One of the Best Noises I've Ever Heard

Disclaimer...this is kind of a long post. I add this, because D complained the ENTIRE time that I was working on it!!



I have always wanted to can things. I come from a line of canners…my grandmothers canned, my aunts can, and my mom cans. I’m sure generations before that did as well, but those are the only ones that I can vouch for. I love the whole canning idea, but I have always been afraid to try it. After all, it is a lot of work and a lot can go wrong that will ruin everything.

Since we have a garden this year, I thought I would try it out. I have done some amateur pickle canning a couple of times already. I say amateur because I haven’t water boiled my jars. I made the kind that you refrigerate and eat a few weeks later. They have been successful which gave me the confidence to make the big leap.

After making my pickles, Leigh Ann and I decided to give real canning a shot. You see, she too comes from a long line of canners, but she has done more with this than I have. She’s made jellies and stuff like that before. That’s why I wanted to join forces with her – experience with the water boil – plus, I knew we would have loads of fun.

We gathered some recipes and all the produce that we needed – okra and peppers from my garden, tomatoes from her bro and sis-in law’s garden, peaches from one of the nurses at work, as well as a few extra things that we had to grab from a local produce stand. We made plans to meet at her house since David would be sleeping all day at mine. (Gotta love those night shifts!)

Here are some pics from the day …

First, our Salsa
**You know that's the #1 condiment in America?!? It's because people like to say Sal-sa, Sal-sa!!**

Here are our tomatoes. We had to blanch them, let them sit to drain, peel them (Doing that makes the peeling feel like old lady skin! It's kind of weird!), cut them, and let them drain some more.

We mixed onion, garlic, jalapeno, and cilantro (Well, in one batch. We made a second batch on a whim and didn't have enough cilantro. That batch has Bell Pepper instead. Not an even trade, by any means, but we needed some more green!)

 Then we had to cook the salsa. That was kind of weird, but it is what is needed for canning.
*Notice that nice water boil going on there too!!*

I poured the salsa into the jars and put on the lids.

 Then, we had to water boil the jars and flip them upside down. Why upside down, you ask?!? We have no idea, but that's what the recipe said to do, so we did it.

After that came the moment of truth. When we flipped them over, the popping sound began. We waited with great anticipation as they all popped one at a time, sealing the jar and making them able to keep for months on end! We were so excited!! That truly is one of the best noises EVER!!

Next came the Pickled Okra.

This is the Okra that came from our garden, washed and ready to go.

This was more fun and less stressful than the salsa. All we did was boil the jars, stuff the okra and add the seasonings (garlic, salt, dill, and peppers).

 Then came the water boil and the flipping!

The finished Pickled Okra. This was our favorite thing that we did!!

The last thing we did was the Peaches

 The peaches came from one of the nurses that works with us.

They were pretty easy too. We had to blanch them so the skin would be easier to peel off. Notice I said easier, not easy. Some of them were a pain in the rear end and some burnt the tar out of us!

Once we peeled them, we put them in the jars, poured in the simple syrup and flipped them upside down too.

 This was the finished product for the day - salsa, okra and peaches.

Anna Grace (aka AG) took our picture at the end of the day. She did great with LA's camera, but had a more difficult time getting focused with my phone.