Growing up, we grew a huge garden (almost a half acre in size) and canned, dried and froze everything for the winter. Our basement was lined with shelves and row after row of home canned goodies. My personal favorites were canned peaches, apricots and mom's relishes and pickles. My dad is 86 years old and still grows a huge garden and still cans his own food.
I learned to can food at an early age, (it was my job when I was little to listen for and count the "pings" as the jars sealed) and it's been awhile since I canned myself so I dug out all the equipment out of the attic and dug up mom's recipe and went to work . . . and was comforted by the familiar smells and nostaligic sound of jars pinging as they seal.
I put Jim to work grinding the tomatos, peppers and onions while I washed and sterilized jars and got the sugar, vinegar and spices boiling (what a WONDERFUL smell).
I am so glad I grew up learning these things, although as a teenager, I would have never guessed that I would be thankful for learning how to preserve garden produce and how to cook from scratch (and without a cookbook) . . but have been VERY thankful every day of my adult life since.
My dad gave me a love of outdoors, gardening and how to do it organically long before it was fashionable and my mom taught me how to can and cook. One of my most treasured items is a notebook in my mother's handwriting of canning recipes, secrets and favorite things . . . she taught me to cook from my heart and by taste, rarely using a recipe. Thank you Mom!
Jim is eyeballing these and making a list of everything he can use them on . . hotdogs, bratwurst, beans . . . . Mmmmmm! Any bets how long they last?I will post the recipe in a minute if anyone want to try it . . . enjoy!
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