Would some kind person point me in the right direction here? I have never
canned anything in my life, but lately have become fascinated by the idea.
I've been lurking in this group for lo these many months and now am excited
about starting to do some canning myself.

So - I ordered the Ball Home Canning Basics Kit- consists Of A 21 quart
waterbath canner, canning jar rack, 6 pint jars, 6 collection elite lids, 1
Ball Blue Canning Instruction book, 1 jar lifter, 1 lid wand, 1 canning
funnel, & 1 bubble freer spatula.

If it's not too much trouble I would very much appreciate some suggestions for
easy first recipes to try. Most especially I would like some things I could
try for small Christmas gifts.

Many thanks for any help. I'm really excited to get started!

Lindy


To reply take out the dog

Lindy wrote:

> Would some kind person point me in the right direction here? I have never
> canned anything in my life, but lately have become fascinated by the idea.
> I've been lurking in this group for lo these many months and now am excited
> about starting to do some canning myself.
>
> So - I ordered the Ball Home Canning Basics Kit- consists Of A 21 quart
> waterbath canner, canning jar rack, 6 pint jars, 6 collection elite lids, 1
> Ball Blue Canning Instruction book, 1 jar lifter, 1 lid wand, 1 canning
> funnel, & 1 bubble freer spatula.
>
> If it's not too much trouble I would very much appreciate some suggestions for
> easy first recipes to try. Most especially I would like some things I could
> try for small Christmas gifts.
>
> Many thanks for any help. I'm really excited to get started!
>
> Lindy
>
>
> To reply take out the dog

Well, be prepared for some wierd results sometimes. It's a little late in the
season, but apples are plentiful so how about some apple butter? I think it's
pretty forgiving and you can jazz up the taste the way you like it. Don't take
any shortcuts on processing time, jar sterilization, or just about any other part
of the recipe just yet; you wanta give gifts not a trip to the E.R. Keep a
journal of your efforts. One can make decent strawberry jam from frozen
strawberries, but let them thaw out first. They will be mushy, that's ok. Ditto
for just about any frozen berry.
Let us know how you go on.
Edrena

>Many thanks for any help. I'm really excited to get started!
>
>Lindy

>
>To reply take out the dog for a walk. Why not, it's Sunday.

To help some:

There are two different levels of canning. BWB (boiling water bath)
and Pressure (steam) canning. BWB heats the contents of the jar up to
212 degree and kills mold and mildews. Good for jams and jellies. The
toughest thing about jams and jellies is getting them to set. I've
given up on liquid Pectin and only use Surejell. Not selling products
or preaching, just sharing our experiences.

Once you get up to speed with the BWb I'm sure you'd like to do some
presure canning. Go chase down grandma for that canner. Man those
things are expensive.

Presure canning allows the contents of a jar exceed the 212 degree
limit of boiling water up to 245. Heated for the time allowed all the
contents are heated to 245. Thus everything is the jar is now dead.
All the bad boogers and stuff. When cooled it can now sit on the shelf
safely.

Notice the difference of high acid (BWB) and low acid (Pressure) with
meats and the such.

Happy canning.

Craig

"Lindy" > wrote in message
...
>
>
>
> If it's not too much trouble I would very much appreciate some suggestions
for
> easy first recipes to try. Most especially I would like some things I
could
> try for small Christmas gifts.
>

The Alltrista website -- www.homecanning.com gives some nice recipes. I
plan on making the cherry almond jam for Christmas presents this year.

I find that homemade jams make wonderful presents, especially if you do jams
that aren't typically available at the grocery. I've already made
peach-raspberry, raspberry-blueberry, and peach-mango jams. With the cherry
almond jam and the dutch apple pie jam I have yet to make I'll have enough
to give 2 jars to most of my Christmas list.

I would think that for your first time out, one jar of jam per recipient is
plenty. You can dress up your jam by cutting circles of Christmas-themed
cloth and tying them over the jar lids with ribbon, or putting the fabric
over the lid and then putting the ring over that (after the jars have been
through the BWB canner and beed dried off, of course). Make a nice label on
your computer ("From Lindy's Kitchen With Love").

<preach mode>

For the past several years I've made homemade goodies to give at Christmas.
(This is in addition to the gifts I buy.) Last year it was salsas, the year
before mini-loaves of sweet bread and jars of Christmas Conserve. Some
years it's homemade candy or biscotti or muffins.

How come more people don't do this? I love getting homemade gifts. To me,
making presents with love is one of my joys in the holidays. Planning what
to make (I already have next year's gifts planned) and making them and
presenting them with pride -- it's all so much fun!

Once upon a time, nearly all Christmas presents were of necessity homemade.
Haven't we lost something when the holiday has become a greedfest of
store-bought gifts?

</preach mode>

Anny

Many thanks to all of you for your replies. I really do appreciate all of
your suggestions and will take them to heart. You folks are good people.

Much obliged,
Lindy


Take out the dog to reply

In article >, "Anny
Middon" > wrote:

> For the past several years I've made homemade goodies to give at
> Christmas. (This is in addition to the gifts I buy.) Last year it
> was salsas, the year before mini-loaves of sweet bread and jars of
> Christmas Conserve. Some years it's homemade candy or biscotti or
> muffins.
>
> How come more people don't do this? I love getting homemade gifts.
> To me, making presents with love is one of my joys in the holidays.
> Planning what to make (I already have next year's gifts planned) and
> making them and presenting them with pride -- it's all so much fun!
>
> Once upon a time, nearly all Christmas presents were of necessity
> homemade. Haven't we lost something when the holiday has become a
> greedfest of store-bought gifts?

I don't have an answer for you, but I agree. My husband and I make
most of the gifts we give at Christmas. He is very artistic, and I cook
or knit pretty well, so we pair our gifts and put together little
baskets and such. I've given up on knitting gifts for everyone, because
it gets so stressful, and I'm not going to do another up till 5:00 am
finishing and driving down to the ILs at 8:00 am again. So, I bake,
make preserves, knit for immediate family, and Rich does wood carvings,
paints ornaments (last year's were amazing with the inside of glass
globes painted with a woodland scene), etc. People seem to really like
them. I adore getting handmade presents, especially consumables, soaps,
food items, etc.

Regards,
Ranee

--
Remove do not and spam to e-mail me.

"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of
heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man." Acts 17:24

Lindy, welcome to the group.

Since it's late in the season and you have the latest Ball Blue Book,
why not try a selection of syrups for ice cream, pancakes, pound cake,
etc. On page 80 there's an Apple-Cinnamon syrup which starts with
apple juice and should be wonderful on waffles. On page 82 there's a
Praline Syrup that always gets raves and a Pineapple Topping that can
be done with canned pineapple. All of these are waterbath safe and
none requires more than 15 minutes of processing.

If you decide to do a jam with frozen berries and it doesn't thicken
enough, just call it syrup. People will enjoy it just the same. With
these things even the "failures" taste great.

Good luck with the canning and let us know how it goes.

Carol
Lindy > wrote in message >. ..
> Would some kind person point me in the right direction here? I have never
> canned anything in my life, but lately have become fascinated by the idea.
> I've been lurking in this group for lo these many months and now am excited
> about starting to do some canning myself.
>
> So - I ordered the Ball Home Canning Basics Kit- consists Of A 21 quart
> waterbath canner, canning jar rack, 6 pint jars, 6 collection elite lids, 1
> Ball Blue Canning Instruction book, 1 jar lifter, 1 lid wand, 1 canning
> funnel, & 1 bubble freer spatula.
>
> If it's not too much trouble I would very much appreciate some suggestions for
> easy first recipes to try. Most especially I would like some things I could
> try for small Christmas gifts.
>
> Many thanks for any help. I'm really excited to get started!
>
> Lindy
>
>
> To reply take out the dog

On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:06:56 -0800, Ranee Mueller
> wrote:

> "Anny Middon" > wrote:
>
>> For the past several years I've made homemade goodies to give at
>> Christmas. (This is in addition to the gifts I buy.) Last year it
>> was salsas, the year before mini-loaves of sweet bread and jars of
>> Christmas Conserve. Some years it's homemade candy or biscotti or
>> muffins.
>>
>> How come more people don't do this? I love getting homemade gifts.
>
> I don't have an answer for you, but I agree. My husband and I make
>most of the gifts we give at Christmas. He is very artistic, and I cook
>or knit pretty well, so we pair our gifts and put together little
>baskets and such. I've given up on knitting gifts for everyone, because
>it gets so stressful, and I'm not going to do another up till 5:00 am
>finishing and driving down to the ILs at 8:00 am again. So, I bake,
>make preserves, knit for immediate family, and Rich does wood carvings,
>paints ornaments (last year's were amazing with the inside of glass
>globes painted with a woodland scene), etc. People seem to really like
>them. I adore getting handmade presents, especially consumables, soaps,
>food items, etc.

I think the answer to "how come" is a combination of time available,
skill and experience, and in some cases, lack of appreciation. It's a
lot of work (and time) to bake, can, knit, embroider, carve, and wrap.
Much easier to dial an 800# and send a catalogue item winging on its
way. As some can't afford a great deal of money for presents, others
genuinely can't afford the time. However, a hand-made gift is surely
the most valuable one you can give or receive.

Frogleg wrote:

> On Tue, 28 Oct 2003 10:06:56 -0800, Ranee Mueller
> > wrote:
>
>
>>"Anny Middon" > wrote:
>>
>>
>>>For the past several years I've made homemade goodies to give at
>>>Christmas. (This is in addition to the gifts I buy.) Last year it
>>>was salsas, the year before mini-loaves of sweet bread and jars of
>>>Christmas Conserve. Some years it's homemade candy or biscotti or
>>>muffins.
>>>
>>>How come more people don't do this? I love getting homemade gifts.
>>
>> I don't have an answer for you, but I agree. My husband and I make
>>most of the gifts we give at Christmas. He is very artistic, and I cook
>>or knit pretty well, so we pair our gifts and put together little
>>baskets and such. I've given up on knitting gifts for everyone, because
>>it gets so stressful, and I'm not going to do another up till 5:00 am
>>finishing and driving down to the ILs at 8:00 am again. So, I bake,
>>make preserves, knit for immediate family, and Rich does wood carvings,
>>paints ornaments (last year's were amazing with the inside of glass
>>globes painted with a woodland scene), etc. People seem to really like
>>them. I adore getting handmade presents, especially consumables, soaps,
>>food items, etc.
>
>
> I think the answer to "how come" is a combination of time available,
> skill and experience, and in some cases, lack of appreciation. It's a
> lot of work (and time) to bake, can, knit, embroider, carve, and wrap.
> Much easier to dial an 800# and send a catalogue item winging on its
> way. As some can't afford a great deal of money for presents, others
> genuinely can't afford the time. However, a hand-made gift is surely
> the most valuable one you can give or receive.

Only gifts we buy anymore are for the little grand and greatgrands.
Everyone else gets stuff we put up for that purpose. Dried herbs
attractively packaged are a big hit with friends and family as are
jellies, jams, hot sauces, etc. Still, we have friends who do exactly
what you say, get on the phone or the web and place an impersonal order
with the credit card. We still appreciate the gift but it just doesn't
have the same impact as something someone made just for us.

George