Canning & Dehydrating (Aug. 2009)

1. White Donut Peach 2. Yellow Peach 3. Yellow Plum 4. Green Plum
5. Purple Plum 6. Red Plum 7. Sugar Plum 8. Yellow Nectarine 9. White Nectarine 10. Pluot 11. Apricots 12. Sweet Cherries 13. White Cherries
14. Sour Cherries

Canning Fruit
Elizabeth Champion (received from Trish McCoy)

PEACH TYPES & SUGAR AMOUNTS
1. Rio Oso = soft consistency
a. No Sugar = little tart
b. 1/4 c. sugar = good
c. 1/3 c. sugar = good, little sweet

BEGINNING PREPARATION

1. Total start to finish (with clean jars) 30 lbs = 15 jars = 3 1/2 hours

2. Buy sugar and fruit.
Peaches are ready the end of July or beginning of August. 8/98 paid $.60 / lb picked
Fay Elberta = tart but firm for canning
Rio Oso = sweet and firm but hard to find and late season
On peach box from Trish: Weststeyn’s, 22563 So. Highland Ave, Ripon, CA 95366 599-3193, Freestone Peaches

3. Wash jars and rings in dishwasher. Wash canner.

4. Run finger on top of jars to check for chips. Throw away jar if chip found.

5. Buy new seals for jars, new jars and rings if needed.
Do not use old mayonnaise, pickle, etc. jars.
Ball brand and wide mouth are best.
“OK” to use last year’s unused seals. Inspect to make sure no rust.

PEACH PREPARATION

1. Fill medium pan with water and bring to boil.
2. Put 4 peaches in boiling water about 20-30 seconds until peels loosen.
3. Remove from water with tongs, place in bowl of cold water.
4. Peel, quarter and remove pit. Get a large bowl full then place in jars.
5. 40 peaches = 20 lbs = 9 qts. = 1 hour to peel, cut, put in jars and add sugar.

CANNING

1. Fill canner half way with water, start on high and bring to boil. (Maria’s pot takes about 40 min and holds 10-11 qts.)
2. Fill small pan with water and boil lids. Keep at simmer.
Trish has used after water has cooled and still “OK”.
“OK” to use unused boiled lids next year but make sure they are completely dry before storing, to prevent rust.
3. Fill medium pot full of water and bring to boil.
4. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar to each jar filled with peaches.
5. Place filled jars on bath towel to prevent breaking when hot water added.
6. Fill jar to bottom rim with hot water.
7. Put spatula down each side of jar to remove bubbles.
8. Add more water if needed so will come to bottom rim.
9. Wipe rim with clean washcloth. Use new cloth if can again the next day.
10. Use tongs and place lid on jar. Screw on ring -- finger tight.
11. Put jars in canner, cover with water one inch over tops of jars, bring to boil and boil for 10-12 minutes.
12. Remove jars to new bath towel by lifting jars at bottom rim. Do not lift at ring or could disturb seal.
13. Let cool over night but not in draft.
14. In the morning check to see if all jars sealed. Lids will not have any play in them. Do not retighten rings.
15. If not sealed, must reprocess.
16. If sealed, wipe outside well with wet cloth, date and store.

“OK” = not recommended but Trish has done and seems to work fine


Pop Tarts (really they are Filbert Bars with no Filberts)
Jaci Fairbanks

1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup softened currant or raspberry jelly
Meringue Topping (below)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix thoroughly butter, sugar and egg yolk. Blend in flour. Press in bottom of ungreased square pan, 8x8x2 or 9x9x2 inches.

Bake 10 minutes. Spread with jelly, then with topping. Bake 20 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Cool slightly. Cut into bars, about 2x1 inch. If topping sticks to knife, dip knife into hot water occasionally.

32 cookies

Meringue Topping

1 egg white
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup sugar

Beat egg white until foamy. Add cinnamon. Beat in sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time: continue beating until stiff and glossy.

Oven Baked Tomatoes
Becky Foulk

Sliced tomatoes from your garden
Fresh, chopped basil
Sea salt
Fresh, chopped garlic (or garlic salt or powder)
Olive oil
Fresh grated parmesan

Place sliced tomatoes on baking sheet. Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle basil, salt, garlic, then parmesan over the tops of tomatoes. Broil for 8-10 minutes.

Pesto for Pasta
Mariah Garcia

1 cup firmly packed fresh basil leaves

½ cup firmly packed fresh parsley, stems removed

½ cup parmesan cheese (I use the stuff in the green bottle)

¼ cup pine nuts

1 clove of garlic

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup of olive oil give or take

Chopped Tomatoes and cubed mozzarella cheese.

12-24 oz of pasta depending on how much pesto you like.

1. In food processor add all ingredients except olive oil and processtill paste forms. With machine running, add olive oil until the pesto is likesoft butter.

2. Mix the pesto with your cooked pasta, add tomatoes and cheese.

3. Enjoy cold or warm.

BOYSENBERRY FREEZER JAM
Cindy Hess

Prep Time: 45 minTotal Time: 24 hr 45 min
Makes: About 7 (1-cup) containers or 112 servings, 1 Tbsp, each

3-1/2 cups prepared fruit (2 quarts fully ripe boysenberries)
1 box MCP Pectin
1 cup light corn syrup
4-1/2 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl

WASH and rinse containers with tight fitting lids.
CRUSH boysenberries, 1 cup at a time. (I used my food processor.)
MEASURE exactly 3-1/2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl.
MEASURE exactly 4-1/2 cups sugar into separate bowl.
STIR pectin gradually into prepared fruit. Mix thoroughly. Set aside 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes to dissolve pectin thoroughly.
STIR corn syrup into fruit mixture. Mix well. This prevents crystallization during freezer storage.
STIR in sugar gradually. Stir constantly until sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy.
FILL all containers immediately, leaving 1/2-inch space at top for expansion during freezing. Immediately cover with lids.
LET STAND at room temperature 24 hours until set. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or freeze extra containers up to 1 year. Thaw in refrigerator before using.

Great Jerky
Nancy Holladay

1 lb. 4lb. Lean meat, I like to use London Broil. Trim fat (fat won’t dehydrate, but will go rancid) and slice thin – about 1/8 inch. If you don’t have a slicer, ask the butcher to slice it for you.
Mix the following into a marinade:

3/4 teas. 1 Tbls. Salt

3/8 teas. 1 ½ teas. Pepper, fresh ground or fresh cracked pepper gives a stronger pepper taste

1 Tbls. 1/4 cup Brown sugar, packed

1/8 teas. 1/2 teas. Garlic powder (or 1 clove per lb of meat - garlic minced)

2 Tbls. 1/2 cup Soy Sauce

1 Tbls. 1/4 cup Worchestershire Sauce

Dip each strip of meat into the marinade and put into a bowl, marinating a few hours or overnight.
Lay strips on the dehydrator screens or racks, allowing a small space between for air flow.
Put in dehydrator (on high heat if adjustable) and dry for about 4-5 hours. If slices are thicker, they will take longer to dry.
After jerky is dry, store in airtight containers. It may be kept in the freezer or on shelves (if there is much fat in it, you might prefer to store it in the freezer).

Banana Bread
Gayle Hollingshaus

4 eggs beaten

4 c. flour
1 c. margarine

2 tsp. baking powder
2 c. sugar

2 tsp. baking soda
l/2 c. buttermilk

½ tsp. salt
6 mashed bananas

1 tsp. vanilla

Bake at 350 for 17 min.

I added 3 cups of grated zucchini to this recipe. I also substitute ½ cup milk with 1 tsp. vinegar if I don’t have buttermilk.

Lyon House Zucchini Bread
Heidi Little

1 C. oil
2 C. sugar
3 eggs
3 t. vanilla
2 C. shredded raw zucchini
3 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
3 t. cinnamon
¼ t. baking powder
½ C. chopped nuts (optional)

Combine oil, sugar, and eggs in mixer. Blend in vanilla and zucchini. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to oil mixture and blend well. Add nuts.

Pour batter into 2 loaf pans (8x4x3), well greased and lightly floured. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until toothpick is clean.

Or use 3 medium loaf pans and reduce baking time about 30-40 min. Let stand in pans for 10 min. and then turn out on racks to cool.

Tip: Put on side so doesn’t flatten when cooling.

Dried Peaches & Nectarines
Wendy & Czarina Pellissier

wash peaches or nectarines and slice into 1/4" slices.

dissolve 2 T of Ascorbic Acid into 1 quart of water and soak fruit slices for 2 min in this solution.

place slices separately on drying tray

dry at 135 degrees for 5 to 8 hrs (depending on thickness of slices)
check fruit dryness after 5 hours. should be pliable but not very moist.

All About Canning
Barbara Pimental (demo)

Information of canning:
Ball canning (http://www.homecanning.com/)
How to Can
Step-by-step Fresh Preserving of High Acid Foods
Kerr Canning (http://www.kerrcanning.com/)

http://www.pickyourown.org/
How to can anything
Easy canning directions

Marinara Sauce
Jan Skubal (demo)

6 lbs. ripe tomatoes
6 cloves garlic pressed or minced
2 large onions
3 or 4 large carrots (more for sweetness)
1/3 c. salad or olive oil
2 T. dried basil
1 T. oregano
2 ½ t. salt
3/4- 1 t. pepper

Mix together, boil on lower heat and simmer stirring occasionally until thick, approx. 1 1/2 hrs.
Tip: Adjust ingredients to your liking, it will turn out fine.

Squeezo Strainer by Best Products (made in USA)

Price: $195
Manuel hand crank, stainless steel, not electric, can also get replacement parts

*Jan has been using her strainer for 40 yrs, so even though it may be pricey we know it will last for a long time.


Deluxe Roma Sauce Maker (Not made in USA)

Price: $109
Electric, and has some plastic parts, but no replacements

You can find both on:
All Seasons Homestead Helpers
http://www.homesteadhelpers.com/

Oat Bread
Teri Topham

2 c oats
4 c hot water
2 T yeast
1/2 c warm water
2 t oil
2/3 c honey
4 t salt
About 9 c flour (2-3 cups whole wheat and the rest white)

Combine the oats and hot water in the mixer bowl. Let it stand while you combine the yeast and 1/2 c warm water. Let the yeast stand until it bubbles.

Add the oil, honey, salt and half the flour to the oatmeal/water mixture. Add yeast mixture when it has bubbled. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 to 1 cup at a time, depending on the power of your mixer. Add enough of the flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.

Grease the bowl and the top of the dough. Cover bowl. Let rise until double, about 1 hour. Punch down dough. Let rest 5 minutes. Divide the dough into three large loaves or 4 small loaves. Place in slightly greased loaf pans.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

Remove loaves from the oven and rub the tops of the loaves with butter immediately.