If you are canning jelly on your own then you are familiar with pectin. It is necessary to get the "set" in your jelly. However, you might not know any more about it. That's where I was until just a few days ago. I had no clue where pectin came … [Read more...]
Pantry Lessons From the Great Depression
Everyone is familiar to some extent with the Great Depression but if you know anyone who lived through the Great Depression and you listened to their stories they can be scary and chalk full of wisdom all at the same time. Black Friday is a lesson on preparedness that so … [Read more...]
Crab Apples: Butter and Jelly, Who Knew?
Along with the mustang grapevines we found on the property, we noticed that one of them was climbing through a large crab apple tree. I was told as a kid that crab apples taste bad if eaten off the tree (and they do because of course as a kid when you are told you shouldn't … [Read more...]
Mustang Grape Jelly
Mustang grape jelly was our first attempt at canning, jelly, or wild foraging. And success couldn't taste sweeter. About a month ago I was out mowing the back pasture and noticed that all the vines that I had seen growing on the trees and fence lines since we … [Read more...]
Dry Good Storage
Ok, ok. I admit I jumped the gun on the oven canning idea. I did not state that it was safe for use in anything other than storage of dry goods and that was just my fault for not stating my case better. But I did later find out that it is not safe for the jars because they can … [Read more...]