kidding…just give yourself a few minutes of a hand massage.)

I then use a measuring cup to scoop the corn into freezer bags. Sometimes I use quart…sometimes I use gallon. Just don’t fill the bags too full, or after it freezes, you’ll have a terrible time getting your corn out of the bag!

Then get the air out of the bag and seal it up and press it flat. And it’s ready to go into the freezer. Isn’t it beautiful?

When you’re ready to cook it, break off whatever amount of corn you want, put it into a saucepan with a little water and cook it until it’s bubbly. Turn it off, drain out the excess water and stir in butter and salt!

Awesome!

I’ll show you to process of freezing green beans another time!

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