A Canning I Will Go

The first frost is probably right around the corner.  And so I've been trying to can as much as possible.  Canning is not my favorite thing ever.  It is tedious.  It feels like it takes forever.  Things I can have a tendency to be temperamental and not set up right (you may remember the TWO flopped strawberry jam attempts last spring).  But I adore the beautiful food lined up in jars, and the sense of accomplishment when it turns out right.  Plus, I just hate letting food go to waste.

I broke out my Mennonite Community Cookbook (no I'm not Mennonite, but I am a big fan of their cooking, particularly this cookbook which has a great selection of simple, old school recipes) and found a recipe for Green Tomato Jam.  I figured I could adapt this for my tomatillos.

This jam turned out well.  It has an unusual flavor.  I like the toasted flavor of the seeds in the jam.  I'd never tried green tomato jam before this.

Next up, I googled a recipe for Persimmon jam.  I spent a good deal of time Saturday morning removing seeds from persimmons and processing the bunch of them.  Sadly, I seem to have canned a persimmon or two that was not completely ripe.  If you've ever had an unripe persimmon, you will know that they are just about the bitterest fruit on earth.  The whole batch is going to have to be tossed.  Sob.

On  happier note, Sunday I broke out the Mennonite cookbook again and tried their recipe for watermelon preserves.  You actually use the rind of the watermelon, with just a ribbon of the pink mixed in for color.

Not only did it turn out pretty in the jars, but the flavor is wonderful (definitely a repeat for next summer) -

After all that canning do you know what happened?

All night Sunday night I dreamed of canning more.  And more and more.

The apple trees are ready and apparently my conscious is feeling a little guilty - because I couldn't get away from the canning - even in my dreams!

Apple jelly, you're up next!