Nurturing my inner... yes I can

I'm SO behind on documenting my cooking adventures.  Which is nearly unbelievable with wordy old me - who could figure the bigger problem would be finding the time for the writing instead of the cooking.  I need an admin!  It's just a bit challenging when you have a busy, full-time, often demanding day job.  (Which, sidebar, actually pays you money.)

Though I should go back and get you up to date on the half a dozen other things I've made, I'm extremely excited to tell you about my Sunday adventure.  (BTW, Worst-Case-Scenario mom told me all the reasons I shouldn't try this.)  You'll just have to wait to hear about the other stuff until later this week.

Guess what I tackled today? You're just not going to believe it.  I don't believe it.  (My mother certainly did not believe it and it made for one interesting phone conversation as if I am still 14.)  Well here it goes - canning!

Wegmans had the mother load of all that is
canning. From fruit to tools to jars, they
had all of it. I was impressed!

I'm choosing to ignore that some of you have no idea what I'm talking about.  But this is how the pioneers made fresh produce last all winter.  And if it was good enough for those who made their own clothes, then it's something I had to tackle at least once.  Even if I did do it very out of season for my first attempt.  (Apparently, August is a big canning month that I missed taking advantage of this year.)

Acid is very important in canning and a key
enemy of bacteria, so don't skimp on it.

But before we head into the heavy work - a snack.  Mmm...

Gigi's brother made this amazing wood
inlay board.

Belly full, now on to recipes.

Strawberry Jam

1 lb. strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Makes one 1/2 pint jar.  (Who knew fruit cooks down so much.  I took notes.)

Jam versus jelly.  Jam has pieces of fruit mashed up.  Jelly is juice.  That's the abridged version.  I am more of a jam or preserves girl.  I like food with good chew factor.  Let us begin.

I found that two lemons gets you about
1/2 cup of juice.

I wasn't in my home this time, so I had to use the juicer my friend Gigi had.  And I'm glad I did.  I loved it!  It was actually an heirloom from her husband's family.  Notice how it even has a pulp separator feature. Oh yes, they did it right in the olden days.

Now I have to go to flea markets and antique
shops to get one of my very own.

Pour out of the spout and you get this:

Mini bowl measurers beat boring, plain
measuring cups today.

Berries are up next.

You want ripe fruit.

You can cut your fruit up in different ways because it sort of melts down or you can mash it.  I used a little strawberry top remover tool and then decided to slice the strawberries into rings.

It won't stay this way, so enjoy the beauty
while you've got it.

Get a large saute pan add berries, lemon juice and sugar.

Turn up to a bit more than a simmer.
Bubbly is good, as the water reduces
and it forms a syrup.

Make sure to stir often or you will burn it.  You can't walk away from making jam.  This project takes dedication and focus.

We made several kinds, so I'll show you how we canned them later.  Recipes first.

Plum Jam

2 lbs. quartered plums with skins
3 cups of sugar
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Makes approx 3 pints.

I just used regular plums, but the ones with the ruby red centers would have been quite lovely.

Like the fresh morning dew.

Halve and then quarter them.  I followed the directions because I have never done this before.  They really soften so don't worry about the size at first.

Should I have told you to take the pits out?
I think you figured that out on your own.

Add to a pot with sugar and lemon juice.

And visions of sugar plums danced in her head...

Lavender foam bubbled up after a few minutes. I loved it!  The fruit was just simmering for a bit at this point, so it wasn't yet broken down.

The skins are needed to add color
to yellow flesh plums.

After about 30 minutes, this is what you'll get after you use a potato masher:

Well, most of it was scooped out by this time.
Yes, I'm still keeping you in suspense
with the jarring process.

Blackberry Lime Jam

2 pints of blackberries
1/3 cup of freshly-squeezed lime juice
3/4 cup Turbinado or raw sugar

Makes one 1/2 pint jar.

These were beauties AND a good price.  (Go Wegmans!)

They were perfect! Almost too perfect
to cook down. Eh, I gave in.

You should know by now of my deep love of and affection for sugar in the raw.  So any chance I get, I try to substitute white for its more natural counterpart.  Though I had never canned before, I though I had to at least try the one batch with it and see how it compared in taste.

I have high hopes!

I used the same shallow pan cooking technique on these as I did the strawberries.  Lots of surface space to hopefully cook up quickly.  You definitely don't want to be afraid of it simmering and bubbling.

Weird thing to note: blackberries turn lighter
as they cook. See the half and half ones?

Takes about 20 minutes total, and they'll look more jammy-like.

I can hardly see anything in this picture.

I've kept you waiting long enough.  Plus we needed to start the jar prep.  This is the part where you have to be very careful and follow directions explicitly because you want to avoid even the slightest possibility of bacteria.

Boil jars in a pan.  That also means to add the lids and rings.  After they go in here, you will NOT touch them again with human hands.  (Or any hands.  Don't get smart with me.)

I need to get a canning pan like this.

I made a super wise $12.99 decision today.  I bought a canning survival kit.  (Which of course, Wegmans the wonder store had.  They will now be my go to place for all canning supplies, as they had everything you could possibly need, and I won't even look anywhere else.)  There were things in the kit that I figured would make my life easier and at less than $15.00, how could I go wrong.

Surgeons have their tools, canners have theirs.

It was a five piecer: funnel, stainless steel tongs, jar wrench, magnetic canning lid and jar lifter.  I bought wide mouth jars, so I didn't use the funnel, but the tongs, jarlifter and even that little magnetic thingiemadoogie came in super handy.

After the jars have been boiled and sterilized, you take them out with the thongs and set them on clean towels.

Lined up in a row and waiting for the big
moment. Just like you, because I'm going
on to another recipe now.

Pear Ginger Preserves

8 soft pears (We used Red Bartlett)
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 cup of light brown sugar
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice

Makes approx 3 pints.

I won't inundate you with photos.  (I know, too late.)

I had heard that since ginger is bumpy, it's easiest to clean off the outside skin with a spoon.  Since that sounded ridiculous, I had to try it.  And turns out, it totally worked!

The spoon technique.

Special tool alert: The Microplane.  I'm definitely getting one of these next time I go out.

Very aromatic. And this tool made for
quick work.

Peeled pears (potato peeler works great), sugar, ginger and lemon juice into a pot.

Simmer away and enjoy looking at her husband
Jack's amazing tile work on the back splash.
Ooh, so super talented, he is.

Then there is this nifty trick you can do to figure out if you're done simmering and your concoction is jam ready.  You take a small bowl and fill with ice water and put a smaller little bowl on top.  Add just a little of the liquid from your pan and wait 30 seconds.  Then remove small bowl and tilt slightly.  If the liquid isn't running off the sides, but instead coats it, then your mixture is ready to go in the jars.  This is also an opportune time to taste your creation.  Yum yum, this was darn good stuff!

It's always good to take out some of the
guesswork with a little science.

And now, for the moment you've been waiting for!!  Grab your small gravy ladle from the boiling pot of water, oh yes that has to be sterilized as well, and here we go...

A robot arm would have been handy at this
point. Human contact not allowed.

We lined up many jars and began to fill them all to 1/4 inch from the top.  Assembly line engaged.

Pretty darn convincing already.

Important step: Use a fresh, clean towel to wipe the rim of the glass jar and make sure it's completely clean.  If you skip this part, you could risk leaving a little jam on the glass and preventing the lid from properly closing and keeping out moisture.

The magnet thing, as completely odd as it seemed as you said to yourself when you first opened the kit, now becomes the star tool.  It makes it much easier to fish the flat lids out of the water.  (Oh, remember that fishing game we used to play as kids with the magnet on the end of the string!)

Lid on top of jar.

With this ring, I thee seal.

Thy goodness now art in tact. (Plus,
it's funnith to speakith this way.)

Tighten the ring.  Oh, but you're not done quite yet.  Back into the water bath they go for 10 minutes of boiling and 5 minutes of sitting.

Steam from the boiling water was fogging
up my lens, so this is as good as I
could get it.  Hey, safety first!

Now the tool to remove the fully sterilized jars from the boiling water.  Although, I am fairly certain Gigi may be using them upside down.  Whatever, it worked.

Totally hot! Yet nobody got burned.

Dry on fresh towels.

Like babies just out of a bath. This was
a labor of love.

And for fun, I actually dressed the part of a canner today in what I like to call "farm girl chic."

Caught in the act of mango peeling.
(Strangely enough, my plaid shirt is
from a company called Mango.)

One more recipe for the road.

Mango, Coconut and Lime Jam

4 ripe mangoes, peeled and diced
Zest from one lime
1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lime juice
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp coconut powder (Found in ethnic section of Wegmans, it's sometimes referred to as desiccated coconut - which is finer and drier than the kind of baking coconut we're used to)

Makes approx 2 1/2 pints.

Loving the microplane.  Zest the lime then cut in half to juice.

Let's face it, it's just fun to zest.

Jack better watch it, I was ready to stick this antique family heirloom into my purse and run with it.  I just loved using it and knowing that people who lived long before me used it in the very same way.

There is something so precious about
tradition and simplicity.

At first, we had no idea what flavor to put with mango.

Very Christmasy all red and green.

Again, a potato peeler works really great on these.

Well, that was fast.

Dice into 1/2 inch cubes.

That looks like a lot of mango. Better
use a big skillet.

I had mentioned I purchased coconut powder that we don't seem to make in the states for a cookie recipe a friend just sent me, so Gigi thought it would be great with the mango.  I completely agreed!

Thank goodness for international food aisles
that are in so many of our grocery stores.

Sprinkle in the coconut, lime zest and juice.

Orange and green. The white coconut mostly
disappears as it absorbs the juice.

After it has cooked down, mash it lightly, add to jars just like we did earlier and do the water bath process again.  (Keep in mind, you could just sterilize the jars, make the jam and keep it in the fridge for a couple weeks if you want to try jam making, but are nervous about the real canning part.  I also hear there is a way to do freezer jam.  So, you might want to look that up for options.)

So many flavors. Now where's the toast
and English muffins?

Special notes about canning: 1.) I was dead serious about the precautions they tell you to take.  Read up on them before you try it.  Botulism is nothing to laugh at and is serious business.  No short cuts on sterilization.  2.) You'll hear a popping sound as the jars cool.  This is a good thing!  That means the tops of the jars have gone concave because the air has been removed.  3.) If any remain convex or any pop back up, just put them in the fridge and use within 2 weeks.

Sorry Fear-Factor mum, I felt I could take on this challenge today and I was not afraid!  I mean, honestly, if women who were educated in a one room school house could can, then so could I.  Thus my motto of the day, "Yes I can!"  (I do realize in an ironic twist of where my worlds collide that this little phrase was Sprint's tag line from a few years back, but I'm sure they won't mind if I borrow it just this once.)