Greetings, All.
Did you get Daisy’s enforced bug-out hike in? No, me neither. At least not today. I got a different kind of exercise. Up and down the stairs and step ladder to reorganize my long-term canning storage shelves.
I have been canning the last few days and it was time to put the jars on my shelves. I decided to move things around a bit first, and make sure oldest items were up front. Well, guess what I found. MISTAKES.
I had made 14 jars of Corn Chowder, I found 19. I thought i only had 5. When things get put behind others, because there is only one or two of the “other,” you mistakenly think you only have that 1 or two. I asked another canning group how they organized their shelves. The general answer was they put jars wherever there was space. Well, I guess they are not peppers who plan on having the food last for two years, or care about finding things, or have as many jars as I home-can.
Green beans? Good crop year. Put some up in pints – our preferred size for two people, and some in quarts. I knew I had older beans downstairs so I wanted to make sure the oldest were in front…Guess what year?
2014!!, And, 2015, 2016, 2017, I think we must have put 2018s in front of all the others since there were just a few of those. So, I had hubby put the 2019s on the very top shelf, in the original jar boxes, and clearly labeled as 2019. I then organized by year and told him to start on the left and work to the right when I send him for green beans.
I guessed how many jars there were. Most people, like Jackie Clay Atkinson, shoot for 1 meal/jar a week, so 52 a year for us. I have about 12 dozen in pints and quarts = so about 144 jars Of just GREEN beans. There are still more beans in the garden! I won’t throw them away. But, I will surely not plant two packages of green beans next year.
I found several other jars that did not seal well since the lids were off. Re-fried black beans. Mice did not touch them. chuckle I made some for a neighbor’s party last year and had so much left over that I decided to can them. Well, now I see why the powers that be do not approve of canning refried beans. “They” say it is too dense. Yup, dried to a brick in the jar. If I had canned the runny beans before blending them smooth and cooking them down I think they would have been fine. So, if, IF, I make some more, I’ll just mix up the ingredients and not cook them before canning. They can cook down and be blended when it is time to eat them. Fortunately, I only have three more 1/2-pints; a little goes a long way.
So, now I am dusty, cobwebby, and feeling ready for a bath. Nice cloudy, dreary day for soaking in the tub and reading a book on my Kindle.
Take care Everyone.