Who Would of Thunk It?

That I would be a little homemaker? Not me, that is for sure! My father-in-law brought me a water canner, canning supplies and a pressure canner out of the blue last month. Last summer I had the opportunity to help him can beets and salsa using veggies from his garden. I never in my life thought that I would be the type of person to actually enjoy canning. But, I did and I am really thrilled with the outcome.

I have made bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, salsa, pickled beets, sugar free peach jam and regular peach jam. Our cold storage is full of pickles! Can you guess what you are getting for Christmas? :) ha!

We opened up the pickles this week after letting them sit for about a month and surprisingly they were really good. I was so nervous to open them for fear of them turning out horrible. Then I would have 48 quarts of botulismed pickles! ha! My father in law was over and actually talked me into opening them! I am glad he did. The dill pickles were quite salty. I added a little bit more water and putt them in the fridge for a while and the girls couldn't get enough of them. We have already gone through a jar! The salsa is better than anything I have bought in the store. Seriously! The girls eat it on their scrambled eggs and burritos.

I just made the peach jam Saturday night, so we haven't tried those yet. But after making the regular jam, I will only buy Sugar Free Jam or all natural jam. It had 5 and 1/2 cups of sugar!!

Canning is hard work and makes a huge mess (just ask my husband), but I am proud of myself for learning a new skill and having something to show for it. At the time I thought my father in law was crazy for buying the stuff for me, but now I am so thankful that he did.