Josephine

I got a lot of ground beef and sweet italian sausage recently, I made 7 meatloaves with it that day. We're having one of them, mashed potatoes, and peas.

I've finally taken out all the chicken carcasses I put in the deep freeze. A a quick-roast in the oven, a quick stock from the pressure canner, then canning it in pints.

ooops, I realized I didn't actually answer your question. Sorry! You'll need a hose and these: , and you'll need to be sure your Saver has a hose/accessory port. If it's new it will come with a hose or it will say it has a port.

I have one, and found that if I pull out the tube from the top of the jar sealer, then remove the jar sealer, it will seal the lid. I don't know how well it keeps though, as I haven't checked them since I sealed them, though I should.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo! All I have is liquid. Guess I need to go shopping...

I was going to make this today, but I don't have Sure Gel. I have Certo's liquid pectin, and the Ball brand, will those do instead?

Will enough sun reach the plants when they are low in the barrel?

You're welcome. I haven't had a chance to make it, the kids keep eating the bananas before they ripen enough!

4 cups of fruit + sugar is supposed to make about 7 pints, IIRC.

Violet, could the bananas be mixed with starwberries for banana-strawberry jam? I found this recipe: Strawberry Banana Jam Ingredients: 4-3/4 cups prepared fruit (about 2 quarts fully ripe strawberries and 3 fully ripe medium bananas) 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 6-3/4 cups sugar 1 box Sure-Jell fruit pectin 1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine Cooking Instructions: Boil jars on rack in large pot filled with water 10 minutes. Place flat lids in saucepan with water. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Let stand in hot water until ready to fill. Drain well before filling. Stem and thoroughly crush strawberries, 1 layer at a time. Measure 3-1/4 cups into 6-or 8-quart saucepot. Mash bananas thoroughly. Measure 1-1/2 cups into strawberries in saucepot. Stir in lemon juice. Measure sugar into separate bowl. (Scrape excess sugar from cup with spatula to level for exact measure.) Stir fruit pectin into fruit in saucepot. Add butter. Bring to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Quickly stir in all sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with metal spoon. Ladle quickly into prepared jars, filling to within 1/8 inch of tops. Wipe jar rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly. It doesn't have processing times (one recipe used paraffin), but I'm guessing 5 min if you sterilize the jars, 10 if you don't?

Thanks for the recipe, I was hoping I could find it on the 'net, but you came through.

Don't forget rose hips. I read somewhere they have the highest concentration of Vit C? Here's some info: http://www.kstrom.net/isk/food/wildrose.html

Pine candles are the new growth that pine needles come out from, they look like a yellowy white prickly pencil or candle sticking up from the end of a branch: Pine flowers look like bundles of little tiny pale pine cones:

Wash potatoes well, peel if desired. Cut as desired; french-fry style in 1/4 “ pieces, or 1/4-1/8” slices, or grate. Steam blanch 4-6 minutes, then rinse well in cool water (may turn black during drying if not properly pretreated). I've decided I really don't like processing potatoes. I decided to dehydrate some, and my dehydrator's booklet said 3/8ths of an inch thick. My mandolin only went to 7mm (1/4th) so I used that, but they seemed rather thick for dehydrating. Then the booklet said to steam blanch 5 min or until transparent. After 5 min they were nowhere near transparent, so I blanched and blanched and blanched some more until they were. The Husband said I should have stopped at 5 min, as he thought it was one or the other; I thought it was at least 5 min, more if that's what it takes to get them transparent. Which was it? And I realized I didn't cool them down before putting them in the dehydrator. I put them in a lemon juice water bathe as I sliced them, but some are still turning dark. Add this to my potato peeling disaster for canning, and I don't want to do potatoes anymore! :*(

How did The Husband and The Son feel later? I'm thinking about digesting it, perhaps their systems weren't used to so much... stuff that's in bones. Like they warn us we have to slowly introduce wheat into our diets, we can't just start eating wheat berries w/out experiencing some "discomfort"

I'm taking a pottery class (not a beginner, so I'm making things like bowls, mugs, etc right off, perfect for Christmas presents) and I was looking at pottery tools on eBay, when I talked about the tools to the friend who dragged me along to the classes. She said not to bother, that the class fee handled that, and when I asked about her husband saying "Who's got (my?) stick?" last class she said that's just banter and you don't need your own tools. That's about $20.00 I didn't have to spend. I wanted to make a potter's apron as I was getting clay all over my jeans, and I had a pattern all picked out, and was going to buy denim material (on sale, of course), then I remembered all the old towels we have in teh basement. I decided I could make an apron out of them and not pay for one. That's another $15-20 I didn't have to spend.

Safeway is having a sale on Ragu pasta sauce for $.99 each. When you buy 3, you get a $2.00 off next visit coupon. I bought 6 yesterday for $5.94, and then bought 6 today for $1.98 (used the coupons), and I'm going to go back and get 24 for $19.76 and get $16.00 worth of coupons, and then I'll turn right around and buy 18 for $1.98 and get $12.00 in coupons, then I'll buy 13 for $.87 and get $8.00 in coupons, then turn around and buy 9 for $.99 and get $6.00 in coupons, then I'll buy 7 for $.99 and get $4.00 in coupons and then save those coupons for later 'cause it's a loop of buying 6 and getting $4.00. Let's see, I'll have bought 83, and paid $.39-ish for each. If I did the math right... That's 1.6 pasta and sauce meals a week for a year. Hope my family likes pasta!

I do this at my store too!

I ate my cookie dough raw so I didn't have to pay for the electricity to cook it!

First off, do you have a ceramic or glass cook top? If so, you'll have to make sure you can can on your brand (look in the owner's manual or the manufacturer's website), and if you are able to can on it, get a Presto brand canner. AFAIK, they are the only ones that you can use on ceramic and glass cook tops. Changing a dial gauge canner over to using a weighted gauge is very easy. You do have to order a new set of weights, which one you get depends on what brand of canner you got. You leave the dial on (just ignore it), and use the weighted gauge set on the vent pipe that the 15 lb weight that comes with the canner sits on. Now, I have a Presto, so all my experience and (limited) knowledge comes from that, but I'm sure Violet or Canned Nerd will be along to correct me if I'm wrong and to give more info.

Speaking of unfilleted (is that a word?) fish, I want to serve up a gutted fish with head et al just to see my girls freak out. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

Arb, I bought some beef and had it ground to can. Here' is the link from the NCHFP about canning ground meat. I'd like to find a recipe for meatballs that only has approved ingredients for canning. Bread crumbs no, what about egg?

Another here in VA, up by DC. Hi Bay Mare!

Bottom/Top/Something Roast was on sale for 1.99 a pound, so I bought about 14 lb and had the butcher at the grocery store grind it for me. Less than ground beef, and I didn't have to grind it myself. Now to can it!

I didn't use canning salt when I canned my meats. I think I will leave it out next time as the beef I tried was very salty (it was straight out of the jar...). I don't use a lot of salt so it may have been just me.