Water Bath Canning

First of all, let me state that this information is taken from the little brochure tucked inside my brand new canning kettle. It is NOT my original work and I lay no claim to it other than that I own the kettle now and the paper this information is printed on.

Water Bath Canner

Water Bath Canner

That being said, I know that more and more people are looking for ways to save money on the grocery bills these days. Many are growing a garden and at least some of them will have surplus produce that they will want to put by for future use.

In case you decide to make do with something other than a brand new water bath canning kettle, here are the instructions for doing it RIGHT and SAFELY.

Common sense says to use only quality ingredients. There’s no point in trying to preserve something that isn’t any good to start with. If it has blemishes, eat it now. Preserve only the best of the crop.

And now I quote:
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Pickled Jalapeno Peppers

Wear rubber gloves while working with hot peppers. And absolutely do NOT wipe the sweat from your brow! The gloves will protect you from the very hot pepper oils but if you touch your face with your gloved fingers… you will be burned. Don’t even bother to ask me how I know this, just trust me.

Wash peppers and pack tightly into wide mouthed pint jars, up to about an inch from the top.

Make a solution of:

1 cup vinegar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon pickling salt
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spices

Bring this to a boil, then pour over the peppers in the pint jars, leaving an inch of head space. Wipe the rims of the jars to remove any trace of the solution, place caps on top, screw bands firmly tight and then process for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

This amount of solution will do two pints of peppers.