CanFest 2012

My mom, my friend and my mom's best friend and I decided to have a little canning session.  All of us have limited canning experience, but have done different things.  My mom's friend has taken canning classes at a university.  My friend has done a lot of pressure canning and I have done a lot more water bath canning, so we all taught each other a little something.  It was a lot of hard work, but very fun and a learning exerperience, I loved it :)

I learned that you aren't supposed to tighten the lid a lot before you put the jars in the canner.  I also didn't know the jars should be sitting on a rack in the canner.  I got my husband's grandmother's canner and it did have a rack so I had no idea.  I know that is probably basic knowledge to some, but sometimes when you read recipes and instructions in books or online, I think people take for granted that you are supposed to know most of those things already. 

The first thing we did was pepper jelly.  We used green bell peppers and some jalapenos.  It turned out really pretty.  My mom was really wanting this.  I've only had it once at a party on some cream cheese with crackers.  Does anybody else use pepper jelly in other ways? 

Next we did some diced tomatoes.  They had never done those before, so we all did it together.  It was a lot of work peeling and cutting up all those tomatoes, but they turned out pretty (I don't have any pictures of that).

My friend showed up to show me how to use my new (to me) pressure canner.  My husband's coworker sent it to me after he found out I was wanting one.  I will definitely be sending him canning goodies from now on.  I was SO excited!  Anyway, I didn't even know how to put the lid on, so sad LOL!  But my friend helped us figure it out and we tried a batch of pinto beans from dried beans.  They turned out great and the house did not blow up as I was fearing.  She calmed me down some about it, but I am sure I will still be nervous the first time I do it on my own which I hope is this week because my mom sent me more dry beans to practice with.

My friend reading the directions to my canner (that always helps :)

And this is a picture of my little pantry of canned goods so far. I am so pleased with how it's coming along.  I definitely have caught the bug.  I thought a few things would be great my first year, but the more I can, the more I want to do.

Hope everyone has a great week :)

This post is linked to The Morris Tribe's Blog Carnival