Today... you get a two-fer!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Amish series... to tell you a story about a canning catastrophe... to let you know that things happen no matter how seasoned a canner you are... or how sure you are of your skills.

A couple weeks ago, I went to my canning closet to get something... and the above picture is what I found!

Mr. G and I live in a pretty small house, we have no basement, no root cellar, no garage, and only one small outdoor storage shed that is not climate controlled nor cool in the least... we live in the Midlands of South Carolina and have fairly mild winters, but brutally hot, humid summers so storing food items in the shed is not an option... just so ya know! We do have three bedrooms... one we sleep in... one we have set up for crafts and hobbies... and one set up with a guest bed and storage combined... we stripped the closet in that bedroom and installed "supposedly" heavy duty plastic shelving units and we use that closet as canning storage/pantry/other food storage.

Well... the "heavy duty plastic" shelving had collapsed on one end causing an avalanche of canned goods! (those shelving units had CLAIMED to hold up to 750 pounds!)

We're not sure when the accident occurred... we don't go to the pantry every day... and we didn't hear the crash, so it could have been a few days and most likely while we weren't home.

Anyway...

We set about cleaning up the mess... there were, surprisingly, few broken jars (maybe a dozen or two)... but there was a lovely, smelly, sticky combination of Brunswick stew, praline syrup, and assorted relishes running down the wall and puddled up in the floor (which, of course is carpeted!!!!)

We had to use extreme care (and thick gloves) while removing the jars from the "pile" so as not to create yet another avalanche and additional breakage... so it took some time!!!

Once we got the jars picked up and set out on every available flat topped space in our house... we threw out the broken jars, removed the offending shelves, and began scrubbing the walls and carpet.

Mr. G had bought a used shop vac (for a GREAT price) when we first moved into the house so we pulled that out to clean up the worst of the liquid/stickiness/grossness... and wouldn't you know it??? The vac stopped working about 2 minutes into cleanup! He proceeded (after a barrage of French) to try to repair the vac, finally giving up (with another cascade of French... who knew the man knew so much French!?!?!?) and headed to the store to purchase a NEW shop vac.

Well... we got the mess cleaned up at last! Mr. G purchased some new shelving... metal shop shelves this time! He's always great fun when it comes to putting things like shelves together... he likes to try doing it without looking at the instructions at first (it's like a little game he plays with himself, I think)... then he has me read instructions to him while he assembles... during this step in our adventure, he generally second-guesses the words I read from the instruction sheet, stops what he's doing to read over my shoulder... and eventually we get into the swing of things and manage, as a team, to get the shelves assembled.
It's a routine we've mastered over the years.

Next step in this "re-assembling of the canning closet venture" included washing down all the jars that had come into contact with the spillage combination... we used a LOT of Dawn dishwashing liquid and vinegar and HOT water... and a couple pairs of rubber gloves! Then there was the spreading of towels over all countertops, tabletops, benches, and yes, even the spare bed... to allow the newly washed and rinsed jars of food to drain.

Then came the inspection process (this was my job entirely!)... I had to check the jars to see which, if any, had come unsealed or chipped in their tumble... and there had... MANY! So we dumped jars of food (such a waste!!!! such sadness!!!!) into buckets and hauled the contents out into the woods (so the dog wouldn't glut himself on the contents and kill himself... and so we wouldn't have to smell it... WHEW!!!! what a stink!!!!)

After that...

...more jar washing to clean up the ones we had emptied!

Then the fun part (not that this hadn't been fun!) ... putting the jars back on the new shelves...

This is where the blessing in disguise comes in (it was pretty well disguised at first, huh?)... I was able to organize all the remainder of the intact jars by type of food in them... in neat, tidy rows... I have a section for meats/main dishes, vegetables, soups, pickles and relishes, sauces, jams and jellies, dog food... and more. THIS was a satisfying part to the whole thing. At least to me! And I found some things that I had canned that I had totally forgotten about... felt like finding buried treasure! Yumminess!

Mr. G generally searches for things like a little boy does... you know... open the cabinet/fridge door and if it doesn't fall on his head he swears it's not in there. Well... I believe even HE can find whatever he is looking for in the new, improved, organized Canning Granny Canning Pantry (er, closet!)!!!

Happy Canning to All!!!!
Love,
Granny

I read a book a few months ago by a former Amish lady, Saloma Miller Furlong, entitled Why I Left the Amish. I highly recommend this book, especially if, like me, you have always romanticized the Amish lifestyle. It seems, as in all cultures, there are the good, the bad, and the ugly. Mrs. Furlong has a website and also writes a blog which is delightful to read. Read about her interesting life at http://salomafurlong.com/


Disclaimer: The Amish don't always follow updated USDA canning methods, they follow methods passed down from generation to generation. Use this recipe at your own discretion, or adapt it to your own method. I am sharing these recipes EXACTLY as they were sent to me and take no responsibility for them.


This is my grandmother's chow chow recipe that she had written on the back of an envelope. I thought I would share it with everyone. This makes a bunch so some scaling down may be necessary. There are tons of recipe variations so make it to your liking. 

1 peck green tomatoes
3-4 hot peppers
1 large cabbage (shredded)
5-6 cups sugar
8 large onion
2 quarts vinegar
3 green bell peppers
3 red bell peppers
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
¼ cup plain salt
*1 tsp. allspice
*2 tsp. cinnamon
*1 tsp clove
(* place in bag)

Let tomatoes and onions and salt stand overnight. Then drain and squeeze-dry. Add cabbage, pepper, dry mustard, and celery seed. Mix. Boil vinegar and sugar (5 min). Put in rest of spices in bag. Boil 5 minutes more. Remove bag of spices. Mix all vegetables and boil 5 minutes more. While hot, fill jars and seal. I have tweaked this recipe several times and go light on the tomatoes and a little heavier on the cabbage and add black peppercorns to the spice bag. Use standard hot bath canning and sanitation methods, please...

Ingredients:
1 small head cabbage, chopped
3 cups chopped cauliflower
1 cups chopped green tomatoes
2 sweet green peppers, chopped
2 large mild onions, chopped
1/2 cup salt
3 cups vinegar
2-1/2 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons celery seed

Preparation:
1. Combine vegetables. Sprinkle with salt. Let mixture stand 4 – 6 hours in cool place. Drain well.
2. Combine remaining ingredients. Simmer 10 minutes. Add vegetable mixture and simmer until just tender.
3. Pour into hot sterilized jars; seal. Process 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Let stand at least 2 weeks before opening.

• In 1973, Norma McCorvey, using the pseudonym Jane Roe, got abortion legalized in the United States... Roe v. Wade.

• On December 1, 1955 in Alabama, Rosa Parks decided to defy racial segregation rules by not giving up her seat for a white passenger when asked. Her actions sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, designed to put enough economic pressure on the city to listen. The campaign was so successful, it led to the desegregation of buses by the US Supreme Court. Rosa’s defiance changed the course of civil rights in American history.

• In 1963 Madalyn Murray O'Hair started a movement that eventually  led to the removal of prayer in schools in the US.

• Emily Davison was a women’s suffrage activist. She was imprisoned nine times, and endured force-feeding while on hunger strike. In 1913, her protest at the Epsom Derby resulted in her death, as she was trampled by King George V’s horse. She died of her injuries in hospital four days later. Her intention for the protest has always remained unclear, but she is remembered as a symbol of the struggle undertaken for the right for women to vote.

• Adolf Hitler, German dictator, and his Nazi minions during the 1930s were the reason millions of Jewish people were slaughtered during the Holocaust... All Germans were NOT Nazis and tens of thousands of Germans lost their lives as well by protesting the actions of a few.

• Only 56 men signed the Declaration of Independence.

• Only 3 percent of the citizens of what is now the United States of America fought in the Revolutionary War that brought independence from Great Britain.

Hi folks!
I know... it's been a minute since I've posted anything. I've had a year or so of burnout, LOL! An incident, however, on social media has kicked me in the britches and made me come out of hiding.

It seems a trusted admin in a group I started a few years ago, left the group and took all our over 2,800 recipes along with her. She started her own group and took them with her. All I can say is I hope things go well for the new group.

The incident has left me reeling and not very trusting of the social media realm, so I am in the process of closing down the group and my page there. It may be a mistake, but for now I'm going with my gut on this one.

The biggest heartache for me was not losing the recipes (I have recovered most of them) and not even the loss of trust in someone (or some ones) I had put my faith in... but that the actions of a few have affected a host of good, trustworthy folks... folks I have come to consider friends... YOU folks!

So in this post I will try to link to my copy of the recipe folders in my One Drive account... so you dear readers will have access to them even after the social media sites are shut down.

Thank you for your support and friendship.

I need to make a necessary disclaimer... the recipes in the files are simply recipes that have been shared by canners and cooks from all over the US and even other parts of the world and some use methods that are heirloom, outdated by today's USDA guidelines, and/or using another country's guidelines that may or may not be the same as the ones you are accustomed to. Don't judge, do your own research, use the ones you are comfortable using. Use at your own discretion.

Click on the link Recipe Box and we'll see if this works.

Honestly, I don't usually can corn... it freezes so nicely and is much less work to freeze than it is to can... but alas, I have no more freezer space and a bushel of beautiful sweet "peaches and cream" corn... so I canned it.


I'm also really really lousy at cutting corn off the cob... Mr. G bought me this handy dandy corn cutter made by OXO that helped TREMENDOUSLY! But I'm still pretty lousy at it.

To make cream corn, you take a knife and barely cut the tops off the corn kernels, then you take the knife edge and scrape all the goodness (milk)... I remember my Nanny Sensing (my Mom's mom) making cream corn by the bushel when I was a kid... she would have corn all over the counter, the wall behind the counter, down her apron, and even on her glasses as she worked.

To make whole kernel corn, you cut the... you guessed it... whole kernel! off the cob.

I think I do something in between when I cut off corn... I cut MOST of the kernel off... and then I can't stand leaving anything behind, so I scrape the cob with a knife edge and get the rest... It's the best I can do... and I like corn that way, so we're all happy!

HOWEVER you take your corn off the cob, canning it is the same way.

I cold packed my corn... which means I cut it off the cob and then put it in the jars without heating it up or anything.

Before I was ready to pack my corn, I got my jars and lids nice and hot by putting them in boiling water on the stove for 10 minutes or so.

I've heard horror stories about canning corn... overcooking, even burning those golden kernels... I learned that the trick is NOT to pack the corn in the jars too tight, allowing room for plenty of water.


I canned my corn in pints... I packed, VERY LOOSELY, my raw corn into my hot, sterilized jars. Don't press it down, shake it down, NUTHIN'! Just loosely ladle it into the jar.


Then poured in boiling water to fill the jar, leaving a half-inch headspace. I added a half teaspoon of canning salt (this step is, of course, optional).

I wiped the jar rim with a damp cloth.

Then a tightened my hot lids on to fingertip tightness.


I processed my pints of corn in my pressure canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 55 minutes. (Corn is a low-acid food and MUST be pressure canned, no way 'round it, corn spoils way to easily to take any chances)

After the corn processed and the canner cooled down and the pressure in my canner dropped naturally and on its own to zero, I removed the jars using my jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool... and to listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar.

CORN!!!!

I ended up with 2 four-ounce jars, 7 eight-ounce jars, and one 12-ounce jar of blueberry syrup... plus a bit left over.

Our blueberries have been ripening over the past couple of weeks... but this week they've stepped it up a notch and I'm picking every couple of days. Mr. G has had a hankering for blueberry syrup over pancakes like they used to have at the original IHOP... back in our younger days.

When I was growing up, honeysuckle blooms were so much fun... they meant summertime to us! They smelled so very sweet and we'd pick them and ever so slowly and carefully pull the stamens out and suck off the drop of tasty nectar from each one. Sweet and sticky and yummy!



My parents were always trying to get rid of honeysuckle... I never understood this as a child... it was so pretty and smelled so good... and gave us a delicious summertime snack! But, as we found out, honeysuckle is prolific... invasive really. So Daddy chopped it down, pulled it up, anything he could do to rid our yard of this invasive vine. At my grandmother's house, there was always a huge honeysuckle vine growing just outside... and up the side wall of the outhouse... made visiting that smelly place much sweeter!


When Mr. G and I moved back to the country a few years ago, we found we had honeysuckle growing near our front deck... being hardened against it as a child, I immediately began pulling it up to rid our yard of its invasive nature... Mr. G liked the stuff! He begged me to keep it! So we kept one small vine, with my warning to him that it would take over the porch... it has! But it smells so lovely this time of year... takes me back to barefoot, lazy, summer days with my siblings and cousins wandering the woods in the heat of summer, wading the creek and "falling in" to cool off... climbing trees, making "playhouses" underneath the pine trees with moss for our carpets and beds, and picking honeysuckle blossoms to suck the sweet nectar from them.

Since we now have a massive honeysuckle vine attached to our front deck and it showers us with its delicate, sweet-smelling blossoms several times each summer, I decided that SURELY honeysuckle has some usefulness... so I began scouring the internet and books to find out.

Guess what? Honeysuckle is indeed a useful, beneficial plant!

According to WebMD, honeysuckle (or as it is sometimes called, woodbine) "is used for digestive disorders including pain and swelling (inflammation) of the small intestine (enteritis) and dysentery; upper respiratory tract infections including colds, influenza, swine flu, and pneumonia; other viral and bacterial infections; swelling of the brain (encephalitis); fever; boils; and sores. Honeysuckle is also used for urinary disorders; headache, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Some people use it to promote sweating, as a laxative, to counteract poisoning, and for birth control. It is sometimes applied to the skin to reduce itching and inflammation."

From BellaVista Farm... honeysuckle medicinal benefits:

• clears toxins
• kills or inhibits germs
• coughs and asthma
• natural antibiotic used for staph or strep
• reduces fever and heat in the body
• for reducing ulcers, sore throats
• clears congestion
• used for acute symptoms NOT chronic symptoms
• reduces rashes from poison oak
• cuts that have become infected
• tea used as an eye wash
• headaches
• helps nausea and vomiting from Hepatitis C

After finding all the medicinal benefits in honeysuckle, a plant I once thought of as a pest, a weed, something to destroy... I set about looking for recipes.

I almost didn't write this blog post... ONE... I didn't remember to take very many pictures of the process... and TWO... it's so easy, I wasn't sure anyone would benefit from it... but, then, I thought maybe someone, who has never attempted to do anything with a leftover Thanksgiving turkey carcass, would indeed have a thing or two to learn.

After Thanksgiving dinner, after we had eaten our fill of turkey and all the trimmings, and after my out of town family had made themselves to-go plates to take home (at my request!)... I was left with a naked carcass... mostly just the bones... with small bits of meat here and there. I had also purchased, while they were on sale, a second turkey, which I split in half down the middle and smoked in our electric smoker (major YUMMINESS!)

I decided to make turkey bone broth from the remainders of our delicious Thanksgiving feast.

I got out my huge stockpot and put the bird carcass inside... I chopped up 4 or 5 stalks of celery (I like to include the leaves, they're so flavorful), a couple of onions (peelings and all)... I would have included a few carrots but I didn't have any and was NOT going to the store on Black Friday! I added some salt,  and other spices (garlic powder, peppercorns, a couple bay leaves... thyme would have been good, but I didn't think of it, wish I had! And parsley! Parsley would be good too!) That's how brainless turkey stock is... you just throw in a bunch of yummy stuff!

I added water to the stockpot, covering all the ingredients inside completely... I heated the mixture to boiling, then lowered the heat and let it simmer on low for several hours (I think I simmered for 6-8 hours... longer would be fine), I also added just a little splash of apple cider vinegar to help draw out the flavor from the bone marrow (doesn't give it a vinegar flavor, I promise!)

After all that simmering, a rich broth began to surround all the bones, meat, skin, and veggies. Smelling GOOD!

I strained the veggies out through a colander to get the big pieces, then again through cheesecloth to get all the small bits.

After the strained out carcass and veggies cooled, I picked all the little bits of meat left behind... and had a turkey sandwich!

I left the broth to cool overnight (refrigeration would be best, but my fridge was still mighty full!)... if you don't like turkey fat in your broth, refrigerating will solidify (sort of) the fat and it will float to the top so it can be skimmed off. I personally like a little fat in my broth, so I didn't skim mine very much.

I fed the scraps to my chickens... they thought it a delightful treat! (I've heard tell that some folks grind up the bones afterwards to make bone meal to add to their gardens... this time I was not THAT industrious!)

I brought the rich broth back up to a boil and began filling my hot, sterilized quart canning jars, leaving about an inch headspace. I tightened on my hot, sterilized lids, to fingertip tightness.

I processed the quarts of broth in my pressure canner at 10-11 pounds pressure for 25 minutes (pints would be 20 minutes).

After processing, I let the pressure in my canner drop back down to ZERO slowly and naturally (didn't want any liquid loss, aka siphoning, by force cooling the canner).

I removed the jars from the canner using my jar lifter and set them on a folded dish towel to cool and to listen for the PING of each successfully sealed jar... LOVE the PING!

From two turkey carcasses, I ended up with 14 quarts of rich, yummy broth, PLUS enough to add to the smoked turkey I canned the next day!

 Just after the Easter/Passover season I bought a nice-sized leg of lamb... regular price $60 plus... for $18! I brought it home and put in the freezer... it was probably 8-10 lbs. and there are only the two of us... thought I'd save it for company... or can it.

Now with this shower for my daughter coming up and berries coming in and needing the freezer space... I pulled it out the other day and thawed it...

I decided to cook it in our smoker... I salted and peppered it... added a variety of herbs (rosemary, mint, thyme, oregano, basil) to my smoker's water pan... set the temp to 250 and the time to 8 hours and let 'er smoke... adding chips (I used Jack Daniels whiskey barrel chips) every hour or two.

Due to our schedules and such, we weren't gonna get all that lamb eaten any time soon so I canned it...

First, I removed all the meat from the bone and cut it into stew sized chunks, taking care to remove any excess fat and gristly pieces.

Then I boiled my wide-mouth pint jars and put my lids on to simmer.


 I packed the jars pretty loosely with the chunks of lamb, leaving a good inch or more headspace.


I added a half teaspoon of canning salt to each pint jar (optional of course!)


Then I filled the jars with boiling water, leaving an inch headspace.

 I removed any air bubbles using a plastic chopstick and adjusted the liquid if necessary.


I wiped the jar rims with a damp cloth and tightened my lids on to fingertip tightness (no tighter or you can end up with buckling lids!)

I then processed the jars in my pressure canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 75 minutes (quarts would process for 90 minutes).

After the processing time, (I gotta be honest here!) it was time to leave for work so I turned the stove off and left the canner to cool naturally while I was gone for the day.

When I got back home, I removed the jars from the canner and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter... they'd already cooled AND PINGED!!! while I was gone so I missed the music! But they all sealed!

I ended up with 7 pints of lamb chunks... lamb stew this winter??? I think so!

And now I have this lovely meaty lamb bone left... I'm thinking I'll try making a little lamb broth outta that.

I was recently offered a bushel of green beans by my friend Brenda... beyond excited, I jumped on them! I didn't get any green beans canned last year and was determined to can some this year no matter what. Brenda's husband grew these beans and they were gorgeous, practically blemish-free, and a joy to work with.

Green beans are the first things I learned how to pressure can... My Mama's goal every summer was to can at least 100 quarts of green beans... since I can remember, I've been a part of stringing, breaking, and canning green beans... at my Nanny's house under the apple tree... in my Mama's kitchen with the fan blowing on us (before air conditioning... yes I AM that old!)... green beans were a staple where I grew up.




I put a good movie on (Driving Miss Daisy!) and set to work breaking beans...

After I got them ready, I gave them a good wash.

 Then covered them with water in my big stock pot and blanched them (brought the water to a boil).


I filled my quart jars with beans (I had boiled my jars and had my lids simmering by this time), packing them down lightly and adding cooking water to cover, leaving about an inch headspace. I removed any air bubbles using a plastic chopstick.

I  added a teaspoon of salt to each quart jar (this is optional) then tightened on my hot lids to fingertip tightness.


I processed my green beans in my pressure canner at 10 lbs. pressure for 25 minutes (pints would process for 20 minutes).


After processing, I let the canner cool and the pressure drop to zero naturally... hurrying the cooling can result in jar breakage or lid buckling... gotta let it cool slowly.

Then I removed the jars from the canner and set them on a folded dish towel on the counter to cool... and to listen to the PING! of each successfully sealed jar.

From my bushel of Italian Roma Green Beans I got 18 quarts of canned beans... and enough left over for supper... YUMMY!!!

Separated (attempted water bath canning) mayonnaise From http://www.rural-revolution.com/2010/04/canning-mayonnaise.html

My suggestion is this... make your own mayonnaise a small batch at a time... keep the ingredients (separately) on hand and whip up a bowl full once a week or so... it'll keep for a week or two in the fridge... and it doesn't contain EDTA or any other preservatives. This has worked great for me since I've been on this Candida Diet and most commercial mayonnaises contain sugar and/or soy oil (both big no-no's on the diet)... I can make my own and leave out the sugar... use olive oil and it tastes SO yummy I could eat it with a spoon! And I'm not a big mayo lover unless it's mixed in something or on a tomato sandwich!

My friend over at Joybilee Farms posted a great "fail-proof" mayonnaise recipe that is simple and yummy...

MAYONNAISE FROM SCRATCH

Photo from ehow.com

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from foodinjars.com

Found this handy dandy tote at http://www.mypatriotsupply.com/Quart_Size_Jarbox_p/z_jarboxqt.htm