Monday, August 10, 2015

my canning favorites

i love good local food - especially when it looks pretty in a jar. and even more so when i know that i put forth the love and effort to place the tasty produce in the jar myself. i have a list of canning-mainstays for sure. i also like experimenting with something new each year. i wanted to share some of my favorites {linked to their original source} incase you are trying to decide what to can this year!



what i put-up each year...

ketchup - I love making traditional tomato ketchup so that I can control the amount of sugar in this much used condiment. Also, every other year I make roasted red pepper ketchup which was featured in the book Put 'em Up. I like to keep it as a "treat" in the ketchup department.

jam - i make atleast two types of berry jam each year {usually strawberry, cherry, blackberry or triple berry} and then either peach jam or apple butter too.

salsa - we love a good homemade salsa! to the point where once we are out of salsa in the pantry we resist buying salsa from the store as long as possible. this year i'm hoping to make more salsa than i have in the past just to avoid this situation. our favorites will always be: corn salsa + chunky salsa

tomatoes - i also can tomatoes to add to soups, chili, etc. in the winter. my family has a great tomato sauce recipe that we sometimes jar up together as well. this year i am going to use up my excess tomatoes by trying this quick + easy tomato sauce plan with a crockpot.


what i often experiment with...

various sides
i like to try to use up squash or save beautiful carrots by making interesting sides or snacks. i do love snacking on pretty much any dill vegetable.

jams or butters
i like to try at least one unique jam or fruit butter each year. i often make several jars and save them as gifts. a few of my favorites i've tried in the past:
{mango jam was not a locally sourced treat - but mangoes were a great price at the grocery that day!}


how about you? any adventurous canning you've tried this year? or did you just stick to your absolute favorites?

*click over to the Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop to see my post in the link-up, as well as many posts about homesteading, homemaking, and more...


*update: this post was selected as a "featured post" for the blog hop with Nancy on the Home Front! Thanks Nancy for featuring my canning favorites!

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing your post on Our Simple Homestead Blog Hop, as one of the co-hosts I will be featuring your post on the Hop tomorrow! Hope you stop by and share again!
    - Nancy - Nancy On The Home Front

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Nancy for stopping by my blog! I'm so excited for the feature. The Hop is so fun! I appreciate you giving us a chance to link up and share.
      Cheers,
      Christine

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