Canning Weekend

While my husband was out of town this weekend, I tested my skills at canning for the first time by myself. My sister and I helped my mom and aunt can green beans, corn and hamburger soup countless times as girls. However, I hadn't canned at all since I was probably in junior high school and could barely remember the important details. My mom loaned me a canning book, her pressure cooker and some odds and ends and I was on my way.

I ended up canning tomatoes, applesauce and apple pie filling because that's what I could get the best deals on at the Farmer's Market on Wednesday.

It was actually very easy. It took me about 6 hours on Friday to get 20lbs of tomatoes canned (24 pints). The 20lbs of apples I split in half and did applesauce first, then the pie filling. That took longer just cuz the peeling process was more labor intensive than skinning the tomatoes.


Anyway, I've got a bunch of canned goods sitting in my kitchen, the product of the hard work and nostalgic spirit I put out there this weekend. It was really fun and I will definitely do it again next year. It was pretty easy and saves a bit of money over the year on organic fruits and veggies. Since I had to buy jars, it wasn't as much of a cost savings as I hoped but it is still about $0.20 less a pint than organics you buy at the store. I think that's pretty cool.