Canning Asparagus

[Jeepers]

I canned some asparagus Saturday. It was a comedy of errors for me. Without the comedy. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did.

 

While I was prepping the asparagus to can, I started boiling water to blanch it. I was finished before the water even thought about boiling. While I waited for it, I started to wash the jars. That should have been done ahead of time! Why? Because when I went to wash them, I discovered I only had 2 half pint jars left. So I had to turn off the slow no boil pot of water and go to Wal-Mart and get some more. But first I had to grab a quick shower before I could be seen in public. Vanity? Hardly. I was a mess as was planning to clean up after I finished canning. I don't like to mess with my hair before I can. I always clip it up and make sure there aren’t any loose ones around. I shower, wash the hair, sort of dry it and head to Wal-Mart. It’s 90 degrees out there and I’m praying WM has the jars. They did! Woo-hoo.

 

I get home and turn the water back on to boil and wash the jars. I got all 5 cases. That won’t happen again! I get some sweet tea and settle down. The water is finally boiling and I put the veggies in and it stops boiling. I knew that would happen for a few minutes though. Once again, it took forever to start to boil. In the meantime the veggies are sitting in the very hot water 1 degree below boiling. And I’m getting nervous because they are starting to wilt. Finally…it starts to boil. I set my timer to two minutes and go get more sweet tea to wait. Hummm, I don’t seem to hear the timer ticking. It isn’t! The cheapy thing only starts ticking away the minutes after 5 minutes. I guess they have been boiling about 1 minute so I give it 1 more minute, probably less. We’ve both been through enough.

 

I cool them off under cold running water (not enough ice left) but they are too hot for me to handle. I drink more sweet tea and wait some more. By the time I could pick them up and get them in the jars all pretty and straight, they were really wilted and so was I. I finally got them in the jars, salted them and used the water they blanched in to cover them. I figured it was vitamin loaded. I went on line to double check the processing time since it had been a few hours since I started this mess. I read where using the blanching water ‘could’ make asparagus bitter. Oh no…not my labor (of love) intensive asparagus! Nothing to do but open the canner (It was only on the stove about 5 min.) empty the water in the jars and add fresh water and salt. Oh-oh, should I reheat the lids? I did.

 

Finally they are done! I have no idea how they will be in a couple of months from now. They were baby spears that sat in hot water 20minutes, boiling water 2-3 minutes, 10 minutes in a canner boiling (venting time) and processed for 30 minutes. I only hope they aren’t too mushy when I eat them.

 

I got 11 half pints of spears. I could have gotten 3 more half pints of stem ends but by then I was done. I cooked them and ate most of them and pitched the rest. Next time I think I’m skipping the blanching process. Yes, there will be a next time; I’ll do it again but a little wiser and better prepared!

 

But I do have 11 sealed half pints of beautiful asparagus spears standing straight up in jars like the little soldiers they are.

[The WE2's]

Should have performed this on youtube and sold tickets!

[Jeepers]

Hee-hee.

 

As a matter of fact I thought about all of those people who make Youtube videos as I was going through the day. They all seem so flawless and seamless. Mine would have had starts and stops all the way through it. And a few "Bleeps" too.

 

I started out with a sundress type of garb on and I kept getting hotter and hotter. I had the fan on me but I just had it on my leg area so any dust etc. wouldn't fly around the cooking area. It got so hot that I took the bottom of the dress and stuffed it up inside my panties, in the back, so the fan could be more efficient. Oh yeah, that would have been a good look on the world wide web! And we wonder why I still live alone...

 

...actually no we don't. We pretty much know why!

 

 

 

Edited because there was a huge blank space at the bottom.

Edited June 25, 2013 by Jeepers

[The WE2's]

"Commando" is always cool!

[out_of_the_ordinary]

Jeepers, just don't forget and go outside like that!

[Jeepers]

Yeah, it's something I'd be prone to do. Out of sight...out of mind, back there!

 

I'm too cheap to turn on the air conditioner this early in the summer. I like to see how long I can last without it. Anytime after June 30th. and I win. I have big goals set don't ya know! <----------stoopid.