Food Preservation

Kaye and I have decided to bring back food preservation to our household. We have relied on Kaye's aunt Liz for sweet pickles for years. Now Liz no longer has a garden and her husband TM is not well and requires a great deal of attention and making pickles is far down on her list of priorities. When Kaye and I were first married, we used to make pickles and jellies and jams all the time. Our careers and our attention to our son's activities put these traditional activities on the back burner.

We started a batch of 14 Day Sweet Pickles last week and have been tending to them each day as the recipe requires. We also went to a local produce farm called Dempsey's and bought strawberries to make jam. We made 12 half pints and opened one for breakfast on Sunday morning. It was fantastic! Tasted like fresh strawberries.

Here are the recipes for our 14 Day Pickles and Strawberry Jam:

Strawberry Jam

5½ cups crushed strawberries (about 3 quart boxes strawberries)
1 package powdered pectin
8 cups sugar
Yield: About 9 or 10 half-pint jars
Please read Using Boiling Water Canners before beginning. If this is your first time canning, it is recommended that you read Principles of Home Canning.
Procedure: Sterilize canning jars and prepare two-piece canning lids according to manufacturer's directions.
To prepare fruit. Sort and wash fully ripe strawberries; remove stems and caps. Crush berries.
To make jam. Measure crushed strawberries into a kettle. Add pectin and stir well. Place on high heat and, stirring constantly, bring quickly to a full boil with bubbles over the entire surface. Add sugar, continue stirring, and heat again to a full bubbling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; skim.
Fill hot jam immediately into hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼ inch head space. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in a Boiling Water Canner. Begin timing when water returns to a boil.

0-1,000 feet - Process 5 Minutes

1,000 - 6,000 feet - Process 10 Minutes

6,000 and above - Process 15 Minutes

I use this link for food preservation guidance: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

This document was adapted from "How to Make Jellies, Jams and Preserves at Home." Home and Garden Bulletin No. 56. Extension Service, United States Department of Agriculture. 1982 reprint. National Center for Home Food Preservation, June 2005.

14 Day Pickles

14 lbs sliced cucumbers

2 pints of salt

2 gallons of boiling water

Bring salt and water to a boil and pour over pickles. Use a non reactive pan (stainless steel or enamel pan) or ceramic crock.

Stir pickles every day for 7 days.

On day 8, pour off water and rinse pickles in a collandar. Wash out crock or pan

Bring 2 gallons of water to a boil and pour over pickles. Leave for 24 hours.

On day 9, pour off water. In 2 gallons of water put 4 Tbsp. Alum. Bring to a boil and pour over pickles.

On Day 10, drain off Alum water and prepare syrup. Bring 2 quarts of vinegar and 4 quarts of sugar, and 1/2 of a 1 1/2 oz pickling spice to a boil. Pour over pickles.

On days 11, 12, 13 pour off syrup in to a stainless pot and heat to a boil. Boil syrup for 4 minutes each day. Then pour the syrup back over the pickles.

On day 14, drain syrup and boil for 4 minutes. Place pint or quart jars in the a kettle of simmering boiling water or you can process the jars in a dishwasher with a heated dry. Place lids in a fry pan with water to cover and simmer (near boiling). Be careful not to let lids overlap. Remove hot jars from the dishwasher or kettle and pack with pickles. Do not pack jar higher than the slope of the jar. Pour syrup over pickles just to cover. Leave a 1/2" space at the top of the jar. Immediately place an heated lid and a ring on the jar. Tighten lids securely. Place jars on a towel allowing several inches between jars on the counter and allow to cool.

Jars will begin to "pop" as the seals are secured. If jars don't seal properly(after cooling you can push on the lid and it "pops") you can reprocess the jars and syrup or put in the refrigerator and use with in several weeks.

Makes about 20 pints or 10 quarts.