I am almost finished the canning for the fall.. Just the applesauce to go.. I can’t do any more.. mainly because I am out of produce.. but I am also pooped.. and as happened last summer ..right at the end of my production came a handy hint from my neighbour on how to make the job easier.

I may have mentioned that last year I painfully pealed every apple, tomato, peach and pear before I canned them lovingly.. when A came down and lent me her food mill..  A food mill !  genius ! no more peeling.. just cook those morsels up… grind em in the mill, toss out the leftover skins and bits and then bam,  you have yourself a nicely stocked pantry with nowhere near the work load… I cannot believe the time and effort I wasted last year….

So the tally is in.. Here are the quantities I canned.. of course the sizes of the jars are smaller mostly gift size.. but this is the volume.  Pretty good haul this year. Especially from our plum tree.

Plum Jam                                    14 pints

Plum Chutney                              9 pints

HP Sauce                                      5 pints

Pear Salsa                                    7 half pints

Strawberry Jam                          23 pints

Tomato Sauce                            21 pints

Green tomato relish                   13 pints

Apple sauce                                 2 pints with more to come

I use a large canning pot to process the sauces. I realize it is a huge drain on the propane tanks but what else am I to do?

Last night a few of us were gathered for drinks and appies at the neighbours to say good-bye…(we do a lot of gathering for drinks and appies.. to say goodbye, to say hello, celebrate royal babies….pretty much at every opportunity)….

I was asked by R and A if I was using a pressure cooker for my canning.. No..I said…  Oh says they.. I must use a pressure cooker.. it is easy…..and R has one to share with me that she isn’t using…. Saves on propane.. makes the whole process quicker… great.. another time-saving tool which I learn at the end of my season.. So this morning I walked up to R’s and she lent me her pressure cooker.. it is sitting on the counter beside the apples, daring me to learn how to use it.

Next September someone is probably going to tell me that you can buy tomato sauce or relish and jam in a store and I don’t have to make my own. 🙂