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Did some jelly making today and thought I'd share a few pictures.

Peach Jelly cooling. Jars sterilized and waiting on blackberries.


blackberries boiling - almost ready to sieve


peach jelly, blackberry jelly, blackberry jam & a blackberry cobbler for supper! Anyone hungry?



ve

Yes, I'm hungry!
Can I put in a request though...I'd rather have sliced maters & peach cobbler! But I could make do with blackberry cobbler!
I need to make some blackberry jelly...been out for awhile.
My peach preserves never taste like much...any idea what I might be doing wrong? And this is since the first time I every made it way back when...maybe the wrong kind of peaches????

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ga.karen,

I'm on my way!! Wow! Looks like a lot of work! Mmmm Great treats for winter months! TFS

how B E A U T I F U L . those pictures could be framed for art. and i'm coming to your house for coffee.

Yum!!! Makes me think I should do some canning. Not going to be this year though.

Thanks girls.......I do enjoy doing this, plus tucking a few jars into Christmas baskets makes me feel good, and they seem to be appreciated.

Karen, I cannot help you on the peach preserves. Never had much luck with them either. Don't think it would be the peaches, they all cook up pretty much the same. Back when I tried to make them (years ago), I always followed the recipe on the Sure Jell package. Not sure if that's even on there now.

However, if you'd come for a visit, I'd serve you peach cobbler and sliced tomatoes - better hurry, the tomatoes are leaving fast now, even with me watering. Guess they've reached their prime.


ve

Your jars look like jewels! My mom used to can a lot when I was young. Jars of whole tomatoes, dill pickles and pickle chips, sliced peaches, and grape jelly. You are very talented and work very hard! I'm on my way, maybe Muddy and I will come together!

Nice, VE! Looks delicious! Thanks for sharing.

Sometimes, I make apricot preserves with fruit from my tree, but we gave it a rather severe pruning (to reduce its size enough to use a net against the birds and critters) this year which severely affected its yield. Hopefully next year I'll have enough apricots as well as some peaches from a newly planted tree.

Thanks VE. Now I don't feel so dumb on the peach preserves. I always follow the sure jell recipe too.
My maters are just really getting started. I was late getting them planted and then the heat hit & they just sat for about 3 weeks. Had tiny maters but they didn't do much.
Going to do better with them next year!

Thanks Paws & CA Rose........yum, apricot preserves!!

I do think canning is a dying art...my DIL's don't can and very few of my friends can. Those girls are gonna miss me when I'm gone

gaKaren - good luck with your maters next year. Mine are looking dry again. We are supposed to get about 1/2 inch of rain today...otherwise, it's back to the watering for me. So far, it doesn't look positive since the sun is already bright and hot and nary a cloud in sight.

ve

when my kids were young and times were harder, I canned like a crazy woman!!.... had a big garden then, too... if it grew, I'd put it in a jar.... oh, how I miss the food.... but not the canning!!.... so, I'll be over for lunch someday soon... save me one or two, huh?.... LOL!!!.... love seeing your pics... took me 'home' for a bit... hugs!!!

MMMMM apricot preserves, I love, love apricots. At $2.59 per pound here we are not making apricot preserves in O H I O! Muddy and I will definitely have to come for that! Next year, we will just mosey on down to Tennessee and then shoot over to California! Keep chatting, maybe we will find more food on the way. It's a long way from Tenn to Cal so maybe we will have other friends to visit on the way! Hey Toots swing on over from NC and join us.

my garden gate will be open when you come thru the San Francisco area. be sure to plan some sightseeing time. there's lots to see and do around here. i'd love to play 'tourist' along with you.

I am also crazy about apricots!!! You are so talented! I have never tried my hand at canning. I just freeze whatever I can. Don't forget to pick me up on the way Paws! Can I bring Rascal? He loves road trips!

How talented you are and what a hard worker! (who knew?!) I am very impressed. I love blackberry preserves, blueberry and everything else in between. I never had peach preserves or jams, must be good too. It looks like a lot of work to someone who has never done that before. (I'm exhausted just looking at the pictures of YOU making it) At least you are doing something productive indoors in this hot weather!!! How long have you been making your own jams and jellies? Very talented indeed!
I was just perusing the catalog I got in the mail from the local Community College for summer and fall courses. There was a course: "Jams, Jellies & Marmlades", teaching you how to make jams and jellies and jarring them for yourself, family, gift baskets.... $80 for a 4 hr. course (one day) NJ prices!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Wavy,

Vera..I'm so impressed! I've never canned anything in my life although my sister does some.

Those pictures are so pretty! You could open your own farm market.

Did you make any hot pepper jelly? I love that with cream cheese on crackers.

oooooooooh goody, road trip!!! I'm in......and while you're here we'll have a tutorial on canning, pickling & preserving. Whoo Hoo

Wavy - how long have I been canning? Well, let's see, I'm 68 years old and started helping my mom when I was a little girl......so say what......55-60 years? Then as a young wife and mother, it was a way of life, so it has continued to this day. Wow, that's a long time when you think about it.

BTW - it's not really a talent, like Toot's said, growing up hard and poor back in the late 40-50s it's what country people did to survive. Now I shudder when I see the price of a jar of jelly, or tomato juice or pickles on the store shelves, and feel so good when I can go to my pantry and pull down a jar. Save yourself that 80 bucks and go to the library and check out the Ball Canning Book. It's all you need to know to get started, if you are interested. It's not that hard, but warning, it is time consuming.

Jean, yes, I make hot pepper jelly, although I didn't this year...my peppers didn't do any good

You girls are so flattering. Thank you.

ve

Wow you are crazy busy!!! Everything look so pretty!! I'm to lazy to can. Tried tomatoes one year never again.
I'll pack up Birdie maybe she and Rascal will get along and join you gals in Tenn. We were actually in Tenn. in April but just the south west corner.
We bought some peach preserves in Yoder Ks. this spring I thought it would be wonderful. NOT the peaches were hard as bricks It tasted ok but not what I expected coming from the Amish!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Sorie10,

Sorie, sorry that your peach preserves were't good......welcome to mine and GaKarens world. I am surprised that the Amish ones weren't that good..but it does make me feel better.


ve

quote:

Originally posted by vera ellen:
Sorie, sorry that your peach preserves were't good......welcome to mine and GaKarens world. I am surprised that the Amish ones weren't that good..but it does make me feel better.


ve

Makes me feel better too...but my peaches have never been hard.

Wavy, making jams/jellies/preserves isn't hard at all. The biggest problem is having the right "equipment".
But VE was right about saving the $80 and go read the Ball Blue Book. That was all I used & taught myself years ago.

I use to can. I found it very relaxing. Don't do it anymore. No time with raising a 12 year old.

I don't to much except strawberry jam for DH. This year, I did the blueberry stuff I posted about. It is very satisfying to see all those pretty jars sitting there when you're finished. It's a messy and time consuming process, though. If I had a veggie garden, I'd love to can green beans and squash. I've also done salsa and tomatoes in the past. Ah, well. I know how to do it at least, even though I don't do it much any more.

I grew up in a house where hundreds of quart jars were used every year for canning.

Me too FFG...and sounds like VE too!

We butchered...pork was either smoked, sugar cured or canned. Beef was dried or canned. Chicken was canned...usually in many things like soups, etc.

Our main grocery store purchases were sugar, flour & coffee....not a lot of anything else.

Oh Vera, those surely look good! Only did seedless black raspberry jelly and grape jelly years ago but remember what work it was. Do miss it. Looks like a decent crop of grapes on the back fence so may do some again this year. Yum, Yum. Nothing quite compares with homemade.

Ok so we have a road trip planned--can't bring Ms. Mona she doesn't like trips-ok everyone relax, no people or animals will be eaten on this trip! So lots of apricots, please. We will definitely stop in San Fran--one of my favorite places, Bana. We will forego taking a dip in the Bay, much too cold but we will snack at Fisherman's Wharf and perhaps have a picnic at Muir Woods--an absolute stunning stand of redwoods which never fails to amaze me. So get well quick Muddy, we've got some traveling to do!

Oh no Vera, I don't want to learn how to make jams and jellies only because I am too lazy. I don't even like cooking, period!!! I was amused that I saw that course offered and I just read about it on here! So everything that was done ages ago is coming back for the next generation to learn!
I think if you have done it since you were a little girl, that your jams & jellies must be deeeelicious!!! I am still impressed!

Wavy, you are so funny......and thank you!


ve

Those are so pretty! Takes me back many decades when my DM canned everything from their garden and any fruit they could pick somewhere. They grew strawberries, raspberries, red and black currants, gooseberries, apples, plums, rhubarb, and she made jam or jelly from them all. We picked buckets of wild blackberries for jelly and wild blueberries for jam. She had a cold room where all the colorful jars would be arranged. As a child I loved to go down and choose which jam/jelly I wanted.

Before we moved up north we lived in orchard country and had a peach and cherry tree. I made peach jam for weeks.

No longer do any preserving. Don't miss the work but do miss the results.

Oh maaann, I gotta learn how to do that. I'll bet that blackberry jam is to die for. I always wanted to try it with figs and then make my own Fig Newtons!

zone9, you do all that fancy cooking...this is easy compared to that!
Like I said before...it's mainly having the right equipment & you probably have some things already that would work for a good part of it.

One of the most popular things around here is pear butter.

We have a canning facility at our high school here. It is operated by both adults & students...it is part of the ag program at the high school. I've never used it but it opens in May & continues until mid July.

Good for you Vera! I need to learn how to can one of these day.

I'll start when I get my new stove....good excuse eh? DH will get me one faster if I tell him I need it to make some homemade preserves! hehe

I thought of you "fruit preserver people" when I was taking a shower this morning!!!
My body wash was "Apricot Orange Blossom" and I immediately thought of Vera and her preserving! Gee whiz, now I can't see the word Apricot without thinking of Vera! ROTFLMDAO!!!
I just polished off my Apricot Preserves the other day. Now I'm onto the Marmalade one. Yum!! See what you started??? (right on my hips, thank you very much)

Looks like Downhome Goodness sitting on your counters. Absolutely beautiful work.

I remember helping my grandmother make star fruit jelly. Delish!