Around here, the growing season is just about to get off to a booming start. The threat of frost is typically gone by the beginning of May, and that’s around the same time the farmer’s markets start back up again, too. And you know what that means? It’s almost time to start canning, baby!
(Or you can dehydrate and freeze, too, but that’s another topic for another day.)
Remember the grasshoppers of the old ant and grasshopper fable? The ants worked hard all summer to store up food for the cold winter, while the grasshoppers played the day away. Guess who was hungry come the first winter storm? Yep, those lazy grasshoppers. I’m thinking those ants were on to something, so I’m gonna follow their example. After all, if I want local, nutritious produce throughout the winter months, it’s going to have to come from my pantry or freezer because around here, nothin’ but nothin’ grows mid-December to mid-March.
In the past, I’ve just kind of winged it (wung it?) come the growing season. I just picked up cans here and there, bought a few lids here and there, canned stuff as I had extras. This year, however, I’m going to be much more intentional about the whole process. I actually have a plan. (Why, yes, the earth is trembling! Whoa, people, she has a plan!)
Part of my plan is having adequate supplies on hand for canning enough jam, apple butter, and pickles to last until next year at this time. I almost made it this year, so I know I can do it. I just need a few more jars. And guess what? I’m going to get them for free. Or at least for super cheap. Here’s my simple 3-step process for procuring free jars:
1. Search on Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a search engine that randomly awards you points for searching the internet. I don’t know about you, but I probably do at least – at the very least – 10 internet searches a day. If I get points for even a quarter of those searches, it adds up! And it adds up quickly! Plus, I can do other tasks, like watch short videos, answer surveys, or lots of other options, and earn points that way, too.
2. Buy Amazon.com Gift Cards
What does Swagbucks have to do with canning jars, you ask? This: once I’ve accrued 450 Swagbucks points (and this takes a couple weeks or less), I can redeem them for a $5 gift card to Amazon.com. I bet you can guess where this is leading.
3. Buy Canning Jars on Amazon.
With just 2 Amazon gift cards, I can purchase a case of 12 Jarden half-pint jelly jars. With 3 $5 gift cards, I can get a case of 12 Ball 16oz jars (and free shipping with Prime!). A case of 12 Ball 1-qt jars will set me back 4 $5 gift cards… but imagine all the pickles I could pack into one of those babies!
So there you have it… my cheapskate plan for acquiring all the necessary canning jars at little to no cost for me! I’ve actually already bought one set of half-pint jelly jars in this way, and I have a few gift cards lined up to purchase more. If you want to try your hand at canning, too, but can’t afford to buy all the supplies new, I have a few more suggestions on how to acquire them for nothing (or next to nothing).
Ask Around!
Last year, my mother-in-law very kindly gave me a whole bunch of used jars that she didn’t need. You never know who might have a collection of jars waiting for a new home! A couple things to keep in mind:
Only use jars designed for canning. Store-bought jars are not guaranteed to survive the pressures of canning, and it’s not safe to attempt to use them. You need actual canning jars (the most common companies are Ball, Mason, and Jarden).
Canning jars can be re-used, but inspect them carefully for nicks, chips and cracks. Discard any jars that are disfigured in any way, as they are not safe for canning.
Do not re-use seals (the flat part of the lid that seals to the jar). Those must always be discarded after one use. A box of new seals will only cost you one $5 Amazon.com gift card! You can use the bands (the part that screws onto the jar) over and over again, as long as they are not bent or misshapen, and as long as they are not rusted. Eventually, they will bend or rust, and then they’ll need to be retired from active canning service.
If you know someone who cans (or used to), ask them nicely if you can borrow their equipment. You’ll still have to get your own jars, since they’ll probably want to use their own supply, but the pot and other utensils are easily borrowed for a day or two. Or suggest a canning party, and work together with your friend(s) to can a winter’s worth of food for everybody in one day!
Get Thrifty
Scour thrift stores and yard sales for second-hand canning equipment and jars, following the advice to ensure good quality. This is how I bought my canning pot and rack last year! Some people also have good success finding usable canning jars at second hand stores, but I’ve never had such luck. I’ve also found some great books with detailed canning and preserving instructions at thrift stores – those have been invaluable to me!
Do Without
Some things are absolutely essential when it comes to canning, like the jars and lids. Some things are really helpful, but not 100% essential. For example, I canned successfully for a couple years without a proper canning pot; I just used my large stock pot and put a towel in the bottom where I set the jars. It wasn’t a great method and I was really happy to find the canning pot and rack last year… but it worked! If you’re on a super tight budget, it can be done. Regarding other canning supplies, a funnel is very helpful when it comes to jam and sauces, but it’s not necessary for things like pickles. The magnetic lid-lifter is pretty affordable, but once again, not absolutely necessary. You really do need special canning tongs for lifting jars in and out of the hot water; otherwise that can be a pretty scary business.
A large part of frugality is being careful about what you spend. You know, don’t waste your grocery money on Twinkies and Oreos and then say you can’t afford organic fruits and vegetables.
But an often overlooked aspect of frugality is being careful with what you already have. As our grandparents said, “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Our generation is just starting to grasp this concept, but we’ve got a long way to go. Take a clue from those who lived through the Depression and the Great War, and learn to use up every last bit of everything before you throw it out.
Trash into treasure. Something from nothing. It’s like you’re a magician.
The process is pretty simple. All you have to do is this:
If your orange is not organic, wash it very carefully before peeling it.
Peel your orange (or clementine, or tangerine) and eat it. Yum, yum!
Take the pieces of the peel and lay them on a plate. Leave them there for about 24 hours.
Run the dried orange peel through a coffee grinder (A clean coffee grinder, please. You don’t want coffee grinds mixed in with your dried orange zest!)
Store in an empty spice container (see all the trash you’re turning into treasure?!)
You can also store the dried orange peels in their entirety, and just grind them as you need them. Whatever’s easiest!
The people who know (those gourmet foodie types) recommend removing the pith (that white stuff that sticks to the inside of the peel) to avoid a bitter aftertaste in your orange zest. This is great advice that I usually don’t follow. Personally, I think it’s only a real issue if you’re going to simmer the peels for a long time in something like broth or spiced cider. (Or maybe it’s because I only ever use clementines. I hate oranges with a passion, mostly because they have a lot more pith and membrane than clementines. I mean, by the time you get to the good stuff, you’ve discarded half the orange!) But if you want to take that extra step, I actually recommend that you remove the pith after it’s dried and not before. It scrapes off really easily with the back of a small paring knife when it’s dry. At least with clementines. As I mentioned, I have no experience with real oranges because I avoid them like the plague. (Maybe I should retitle this post “Dried Clementine Zest”. Hmmm.)
Now what to do with those orange-y bits of goodness? Use them pretty much in the same way you would use fresh orange zest. Here are some of my favorite uses:
stirred into any batter (cake, cookie, brownie, etc.)
as a garnish
in fruit dip
in marinades
The possibilities are practically endless! Anywhere you want a little orange flavor, throw in your dried orange zest and voila! Instant orange clementine yumminess.
What’s your favorite something-from-nothing trick?
If your farmer’s market looks anything like mine, it’s apples galore. Every farmer has baskets full of apples, all kinds, just ready to be snapped up and turned into all kinds of delicacies like pie, sauce, crisp, cake, and butter.
Oh yes, apple butter.
This is the first year that I actually attempted apple butter. I’ve made plenty of apple sauce over the years, but I never took the extra step and turned it into butter. For one thing, every recipe made it sound like it took for. ev. er. to make, on top of which most recipes I saw called for lots of sugar. I wasn’t really interested in either of those things.
But oh my, I do love apple butter.
So this year, with all the glut of apples at my farmers’ market, I determined I was going to try my hand at it. Naturally, the whole process started with an intensive online search for an apple butter recipe! Unfortunately, most of the recipes I found required equipment I don’t have (food mill), lots and lots of sugar (as much as 1 cup per pound), or a lengthy list of ingredients, including random stuff I don’t usually have on hand (star anise, anyone?).
I stumbled across a promising one at Martha Stewart.com, though, which appealed to me because it seemed like the easiest way to get from Point A (fresh apples) to Point B (apple butter). I also liked that it included pears in the recipe, because I happened to have some pears also that needed to be eaten before they went bad.
So here you go! I did all the research for you, and now you have the simplest apple butter recipe that you can make in your slow cooker all day while you’re busy with other things. You can even do it in phases: make it as far as the apple sauce stage, then finish it off into apple butter the following day.
And um, yeah, it’s delicious.
Easy Low-Sugar Apple Butter
Ingredients
10 medium apples (or about 5 lbs)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2″ piece ginger, grated
3 2″ cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
Peel the apples, and grate in a food processor or by hand.
Stir all ingredients together in a slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours.
Remove cinnamon sticks and set aside. Blend apples into a smooth puree, either with a stick blender or by batches in a regular blender. Return cinnamon sticks to mixture.
Remove the lid to the slow cooker, and cook the sauce uncovered on high for 4 more hours or to the desired thickness. If it’s too thick, stir in a little apple juice or cider. If it’s too thin, continue cooking, making sure the lid is removed.
Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks, or in the freezer up to 3 months. For long term storage, process half-pint jars for 5-10 minutes in a water bath. Larger jars and higher altitudes will require lengthier processing; see this page for more details.
Note: It is very important to uncover the apple butter, or at least leave the lid vented, for the last half of the cooking process! Don’t neglect that little detail, or you will not have apple butter in the end.
Do feel free to substitute pears for at least some of the apples. Also experiment with additional spices and seasonings to your taste.
My favorite reference for canning, pickyourown.org, says that the sugar does not play a role in the preservation of the apple butter, so you can add as little or as much as you want to your taste. I found that 1/2 cup was plenty, but if you have tart apples or are used to sweeter apple butter, you may want to increase that amount. Next time, I think I might experiment with honey or apple juice instead of sugar.
So it’s not as QUICK as jam, which cooks up on the stove-top in no time at all. But if you have a food processor to do the grating of the apples (which I, alas, do not at the moment), it takes no time at all to prep for the slow cooker, and then the appliance does all the work while you can be busy with other things.
Again, if you have a food processor, it’s definitely the EASY-est apple butter recipe I found in all the recipes I researched.
Making your own apple butter, especially this time of year, is significantly CHEAPer than buying it. This recipe will make approximately 4 half-pint jars for the cost of 1 tote bag of apples ($4.00 at my farmers’ market). I’ve seen jars of low-sugar or unsweetened apple butter for as much as $5, so this is a definite savings!
When you can control the amount of sugar (and use organic or local apples), it makes the finished product so much HEALTHY-er! It’s not as healthy as biting into a fresh apple, of course, but if you’re going to have apple butter, this is the healthiest way to enjoy it.
I mentioned in my initial Pickles 3 Ways post that I had 1/2 a peck of pickling cucumbers to work through, hence I experimented with canning, refrigerating and freezing them. To be honest, the freezing part was because I had literally run out of all my jars, both canning and otherwise, and had to do something with the rest of my pickles before they went bad.
So I quickly put together a batch of freezer pickles, and left them in the fridge for a few days according to the instructions. After the appropriate amount of time had passed, I took them out of the fridge and set them on the counter to begin the process of putting them in storage containers for the freezer.
And then… then my addled brain took me off in a different direction – something else vastly important no doubt – and I completely forgot about the freezer pickles on the counter. Until the next morning.
I could have kicked myself. Actually, I think I did. Several times! I hate throwing away food, especially those delicious looking little pickles. I had really been looking forward to discovering what they would taste like, freshly thawed from the freezer. Would they be mushy? Everybody says they’re yummy and crispy but how is that possible after months in the freezer? Alas, I will have to wonder eternally… or at least until the next time I attempt freezer pickles. Which might be never. We’ll see.
Probably, being mostly pickled by that point, they would have been fine, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I’m not usually very squeamish about things left out for a while… but overnight is a different story.
You, however, my friend, are much more disciplined and organized than I, and I know you will not make the same mistake, which is why I am sharing the recipe with you. I found the original recipe at The Meaning of Pie and tweaked it to suit my tastes, meaning mostly that I left out the majority of the hot stuff. If you like hot stuff in your pickles (eewww!) by all means add it back in, with my blessing.
Freezer Pickles
Ingredients
4-6 pickling cucumbers
1 medium onion, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
4-6 springs fresh dill weed, with head if possible
6-8 black peppercorns
2 TBSP sea salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups vinegar
3/4 cup water
Instructions
Place vegetables, cloves, dill and peppercorn in a medium bowl.
In a saucepan, stir together remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring until sugar and salt have dissolved. Remove from heat.
Pour brine over the cucumbers and other vegetables and allow to cool slightly. Place in refrigerator, and leave for several days, stirring occasionally.
After a few days, remove from refrigerator and place in freezer-safe containers. Freeze for a few months; thaw completely before serving.
Of the 3 methods I tried (canned, refrigerator and now freezer), the freezer method was my least favorite because:
It would take up too much room in my limited freezer space (if I had gotten that far. Ahem.)
It calls for a lot more sugar than the other recipes.
However, it is a super QUICK method, especially the initial mixing. Of course, like any pickles, they require a few days to pickle, but there’s just no way around that.
It’s probably the EASY-est, although refrigerator pickles are very easy, too. I am likely the only person in the world who can mess up freezer pickles.
It’s just as CHEAP as any other pickle method, too.
The additional sugar concerns me, and makes it not as HEALTHY as the other methods. My sweet tooth ensures that I have more than enough sugar already in my life; I don’t need to add it to foods that aren’t supposed to be sweet!
Have you ever unintentionally left food out overnight?
Before we get started today, you may want to read Pickles 101 if you haven’t already.
I had heard about refrigerator pickles for quite some time now, but had resisted them because it sort of felt like cheating to me. Not that I mind cheating when it comes to cooking – at least as long as it’s an honest cheat, if that makes sense. It just seemed like refrigerating pickles was settling for less than the best.
Boy, was I wrong! It turns out that of the 3 methods I tried, refrigerator pickles were my favorite, hands down. Before I made them, the only time I ever ate pickles was on a sandwich, and that was it. Now I find myself grabbing the jar out of the fridge, and eating the pickles plain as a snack, something I never even considered before in my life! I even find myself craving them!
I still plan to continue making regular old canned pickles, just for the advantage of long-term storage, but these babies are going to be my go-to from now on. What’s not to love? They’re easy, cheap and incredibly delicious – so crisp with a satisfying crunch when you take a bite! Another advantage is that you can use any jars you have - I just recycled some old jam, molasses and store-bought pickle jars!
I will say that the dill flavor was not as strong as I would have loved, so next time I’m going to add a little more dill, and maybe some extra on the top. Be sure to cut the ends of the cucumbers before you use them.
Refrigerator Pickles
Ingredients
for each jar of pickles:
2-4 pickling cucumbers (depending on size of pickles and size of jars)
1-2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh dill, with head if possible
3-5 peppercorns
for the brine:
8 cups water
1 cup vinegar
1/3 sea salt
1/4 cup sugar
Instructions
Slice the cucumbers if desired.
Place the garlic, dill and peppercorns in the bottom of each jar.
Pack the cucumbers in as tightly as you can, up to the neck of the jar.
In a pot on the stove, bring the brine ingredients together to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt and sugar. Allow to cool.
Pour cooled brine over cucumbers, and seal with a lid.
Refrigerate. Enjoy after about a week. Keeps for 2 months or so.
That’s it! So QUICK!
And EASY, because you don’t have to bother with the canning equipment.
Homemade pickles are CHEAPer than store-bought. I paid a little over $1 for each jar, not bad!
Refrigerator pickles do have some sugar, so in that sense they’re not as HEALTHY, but I’m OK with 1/4 of sugar spread over several jars if it results in such a delicious pickle!
Canned pickles are the first kind that I attempted, and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were. In fact, I’ve discovered in the past few years that canning in general is not as great a mystery or even as overwhelming an undertaking as it always seemed to be. It’s quite simple and can be done with the most basic equipment. And it doesn’t take a whole lot of time, especially if you’re working in small batches, like I usually do.
Of the 3 pickling methods I’m describing, canned pickles last the longest, so are the best for long-term storage. In terms of taste and texture, unfortunately, they’re my least favorite. However, when you stack them up against store-bought pickles, they still win in the taste department, so it’s still worth it to can them if you want pickles to last through the winter.
As with any canning endeavor, a little prep is essential. Before you can start pickling, you need to get your equipment ready:
Sterilize the jars and lids.
I like to use pint-size jars, because they fit in my stock pot for processing, and because we don’t go through pickles fast enough to warrant a larger jar. You can use any size you want, of course, but before you use them, you do need to be sure they are sterilized. You can run them through the dishwasher, but if your dishwasher is like mine, it is never empty! I usually set them in a pot of water and bring it to a slow boil. I do the same thing with the lids, but in a small pot; and I don’t boil them, just simmer gently.
Bring a large pot of water to boil.
This is the processing “bath”. If you have a canning pot, it’s useful, but right now I’m just using a plain old stock pot. I do put a hot pad in the bottom to provide a surface for the jars, but it’s kind of a pain.
Get your supplies ready.
The funnel and jar grabber in this canning kit are incredibly useful, and should be at the ready near the stove.
Prep your cukes.
It goes without saying that they should be thoroughly washed (I like to soak mine for a little bit.). Then you need to slice off the ends. After that, you can leave them whole, slice them into “spears” or rounds or whatever you want. The brine in the recipe below is enough to fill 6 or 7 quart jars, and each quart jar will fit 5-8 pickling cucumbers, so that will give you an indication of how many cucumbers you will need (or adjust brine amounts accordingly).
Now you’re ready to do some pickling!
Fresh Pack Canned Pickles
Ingredients
Pickling Cucumbers, ends chopped off
Dill Weed
Garlic Cloves, peeled
Black Peppercorns
For the Brine:
8 cups water
2 cups vinegar
1/2 cup sea salt
Instructions
Place a large sprig of dill weed (including flowering heads if possible), a clove of garlic and a few peppercorns into the bottom of a canning jar.
Slice the pickles if desired and pack as tightly as possible into the jar, up to the neck. Top with just a bit more dill.
Mix together the water, vinegar and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt.
Pour the brine into the jars, leaving 1/2″ head space at the top. Place lid on top, and screw lightly in place.
Gently place lids into canning pot filled with boiling water, and process (boil) for 10 minutes (15 minutes for quart jars). Remove from pot and allow to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. The flavors should blend for at least a week before enjoying.
I guess the whole process takes about an hour, depending on how many cucumbers you have and if you slice them or not, and in my opinion that’s pretty QUICK for a winter’s supply of pickles!
Pickles are one of the EASY-est things to can, as well, as there really isn’t any cooking involved.
I paid $10 for a 1/2 peck of pickling cucumbers, and $3 for the dill plants, plus $0.50 for the garlic. From that, I got 5 pint jars of canned pickles, 3 jars of refrigerator pickles, and I would have had several more jars of freezer pickles… but that’s a story for another day. My point being that I paid a little over a $1 for each jar of pickles, which is really CHEAP, especially considering I canned them the day I got them from the farmer’s market. That is about how much I’m willing to pay for store-bought pickles, and the quality – and taste – of homemade is infinitely better.
These are pretty HEALTHY. Of the 3 methods I tried, canning is probably the healthiest because it doesn’t use any sugar at all. However, there is a fermented method that would be even more nutritious, and if I can adequately get my nerve up, I might try it some time.
Have you ever pickled cucumbers? Have you ever tried the fermented (crock) method?
Read all the posts in this series:
It only seems appropriate that I follow up Ice Cream Week with a series on pickles…. they go together so well, after all! Or at least so the old joke goes; I wouldn’t know, having never tried them together myself. And no, by the way, I am not pregnant. Just in case you are curious.
And before I go any further, I should probably make it plain that when I say “pickles” I mean “dill pickles”. I cannot stand bread-and-butter pickles, so if anybody wants to read about them on my blog, they will have to do a guest post for me because those things are not going to pass through my kitchen. Just sayin.
Last year was my first attempt at making pickles, and I didn’t blog about it because I was very unsure of myself and the whole process. One year later, I’m convinced: making pickles is easy as pie. Easier, actually, because you know how tricky pie crust can be at times. AND homemade pickles are much better than store-bought, guaranteed, hands down, no question. I made probably 4 or 5 jars last year, and we enjoyed each and every one tremendously, and I was very sad when I had to resort once again to Vlasic and Mt. Olive.
This year, I was able to get a great deal on pickling cucumbers at the farmer’s market and I had to deal with them immediately, but I didn’t have enough canning jars for all of them, so I branched out and made refrigerator and freezer pickles as well. You get the benefit of my excess pickling adventure because now I can compare the 3 methods in light of my QECH philosophy and help you decide which way to go.
First, though, let’s talk about pickling in general. Each of the 3 methods has some things in common: No matter which method you choose, pickles are made by soaking sliced or whole cucumbers in a brine seasoned with dill and garlic.
I chose the Fresh Pack (canning) method first, followed by Refrigerator andFreezer. There’s also the fermented kind, which is called a few different names depending on where you’re reading about it, but I haven’t been brave enough to try it yet (although I believe it’s probably the healthiest of methods).
The ingredients for basic dill pickles – whether you can, refrigerate or freeze them – are basically the same.
Cucumbers
You will need pickling cucumbers, which are currently widely available in my area at farmer’s markets. Typical cucumbers are too large, and have too many seeds, which you don’t really want in your pickles. Pickling cucumbers are small, and should be dark and firm. If they are light colored and feel soft anywhere, they’re too ripe and won’t result in crispy pickles. Ideally, they should also have lots of warts.
Vinegar
Vinegar is part of the brine used to soak the cucumbers. Plain old regular 5% vinegar does the trick.
Salt
Regular table salt is not going to cut it for pickles, because of the iodine and anti-caking agents, which will do funny things to your pickles. Most experts recommend purchasing salt made especially for pickling – called, ironically, pickling salt – but I just can’t bear to spend extra money on an ingredient with only one use if another multi-tasking ingredient will do. The experts are divided, but plenty of people say that sea salt is just as good as pickling salt, so that is what I use, and I’ve been happy with the results. (Side note: you should be using sea salt instead of regular old table salt anyway.)
Dill Weed
You will need some fresh dill weed for the best flavor. I actually bought 3 little dill plants at my farmer’s market the day I made my pickles, which was just perfect timing. If the dill is starting to flower, so much the better!
Garlic
Garlic cloves add so much essential flavor to pickles, you really can’t make them without it. Just plain old garlic cloves will work well.
Black Pepper
I like to add black peppercorns to my pickles, too, but not everyone does, so this ingredient is optional.
Sugar
Sugar is essential to the refrigerator and freezer methods, unfortunately. It’s just part of the preservation process. I used my regular raw sugar that I use for everything, and it worked well.
Come back tomorrow to learn all about fresh-pack canned pickles!
Have you ever made pickles? What method/ingredients do you use?
Of the many wonderful things you can do with strawberries, jam is one of the best. It’s kind of hard to decide, because there are so many delicious delicacies like strawberry shortcake, or strawberry ice cream, or strawberry syrup, or strawberry lemonade, or… Like I said, hard to decide.
Good thing it’s strawberry season, huh? Too bad the strawberry patches have suffered this year for a variety of reasons from flooding to heat waves. Thank goodness there are still enough strawberries to go around!
I’ve visited the topic of berry jam before, but now that we’re at the threshold of a delicious new berry season that will last us well into July (depending on where you are) with raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, I think it’s a topic worth revisiting.
If you’ve never made jam before and you’re not sure you want to try, please repeat after me:
Jam is not hard.
Jam does not take long.
One more time (let me hear it this time, folks!):
Jam is not hard.
Jam does not take long.
If you want specifics, it takes an hour or less from beginning (fresh dirty berries) to end (beautiful jars of bright red jam). If you’ve heard horror stories from seasoned cooks about jam that just won’t set – or whatever other complaint you may have heard – erase them from your memory, because I’m a total newbie, and every single one of my batches thus far has set without any particular effort or stress on my part.
If you can follow directions, you can make jam.
You will, however, need some equipment, or at least, equipment will make it easier. You can certainly improvise with what you have, but there are certain things that just make canning easier. Here are my recommendations:
Ball canning utensil set (with a wide-mouth funnel, tongs for picking up hot jars, magnetic seal lifter, and bubble remover/headspace measuring tool)
40z Jelly jars, or 8oz jelly jars (Must have both lids and rings; it’s a big no-no to use one-piece lids in canning and preserving. Also, you can re-use jars and rings, but not the lids. If you have jars from before, just purchase extra lids. )
a large stock pot or canning pot(Jam jars will fit in most stock pots, but for other canning, you’ll need a huge canning pot)
Everything else you should already have in your kitchen.
So let’s get started…
Begin by cleaning approximately 2 lbs of berries.
I put mine in a large bowl, filled it with water, and allowed them to soak while I set up the stovetop:
The stock pot (with a hot pad on the bottom to hold the jars in place) filled with water and set to boil, another large pot filled with hot water and clean jars, and a small pot with the lids on a low simmer to keep them clean and sterilized. The last burner will hold the actual pot of jam.
Back to the berries now: As you remove them from the soaking bowl, remove the stems and place them in a colander. Once they’re all in the colander, rinse them well with running water.
Put the freshly cleaned berries into a 4-cup measuring cup and smash them (with a fork, with a pastry blender, with a potato masher, whatever works. Just try not to use a blender unless absolutely necessary because that will interfere with the setting of the jam).
At this point, you will need to follow the instructions for whichever pectin you buy. For Pomona’s Pectin, pour the 4 cups of mashed berries and required amount of calcium water into a pot and bring to a boil.
Add the 3/4 cup sugar and required amount of pectin, and return to a boil. Using the jar tongs, remove the jars, one at a time, from the sterilizing water, and fill them with the jam mixture, leaving 1/4″ headspace at the top. Wipe the top of the jar with a towel or paper towel (this helps keep things clean to prevent food poisoning).
Use the magnetic seal lifter to remove the lids from the simmering water and place them onto the jar. Top with the ring and tighten just a bit (not completely). Use the jar tongs to place the jars on top of the hot pad in the boiling water (it should be a full rapid boil). Cover and boil for 10 minutes (the amount of time depends on altitude, check pectin package for instructions). Using the tongs once again, remove the jam jars from the boiling water and set on a towel to dry. Leave undisturbed for 24 hours. You will probably hear a ping or pop from the jars, indicating that they are sealed. Label the jars with contents and date and store in the pantry. Refrigerate once opened.
I always have one jar that doesn’t quite get full to the top. That’s OK. I don’t bother processing that one in the water; I just put it straight in the fridge and use it up within a few weeks.
Once again, repeat after me:
Jam is not hard.
Jam does not take long.
In fact, jam is pretty QUICK: an hour or less, start to finish (not a day-long process like I once thought).
Jam is very EASY with the right equipment.
Jam is CHEAP, even after the initial investment for the jars and other equipment. I paid less than $2/jar for delicious, fresh (REALLY fresh – strawberries picked that day!) strawberry jam with minimal sugar and no additives. Can you say that about the average jar of store-bought jam with who-knows-what inside?
Making jam at home is HEALTHY because you can control the ingredients and sugar level.
Yes, jam is a Quick, Easy, Cheap AND Healthy gift you can give to friends and family this Christmas! For the longest time, I never made jam because it seemed like such a laborious, lengthy, and difficult task. This summer, though, when seeking for a way to preserve all the delicious fresh local fruit I was purchasing, I discovered that jam-making is actually rather simple, even when processing it in a hot bath.
And it doesn’t take all that long to do one batch, either. If you’re like me, you had images in your head of 50′s era housewives slaving entire days over the stove to can their jam. Nope. It definitely doesn’t take that long.
To be honest, the hardest part of it all is the prep, which takes the longest. Once you actually start mixing up the jam on your stove, it all goes by amazingly fast, so you have to be prepared. I’ll walk you through my own personal method that I developed over the summer and am now using to make Christmas gifts for friends from church.
It is entirely possible to make jam without any special equipment, but as I walk you through the process, I’ll link you up to the equipment that I am currently using (none of which is expensive) to make the process go a little more smoothly.
Set Up
You will need approximately 6 4oz jelly jars for a batch of jam. (I used these Jarden 7061000104 4 Oz Decorative Jelly Jars, and I paid next to nothing because I used my Swagbucks Rewards!) Clean them and place them in a pot of hot water to keep them nice and sterilized.
Set out a towel on the counter beside your stove. I set out my Ball Utensil Set on the towel so the implements are ready to use when I need them.
Place the lids in a small pan of hot water. Keep it simmering on very low heat until you need them.
I currently just use my stock pot for canning, but it has its limitations. It’s just not big enough for quart-size jars, and it’s certainly not big enough for the canning rack I picked up at a thrift store a month or so ago. One of these days I’m going to buy myself a canning pot like this: Back to Basics 21-1/2-Quart Steel Water-Bath Canner with Rack. In the meantime, though, I just use my stock pot and place a tea towel on the bottom before filling it with water.
You will definitely want to set the canning pot going first, and get it to a full rolling boil before you even start making the jam. Believe it or not, this part takes the longest! Once the pot is boiling, everything else goes pretty quickly!
Making the Jam Now that you are set up, you can begin making the jam.
Ingredients: 4 cups fruit 1/2 cup sugar Pomona’s fruit pectin 1/4 cup lemon juice
In the summer, I like to use fresh fruit from the farmer’s market, but for my Christmas gifts, I bought a package of frozen mixed berries ($2.49) from the grocery store. I supplemented with a cup of frozen blueberries from my freezer to make 4 cups of fruit altogether.
For the sugar, I used raw sugar, but you could use any kind of sugar, as well as honey. And yes, 1/2 cup is all you need. I’ve seen jam recipes that call for almost as much sugar as fruit, and seriously, that’s not necessary! All that sugar covers up the taste of the jam.
It costs pretty much the same (or less) than the leading conventional brand.
BUT it has entirely all natural ingredients.
AND you can make it with limited amounts of sugar (like 1/2 cup).
Furthermore, it works perfectly. My jam has set up beautifully each time I’ve used this product.
Pomona’s pectin comes in two parts: a calcium powder that you mix with water in a small canning jar, like so:
And the actual pectin powder that you mix with your sweetener (sugar, honey, etc.):
Have your calcium-water and pectin-sugar combo close at hand, and then put your fruit into a pot on the stove. Pour 2 tsp of calcium water and lemon juice onto the fruit, and stir. Bring to a boil, stirring and mashing the fruit as it heats:
Once the fruit has come to a boil, add the pectin-sugar mixture. Stir and return to a boil. Allow to boil for a couple minutes, stirring all the while, until mixture thickens.
Now… it’s time to can!
Canning the Jam
Use canning tongs to remove the clean jars from the hot water, making sure they’re empty.
Place them on the towel you prepared next to the stove, then pour the jam through the funnel into each jar, leaving appropriate head space (the canning instructions that come with the kit will tell you exactly how much head space you need for each type of jam. I threw mine away – haha! – so I can’t tell you how much that is but it’s usually 1/4″ – 1/2″).
Carefully wipe the top rim of the jar so that it’s clean (to reduce the possibility of bacteria growing inside your jar of jam, which you DEFINITELY don’t want!).
Use the magnetic wand to remove the lids from the pot:
Place the lid on the jar. Then, holding the hot jar with a towel in one hand, carefully screw the seal over the lid until it is tight.
Use the tongs to lower your jar into the boiling pot of water.
Process (allow to boil) for about 10 minutes, then remove from the pot with the tongs and set them back on the towel to drip-dry and cool. Let the jars sit for about twenty-four hours before disturbing them. You will hear popping sounds as the lids seal.
I almost always have a little bit of extra jam left, so I put it in an extra jar and refrigerate it. Even though it’s not processed, it will last in the fridge for a couple weeks, so we can enjoy it right away!
And that’s it! You now have cute little jars of jam to give as gifts!
Really, jam is so much QUICKer than you might think. Give yourself 2 hours to make one batch, but you probably won’t even need quite that much. Hands-on time – the time that’s actually spent making the jam and not the time spent watching the water come to a boil – is literally about half an hour. I know Christmas is busy, so if you don’t have even a couple hours to spare in the next week or two, plan on making some next summer. It will keep until Christmas (and well beyond!) so you can get a headstart on your Christmas gifting.
It really is EASY, too. Seriously, I always thought that jam was tricky and difficult to make, but that could not be further from the truth. This summer, I made all different kinds of jam, and each batch was a success. This from a beginner! If I can do it, you can, too.
It is a great CHEAP Christmas gift. After my Swagbucks Rewards, I paid a grand total of $2.30 for the jam jars. Even if you don’t have Swagbucks or gift cards to use, one dozen jam jars only costs about $15.00. The berries cost about $3.00, and I only used a portion of the pectin, which costs less than $5 for the whole box. According to my calculations, the total cost for each jar of jam is less than $2, even paying full price for everything. If you are short on money, and have some time to spare, it’s definitely worth it! Your recipients will LOVE your homemade jam; I guarantee it!
It’s also very HEALTHY, especially if you use the all-natural pectin and low-sugar recipe. It’s still sweet, but it’s a nice change from the overload of chocolatey gooey sweetness that is gifted with abandon this time of year (not that I am totally against chocolatey gooey gifts, mind you! I have both given and received such gifts with great joy!).
The easiest way to have a frugal but healthy kitchen is to buy produce in season. Right now that means squash. And lots of it. All different kinds, too: the basics like acorn, butternut, hubbard and spaghetti, with more unique kinds available now like kabocha, delicata and turban, to name just a few. And, of course, we can’t forget about pumpkin, my own personal favorite!
Since I’ve only started cooking with winter squash in the last few years, I’m still learning a lot about it, and I only have personal experience with the most common ones: acorn, butternut, pumpkin and spaghetti. I am pretty sure, though, that what holds true for those squash varieties holds true for all, except in some respects the spaghetti squash which has a much different texture than the others and is generally cooked in different ways.
First of all, why exactly is it called winter squash? “Winter” separates it from the “summer” squash like zucchini and yellow squash which are very different in many ways:
-Winter squash has a thick skin, while summer squash has a thin, easily peeled skin.
-Winter squash keeps up to a month or possibly more in a dark dry place at room temperature, while summer squash must be stored in the refrigerator or freezer and eaten within a week or two at the most.
-Summer squash has a high water content that yields a very different textured fruit.
-Winter squash has thick seeds that must be roasted before consuming, while summer squash has thin seeds like a cucumber that can be eaten raw. Winter squash seeds are almost always eaten separately from the squash itself, while summer squash seeds are eaten together with the fruit.
-Summer squash grows throughout the summer, while the natural growing season of winter squash starts in late summer and goes through the fall and the harvested fruit can last quite a while when properly stored (hence the old-timers considered it a winter fruit).
Most importantly, what can you do with it?! The short answer is: Lots! Squash has a mild flavor that is great on its own, but also makes it versatile enough to be featured in everything from appetizers to desserts. It can be baked, boiled, roasted or steamed, and can be served in halves, chunks or mashed. Squash puree is used in a variety of recipes, including baked goods (pumpkin pie, anyone?) and classic favorites like risotto. Because of the sturdy skin, squash halves can be filled with any number of delicious fillings and baked for a very elegant presentation. Truly, there is no reason not to include squash in your weekly menu throughout the season, because its varied presentation means you and your family will never get bored of it.
Think you don’t like squash? Think again! I did not grow up eating squash, and as such I am still acquiring a taste for it. I’ve realized that squash can be hidden in quite a variety of foods without significantly affecting their taste or texture. The best way to do that is to cook and puree the flesh and add it to baked goods, casseroles and side dishes. Never tried that before? Let this year’s crop of squash be your introduction! Follow these step-by-step instructions for preparing your squash to hide in a variety of foods that won’t offend your taste buds.
1. Wash the squash and pierce through the skin in several places with a sharp knife. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. This does not cook the squash (although you could cook it entirely in the microwave, which I do when I’m really in a hurry), but it softens the skin to make it easier to cut. Sharp knives and I have a love-hate relationship and I have a little phobia about them that makes me cautious. Feel free to skip this step if you don’t mind hacking through the tough skin of the squash with a super sharp knife.
2. Holding the hot squash in one hand with a towel or pot holder, remove the stem and cut the squash in half.
3. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and fiber from the middle of the squash. I like to remove as much of the stringy fiber as I can because its texture is not very pleasing. I also just discard the seeds and fibers, except for pumpkin seeds, which I like to roast.
4. Place the squash cut side down on a foil-, parchment-, or silicone pad- lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes. The cooking time will vary depending on the size of the squash and how ripe it is. You will want to cook it until it’s easily poked through with a knife.
5. Allow the squash to cool until they are easy to handle, then scoop out the cooked flesh with a spoon.
6. Place the flesh into a blender and puree until uniformly smooth. You may need to add water a little at a time to achieve a smoother texture; or you can leave it slightly chunky if you prefer. I like to use my immersion blender.
7. At this point, you have some great baby food for any mamas who might be reading. Squash is a great first food for baby, and can be fed to him or her just like this, or mixed with breast milk/formula. For slightly older babies, you can add chicken broth or yogurt and spices to flavor (cinnamon or paprika for example). No baby? Okey dokey, on with the instructions.
8. Your puree is now read to be baked or cooked into something yummy. If you’re not ready to cook with it quite yet, you will want to freeze it. To freeze, all you have to do is scoop the puree in 1-cup portions into quart-size freezer safe bags. Squeeze all the air out and seal carefully. Label clearly and then smoosh the puree so that the whole bag and contents are flat.
(Yes, I am aware that it is not quite October yet. Brain freeze when marking the bags yesterday!)
This makes the bags super easy to store in the freezer without taking up too much space. Behold 2 squashes worth of puree taking up very little space in my very little freezer:
I used acorn squash in this example, but you can do the same with any type of winter squash, except spaghetti.
OK, so this is definitely not as QUICK as buying a box of frozen butternut squash puree, or a can of pumpkin puree. And trust me, I buy those myself, too. But if you want to partake of the local fresh harvest, this is the best way to go about prepping it and storing it for future use. Plus, you can avail yourself of the wide variety of squash available and not be limited to butternut or pumpkin.
It is EASY, aside from trying to cut through that tough skin, which requires a certain amount of oomph!
It’s CHEAP, too. This time of year, winter squash is typically $0.99/lb around here, which is an excellent price for produce.
It’s very HEALTHY. Pumpkin, in particular, is considered a “super food”, and all the winter squash varieties share in its qualities to one extent or another. The orange color is evidence of the presence of vitamin A, but they are also great sources of vitamin C, potassium, fiber and many other nutrients. Get your fill while they’re fresh!
* QUICK - because who has time for anything more?
* EASY - because I'm no gourmet.
* CHEAP - because who has money for anything more?
* HEALTHY - because you are what you eat.
, and I paid next to nothing because I used my 
on the towel so the implements are ready to use when I need them.
. In the meantime, though, I just use my stock pot and place a tea towel on the bottom before filling it with water.
for several reasons:
