TUNA:
A few weeks ago Tall D and his friend G had bought some major pounds of tuna from G's dad. They'd set half the tuna out to thaw in the fridge prior to the arrival of the bad news...and so on Saturday night their other apt mate J had texted G and I to make sure the tuna got canned on Sunday. Tall D must have been on the same wavelength anyway and G's mom was in town so it turned into a canning party. The guys made lots of experimental half-pints, we labeled everything, and had it canned by early evening....and I learned a lot about canning in the process of being allowed to help. While the tuna is theirs, it was still fun being a part of the process, learning, and I'm being rewarded with a few jars too...
Tuna Slabs waiting to be stuffed in jars
Double row stack of jars in the canner--three canning sessions
PEARS:
Yesterday evening I got the canner back so I could finally do something with that box of pears from my aunt (FREE!) and to hopefully do something with the box of apples I bought with my cousin last Thursday (20lbs: $12). The whole process of the pears took longer than I expected, although the second round went easier as I had a better idea of what I was doing. I decided to make pear butter as the pears varied in sizes and ripeness...and that way I could throw it all in and boil it down. Both tastes and smells delicious btw!
Pears in box
Simmering down after peeling
Finished product: 8 pints of pear butter
I didn't get to the box of apples today...so they've taken the place of the pears in the fridge until I can get to them on Thursday or Friday. I see apple butter making in my future...but hopefully I've got this canning thing down now! (Many thanks to Tall D for checking in and answering extra questions about processing this evening!) And I might even do something with the tomatoes....
Now to think up some great uses for all this pear butter......gifts, but also tonight I thought about pecan waffles covered in pear butter and maybe some sliced up bananas--YUM! :)
Are you using a pressure canner?! Goodness, I am not that brave. Of course, I mainly can acidic things like tomatoes and fruit. Canning your own tuna, that is pretty incredible though :-) I seal all of my stuff in a canner, but sometimes I get lazy and just throw the applesauce in the freezer, it freezes great - just make sure you leave at least an inch of head space and wait until it cools before you put it in the freezer.
ReplyDeleteI think pear butter on oatmeal, on muffins, on homemade bread, and pancakes or waffles are all great uses ;-) I made pumpkin butter a couple years ago and through it in with my basic muffin recipe for pumpkin muffins, so maybe you could do the same with the pear butter.
Heather--yes! Why do you think I've been afraid I'd blow the place up?! :) But it turned out again. The blueberry jam I did earlier this summer was freezer jam--it's been the way I've done a lot of stuff--so many less steps. I seriously almost broke into the pear butter already tonight after reading all your suggestions. Yum!
DeleteHa - when I saw this post title I thought GROSS because I thought you were combining the two! Ha! Thank Goodness i was wrong. ;)
ReplyDeleteHa--I figured it would come across that way at first! :)
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