I would never say I have a green thumb, but boy, my garden was prolific this year. I had more tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, snap peas, jalapeno peppers, and onions than we could eat. And then we picked apples from a nearby orchard. I had drawn the line at growing zucchini again, and my daughters were more than happy to give me some of theirs. I still had green peppers in the freezer from last year. Even with these adjustments, I had more produce than I could handle.
It’s a good thing I love canning.
While I never tried my hand at pressure canning (necessary for low acid foods like meats, seafood, soups and stews, and some vegetables and fruits), I’ve been water bath canning since a young bride. When the babies started coming, I stepped back from it, but then the urge to garden returned, especially when we retired. I love that two of my daughters have followed in my footsteps on a much smaller scale, and for the two that don’t can, I’m very happy to share my jarred bounty. (Here are pics of most of what I’ve canned since I’d already given some away.)
With the passing of my mother, and later my aunt, I inherited lots of jars. I discovered the economy of ordering flats in bulk on ebay during Covid. I’ve canned for so long, I have my system down pat.
Up until the mid-1800’s, folks didn’t understand how poorly canned food and improperly sealed jars increased the chances of botulism, e-coli, and listeria. In 1858, John Landis Mason invented a resealable glass jar, modifying his design and the accompanying lids numerous times until his patent expired in 1879. Other manufacturers helped themselves to his work, and sadly, he never profited from his beloved Mason jars. He was forced into living a frugal life until his death in 1902.
In 1884, the Ball brothers, five in all, took up the glass jar manufacturing sensation, ultimately producing 245,000 jars per day in the early 1900s. Today, Ball is credited with producing 545,000 jars a day. That’s a lot of jars!
Canning jars have evolved from wire bailers and glass dome lids used with re-usable rubber rings to the flats and rings we’re familiar with today.
Canning jars are used many more ways than just preserving food. Drinking glasses, crafts, wedding table decorations, pack-n-go containers (like salads), and gifts–remember those cake and cookie ingredients in a jar? Soups and cocoa, too? Fun!–the possibilities are endless.
If you’re drowning in zucchini, here’s a jam recipe that calls for 6 CUPS. Since most recipes call for one or two cups, maybe three, but never six, this recipe caught my eye. It’s good! Even better, it’s easy.
Pina Colada Jam
6 cups sugar
6 cups shredded peeled zucchini
1 8oz can crushed pineapple, undrained
1/4 cup lime juice
2 – 3 oz pkgs pineapple Jello
1 tsp rum extract
- Combine sugar, zucchini, pineapple, and lime juice in Dutch oven. Bring to a boil.
- Boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Remove from heat. Stir in Jello and extract until gelatin is dissolved.
- Pour into jars or freezer containers, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.
- Cool completely before covering with lids. Refrigerate for up to three weeks or freeze up to one year.
Note: I did water bath these. The jam will be a bit runny but will thicken when it’s refrigerated. And yes, there’s specks of zucchini peel because my husband was grating too fast for me to hurry up and peel. Ha!
It doesn’t taste like the cocktail (there’s no alcohol in it) but it’s still good. Try with coconut shrimp or even as a cake filling. Delicious on toast!
Have you canned food before? Do you love to garden? What’s your favorite canned food?
Pam has written 30 romances, most of them historical westerns, but she's proud of her contemporary sweet romances featuring the Blackstone Ranch series published by Tule Publishing, too! Stay up on the latest at www.pamcrooks.com
I have canned. Grandma taught me. Tomatoes are my favorite.
Good morning, Denise. I think tomatoes have to rank as the #1 canned vegetable (fruit??) through the decades. They’re easy to grow, prolific, and there’s so many ways to preserve them.
Good for Grandma for teaching you how to can! It’s getting to be a lost art, unfortunately.
I tried my hand at canning for the first time in 2020. I made several different kinds of jellies and jams. I really enjoyed gardening when I was younger, but I don’t have room for a garden now. Tomatoes are also my favorite. My mom used to can them.
Hi, Bonnie! When the girls were home, we’d go through lots of jelly (more so than jams), but not so much anymore. I did make jalapeno jelly this year–more for serving over cream cheese with crackers than on toast. But the Pina Colada Jelly is very good on toast.
It’ll be a sad day when I have to give up my garden space. I’m sure you miss yours.
I have been canning all my adult life. I like trying different jam and jelly recipes such as beautyberry jam, violet jelly etc. If I can find a source I will try Asian Dogwood jam. I like making apple butter. I also freeze or dehydrate many things. I would like to have a freeze dryer but they are way too expensive.
During the 1930’s boys were encourage to form corn clubs and grow corn. Girls had tomato clubs and grew and canned tomatoes. One girl one first place canning tomatoes in ink jars! She used the prize money to buy real canning jars.
Oh, my, Emily! What fun memories! Tomato clubs? I’ve never heard of that!
I tried dehydrating sliced tomatoes one year, and I don’t know what went wrong, but they got all moldy. That did it for me, and I’ve never done it since.
I don’t garden now, but have attempted to before. I’ve made jelly, relish, pickles, and of course tomatoes. What little I know was from home ec class in school. A friend and I made homemade ketchup- never again. It took forever to cook down and didn’t taste like ketchup, but like barbecue sauce. We used Mason jars for centerpieces in my granddaughter’s wedding.
I had to smile at your comment about homemade ketchup. Sometimes, you just can’t beat store-bought, right? Our taste buds have gotten too accustomed to the way we think foods should taste.
One year, we made tomato juice that was supposed to be a spinoff of V-8 juice, which we love. It was so much work, and then it didn’t taste like we wanted. I’ve always wanted to buy a better food press and try it again, but we never did.
My grandma canned a lot – tomato juice, beets, green beans – corn and peppers were always frozen
Good morning, Teresa F! You know, I’ve never gotten into beets, but they’re actually pretty good. And yes, bags of frozen corn are so satisfying and delicious during the winter.
Have you priced corn on the cob lately? Sheesh. Unless you know a farmer who will give his corn away (or give you a great deal) it’s not worth the work for the cost.
I enjoy canning and always do some of it each year. I think several things are so much better home-canned than from the store, especially green beans and pickles.
You are right, Janice, that some things are just better. I made the BEST salsa this year. Same recipe I’ve always used. But my daughter gave me a different Roma tomato plant, and they grew huge. They also had a huge core, and by the time I cut that out, just the flesh remained, and it made the perfect consistency for my salsa.
I love to garden! I preserve a LOT every year by canning and dehydrating mostly. I will definitely try the recipe for the Pina Colada Jam, even though I don’t plant a lot of zucchini, it seems that I always get a lot of it. My neighbors shut their doors, windows and turn out the lights when they see me walking with around the neighborhood with the bags of zucchini I am trying to give away! LOL Even the local food banks are less than excited to receive the bounty.
LOL. Funny, Karin. Zucchini has a bad rep, doesn’t it? But it’s another versatile veggie that you can do a lot with. I saw a recipe for zucchini pie that is supposed to taste just like apple pie. And my sister filly, Jo-Ann Roberts, has a recipe for Cinnamon Roll Bread made with zucchini that was delicious.
I used to can spaghetti sauce, picante sauce, tomato juice, salsa, etc. I miss doing that. Those were the days. Last year we froze apple slices and dehydrated apples. This year, I can’t get Ron to go back to the orchard! Ha! I guess I over did it! Life is good.
Oh, I hope you don’t give up on your love for canning tomatoes! Every other year is just about right, though, don’t you think?
Do apples produce every year? The trees around here (or at least those that I know about) produce every two years. Which is just about right. By then, I’m craving fresh applesauce and slices for apple crisp and pies. And breads and muffins . . .
I am not a canner. I prefer freezing my vegetables and fruits.
I hear ya, Barbara. It’s definitely easier to freeze, but I don’t have enough freezer space, and I like the immediacy of just popping open a jar, and whatever I popped open is ready to eat. 🙂
I do NOT can, though I remember watching Mom do it some. I also don’t garden, as I do not have a green thumb! The closest I get is buying blueberries and freezing them! lol!
Well, Trudy, that’s easy! LOL.
I have not been canning that long. My husband and I moved to a small community where my oldest sister has lived for more than 25 years. I wanted some of her homemade strawberry jam, which she gave me but with a catch she wanted me to learn how to can myself. I had just planted a garden that year first for many years due to not really having a space for one before. I learned how to can my own strawberry jam, salsa and many other vegetables I grew in my garden. I haven’t used a pressure canner yet but who knows. I enjoy the water bath canning process unfortunately I didn’t get to can this year due to my back having a herniated disc and I finally got my back surgery last week and I’m home recovering from surgery which will take some time to heal nerves. Then Physical therapy for awhile again and then I just need to be careful with it. So hopefully by next year I’ll be back in my garden full time and canning again. Canning is something everyone should try at least once. It’s fun and tiresome but worth it. My fresh salsa is a hit with my husband and kids!! So to see there smiling faces and knowing what I put into it is definitely worth the struggles!!
Bravo to your sister, Sheila, for encouraging you to learn how to can! I’m so glad you loved doing it–and yes, NEXT YEAR when you’re feeling better!
Canning is so, so satisfying, and the jarred preserves last for several years, so there’s no rush to eat them. I, too, love to see smiling faces, especially on my grandchildren. My 2nd grade granddaughter told me a couple of weeks ago she loved my applesauce ‘more than the applesauce my Mom buys in the store.’ So that right there makes the work worth it.
Luckily, my husband enjoys helping me, so he cuts the work in half for me. Win-win, right?
Take care and keep healing!
Hi Pam , this so very interesting about the Mason Jars, thank you so much for sharing this. I do not can, but my husband does. Well we have a big fig bush and my husband and my son in law have both canned fig jam and it is delicious! My husband has canned different jams, salsa among other fruits and veggies. Have a great day and a great weekend.
A fig bush!!!! Oh, I’m soooo jealous! I would love to make fig jam! And good for your husband for taking up the canning cause.
So glad you enjoyed the Mason jar history. I did, too. It’s always sad–and interesting–when someone a hundred years ago invents something we all need, love, and use today, but never prospered from it. Doesn’t seem fair!
Pam, how interesting about the Pina Colada Jam. I’ve never heard of this. It would be a great way of using zucchini. And there’s always zucchini bread that I really love. I have no room for a garden here and don’t even have a balcony. Good excuse but I love fresh veggies and would add them to my diet more if I had access to some. Love the info on John Mason. Sad that others stole his invention and he never saw any money. Poor guy. It’s happened a lot in history. Much love, Filly mama. 🙂
Bummer you don’t have room for a garden, Linda, or even a tomato plant in a pot. I think gardening is very therapeutic–even pulling the weeds. Does that come with old age? LOL.
I can tomato juice and muscadine jelly.
Gosh, Linda. I didn’t even know what muscadine is – I had to Google it. But what a pretty color and just a little more tart than grape jelly, evidently. See? You taught me something. I wonder if it’s a local thing and not grown here in Nebraska????
I have canned for years, I’m 77. Not able to have a garden in several years now but still put up vegetables and make jams as I can get them. One year I canned 100 quarts of green beans. Canned some okra for the first time a couple of years ago and it taste great, ready to batter and fry. Made strawberry jam this year and am about to make pear preserves. Canned food is next to fresh in my opinion. Glad to hear more young people are learning to can and preserve food.
100 quarts of green beans? Whoa!!! You go, girl!!
I have a lot of jars, but not 100 of them, and I admire your hard work. But then, it’s not work so much if you enjoy it, right? I agree 100% how canned is the next best thing to fresh. I bet those pear preserves will be amazing!
What do you do with your bountiful canned goods?
My mother canned all the time and taught me. We had a big family of 6 kids, and we grew a huge garden and had an orchard with apple and plum trees. We would can some things, and freeze vegetables, as well as made lots of jams and apple butter. I carried over this into my first few years of marriage, but soon let it die. It was not my favorite occupation. I have to admit, I loved my mom’s canned sauerkraut. It was simple to make and so delicious. I still love sauerkraut to this day, especially Bavarian Kraut with caraway seeds in it with sweetner.
Judy, even if you don’t love canning, at least your mom taught you how, and I bet you’d pick up the steps if you decided to get back into it.
My mother was full-blooded German, and I don’t recall her ever making sauerkraut! My aunts and Grandma did, but us kids didn’t like it much, which is likely why my mother never bothered. Plus, she tended to cook more Italian meals since my dad was full-blooded Italian.
Thanks for stopping by!
I used to can quite a bit, but have not done much lately. I think the last I did were tomatoes and carrots. I water bathe the tomatoes, but need the pressure canner for the carrots. I need a new seal and to have the pressure gauge checked out. It is hard to understand how I managed to do so much more gardening and canning when I had children at home. Now that I am retired, I get less done. I have switched to freezing most of my produce. We had two freezers and could keep quite a bit. One freezer died and we scrambled to get another one. Sadly the other older one just died. We have crammed things in the one plus the refrigerator freezers. We are trying to use up what is in the freezer because it is just too full.
I also enjoyed making jams. I love the strawberry I have made in the past. I have also done apple butter and pear butter. My all time favorite was grape conserve. It had concord grapes, raisins (I think), and walnuts in it. Everyone loved it. Those I gave it to as a gift have commented many times how much they enjoyed it and sort of ask when I will make it again. I bought the grapes, then couldn’t find the recipe. It is not in the book I thought it was, so now I have to think really hard just where I got it.
I like the sound of your Pina Colada jam and will have to make time to give it a try.
My favorite canned item was my grandmother’s green beans. They had such a great flavor that was all her’s. She canned for many years. I have some of her clear and blue wire bailer and glass dome lidded jars. I have new rubber rings for them, but use them to store pasta and other items.
What an interesting comment, Pat. I had to smile at how you got so much more done when the kids were home. I’m the opposite. I get more canning done now that I’m retired, and with no kids at home to help eat it. Hence, I give my canned goods to the girls to take to THEIR homes to enjoy. But it all comes out in the wash, right? 🙂
Occasionally, when our freezers get too full, we have an eat down week where I really focus on using up the frozen foods. I detest freezer burn and then have to throw the food out. And I mark on the outside of my freezer door what food is inside, and that helps me keep the food moving, too.
Thanks for stopping by, as always!
I’m not a canner and what I freeze tends to be baked. However, I am a wannabe librarian and like to do research. Here are 3 different recipes for what’s called a conserve; all have grapes, raisins and either walnuts or pecans. Maybe one is pretty close to the recipe you’ve misplaced.
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/grape-walnut-conserve-recipe-2108677;
https://www.food.com/recipe/concord-grape-conserve-69088;
https://www.southcoasttoday.com/story/lifestyle/food/2017/09/27/grape-conserve-recipe-ode-to/18722325007/