This past summer I was bitten by the canning bug. From pears to jam to pickled green beans, I was hooked when I figured out that I could can local, fresh food and have it year round in our tiny little laundry room ready to be eaten during the cold and dreary winter months.
Thanks to the canvolution and the good people who run it I received a free copy of the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. This book has a plethora of recipes I want to try, including a pomegranate jelly that would be a perfect gift for the holiday season. Having this book on hand will be a great guide for those newcomer-questions I have such as acidity of different foods, how to hot and cold pack foods, and other questions about safety of canning as well as some delicious sounding preserves and pickles.
A community has been formed around canning and while I’m one of the newest members I already feel welcome and accepted by some of the veterans. Tigress from Tigress in a Jam is one of them. Tigress has amazing recipes and anecdotes on her site, and has just started a food blog challenge for anyone who wants to join. She’s launching the first ever Tigress Can Jam challenge, and I am most definitely on board. The challenge starts on January 1st, 2010 and ends on December 29th, 2010 so you will be guaranteed a full year of canning deliciousness. If you’re not a blogger, don’t fret, you can still join and learn about canning and preserving through the magic of the internet.
Recently I won a giveaway from Tigress and was beyond excited to receive her straight up greenage jam.
This stuff is Ah-mazing and I have been eating it straight out of the jar. A little taste here, a little taste there, maybe smeared on some toast or plopped in the oatmeal bowl. I want to savor it as long as possible because it is so good. Much better than my plum jam (which turned out to be a little sour) and reminiscent of summer during the cold and rainy morning we are now welcoming to Seattle.
If you’ve never canned before and are thinking to yourself “well, now that summer’s over there’s not much to can” or “I don’t have the supplies so I’ll just wait until next year” you should stop all that mumbo-jumbo and hop on the canning train! I don’t have the fancy equipment, just some jars, a large pot, a funnel, and a jar-clasper that I bought at my local grocer. There are plenty of fruits and veggies to turn into jams or pickles such as persimmons, pumpkins, and pomegranates (all p’s?). Canning brings me back to a simpler time where everyone knew what was in their food and where it came from, which is much of the draw and why the work is worth it. It’s also relatively cheap to make your own preserves, especially from food that is fresh and in season. Making gifts for loved ones, especially with the holidays coming up is incredibly rewarding and I know I love to tell people that I canned it all by myself. It’s like magic.
So what are you waiting for? You can can (can can?) in half a day, it’s cheap and fun, and a great tradition to add to your household or carry on from each generation.


