Canning Tally: September 2011

This post was originally published in September 2011, and documents the food we 'put up' from our backyard and local farms that year. Look for a post soon that chronicles our food preservation from 2014 and more recent years. 

I LOVE FOOD PRESERVATION!

Especially canning. It's weird for a person my age, I know. There's just something about harvesting produce from my garden, turning it into natural, wholesome food, and then preserving it for the depths of winter when greenery or freshness are merely a figment of my imagination.

This summer I have canned a decent amount of food, although not as much as I would have liked. So far, I've "put up" - - 

• 5 pints of enchilada/taco sauce
• 16 pints of pasta sauce (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle recipe)
• 8 pints and 9 quarts of pasta sauce (Ball Book recipe)
• 4 pints of barbeque sauce (Ball Book recipe - my FAVORITE!)
• 5 pints of peach salsa
• 5 half-pints and 10 pints of strawberry jelly
• 5 half-pints of freezer strawberry jelly
• 5 half-pints of sweet red onion marmalade (Ball Book recipe)
• 8 pints of watermelon jelly (a new recipe, but I can't recall the source)
• 8 pints and 2 half-pints of pickled peppers (Ball Book recipe)
• 2 pints of spicy pickled okra (Tart and Sweet recipe. I think it might taste gross - I'll let ya know how that one turns out!)
• 3 pints of peach butter (Ball Book recipe)
• 2 quarts and 7 pints of salsa
• 8 pints of bread and butter pickles (spears and slices - Ball Book recipe)
• 6 half-pints of sweet basil pesto (freezer recipe from Preserving the Harvest )
• 4 pints of Mexican seasoned whole tomatoes (for use in salsa - Ball Book recipe)

I also intend to make the following: 

• Apple butter
• Apple sauce
• Apple pic filling (freezer)
• Ketchup
• Red Hot sauce (similar to Franks Red Hot)
• Maybe more salsa

I'd also love to go through all of my spices and seasonings this fall. Some are old and need to be tossed, and others are brand new and would work well in a new recipe.