(The table is full of glass because I'm cleaning the buffet, the windows and a few other places in the kitchen.
It's a mess in there right now, but I found enough space to work somehow. I'm waiting on Larry to finish his roof work (finger crossed, I think it's done!) and get the ladder in to help me with the high places.))
I like winter canning. We can use the extra heat in the house in winter, and there's not the pressure of piles of other veggies to be done, garden work and lawn work.
So this week I put up black beans and kidney beans. The black beans were a great deal at the local dollar store, and the kidney beans were free at a local church thrift. While canning beans isn't cost-saving if you have to buy the jars and pay for your heating source, it is a savings for us, as I have lots of jars and free gas.
Making jam in winter is easy with frozen berries. I put these in the freezer in the summer, and the cranberries in December when they were on sale. I mixed raspberries, blackberries, a few strawberries and cranberries for this jam. It's seedy, but that's how we like it. Some people prefer to strain the seeds out, but for us it's a reminder of the jams our mothers made when we were children.
While I was in the kitchen I put the crockpot on with a pot roast for dinner, using more vegetables put up from the summer and a roast bought on sale last week. The house smelled so good. It was a dark and drizzly day, perfect for cooking and puttering about in the kitchen.
I may can some butternut squash soon, as we still have many left from last year's bumper crop. Today, however, is pickup day from my pickers and maybe some booth work, so any more canning will have to wait. I need to get back to the paint projects too and try to get at least one more out of the way.
How about you? Are you still putting food up this winter, or is that a summer-only activity for you?
Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.
I freeze things in winter, and save a little on energy by putting containers outside to chill - and sometimes even freeze solid - before sticking them in my little chest freezer. I cooked a whole turkey last week, so a lot of meat and also some soup based on the broth I slow-cooked from the bones. No canning, though. Maybe next year.
ReplyDeleteI always pick lots of blackberries with the idea of making jam, but usually eat them almost as quickly as I'm able to pick them, usually stewed with some apples. I wonder how keeping things in glass jars came to be known as "canning".
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