Canning

I remember canning peaches and pears with my grandma and mom at the end of each summer. It is one of my favorite memories.

The day was usually hot, as most days in late summer usually are. The boxes of peaches and pears seemed like a mini mountain to me. I enjoyed doing the peaches the best. I would stand at the sink up on a chair ready to help. My job was to peal the skin off the peaches. My mom would boil the peaches and then dump a pan of the hot peaches into my sink of cold water. I had to learn to be patient and wait for a few minutes to let them cool, otherwise I would burn my hand. I would choose a peach and then stretch the skin until it tore. Often the entire skin would come off in an easy sheet. I would put the peach in a bowl for my mom to cut and put into jars and toss the skin into another bowl. Sometimes the skins didn’t come off as easy and would take some manipulation which always resulted in the poor peach looking like it had gone through battle. I loved dipping my hands in that sink full of water and peach skins, it was slimly and warm and everything smelled so good.

After the peaches had been placed in cans and then syrup poured over them and placed in the canner, they were set to cool on the dishwasher. I loved looking at their color and the sunlight streaming in. I inevitably was covered head to toe in peach juice and skin by the end of the day and usually had to be rinsed off in the bathroom. Those peaches tasted so good all winter long and the memories of canning them made them taste even better.

I took on my first attempt at canning this past week. I didn’t have peaches, but my garden has been going crazy and I have a ton of tomatoes and also peppers. We have made a ton of salsa and it’s frozen in bags in the freezer, but I thought I’d try some spaghetti sauce and some pickled cherry peppers. Clint prepared all the tomatoes while I got the rest of everything ready. We started the sauce in the morning and then let it simmer throughout the afternoon. It was really good.

Filling the jars and placing the lids on and then submerging them into the water bath brought back many memories. I was super proud to pull them out and set them on a towel to cool and to see their colors coming through and to discover that all the seals sealed! I’m looking forward to some tasty pasta and pizza this winter! And to figuring out what else I can can.

As I’ve mentioned before the process in Korea slowed way down a year ago and as a result there are a lot more babies and toddlers at the Babies Home and in foster care through Eastern Social Welfare Society (where our little guy is at) and as a result they are needing more supplies for kids. A friend has contacted ESWS and asked what people can do/send. They need gifts to give the kids for their 1st and 2nd birthdays. Below are links to the two gifts that they are requesting (blocks for 1st, stacking toy for 2nd), please consider ordering one of the gifts and sending it to me and I’ll get it to a family that is traveling over to deliver it to ESWS for the little ones. Please email me and I’ll send you my address or if you have any questions (hikingmommy@gmail.com) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030F67N6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DERI