The Fruit (and Vegetables) of Our Labor

Back in September, I posted about the food we'd put up for winter.  Click here to take a peek.  I was trying to organize my cabinets a bit the other day, and thought I'd tally what we have left, figuring that would give me a good idea of what I need to can/grow/freeze either more or less of for next year.  So here goes:

Canning
Apple Butter: 8 pints (began with 16)
Apple Sauce: 12 quarts (began with 27)
Grape Jam: 5 pints (began with 8 pints, 1 half-pint)
Peaches: 11 quarts (began with 28 quarts)
Peach Jam: 8 half-pints, 5 pints (began with 10 half-pints, 5 pints)
Pickles: 10 pints (began with 23 pints)
Strawberry Jam: 3 pints, 2 half-pints (began with 4 pints, 4 half-pints)
Tomatoes: 5 quarts (began with 12 quarts)
Tomato Bruscetta: 4 half-pints (began with 9 half-pints)
Tomato Sauce: 1 pint, 1 half-pint (began with 7 half-pints, 2 pints)

Freezer
Chicken: We have 4 left, and have had to buy some until our broilers are ready in mid-July.
Corn: 1 1/2 gallon size bags (began with 6)
Green Beans: 4 gallon size bags (began with 7)
Grapes: GONE
Grape Syrup: 4 2-cup containers (began with 7)
Peaches: GONE
Pesto: I still have a ton of pesto, and the thought of counting all those little cubes terrifies me.  Italian dinner at my house, anyone??
Pumpkins: Still have about 6 cups or so frozen.  I've been using it in bread, and in cookies over the holidays.
Tomatoes: 3 gallon size bags
Zucchini (shredded):  8 6-cup bags (began with 11)

Other
Butternut Squash:  I have two left.  I had 16, but gave a couple away and some didn't do so well in storage so I gave them to the chickens.

Conclusion
I made WAY too much jelly.  Despite using it in yogurt and in pancakes.  Despite pawning some off on friends and relatives for Christmas.  And pesto...way too much pesto.  Also, because it was my first time making pickles, they didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.  However, my daughter, of all people, loves them.  The shredded zucchini I've been using for breads, but I think I put up much more than we needed.

I still find myself buying some fresh vegetables and fruit over the winter, so we didn't get into the canned stuff as much as I would have thought.  I think if I work on a little more variety - and a cold frame in the garden - that will help matters.

The pasta sauce I made turned out really well and was very convenient for our weekly homemade pizza nights.  I also plan on freezing much more fruit since Byron makes smoothies every morning and I've had to buy and freeze bananas to compensate.  I know, I know.  I'm a sellout.

I'm linking up with Homestead Revival's AND The Prairie Homestead's Barn Hops!  Click on either link to check out these, and other, fantastic blogs.

Grape Syrup Rocks

Today must be a day to be late.  Or maybe that's every day.

I missed the Barn Hop yesterday due to one-year checkups for the kids, meeting another homeschool mom to buy some wonderful homemade soap, and a trip to the airport to pick up my in-laws.  And so I figured it was apropos to post something I had wanted to write about back in September.  Of course, I can blame our old computer for being late on that if I really want to (which I do).

In September, I had the opportunity to pick a bushel of fresh, Concord grapes!  They are heavenly right from the vine, and make wonderful jam and juice as well.  I think I even tried making muffins with them.  But have you ever heard of grape syrup?   Nor had I, until I ran across a recipe in Put 'Em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton.

They look amazing, don't they??

The recipe is easier than making jam, and the syrup itself rivals maple syrup.  And remember how I said I can barely bring myself to pay for maple syrup anymore since we made our own?  Well, this may be our solution!

Just boil...

...simmer... (this is simmering, my style.  Stuff always seems to get away from me!)

...and blend!

So without further ado...

Grape Syrup
(adapted from Put 'Em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton)
4 c grapes, stemmed
1 c sugar (I used 1/2 c)
1/2 c water

Combine grapes, sugar, and water in a large pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat, cool, and run through a food mill (I used my high-tech blender).

This lasts in the fridge for about 3 weeks, or can be frozen for 6 months.  I found these PBA-free containers and froze about 14 cups' worth (I multiplied this recipe by 5 to get that amount):

I tried some for the first time yesterday morning and this rivals maple syrup for sure!

So apologies that this post is too late in the season for you to make your own.  But I've given you something to look forward to, right??  So bookmark it, write it down, or print it out for next year...you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Put 'Em Up! What We Stored for Winter...So Far

Not willing to let a gimpy computer that won't recognize external drives prevent me from blogging, I searched through the photos on the hard drive until I found this one, which in turn inspired me to make a quick accounting of the food I've put up for the winter.  After a search through various cabinets and the freezer, here's what I came up with:


Canning
Apple Butter: 16 pints
Apple Sauce: 27 quarts
Grape Jam: 8 pints, 1 half-pint
Peaches: 28 quarts
Peach Jam: 10 half-pints, 5 pints
Pickles: 23 pints
Strawberry Jam: 4 pints, 4 half-pints
Tomatoes: 12 paultry quarts (tomatoes didn't do so well this year)
Tomato Bruscetta: 9 half-pints
Tomato Sauce: 7 half-pints, 2 pints

Freezer
Chicken: I think we have about 18 left.  We eat a lot of chicken, and I lost one in a little tragedy last week involving my former crock pot.
Corn: 6 gallon size bags
Green Beans: 7 gallon size bags
Grapes: 2 gallon size bags remaining
Grape Syrup: 7 2-cup containers (Post coming as soon as we find a good deal on a new computer!)
Peaches: 2 gallon size bags remaining
Pesto: This I freeze in ice cube trays before transferring to a freezer bag.  I'm guessing we have about 70 little cubes of pesto.
Pumpkins: Still in process.  I was bummed to hear that it's relatively unsafe to can pumpkins at home, so I've resorted to freezing.  I have 11 cups worth in freezer bags so far, and estimate that's probably about one forth of what I'll end up with.
Tomatoes: 3 gallon size bags
Zucchini (shredded):  11 6-cup bags

Other
Butternut Squash: I harvested 16 of these and am hoping they hold up for a few months.  Otherwise, into the freezer they'll go.

Everyone's list of what they put up for the winter is different. For us, I try to limit it to what I know we'll eat and what I can either grow or buy for a reasonable price locally...so please note that of all the above, I didn't grow any of the fruit or corn, though I hope to in the future.  I also tend to make a lot of jam because we like this on pancakes.  Seriously, once you make your own maple syrup for practically nothing, it's physically painful to buy it from the store!

I'd love to hear about what your family stores for winter!  And be sure to click here to read other fabulous posts on Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!

Yes, I CAN!

Say it with me: "Canning is fun. Canning is easy. Yes, I CAN!" For those of you who are new to canning or have never canned before, I wanted to share some canning tips I've found by trial and sometimes, error. I'm not going to run through the whole process, because the Pick Your Own website already does that, and I don't want to reinvent the wheel. So here we go...

1. Heat your jars gradually when you sterilize them and keep them hot until you're ready to pack them. This will avoid breakage. You can sterilize jars either by boiling them for 10 minutes or running them through the sterilize cycle in the dishwasher. With the dishwasher, you'll need to time it so you're ready to pack the food while it's on heated dry.

2. Wipe the rims before you place the lids on the jars in order to ensure a proper seal.

3. When packing tomatoes, use a spatula to gently push them down toward the bottom of the jar. You'll be able to pack more in that way.

4. When making jams and jellies, Pomona's Universal Pectin is more economical and requires less sugar than the Surejell, etc. It can be ordered online through Amazon or sometimes found in country stores. No, I don't mean Cracker Barrel. Most of that stuff was probably made in China.

5. I boil the rims, too, when I sterilize the jars, but the lids should not be boiled. I wash them and then place them in the hot water I've boiled the jars in. Leave the lids in the hot water for a few minutes; this will soften the sealant a bit.

6. I have packed fruit with the skins on (though I don't recommend that for peaches because of the texture) and without ascorbic acid. The fruit gets a bit discolored, but this doesn't bother me and I was in a hurry the first time I tried it and got tired of searching for ascorbic acid.

7. You know those packs they sell for around $8 that include a funnel, tongs, magnet, etc? Buy it. It's worth its weight in gold and you'll eventually recoup the cost because you won't be using as many bandaids to covers the burns you get from trying to fish lids out of hot water.

8. Be sure to check the altitude chart before you time how long the packed jars will be in the canner. Processing time increases with altitude.

9. Boiling water canning versus pressure canning: Pressure canning is a newer process that brings the temp of the food up to 220 degrees, I believe. The USDA claims it lessens the problem of botulism. Well, the USDA says a lot of things and is more paranoid than Howard Hughes. Boiling water canning is fine, and ironically, some things - such as jams, jellies, applebutter - cannot be pressure canned because the "food quality would be unacceptable." Huh. Go figure. I pressure can my quart jars because my canner is too small to use that size jar with the boiling water method, as there needs to be 1" of water above the top of the can. Seriously, either way is most likely going to be fine. The chances of getting sick from restaurant food are probably greater than getting sick from home cooked food. And I don't know about you, but I don't have an industrial kitchen. We've never gotten sick from anything I've made.

10. Plan out your canning session, and get some help the first time if possible. Like good theatre, it's all in the timing.

Be encouraged! Here are some photos of canning amidst the chaos...

My friend Jen scored some awesome tomatoes at a farmer's market and hooked me up with some. These are just a few of them because I forgot to take photos before I started canning!

Army of cans. The tomatoes on the front line are homeless at the moment. Behind are pears, pear butter, and pear jam. I'm not a pear fanatic, though I do like them. We just happen to have a couple prolific trees.

More pears and pear sauce. We're going to be peared out this winter.

Pear stuff, strawberry jam, and wild cherry jam. And that little jar front and center on the bottom shelf that looks like it's filled with liquid gold? Maple syrup we made last winter. More on that later.