There are quite a few packages of various berries in my freezer here, as well as all sorts of leftovers, and an assortment of cold-packs. I'm not actually certain what is on the bottom layer down below all of that. Berries are one of the easiest things to process, being acidic enough not to require adding lemon juice; they can be canned simply as whole berries, turned into puree, or sweetened and made into jam.
Goodness knows that there is more than enough jam on my pantry shelves, so I am thinking about turning the frozen berries into canned fruit puree. Why? Because one of my this-year goals is to defrost the freezer, which will be easier if it is not so full; I have a chest freezer, which is more efficient than an upright, but a bit more challenging to deal with.
And, I just discovered that storing a case of apples in the coldest cupboard in the house, even in my beloved (and very chilly) Acorn Cottage is not a good idea; for the first few months they held well, but it has been over three months, and more than a quarter of them are no longer edible (sigh...) Compost without guilt. The few that are still sound will be turned into sauce.
While I still have some of the common metal one-use-only lids, I'd like to acquire and try using some of the reuseable canning jar lids. One friend has tried them with successful results. Based on the prices around town, and online, it only takes between three and five times before they pay for themselves. If anyone out there wants to get together and learn a bit about canning, do let me know, I'd be happy to share information, as part of continuing to build resilience into our local community.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Dear friends: your courteous and interesting comments will soon show up here once read and approved, but spammers and trolls will have to play somewhere else. It helps if you add your name to your comment, so I know who you are... Please be patient, as I am sorry that this layer of moderation is now needed