Pantry prepping - canning ground beef

Yesterday, a trip to Walmart gave me a sticker shock. I was going to purchase a pack of 85/15 ground beef. I did not. Instead, I stopped at our local grocery and got it two dollars cheaper per pound. When a local store can undercut Walmart, I begin to think we may be in trouble. 

I bought thirteen pounds of 85/15 for $56.00. The same amount at Walmart would cost $71.00. 

What did I do with all that ground chuck? I pressure canned it. My Presto canner will hold sixteen wide-mouth pint jars. That's almost a pound a jar of shelf-stable meat in my pantry. I probably could have forced more into fewer jars, but I stuck to the amount of beef we typically use for spaghetti sauce. That's a good measure for us. Yours may be different. 

The National Center for Home Food Preservation gives instructions on how to safely can meats. If you want to can ANYTHING, that should be one of your "go-to" resources, along with the Ball book I've mentioned several times. Read and learn about the process so you do it correctly.

I even broke out the Ball lids for this project. I like the Tattler lids, but this was meat and I didn't want to risk operator error. 

I must confess I never thought I'd can any sort of meat, but times have changed. Inflation is running wild and all any of us can do is purchase wisely and practice whatever measures we feel necessary to save what we can. 

Will I go get more ground beef to can another batch? Not this weekend. Now I'll be on the watch for sales and then can another batch. 

Eat tomorrow at today's prices. Yep. That sounds like a good plan.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Cowboy Candy - I've waited a year to make this!

I can put the blame on YouTube for my addiction to Cowboy Candy. It wasn't until I watched an episode of Living Traditions Homestead that I even heard about Cowboy Candy. I made a batch and it was down the rabbit hole from there. I processed several batches and enjoyed it over the long, cold winter. 

Cowboy Candy is great when mixed with cream cheese. I drain off the syrup, chop up the peppers, and mix. Crackers or raw veggies, the resulting spread packs just the right amount of punch to satisfy a snack craving. 

Earlier this year I started jalapeno peppers from seed and the result is that I have thirty-three plants all producing peppers. I anticipate being able to process multiple batches from my own garden. I'd like to make salsa, but we'll have to see how that goes. 

If you'd like to know a little more about Cowboy Candy and how I do it, check out my page here.  I do it about ninety percent by the Ball book, and about ten percent "rebel." 

Here's where I tell you to never go "rebel." The instructions to process food are in place for a reason, like so you don't die of botulism. My "rebel" is simply cooking the peppers a tad longer than required. 

Having home-canned food in the pantry is about more than just being prepared. It's about making some really tasty foods to enjoy. It's about preservative-free food and opening a jar of soup and having dinner ready in five minutes. It's worth a little bit of planning and a couple of hours here and there for a more varied menu. 

It definitely works for us. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor
 

Cherry jelly - first time making

Growing up country, having a cherry tree was not a big deal. My grandfather had several "wild" cherry trees that produced cherries growing in odd locations. Not every "wild" cherry bears fruit, so having several was quite a boon for my family. 

These trees produced an abundance of fruit, but the cherries were small. It took a lot of work to harvest enough fruit for everything my grandmother wanted to "put up," but it was worth it. I haven't had cherry jelly since she stopped canning. And I do mean jelly, not jam. She strained the pulp and used the clear juice. 

When I was making grape jelly a few short days ago, I saw that the Sure-Jell insert had the formula for cherry jelly. I finally had the chance to make a stop at the local fruit stand and brought home about four pounds of fruit, enough for one batch of jelly. 

Making the jelly was much the same as making the grape jelly. The cherries are cleaned then heated to release the juices. Being that I was making jelly and not jam, I didn't need to pit the cherries before heating them. My grandmother was no one's fool. She knew how to streamline the work and I learned from her. 

Once the cherries were hot, I used a potato masher to mash them. Then I added a splash of lemon juice to preserve the color, ladled the hot pulp into a jelly bag so the juice could strain out, and went on about my other chores. Several hours later I had three and a half cups of juice - just the correct amount for the Sure-Jell formula. 

The juice was transferred to a large pot and reheated, the pectin added, and the mixture brought to a roiling boil. After a minute, the entire four cups of sugar were added all at once while constantly stirring the mix. Yes, you have to have the sugar measured and ready to go in all at once. It's important to do it that way. 

After the sugar is added and the mixture is at a roiling boil again, set a timer for one minute and keep stirring until the timer goes off. Then remove the pot from the heat and jar the VERY HOT liquid. Process in a water bath according to your altitude. 

Just like with the grape jelly, I used the Tattler reusable lids. Tattler lids are made in the USA and last for years. 

I'm pleased with the results. There was just a little bit of jelly left in the pot that I scraped out and tasted. I think we'll really enjoy the cherry jelly next winter. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Acquaintances and grape jelly

Yesterday, I decided to make a run through the Walmart grocery store to stock up on a few things and obtain an out-of-season produce item. The Lord of the Manor needed... okay he didn't NEED grape jelly, but he wanted it. I knew my local grocery didn't have Concord grapes, but a quick online check said Walmart did. We do prefer to buy locally, but asking him to wait until fall for his next peanut butter and jelly sandwich would have made a grown man whimper.  

So I'm roaming the aisles at Walmart and encounter an acquaintance. Upon learning I'm on vacation and looking forward to retirement, the old gal dissed me. SHE is never going to retire. SHE likes working (i.e. living under the rule of another). SHE will never "bother" with a garden as long as she can shop at Walmart. 

Well, excuse ME! 

I have two takeaways from that meeting. One, don't shop at Walmart at 9:00am on a Friday because she may be there, and two, I'm not the crazy one. 

I was happy to get home, restock the pantry, and make a batch of grape jelly with no additives or preservatives. I followed the Sure-Jel recipe and the jelly set as it cooled. Sure-Jel has never failed if I've used their formula. I do need to get a canister of pectin for "rebel" recipes, though. 

It wasn't until I lined up the jars I'm putting in the pantry for a picture that I realized I'd lined them up like bowling pins. Subliminal? Yep.

The lids I used are the Tattler lids. Tattlers are reusable lids made in the USA. I like the idea that they can be used over and over for as long as the gasket is okay. If the gaskets start to wear out, you can purchase a bag of them separately. Tattler lids seal just as well as regular one-use metal lids. The initial investment sounds like a lot - $11.00 for a dozen lids and gaskets, but it's a one-time outlay of cash. Metal lids that are used once and discarded, which can't be found in any store around here in June of 2021, need to be purchased time after time. It just makes sense to me to buy a few boxes of Tattlers as I go along. 

The day awaits. We have a market not too far away called Ivy Hill Farm. We're coming up on cherry season and I happen to like cherry jelly. Maybe I can convince the Lord of the Manor to take a little drive today if they have some available. It may be time to order another box or two of lids. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Canning "homemade" chili

Observing my grandmother as she home-canned food was one thing. Doing it myself is something altogether different. Mam made it look so easy - and it is, up to a point. I never appreciated the time that goes in to stocking the pantry with a variety of homemade foods, but I know it's worth every minute spent.

Mam used to pressure can venison. That's not something I'm likely to do unless the world keeps going the way it is and we can't purchase beef. At that point, the small herd of deer that passes through the manor every day on their way to the creek might be at risk, but that's another story. Today's story is about canning homemade chili, or chili con carne if you insist. 

Our chili is homemade only in that we open the store-bought cans at home. We start by browning two pounds of lean ground beef and then draining and rinsing it before dumping it in the pot. Then we add beans - kidney beans, black beans, and white beans (cannellini or great northern). After that, in goes diced tomatoes, one can of cream of tomato soup, and lately, a can of chili starter. Seasonings to taste follows as the chili warms.  As you can tell from the picture, I'm not brand specific. I look for bonus buys and advantageous bulk buys on canned goods. 

Into the stockpot it all goes until everything is heated through. Since this batch was to be processed, I didn't allow it to simmer for hours. Once in the jars, it needs to be pressure canned for ninety minutes and I think precludes the need for simmering. 

I ended up with enough chili to fill six one-quart jars, so I added a jar of water to fill up the canner. This becomes a jar of sterilized water which is handy to have for first aid or water-quality failures. Think about that one. You'll note I used a Tattler lid on the jar of water. 

Canning a batch of chili was a labor-intensive process, but well worth it. I'll do it again once this batch has been consumed. I won't tell you how to do it. I recommend you go to the food preservation website and read the information on canning meat found there.

What I will tell you is that I continue to be in awe of my maternal grandmother. She taught me so much without me ever realizing I was getting a lesson. Sometimes I'm sad I have no one to whom I can pass on her knowledge, but that's the way it is. I have no connection to the future, only the past. Which makes my life a rosy place to dwell.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Vegetable soup ala the Ball Book

Vegetable soup is a staple in the country pantry. In my grandmother's house, leftover veggies were never discarded. Dropped into the massive chest freezer in the "old kitchen" and forgotten, yes. But tossed out - never. Every fall Mam would dig all the leftover bits of vegetables out of the freezer and make a huge vat of vegetable soup to can. I can't speak for other family members, but I always thought it was pretty cool to come from work and open my mailbox to find a quart of home-canned soup waiting for me. 

I've made a lot of vegetable soup in my life but I've always frozen it. Until recently, I didn't own a pressure canner. Having worked outside the home since I was sixteen, I needed to take the quick route to get food into the pantry and that's freezing it. My time is spent differently now and my priorities have settled more on a home-based lifestyle. 

The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving and Canning is an invaluable resource. I do wish I'd gotten the spiral-bound version, though. I'm not in the affiliate program so don't be afraid to click the link to Amazon and check it out. It has recipes and canning times for a lot of foods. If one is going to can, one should READ the book and learn. 

Yesterday was the day I decided to make vegetable soup. I used the Ball Book recipe as my guide, but I did add a few extras. I had a beef shoulder that I cooked in the Instant Pot and shredded to add to the soup. I also dumped in a twelve-ounce can of V8 juice to pump up the flavor. Same with the four cubes of beef bouillon I tossed into the mix. The soup was a great way to use up quite a few little baggies of leftover veggies. 

The soup made and into the jars, the canning process took a couple of hours. The canner has to come up to pressure in a particular order, then process at the correct pressure for ninety minutes (for this soup), and then bleed off pressure slowly. I ended up with seven quarts of soup, which is what my canner holds for one processing. I used one wide-mouth jar with a Tattler lid and six regular jars with the standard Ball lids. All six of the Ball lids have sealed and I'll find out about the Tattler lid after twenty-four hours are up and I can remove the ring. The was no siphoning from any of the jars so I'm pretty sure the Tattler sealed, too. 

It was a good day's work. I had time to take Deuce on a walk while the soup simmered. I also finished the powdered spinach and tossed a load of laundry in the washer, not to mention composing three blogs. Yes, there is always something to do here at the manor, and I love it. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Lemon Drop Jelly -this is getting out of hand

 Today was another one of those days when I "worked at home" for the day job. I actually did get a few things done and I kept up on emails, so that was all to the good. I also did a load of laundry, took the dog for a windy - and short - walk, and I made a small batch of Lemon Drop Jelly. (Page 77 in one of the Ball books.) I also used the Tattler lids again. I think they're perfect for these types of projects. 

I like lemon, but Himself does not, so I halved everything but the pectin in the recipe. I'm quite sure that jelly is well set. 

I don't plan to make an abundance of jelly. Jellies and jams are high in sugar, ergo carbs, and we're trying to limit our carb consumption. I did invest in a jelly bag, something they didn't have when I was a girl first learning how to make jelly. My great-grandmother used a clean feed sack as a jelly bag. Of course, when she was making jelly it was a large batch requiring more than two cups of juice.

Seeing my pantry shelves filled with jars of homemade food is very satisfying. It feels proactive and productive to know we can weather a few storms. Not that we've had enough snow this winter to worry us, but you never know.

Some dark, snowy night Himself might decide the only thing between him and total starvation is an English muffin with cream cheese and lemon jelly. 

Nope. Never happen. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor

Caramel Apple Jam

 Now more than ever before I'm excited to try new things within the scope of a home-based lifestyle. Making jams and jelly, canning, dehydrating, making powders - none of it is anything new, but I've not had the time to practice such arts. Now I do. 

Yesterday, I made Caramel Apple Jam. I saw the recipe on YouTube and it looked both easy and delicious. I should have taken photos of each step, but suffice it to say our house was in disarray. Himself chose the same time I did for a project, that being cleaning out the cabinet dedicated to his "stuff."

I found this to be a simple recipe.

6 cups diced apples (I shredded mine and so doubled the pectin)

1/2 cup water

1 package of powdered pectin

2.5 cups white sugar

2.5 cups brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Prepare jars. (Ask Google if you don't know how to do this.)
Prepare the apples, add to a large pot, add the water. 
Bring to a hard boil, then add the pectin. Stir until well incorporated.
Add sugar and spices, and bring to a hard rolling boil.
Maintain the hard rolling boil for a full minute. 
Remove from heat and jar. 
Process jars in a water bath for ten minutes.

This is not a how-to. I'm not going into the specifics of canning. You can find instructions everywhere, although I suggest the National Center for Home Food Preservation.  

The major new thing with this batch of jam was that I used Tattler canning lids for the first time. They've been around for decades, but I only recently learned about them. I like the idea they can be used up to ten times, unlike the standard Ball lids which are to be used once and discarded. Also, using them for jams and jellies isn't much of a risk. If a seal would happen to fail, I wouldn't lose much product. I will stick with Ball for soups, pickles, tomato products - anything in a large jar. 

So now I have twelve little four-ounce jars of jam good for on toast, pancakes, or even vanilla ice cream. It was a good morning's work!

I may try Lemon Drop Jelly next even though Himself gives anything lemon a thumbs down. It sounds good to me.

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor