Woot! 1 Month Til National "Can It Forward Day"!

That's right, National Can It Forward Day is August 13th. With the recent increased awareness and excitement in home canning, Can It Forward Day is a great excuse for those of us who already know how to can and those of us who just want to learn to get together and have a canning party. Many of the fears of canning stem around preparing large amounts of fruit or veggies, sterilizing a ton of jars, and the potential waste of hours and pounds of hard work and delicious produce. Small batch canning is a great way to get into canning and Ball is selling products specifically to facilitate smaller batches. No more math equations to pare down a large recipe just to test a batch. Now you can start with as few as 6 large tomatoes and can 2 jars of salsa! How easy is that?

I'll be posting more about Can It Forward Day and Ball products, but for now i'd like to announce a special giveaway! Ball sent me a great package full of canning supplies and literature. I'd like to offer sample sizes of their pectin and salsa mix, along with some party ideas and other 'how to can' literature to one lucky reader.

Ball RealFruit Pectin captures the freshness and flavor of fresh fruit. The small batch pouch makes 2 jars of jam or jelly, perfect for folks who don"t have a ton of produce on hand or just want to try a small batch.
Ball's Salsa and Pickle mixes are made with natural spices and seasonings and can be customized to be as hot or not as you'd like. The small batch pouch makes 2 jars of salsa.

I'll choose the winner next Wednesday to get your goodies to you in time for you to host your own canning party! This is a great chance to try out some of Ball's products and to test a small batch of goodies.

To win:

4 chances and 4 chances only. You may enter with all the requirements, but please no extras

1. Submit a comment below or at our Facebook Fan Page (or both!) with a link to or brief description of your favorite jam or other canned good.
Not a canner yet? No worries, let us know what you'd like to try and can first, or what fruit/veg you have a current abundance of.

2. If you're not already a fan or a follower of An Austin Homestead, please become one! If you are, please post/tweet/or mention this giveaway. Comment back with the link or your follower info for your second chance to win!

3. Check out Ball's super lovely site and comment back with a tasty sounding recipe, or a tantalizing product you'd like as part of your canning arsenal!

4. Shameless self promotion: For one last chance to win, please become a fan of Nude Soap, my all natural soap company, on Facebook and comment back with any feedback. I'll be promoting my brand new website soon, but it's still under construction.

That's it! Happy entering. Tell your friends. Let's have a canning party together in August!

Green Tomato Relish

I am quite impressed with my 3 scant tomato plants: over 60 pounds of tomatoes, i picked! And that's just the end of season harvest, i haven't added up the rest of the season.
I wanted to do some new things with the green tomatoes piled up on my counter, and Germaine of Munkebo farms had some delicious relish this past Saturday at our market that i just had to try.
Here's what i came up with:

• 2ish quarts green tomatoes (i piled up in my 2.5 quart pyrex bowl)
• 2ish cups sugar plus drizzle of agave nectar
• 1/2 a honey crisp apple
• 3 garlic cloves
• 6 tabasco peppers
• 4 onions
• 1 Tablespoon each allspice, turmeric
• 2 Tablespoons dried mustard
• Dashes celery seed, cinnamon and cloves
• 3 cups vinegar - i used two distilled and one apple cider

The recipes i was working from called for more sugar, but i just couldn't bring myself to do 3 cups of sugar. Thus, the relish is rather tart. Isn't that better than too sweet? We'll see.

First you chop up all the veggies and set in a bowl with the salt for 10+ minutes. Drain well. I reserved the drained off liquid to sip on: it's quite delicious and i'm sure it's chock full of vitamins. In a pan, combine vinegar, spices, veggie mixture and sugar and bring to a boil. Turn off heat then bring up to a boil again. Hot fill hot jars and process about 10 minutes.

** Update: definitely try and save the liquid that is drained off of the veggies. It is absolutely DELICIOUS mixed with scrambled eggs! Garlicy, oniony, spicy, a little salty, green tomato juice. It's delicious to sip, and i bet would be amazing in any saute or soup, too.

I'm mildly concerned with my canning procedure - i've gotten so used to the joys of pressure canning: you don't need to overly clean and sterilize the jars as they get good and zapped in the high pressure. I water bath canned this relish, and didn't soapy water clean the first batch of half pint jars. I did boil them for about 5 minutes first, and then read it should be closer to ten.... the second batch got a good ten minutes in boiling water.
I also had conflicting processing times, that were stipulated for pints, so i went with the longest time to be sure they got good and processed. Though, that may degrade the quality of the food somewhat. We'll just have to see how they are received when jar-opening time comes. Let's cross our fingers against botoulism ;) 

Have you used questionable canning practices or are you always super sterile and by the book? How does one know if canned food is 'unfit to eat' anyway?

Canned Tomatoes FINALLY

When i first moved into my homestead and built my gardens, dreams of large harvests of tomatoes processed into tidy jarss gleaned in my head. Until now, that's never really happened. Indeterminate tomatoes put on fruit successively all season: great for eating fresh, not so great for canning a large bunch. Hornworms and leaf footed bugs damaged the fruits rendering them unsuitable for processing. Or, it was just easier to freeze or dry small batches and call it at that.

Not so this Autumn! You should see my remaining four plants (Porter Improved (small grape type), Japanese Black Trifele (small to huge purplish), Homestead (perfect tomato shaped), and Viva Italia (Roma style, fleshy). The Japanese and Homestead are going crazy with huge fruits dripping off of themselves and hiding in the grass. The Viva Italia is sad and small (planted in a crappy pot) but bearing large, fleshy fruits. The Porter never took a break all summer and is still going crazy. Needless to say i've got plenty of fruit to choose from! (and will definitely be choosing to plant these varieties again)

A few of the tomatoes gettin' washed.

With great care i cleaned and picked through the 3 pounds of tomatoes i had - choosing only blemish- free fruits. I chopped  and cooked them until the darned water would come to a boil in my pressure canner (being used as a water bath canner). I swear it took that thing over 45 minutes to come to a boil.

*This brings to me a matter of water waste: in the future, i  should plan ahead to utilize the hot water necessary for canning for several batches of canned goods, not just the 5 little pints of tomatoes i ended up with. It took a lot of gas to get that cooker cooking, and water isn't an endless resource. I have started one habit that i should have long ago: saving the water from the sink. When cleaning my tomatoes i washed them over a large bowl which i emptied into a large bucket. I used this water to moisten my compost heaps and in the future will use it to water the garden. Folks like Susy over at Chiot's Run take that one step further and keep a bucket in the shower to capture wasted water, and have a nicely fitted tub in the sink to do the same. I've tried the bucket in the shower but couldn't figure out how not to trip over it and kill myself. Eventually I'd like to install a grey water system that catches all the safe water from the house and diverts it to the gardens or a holding tank for irrigation.

Anyhoo - I processed these 5 pints according to the directions for whole tomatoes, vs tomato sauce as i simmered them only 30 minutes or so. I wanted to be overly cautious than risky so i packed each pint with a quarter tsp citric acid and processed 35 minutes in a boiling water bath. I'm looking forward to using these tomatoes in the depths of winter (which i think it already is in other places) and hope to can another batch of roasted tomatoes from what's left on my vines if i can harvest them before the first freeze.

Do you can your tomatoes? Do you have a waste water catching system in place?

This post can also be found at Simple Lives Thursday.

Use Every Last Bit

I bought a chicken this weekend (a butchered one this time, though we were accosted by some heavy persuasion to purchase a young pullet on Saturday - we resisted). I was almost out of stock in the cupboard, so it was time to 'stock' up again. (har har har). Last stock was turkey - a nice rich golden color, this time around it was chicken - a yellower broth, but just as full of nutrition and goodness.

I boiled the chicken whole, after removing the breasts and thigh meat which i cooked up for dinner with some lovely roasted veggies and a white wine sauce. I simmered that bird along with a carrot, some celery, some malabar spinach, onions and garlic from the garden plus some salt, peppercorns, and bay leaves right off the tree. The aroma was mag nee feek! I simmered it all evening only turning the heat off when it was time for bed. I left the pot out over night and stuck it in the fridge in the am, skimming the fat once it hardened. By this late afternoon i seperated the bones and other bits out and brought the stock back up to a boil to condense down before canning. The meat and veg chunks were separated out in this way, allowing me to use up EVERY part of that bird:

Good meat for us - mixed up with some fresh, homemade mayo to be a delicious and decadent chicken salad.

Bones cleaned to dry (in my car) until brittle, at which point i'll grind them up to make bone meal for feeding the plants (Thanks, Susy at Chiot's Run for the brilliant idea of drying and grinding the bones!).

Nasty meat, questionable skin and fatty chunks, sad vegetable parts all go to the chooks. No, it is not gross, morbid, cannibalistic, or unhealthful for the chickens to eat cooked chicken. It may be DISTURBING,  but it's actually good for them. And they enjoy it. A LOT.

Belina says "This is delicious. Give me more. MORE."

So here i have 8 lovely pints of homemade chicken stock, plus 2 ice cube trays in the freezer. Not a bit of the bird was wasted, and everyone in the household from myself to my chickens to the plants in the garden will benefit from the nutrients taken from that fryer.

Do you clean your plate? Do you compost what you don't finish? What tips do you have for using up every last bit of something?

This post was also seen in Simple Lives Thursday - check it out!

Cooking and Canning Homemade Turkey stock - PART 2

I am brimming with satisfaction! But not without having first suffered some serious self-doubt and a few 'will my kitchen blow up' fears.

I love my pressure canner - but it is a little intimidating. A lot intimidating, actually. It's large, heavy, and could explode if i didn't treat it right. That being said, canning my gorgeous turkey stock went pretty well - but with a few impasses.

The stock cooked down delightfully - i simmered it for an extra long time and was rewarded with some golden gelatin. With the fat skimmed off, the stock is pure goodness: rich, thick, gelatinous goodness. Some of the health benefits of gelatin include:

• Gelatin appears to be beneficial to athletes for muscle growth and metabolism.
• Gelatin promotes a feeling of fullness.
• Gelatin helps maintain regularity
• Gelatin's high collagen protein content helps keep your skin smooth and firm. Many creams contain collagen to moisturize the skin but it is more effective when taken through food.
• Gelatin strengthens the hair, keeping it looking shiny and healthy.
• Gelatin is also excellent for the nails because it makes them stronger, so they do not break easily.
• Gelatin is excellent for your bones because of its high concentration of glycoprotein and proline amino acids. If you have a deficiency in both amino acids, you can have joint pain. When it is taken orally, it travels directly to your blood and from there; it goes to its destination, the connective tissue. By adding at least 10 grams of gelatin to your regular diet, your joints will quickly regenerate in case you overexert yourself.  -hubpages.com

I also remember reading in Nourishing Traditions about the benefits of gelatin in assisting in the absorption of more nutrients when eating food.

Enough about gelatin and more about my canner:   The first time i used it, i carefully followed every little instruction in my various canning books. This time i tried to remember on my own - but also referenced the books. I heated my jars in the dishwasher, i put about 2 inches of water in the canner and brought to a simmer. I simmered my lids for 10 minutes at least, and was careful to wipe the rims of the jars with vinegar to remove any grease that may have touched there. All went well - but i didn't wash the canner and its lid with soapy water - just wiped it and put on new petroleum jelly along the seal.

After filling all 6 (or 7?) pints, there was a little bit left - about 2 pints worth - which i froze. Next time I'll know that an absolutely full pan of stock is a little more than 6 pints and will cook it down further, or plan on freezing some.

A few minutes into processing, i noticed my lid wasn't on totally straight, freaked out, and turned off the heat to reposition the lid. Second time around the lid still wasn't on straight and water and steam started spurting out! Frightened me! I did some research but figured i would just risk depressurizing vs explosion so went ahead and continued processing. I had to dodge spitting hot steam while working on some other crafts, but i think everything went fine.  All but one of the jars sealed right away, and when i tested the seals that one jar was totally not sealed in the least - so i just poured it into ice cube trays to be frozen.

Next time i will be sure to wash the canner's lid better, and to be sure the layer of petroleum jelly is even. But aren't they pretty?:

Playing with hot metal explosive devices can be scary - but prudence and patience lead to success.

Do you have any scary kitchen stories?

Cooking and Canning Homemade Turkey stock - PART 1

I find it deeply satisfying to purchase a scant $7 of turkey necks and turn them, along with a few pieces of organic produce (both purchased and homegrown) into a big batch of stock, plus a meaty casserole or lunch meat salad. I use every tiny bit of usable food to feed my whole family: both the humans and the chickens. Yes, you can feed chickens poultry with zero fear of 'cross contamination' or anything else wierd. If it's edible for humans, it's edible for chickens. Pecking at bones is a great way for my bird daughters to 'bone up' (har har) on their calcium, and the grosser meat scraps are perfectly palatable for them.

So here's my stock:

• 2 packages turkey necks. I'd like to think they were responsibly grown, but i really don't know. Stock is one of those things i will buy 'slavery poultry' for, as i'm cheap out of necessity.
• 2 onions
• 5 or so fresh bay leaves from my lovely bay tree
• some salt and pepper
• a few gross cabbage leaves not worth eating in any other dish
• several celery stalks
• woops, i forgot to put garlic in there - oh well.

That's it - just throw those things in a pot, bring to a boil, cover and simmer ALL DAY stirring occasionally to break the meat off the bones.

I let the stock pot sit out all night - i always wonder the dangers of this. That definitely puts the food in the 'danger zone' (certain temperature parameters deemed unsafe by the food Lords of the USA) that could breed bacteria, but since i bring the stock back to a boil before eating it i figure we're okay.
The next morning i lift out the chunks into a colander or salad spinner - pour the liquid through a strainer into a smaller pot. I then (while wearing my apron) separate all the edible chunks of meat from the other gross slurry and save that in a pyrex for some other meaty dish.

Next, as i like to use EVERY LAST BIT OF GOODNESS, i pour very hot water over the gunk in the colander to get the last of the good juices and gelatin to pour out. I pour that through a strainer into the smaller pot which then goes into the fridge for the day.

The rinsed pile of onion/bone/fat/meat goo goes out to the compost heap to feed the delighted chooks (and hopefully not choke them to death) as well as quite a few mice and other nasty beasts i don't want to know visit my compost heap.

Once the fat has hardened, i skim it off and heat the stock back up in readiness to be canned.
So, there's the stock. Next up: Canning turkey stock.