Wordful Wednesday

Aren't those jars of applesauce pretty?

I have a new addiction. It is canning. This is the first year Jon and I have tried it. It was actually his idea as well. And now we love it. We have a cupboard full of canned products from this summer. The ones we have tried are pickles, strawberry jam, blueberry jam, tomatoes, peaches, andapplesauce

I want to try canning pumpkin this fall but I am waiting for pumpkins to go on sale. They are not at their lowest price yet, but with both Halloween and Thanksgiving coming up I expect the prices to fall soon.

I always freeze produce but I have found canning, while more time consuming, to be preferable to freezing. The main reason is space. I can always find shelf (or floor) space for the jars. Freezer space is a limited commodity. I do still freeze many things, but I think next year I will try canning more of my vegetables like beans and corn if I can.

I had a lot of fun canning this summer and I plan to do it again next year. We bought our canning set from Target and we chose a very inexpensive model. It works great and I have no regrets. I will admit it cost more to can than I thought originally, but part of that is because we had no jars. Now we have jars (most were bought but Jon's mom also brought us a box once she learned we were canning) and in future years will only need rings and seals, which are inexpensive. Now I have fruits and veggies that were picked fresh and canned without all the extra preservatives that many of store items come with.

What are your favorite recipes to can? What is the one thing I really have to try for next year?