Always put hot food in hot, sterilized jars for safety's sake!

There’s a lot of talk today about the safety of canning food at home – something I am sure our ancestors did not fret over. Why? Because the art of canning was handed down from generation to generation making it possible for one to understand the art of canning on a much higher level than what many do today.

Wash all fresh fruits and vegetables before canning them, even if they were organically grown.

Cleanliness is one of the most important aspects when it comes to food safety. Anyone who has ever taken a home economics class can tell you that. In addition to clean pans, clean lids, clean caps and clean jars, the food must be cleaned too. Pesticides and other chemicals cling to the skins of fruits and vegetables. These must be washed off for safety’s sake. In addition to making sure all of your utensils are clean, the caps, lids and jars need to be sterilized. Do not skip over this step, even if you wash everything in a dishwasher. It only takes a second to dip the caps, lids and jars into the boiling water to sterilize them – and best of all, it means you do not need to heat the jars up because the sterilization process gives you “hot jars” to put “hot food” into.

Another important step is proper inspection of the jars. A tiny chip on the jars rim – one that might not be obvious to the naked eye – is enough to keep the jar from properly sealing. The best way to take care of these kinds of problems is to carefully run your finger over the top of the clean jar before filling it with food. If you feel something that doesn’t feel right, do a further inspection to make sure it is not missed food particles or rubber from a previous jar lid that was not removed when the jar was washed. If it is indeed a crack or chip, dispose of the jar. There are many recycling centers that accept clean glass jars.

Periodically check sealed jars in your pantry to make sure they remain sealed.

Finally, do not reuse the lids. The lids are the flat parts that seal the jar and contain a rubber ring. The reason for this is that the lids were manufactured to be used once and once only. Although the jar may seem ok at first if you use these lids again, later on the seal can break and that will cause your food to spoil. It is ok to use the caps, which screw down over the top of the jar over and over until they become too rusty to continue to use.

By following these simple safety tips when canning at home, you are sure to have a good experience both during the canning process and for months afterwards as you eat up the bounty you preserved.

More resources and inspiration can be found at culinary arts degree.org.

Canning jars being filled with lime juice in preparation for canning.

It is possible to make a variety of juice concentrates at home. This is ideal for people who have a bumper crop of fresh fruit and are looking for a new way to use it or for those who drink a lot of fruit juice throughout the year.

First you must remove the juice from the pulp. This is done either by squeezing the juice out by hand, using a juicer or a steamer.

Once you have separated the juice from the pulp, put the juice into a freezer-proof bottle with a narrow neck. Leave enough empty space in the top of the bottle for the liquid to expand as the juice turns to ice.

Once the bottle is filled, sit the bottle in a freezer bag just in case it bursts or the liquid overflows as it freezes and then place it in the freezer.

Once the liquid is completely frozen, turn the bottle upside down and place the neck of the jar with the frozen liquid inside a larger jar and let the liquid thaw.

You will notice that the frozen sugary, colored sugars will drip out first. When all you see is a white mass of ice, remove the bottle. The remaining ice can be set in a refrigerator while it finishes thawing and once it is in a liquid form again, drank.

Repeat the freeze, thaw, freeze process three times.

The liquid that is left after the third time should resemble store bought juice concentrates. Bring this liquid to a boil and ladle into pint size canning jars.

Another way to do this if you prefer not to freeze your juice is bring the liquid to a boil, then simmer it until it is reduced by two-thirds, then ladle it into canning jars.

Wipe jar rims, put lids and bands on making sure they are fingertip tight. Process for twenty minutes in a cold pack canner, remove and tighten lids.

Allow to cool, then check the lids to make sure they sealed.

Red hot spiced apples and apples in syrup in sealed canning jars.

There are many recipes for canning apples and I think I have tried them all, however, a friend said to me one day that canning apples in a plain syrup was the best way because they can be used for anything. I thought about this and decided she was right. Once you can apples for a specific purpose they may have an ingredient in them that makes them unsuitable for another use, so now I can all my apples using a light syrup. Here is my recipe.

2 1/4 cups cane sugar

5 cups of water

Combine sugar and water in a stainless steel pan.

Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.

Once the sugar is dissolved, reduce the heat to low so the syrup remains warm.

Fill clean, sterilized canning jars with apple quarters. Be sure to run your fingers around the tops of the jars before using them to check for tiny nicks. If you find any, those jars are no longer useful for canning.

Cover the apples with the water and sugar syrup you just made. Leave 1/2 inch air space at the top of the jar.

Wipe the top and edges of the jar with a clean, damp cloth.

Put a clean, sterilized, new lid on the jar, add the band and screw it down until it is fingertip tight.

Place the jars in a cold pack canner filled with boiling water.

Process both pints and quarts for 20 minutes.

Turn the heat off under the canning pot once the 20 minutes is up.

Remove the lid, but allow the jars to sit under the water for 5 minutes longer.

Carefully remove the jars. Set them aside and allow them to cool overnight.

Remove the bands and check the seals by gently prying them with your fingertips.

If the jars are sealed, replace the bands, label and store in a cool, dark, dry place.

If the jars are not sealed you can either select a new lid and attempt to seal the jars again or put the food into your refrigerator and use it up.

That's a lot of limes! 460 pounds worth!

Last week I went to the local Mission Mart to do some shopping. They were giving away limes. This was the second year in a row for this to happen. The lady behind the counter said to take what I wanted because most people did not know what to do with limes and if no one took them, they would get tossed.

Whole limes in the freezer.

By this time I had filled about six grocery bags with limes and answered several people’s questions about what to do with limes. It was wonderful to see people begin to fill bags with limes once they knew they could freeze them and use them as they needed to. I took several bags of limes to others who were not able to get out, then I headed home.

Once I returned home, the first batch of limes went into the freezer since that was the fastest way to deal with them and I was busy that day. My friend Shirley told me last year all you have to do is put them in a freezer bag and freeze this. This is true for any of the citrus fruits. No washing, no peeling, no juicing! Nothing could be easier! Best of all, when you are ready to juice them, just let them thaw at room temperature and you will get a lot more juice than you would if you juiced them when they were fresh.

Of course, if you are like most people, you have limited room in your freezer for limes. That was my next problem when I went back and the limes were still there. I wanted to take more to keep them from being thrown away, but what on earth was I going to do with them?

Fresh limes being juiced.

Lime juice certainly takes up a lot less room in the freezer than whole limes, but you have to divide it out into small portions to prevent thawing too much at once. That is very time consuming. Trust me, I did that last year.

Fresh-squeezed lime juice being canned.

So, I went in search of a recipe for canning. Jerry was the one who actually came across one. Lucky for me! I went to my Ball books first and there was no mention of canning lime juice in them. So we began juicing – and are still juicing limes! Canning lime juice is easy. Here in Indiana we cold pack the pints for 5 minutes and the quarts for 10 minutes.

The left over lime peels ready for me to freeze until I am ready to use them.

After you juice the limes, you are going to end up with a ton of highly fragrant lime peels. Be sure to save them. You can candy them, distill them, zest them or use them in a variety of crafts such as potpourri once the peels are dry. I put my peels in freezer bags and freeze them until I have time to put them in the dehydrator, in the still or use them in a recipe.

In the end, I ended up with 460 pounds of limes – and there were still a ton left. I’m not sure if people finally started taking what was left or where they ended up. I hope someone took them. I hate seeing food wasted.

There is nothing that tastes quite as good as something you make from scratch in your own kitchen. This is true rather it is special meal, a dessert or something as simple as homemade ketchup.

This recipe, which can be canned for use throughout the winter months, is simply outstanding. Once you have a taste of this, you will never go back to store bought ketchup again!

To make a really thick ketchup you need to remove the tomato juice from the tomato paste. The easiest way to do this is to use a steamer juicer such as the Mehu-Liisa.

When the steamer is finished extracting the juice, bottle it and can it. This is tomato juice in its purest form.

The tomatoes that are left in the top of the steamer juicer are what you want to use. You can remove the seeds or simply blend the mixture until it is smooth, whichever you prefer.

Begin with 24 pounds of whole tomatoes. If you do not have that many, simply put the tomatoes you have on a scale to find out how many pounds you do have, then do the math to change the rest of the ingredients in the recipe.

While the tomatoes are juicing add three cups cider vinegar to a large saucepan. Cut a piece of cheesecloth and put 3 tablespoon celery seed, 4 teaspoons whole cloves and 2 cinnamon sticks into it and then tie it up. Put the spice bag into the pan with the vinegar. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and cover. Allow this to sit for 25 minutes then remove the spice bag.

Place tomatoes into the spiced vinegar, add one teaspoon of cayenne pepper and boil. Reduce the heat once the mixture begins to boil and cook for thirty minutes. The mixture should begin to thicken. Add ¼ cup canning salt and 1 ½ cups sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for about 45 minutes. The mixture will reduce by half and be about the consistency of store bought ketchup. While it is cooking, add garlic powder, chili powder and black pepper to taste.

To preserve, ladle into hot, sterilized pint jars leaving ½ inch headspace. Wipe jar rim, place sterilized lids and bands on making sure they are snug. Process in a cold pack canner for fifteen minutes, remove canner lid, let the jars sit for five minutes, then remove them.

When the jars are completely cooled, check to make sure they are sealed. If not, use immediately or put on a new lid and reseal.

When you open a jar, be sure to keep it refrigerated. The open jars will last quite a while kept in this fashion.

When picking plants from the wild be sure you have the identity correct. Many plants look so much alike that you may think you are harvesting one plant when in fact you are getting something totally different. Take for example the common Queen Anne’s Lace or wild carrot. Daucus carota resembles the poisonous water hemlock which is deadly if ingested. If in doubt, take the plant to a local botanist or your local extension agent for a positive ID before eating it.

Once you are sure you have the true Queen Anne’s Lace, here is a recipe for jelly.

Fill a glass jar full of clean flower heads. You can use straight Queen Anne’s Lace flowers or use a combination of edible flowers such as violet, lilac, roses, carnation, peony or elderberry.

Once the jar is full, pour boiling water over the flowers making sure to cover all of them. Put a non-metallic lid on the jar and sit aside for up to 24 hours. The infusion should be allowed to sit for at least five hours minimum.

When you are ready to proceed, prepare a strainer lined with cheesecloth. Pour the water through the strainer making sure to remove all the flowers from the first jar. Squeeze the water out of the flowers in the cheesecloth. Then measure the amount of water you have.

You will need a minimum of 2 ½ cups flower water for one recipe. Put the flower water into a stainless steel pan, add the juice of one lemon and one package of pectin. Bring this mixture to a boil then add three cups of sugar. Stir and continue boiling until the sugar has dissolved.

If you prefer using honey in place of the sugar, remove the mixture from the heat and add 1 ½ cups honey. Stir just until the honey is dissolved.

Remove the foam scum that forms on top of the jelly, then pour the jelly into sterilized canning jars. The smaller 4 ounce or half pint jars work well.

Wipe jar rims, put lids and bands on making sure they are fingertip tight. Process for ten minutes in a cold pack canner, remove and tighten lids.

Set the hot jars on a secure surface. I lay an old towel on top of my table and set the canning jars on it. Remember these jars are hot so use hot pads and jar lifters.

Tighten the bands as tight as possible.

Allow the jars to cool overnight. When the jars are completely cool, remove the bands and check the lids to make sure they are sealed.

To check the lids, simply try to lift them up with your fingers. If they come off, set the food in the refrigerator and eat it within a week. If they do not come off, the cans are sealed. Replace the band and store in a cool, dark place.

Be sure to label the jars with the name of the food in them and the date.

These cherries are delicious and easy to make. You can buy sweet cherries at the store if you do not grow them. This recipe calls for 1 pound of sweet cherries.

Pit one pound of sweet cherries.

Make a brine out of 1 pint water and ¼ tablespoon pickling salt. Bring this to a boil so salt will dissolve. Allow to cool for ten minutes, then pour over the cherries.

Cover the bowl and let it sit overnight.

The next day, drain and rinse the cherries. Combine 1 pound of sugar, ¾ cup water and ¼ teaspoon lemon juice. Bring this to a boil and continue boiling until the sugar dissolves. Pour it over the drained cherries and let stand for 24 hours covered.

Drain the cherries taking care to save the juice. Pack the cherries into 4 ounce or half pint canning jars. Bring the juice to a boil, then remove from heat. Add 1/8 ounce almond extract and 1/8 ounce homemade vanilla extract, stir well. Pour juice over cherries.

Wipe jar rims, put lids and bands on making sure they are fingertip tight. Process for twenty minutes in a cold pack canner, remove and tighten lids.

Set them on a secure surface. I lay an old towel on top of my table and set the canning jars on it. Remember these jars are hot so use hot pads and jar lifters.

Tighten the bands as tight as possible.

Allow the jars to cool overnight. When the jars are completely cool, remove the bands and check the lids to make sure they are sealed.

To check the lids, simply try to lift them up with your fingers. If they come off, set the food in the refrigerator and eat it within a week. If they do not come off, the cans are sealed. Replace the band and store in a cool, dark place.

Be sure to  label the jars with the name of the food in them and the date.

If you are like most gardeners or canners, you will find that after making your recipe there is extra produce left. Not enough mind you for another batch, but too much to eat fresh before it goes bad. Here is a recipe to use up some of your extra summer fruit or to combine some of the fruit you have already preserved to come up with something a little different.

2 cups water

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/4 cup spun cinnamon honey

6 cups peaches

3 cups pears

2 cups seedless grapes

1 cup drained maraschino cherries, halved

10 fresh chocolate mint sprigs

Before you begin, wash your canning jars, lids and rings. Be sure to dip them in boiling water to sterilize them.

Fill your cold pack canner with water and begin heating it up. You will want the water in the cold pack canner to be about ready to boil before you begin making the sauce.

Prepare a bowl of water and add in Fruit Fresh or another preservative meant to prevent browning of the fruit.

In the meantime, peel the peaches and pears. Cut the larger fruit into bite size chunks. Make sure you remove all the seeds and pits from the fruit.

As you cut up the fresh fruit, put it into the bowl filled with the fruit preservative.

When the water in your canner is about ready to boil, put the 2 cups of water, the sugar and the honey in a stainless steel sauce pan.

Bring this mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Be sure to keep it stirred so it does not burn.

Once the mixture is boiling and the sugar and honey are melted, add the peaches, pears and grapes to the pan.

Return the mixture to a boil, being sure to continue stirring.

Once the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.

Add the cherries.

Put two clean chocolate mint springs into each jar.

Using a ladle, add the fruit to the jar, then top the jar off with the liquid.

Leave 1/2 inch headspace. Be sure you use a knife to remove any trapped air bubbles from the jar.

Wipe the jars rim with a damp paper towel making sure to remove any spilled syrup.

Center the sterilized lid on the top of the canning jar.

Screw the band down so it is finger tight. You do not want to over tighten the band, just make it tight enough to hold the lid in place.

Place the jars in the canner filled with boiling water. The water should completely cover the top of the jar lids.

Put the lid on the canner and cook for 20 minutes.

Remove the canner lid, wait for 5 minutes, then lift the jars from the canner.

Set them on a secure surface. I lay an old towel on top of my table and set the canning jars on it. Remember these jars are hot so use hot pads and jar lifters.

Tighten the bands as tight as possible.

Allow the jars to cool overnight. When the jars are completely cool, remove the bands and check the lids to make sure they are sealed.

To check the lids, simply try to lift them up with your fingers. If they come off, set the food in the refrigerator and eat it within a week. If they do not come off, the cans are sealed. Replace the band and store in a cool, dark place.

Be sure to  label the jars with the name of the food in them and the date.

Here is how you go about making homemade BBQ sauce with fresh tomatoes.

To make a really thick BBQ sauce you need to remove the tomato juice from the tomato paste. The easiest way to do this is to use a steamer juicer such as the Mehu-Liisa, although this is not the only way.

When the steamer is finished extracting the juice, bottle it and can it. This is tomato juice in its purest form. You can also squeeze the juice from the tomatoes, set the tomato pulp aside and can the juice.

The tomato pulp that is left in the top of the steamer juicer is what you want to use. If you removed the juice by hand, then you will still use the tomato pulp. You can remove the seeds or simply blend the mixture until it is smooth, whichever you prefer.

Begin by putting 20 cups of fresh chopped tomatoes into your steamer juicer or into a foley mill or chessecloth.

When the tomatoes are juiced, remove the pulp and put the pulp in a stainless steel sauce pan. Add:

 1 ½ cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes

3 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon celery seed

1 cup white vinegar

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 tablespoon salt

1 ½ tablespoon ground mace

1 tablespoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ cup of honey - optional, used to thicken the sauce

Stir well, bring to a boil and cook for thirty minutes. Taste it to see if you prefer to add other ingredients such as fresh ground black pepper.

When the sauce is the consistency of store bought sauce, ladle it into hot, sterilized pint canning jars. Wipe the jar rims, lid and band until fingertip tight. Place the cans in a cold pack canner and process for twenty minutes. Remove the lid, let the jars sit for five minutes, then remove and let cool.

When the jars are completely cooled, check to make sure they are sealed. If not, use immediately or put on a new lid and reseal.

Feel free to spice the BBQ sauce to your personal taste. The ingredients listed above are only a starting point. Homemade BBQ sauce is different in consistency than store bought. Using pure tomato paste will give you a thick sauce. To thin it down, add tomato juice.

When the BBQ sauce is opened, store the extra in the refrigerator.