Canning Recipes

I have a tiny garden in the back yard that I have been trying to get to grow for a few years. When we first moved into the house, I had our garden on the side of our lot. Apparently, it's important to water your garden. That first year, the only thing I had growing were onions. The second year I moved it to the back of our lot, underneath a tree. I did a little better with watering, but I didn't till our ground (it was harder than clay!). I honestly don't know what I had come out of that garden, but I do know that was the year I decided to create raised beds with good soil, and a walkway. Towards the end of the summer, we bulldozed the garden, put in the bricks, and made the raised garden beds out of timbers. It looked awesome. I couldn't wait till I could start gardening again. I started pinning tips on how to have a great garden. Then that summer rolled around, we were planning for our wedding, and I never had time to "garden".

Well, this year it's all changed. Even with our flooding and late summer, things have been producing well. I'm not sure if I have enough stuff to can this year - except for jalapenos (they love to grow in my garden so I make an awesome jap jelly), but I did go over a pin from Creating Nirvana Today on canning recipes. Hopefully, I'll get to use some of these this summer. She has tons of great canning recipes, tips, and tricks in case you are interested! Here are some of my favorites from the site. Also, feel free to check out Put 'em Up! and Tart and Sweet: 101 Canning and Pickling Recipes for the Modern Kitchen. These books have been awesome resources for me while I was learning to can.

Canned Rhubarb

Ingredients

1 ½ to 2 pounds rhubarb, chopped into 1 inch pieces
½ to 1 cup sugar (I used ¾ cup)

Directions

1. Add the rhubarb and sugar into a large sauce pot. Mix the sugar and rhubarb well. Allow the rhubarb to rest for 3 hours in a cool place.

2. Heat the sauce pot over medium heat. Boil the rhubarb for 30 seconds.

3. Ladle the hot rhubarb into jars leaving ½ inch head space. Place a lid on the jar and fingertip tighten the two piece cap.

4. Process 15 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

2 cups crushed strawberries
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1 package powder pectin
¼ cup lemon juice
5 ½ cups sugar

Directions

1. Put strawberries, rhubarb, and pectin in a heavy bottomed sauce pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat.

2. Slowly add the sugar while stirring constantly.

3. Once the sugar is dissolved, bring the solution back to a boil. Boil hard for 1 minute.

4. Remove the jam from the heat and quickly ladle into hot, sterile jars leaving ¼ inch head space.

5. Place the lids on the jars and adjust the two piece cap until finger tip tight.

6. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

7. Remove the jam from the canner and allow to cool completely. The jam may take several days to set completely. Mine took 48 to completely set and have an actual jam texture.

Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

5 cups crushed strawberries (about 5 lbs)
1/4 cup lemon juice
6 tbsp powdered pectin
7 cups granulated sugar
8 half pint jars with lids and bands

Directions

1. Combine strawberries, lemon juice, and pectin to a large pot on high heat. Bring the strawberry mixture to a boil, about 3 minutes, while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.
2. Add the sugar to the strawberry mixture, and stir. Boil the mixture hard for 1 minute while stirring constantly.
3. Remove the jam from the heat, and skim off the foam.
4. Allow the jam to rest for 5 minutes before ladling the jam into hot sterile jars leaving 1/4" head space. Wipe the rim, place a hot lid on top, and adjust the band until finger tip tight.
5. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.
6. Remove the jars from the boiling water canner and allow to cool for 24 hours. Check the seal of the lids by pushing down on the center of the lid (the lid should not move up or down when being pushed) before storing in a cool, dry, dark place.

Chocolate Strawberry Sauce

Ingredients

1/2 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder
6 tbsp powdered pectin
4 1/2 cups crushed strawberries
6 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Boil water in boiling water bath. Simmer the lids in a small sauce pot with water. Do not boil the lids. Heat the jars in simmering water or wash them in the dishwasher with the heated dry on. Either way the jars need to be hot. Set the bands aside for later use.

2. Mix the cocoa powder and pectin in a small bowl and set aside.

3. Mix the strawberries and lemon juice together in a sauce pot. Add the pectin mixture to the strawberry mixture while whisking the entire time. Heat the mixture until boiling. Stir frequently. Quickly add the sugar to the mixture and bring back to a boil while stirring frequently. Boil hard for 1 minute. Take the mixture off the heat and remove and bubbles.

4. Ladle the strawberry mixture into the hot sterile jars. Leave a 1/4" head space. Place the lid on the jar. Screw the band onto the jar until fingertip tight.

5. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and allow them to cool completely for 24 hours. After 24 hours, check the seal. You should not be able to move the lid up and down when you press on the center. If you can move the lid up and down, then reprocess for another 10 minutes. If the jars are good, then label the jars and put them away.

Blueberry Pie Filling

Ingredients

5 cups blueberries
¾ cup sugar
3 tbsp Clear Jel (NOT Sure Jel)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Add the Clear Jel, sugar, water, and lemon juice to a large sauce pot. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring constantly with a wooden spoon

2. Add the blueberries to the boiling mixture. Gently stir constantly. Once the jel comes back to a simmer the blueberry pie filling will thicken. Continue to cook the blueberry pie filling until it is thick and gooey.

4. Ladle the hot blueberry pie filling into a quart jar. Leave 1 inch head space. Process in a boiling water canner for 30 minutes.

Dill Pickles

Ingredients (makes 7 pints)

4 pounds 4 inch cucumbers
6 tbsp canning salt
4 ½ cups water
4 cups vinegar (I used white)
14 heads of fresh dill
3 ½ tsp mustard seed
14 peppercorns

Directions

Wash cucumbers; drain. Cut cucumbers into ¼-inch crosswise or lengthwise slices; discarding blossom ends. Combine salt, water and vinegar in a large sauce pot; bring to a boil. Pack cucumbers into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Add 2 heads of dill, ½ tsp mustard seed and 2 peppercorns to each jar. Ladle hot liquid over cucumbers, leaving ¼-inch head space. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner. Allow 4 to 6 weeks for fresh packed foods to cure and develop a satisfactory flavor.

Bloody Mary Mix

Ingredients (makes 2 quarts)

8.5 cups tomato juice
3 bell peppers, sliced and seeds removed (I used red bell peppers)
3 carrots, sliced
3 ribs celery, diced
2 onions, diced
4 garlic cloves, diced
50 stems parsley
1 tbsp celery seed
1 inch piece of ginger, bruised
1 Jalapeno, chopped (I left the seeds in to make the mix spicier)
3 Serrano peppers, chopped (I left the seeds in to make the mix spicier)
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt, iodine free
Bottled Lemon Juice

Directions

1. Place all the ingredients in a crockpot except the lemon juice and set on high. Cook for 1-2 hours.

2. Strain the tomato juice through a fine mesh sieve. My sieve allowed some fine particles of tomato fiber to escape through allowing for the excellent consistency that I mentioned above. For a more liquid Bloody Mary Mix add a double layer of cheese cloth on top of your fine mesh sieve.

3. Ladle the hot Bloody Mary Mix into quart jars leaving ½” head space. Add 2 tbsp of lemon juice per quart jar to the Bloody Mary Mix leaving ½” head space.

4. Place the lids on top of the jars and adjust the two piece caps. Process in a boiling water canner for 40 minutes.