Canning Frenzy

In the past 2 weeks or so I have been canning A LOT!

It seems to have all hit at once and coinciding with the start of school.
Oh well, it is what it is.
And with canning sometimes most times you just can't ignore it or you will miss your window of opportunity.
That is what has been occurring with us.

The last week of August (and the week before school started) there were FREE apples.



And I even ended up tossing some out because I just couldn't handle doing any more.  I'm a bit ashamed to say that because usually I just suck it up and do it, but not this time.  I felt like we had plenty and I was done.

Then came Jalapeño Salsa.  

I will need to do more but for the moment we have enough that we don't run out next week or in the next couple months.  And once again, we received a nice little bunch of free tomatoes and were able to use them for this recipe.

Throw in a quick batch of Maple Syrup after opening the last bottle on a pancake morning.

Next up peaches.

Usually in our area you can peaches during the first couple weeks of August.  I am finding that my previous sources to find canning peaches are no longer doing that.  I kept checking and they kept not having anything. Then last week I happened to stop by this smaller grocery store that I rarely use to grab one item quick. And lo and behold there were 10 boxes of Colorado peaches sitting there.  Cue the chorus!

I spoke with the produce manager and he informed me that this was the end and they wouldn't be getting any more and yes, their pears were already over and done.  

I left with 3 - 17 pound boxes of peaches.  I paid a premium, but with peaches, at least around here, you usually do.

Next up were dried beans.

Went down to our pantry to grab some pinto beans for tacos one night and found we had only 2 pints left.

Needed to remedy that in a hurry.

Finally a lucky break, albeit not the timing I would've liked, one of grocery stores advertised $.68/lb pears.

Not specifically canning pears, those are a little smaller in size, but for the price and since I missed everything else earlier in August I bought a 40 pound box.  I know the grocery guys thought I was a bit nutso asking for a full case of pears, and the young lady cashier probably did too, but hubby was beyond thrilled.  He prefers canned pears over peaches and literally we didn't have one jar of pears in our storage.  It has been that way for months.  Thankfully those pears were green and it gave me a few days to recover in between canning sessions before I had to can those.

All the above has netted us:

• 5 quarts of apples juice
• 14 quarts of apple pie filling
• 23 pints of applesauce--6 pints cinnamon & sugar spiced and the rest au natural.
• 9 pints of Jalapeño Salsa
• 7 quarts of Maple Syrup
• 20 quarts of peaches + a bunch of fresh eating
• 16 pints of black beans
• 7 quarts and 12 pints of pinto beans
• 21 quarts of pears + some fresh eating

• And finally one tired me

Here's to a fuller storage pantry and some time off to do other creative things.

Enjoy your weekend!