Just to warn ya, most of the summer's "frugality" is going to revolve around food preservation.
So consider yourself warned :-)
Well, we jumped right from freezing peas on Wednesday to picking green beans on Friday. I thought Bri was going to cry when she saw they were ready to be picked!
We start out by picking early in the morning- the vegys are supposed to be at their peak taste in the morning- something to do with the sugars stored in the plant.
Once they are picked, we all sit around and break off the ends and snap the beans into 1 inch pieces.
(Because, if you remember, this is where the TV watching comes in. It's the most popular step, needless to say.)
Then, I put them in a huge cooking pot and bring then to a boil- simmer 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat.
Load them into pre-washed mason jars, add 1/2 tsp seasalt in each jar, and slid a knife along the inside of the jars to remove any air bubbles.
Add new seal lids that have been boiled, and tighten on the rims.
Place the ready jars into the pressure canner, then follow the instructions that come with the canner.
This is my "return" to using a pressure canner. I was fairly nervous, since it's been years since I've used one, and I wasn't keen on blowing my kitchen up, so I followed the instructions to a T.
Notice the different stove?? Our newer glass top cannot be used for canning because the heat will crack the top, so we (and by "we", I mean "Loren") had to move our old stove back for canning season.
I've missed my old stove. (See the burnt ring around the right burner? That's from canning.)
Good times.....
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