Friday, June 22, 2012

A bit of summer in a jar


I'm hearing **PINGs!** from the jar lids of my first batch of preserved cherries. I'm so excited to see if they turn out.

I asked dear ole hubs to help me pit the cherries, and he said he'd prefer that I left the pits in. His reason: having to eat around the pits slows him down so he can't gobble up an entire jar in 5 minutes. I've seen him do it. I still think he just didn't want to help me pit 5 pounds of cherries. How can I blame him though?

We used honey from the cherry farm to make a light syrup for the cherries. I processed the jars in a makeshift canner (my largest stockpot with 2 washcloths lining the bottom of the pot) and wrapped some rubber bands around my tongs for a jar lifter.

Note to self: invest in a real jar lifter. Jury-rigging tongs with rubber bands, while innovative, is really pretty dangerous.

I used several different websites to get info for canning cherries.

  • SimplyCanning.com was my main reference and I'll be back when I'm ready to try other fruits.
  • PickYourOwn.org is another wonderful reference. There are lots of photos and I use this website to find U-pick farms each season.
  • Canning-Food-Recipes.com was another site with great information for canning rookies.

4 comments:

  1. I've got probably one more week to can some strawberries. Off I go!

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    1. OOoohhhh... strawberries sound really good. Do you make jam or something else?

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  2. I just made two batches of Strawberry Jam and the sound of the lids popping make you so happy! Your cherries look beautiful…you will have them to enjoy after the fresh cherries are long gone!

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    1. I agree! There's something very satisfying about the sound of popping lids.

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