Recently in Preservation Category

First of all you may be wondering what the heck is a crabapple. A crabapple is a wild or cultivated variety of tree that are relatives of apple trees but produce a small sour fruit.

The blossoms on the trees look like normal apples blossoms and they come in various shades of white and pink. I am partial to the pink flowering trees.

Up here in Virginia the crabapple trees are different from the crabapples trees I had in Georgia. My old crabapple tree (still standing today) was about 40 years old (maybe older when I was a kid) and is at least 80 years old now. It produces a white flower and looks like a wonderful snowball tree in spring when it is all in bloom. The fruit from this tree was yellowish skinned with white flesh and being about the size and shape of a golf ball. The bees and wasps and yellow jackets loved that tree in the late summer and fall. As a kid would pick the fruits and nibble at them. My mother would fuss and tell us we would get a 'belly ache' but we never did. She never made us jelly from those crab apples either. One year before we moved from the old house I did make a very small batch of jelly and it was devine.

The crabapples trees that are popular here in Virginia give a very small fruit. About the size of a cherry, in some cases smaller. People plant the trees for their lovely blossoms and shade but often turn up their noses at the fruit as if they can't be bothered with the lowly sour apple cousins. I have three crabapples. Two of them flank my path to the koi pond and one is deeply root on the far side of the pond. The two standing century produce a yellowish fruit and they ripen and soften quickly in spring and fall off. The other tree blooms in lovely pink flowers that soon give way to deep pink fruits that hang in clusters very much like cherries. They are ripening now on my tree and the color is gorgeous.

So what does Martha have to do with crabapples? Martha has something to do with everything it seems but this one is in particular a funny story. If you remember when Martha was a guest of the penal system in West Virginia she got in trouble for harvesting and making crabapple jelly for the other inmates. I think the warden was an ass about the whole thing and Martha was ever Martha by taking sour old crabapples and turning them into sweet jelly. You know that old line "When life hands you lemons?" try this one instead, "When life hands you crabapples - Make jelly." Martha did.

 So how does oe make jelly out of sour old crabapples? (Isn't that a great name for sour fruits? Crabapples!)

Crabapple jelly is very simple to make. Pretty much all jely is easy to make. Jelly is the thickened, sweetened, juice of the fruit. Jam is the thickened, sweetened juice and pulp from fruit. Both are easy and now days can be made nearly fool proof.

First - get yourself some small canning jars with bands and brand spanking new lids. Do NOT try to use old lids! Send the bands and the jars through the dishwasher to wash and dry on a high heat cycle. This sterilizes the jars for you. Don't open the dishwasher until you need the jars. If you do not have a dishwasher hand wash the jars in hot soapy water. Rinse well. Place in a pot of boiling water and let the boil until you need them. In a smaller pot of simmering water place the new lids that you have washed in it and leave them until you need them.

Second - Pick your crabapples. Wash them well, removing all stems and inspecting for damaged fruit. Place them in a stock pot and add just enough water to barely cover the top. Bring to a boil and simmer the fruits until soft.

For jelly - strain off the juice using a colander. Then strain that juice through muslin or cheesecloth to get the pure pulp free liquid. For every cup of liquid add 1 cup of sugar. Then add 1 extra cup of sugar -just in case. Put the mixture back into a clean pot making sure all of the sugar is dissolved before it comes to a boil. Boil for about 2 minutes. Stirring well add one box of pectin (Sure Jel is the brand I use). Continue stirring for about 2 minutes and remove from heat. If any foam has formed on the top spoon this off.

 For jam - strain off the juice using a colander. You will have juice and some pulp particles. For every cup of liquid and pulp add 1 cup of sugar. Then add 1 extra cup of sugar - just in case. Put the mixture back into a clean pot making sure all of the sugar is dissolved before it comes to a boil. Boil for about 2 minutes. Stirring well add one box of pectin (Sure Jel is the brand I use). Continue stirring for about 2 minutes and remove from heat. If any foam or scum has formed on the top spoon this off.

Third remove your jars from the dishwasher or your pot of boiling water. Make sure your hands are clean and do not grab the jars by the lip or let your fingers touch the inside. You want to them as sterile as possible.

Pour the jelly/jam into the jars leaving about one quarter inch of space  at the top of the jar. If the lip of the jar has any jelly/jam dripped on it use a clean hot cloth to wipe it clean.

Take one of your lids from the simmering water and place it on the jar making sure you do not handle the inner side. Remember clean clean clean is the key to good canning.

Place a band ring on the jar and screw it down tight.

I have seen many people take a jar and place it upside down and when it cools they turn the jars over and check for sealing.

PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS!

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

Not all things will seal properly. Even though the sugar content is high you could poison yourself or your family! If you can this way you are very lucky to have never gotten sick.

To properly can jelly/jam from sugared fruit:

In a large pot of boiling water place the jars right side up making sure there is about 2 inches of water over the tops of the jars. Boil for 15 minutes.

Remove jars. Place them on a clean towel on the counter top or table and allow them to cool naturally. You will hear the pop of the lids as they vacuum seal themselves.

Once the jars are completely cooled check to be sure each one is sealed. You can hold it up and look across the lid and see a small dimple. You can feel the slight dent in the lid.

If you do not see or feel the jar lid dimple it probably is not sealed properly. The lid is faulty and needs to be replaced. Remove the band and old lid. Heat a new lid. Make sure the lip of the jar is clean. Apply a new lid. Screw on the band tightly and process in boiling water again.

 Put your jelly/jam on a shelf and leave it sit for a few weeks. This aging lets the flavor develop. When I can in the summer I make the kids wait until late fall when the weather is cold before opening jelly/jam/preserves.

This process I have described above is often refered to as water bath canning. It is done only to very high acidic food stocks. It is used mostly for jam, jelly, preserves, marmaladies, etc - things with a very high sugar content because nothing can live and grow in that kind of environment. It is also used for things that are pickled. Nothing lives in vinegar very well either. Not everything can be canned in this manner.

NEVER TRY TO CAN GARLIC OR MEATS IN THIS MANNER.

Garlic, meats, and most vegetables must be canned using a pressure canner. It is the only way to be sure germs are killed inside the jar. A simple water bath process will not do the job. This is how people poison their families.

I don't want to put a damper on anyone's jelly/jam making. The process is easy and not dangerous at all. But I don't want anyone to think that this method can be used for anything and everything and something horrid happen simply because a novice did not know.

Go out and buy yourself the Ball Blue Book for canning. It has tons of recipes and the processes for canning almost any kind of food you can imagine.

If your budget is short or you are very frugal call your local extension office (you know, the people who sponsor 4H for kids). They have tons of information printed that you can have for free. They are being paid with your hard earned tax dollars so put them to work for you.

If you happen to run across an old pressure canner at a yard sale or estate sale. Grab it up and take it home. You just saved yourself about two hundred dollars. The county extension office also is able to test the pressure on your canner and set it properly for you. Or point you in the direction of purchasing a new seal or pressure gage. I love my pressure cooker and canner. I use them all the time.

Happy canning!

You might remember back when I was pregnant (almost 2 yrs ago!) I got busy and painted the upstairs bathroom so that it would be nice when my mother came for a visit. All these months later I had been biding my time, absolutely sure the furnishings I really wanted would fall into my hands. A couple of months ago we went to an estate auction. An older gentleman was selling off everything in his outbuildings. Some of it had been around since his grandfather was a boy. Some of it had been collected over the years and then cast aside. Up for auction came this old beat up bureau that had been in an open barn for over 20 years. I was once deep dark almost black in its finish but now was so weather worn that it was greyish white. I knew that piece of furniture. It most definitely was not a bureau. I was a buffet to a long forgotten dining set otherwise called a sideboard. I knew this because I have one almost exactly like it, twice as big, inherited from my stepfathers estate. The large buffet is in my bathroom used as a dressing table and linen storage. I knew that removing the top piece with the small mirror it would fit perfectly in the upstairs bathroom. I really wanted it. Someone else bid on it but at $50 they quit and I won. It has been sitting upstairs for about two months aclimating itself to the temperature and humidity of our house. Look at the grain of that wood!Wednesday night I set about cleaning and began oiling it. Colby was mad to the point of tears that I was putting that "nasty old thing" in their bathroom. I told her to get over it. When she paid the mortgage she could decorate the house. She got madder. Stomped and huffed. Told me how it was too big to fit in the door. It was too big for the room. It was disgusting and ugly. I ignored her. Put it in place. Rearranged the linen storage and all of the upstairs toiletries. It is not too big!I think it looks pefect in there. It is the look I wanted to achieve. It certainly sets off the clawfoot tub. The only thing left that I would like to do in this room is to have hardwood floors put in - but they have to match my existing pine floors and to have crown molding put up. I have some glass shelves I am going to have Steve put up tonight tomorrow night. Matching pink soap!Heaven help me. He will certainly gripe about it. The flower arrangement is there to help take the eye away from the pipes that come up from the floor. The type of tubs I have the pipes are exposed and do not run inside the walls. Colby now loves the look. I knew she would.

I did! What I had planned to do before my mother came at Christmas has been done in this past month. I painted the baseboards and the window frames in my kitchen. Finally! Sometimes I cook on the woodstove. Why waste electricity?
Look at those pretty white baseboards! Not only did I do the painting but I have managed to also complete one set of curtains for my windows. See the unpainted things that never got painted at Christmas?
Looky there! Curtains! These curtains are a project I have worried over for almost two years. Yes, two entire years. I flipped flopped on the curtain/no curtain issue many times not wanting to put up a curtain that would close in the room and block out the wonderful sunlight this room gets all day long. I purchased this fabric online a month or two after we moved into this house. It was always earmarked for curtains. Either in my kitchen or my bedroom. The kitchen won. It is a great toile print of a barnyard scene with an old red bard and rooster. Although I had ordered 10 yards of the fabric there was not enough for two windows of this size and the smaller window at the end of the kitchen. Nice. Because this print is out of stock. It is a two year old print that has long been gone. I have wanted in some way to have gingham in the kitchen but I didn't want to go overboard and look like a barn dance in here. So I thought about it alot. I looked through thousands of patterns for curtains and draperies. It wasn't until recently that I was inspired by a designer kitchen advertisement to make the curtains you now see. Not too much gingham. The perfect matching crimson. Nice fabric for draperies. The first set I made I lined them. The lining blocked out too much of the sunlight. I do not want this kitchen to be dim. I like it flooded in natural sunlight. So I ripped out the lining and remade the curtains without it. I like the look of the yellow walls, red accents and white trim in this room. The appliances are stainless steel with black trim. I have begun to add black and cast iron things to the room to flesh it out. The heavy black cast iron is a great contrast to the more feminine white ceramic pieces and china in the room. I never planned to paint those cabinets white. It was sort of a last chance to have a nice looking kitchen without the expense of new cabinets. These are just too good of shape to toss for the sake of cosmetic wants. I never planned to paint the walls yellow. I never had a color in mind but yellow just wasn't one of my choices. One day I saw a yellow cloth given as a gift in something when Steven was born. My brain said paint the kitchen that color. And so we did. Last July. The black granite of the countertops was simply what was available without a special order. The price was right. The white cabinets and black countertops deemed the black hardware the wiser choice. I chose them online based solely on price. I think they work. With the brick red floors I already had a lot of red accents. The rugs and towels, the wall plates, the roosters and painted sign. As things began to come together I realized the little sofa was red with yellow(ish) and black plaid stripes. It just works without any conscious effort on my part. Eveything is really beginning to come together after alot of hard work. I am really beginning to see and feel the room as a part of the house and not as an addition without much thought to the rest of the house. This has been a long time in coming. I started painting the cabinets (3 coats of primer 2 coats of paint) and continued on when Steven was just a newborn. I have progressed over the past year slowly. Very slow. My infant grew into a giggly baby and then into a busy toddler and now a non-stop very active little boy. Meaning it took me this long because instead of painting from the bottom up I painted from the top down. Little people under three feet tall do not listen to you when you tell them not to touch the wet paint on the baseboards. I suppose you already knew that. I should have. Speaking of which ... Steven, 14 months old His smile pretty much says it all.

Those rains we had last month? Did more damage than we thought. This is what my dining room ceiling looks like this morning. This is part of the original house. Lathe and plaster ceiling. Very cool. This baby has been doing this since we came back from Georgia. He turned 8 months over the weekend. I suspect he may be walking before the month is out. He is very brave and lets go without having his balance. He is very cool, also. I am not so sure I am ready for him to grow up so fast but I am excited to be in his presence and able to witness every single one of his success to date. I pray I am always blessed to do so.

I had a bit of a meltdown last week. I was upset, crying and could not be consoled in any way, shape or form. You see, I was all set to tell you all about my Native American heritage while showing you some photos of my babies as newborns so that you can see that they do indeed favor me. However, as I looked for my photos from Colby's birth I became agitated. They were not to be found. Anywhere. I have come to the heartwrenching conclusion that when my Ex took some things from my house shortly after or during our divorce he managed to get those along with some papers, my engagement ring and some other small things I had saved and put away for my girls. What would seem bleak, the loss of the only birth photos of my child born almost 19 years ago, is not so bleak. I called my mother crying and upset. Like most mommas do she managed to calm me down and sooth my hurt. My mother has copies of all my photos and then some. All is not lost. She is sending me negatives and photos, the world has been set to rights and life is again good. In the aftermath this set me to another minor crisis. I began to obsess about the VHS tape I have of Colby as an infant. A tape that will date in just about 2 months as 19 years old. 19 years old! How long do VHS tapes and images last before they begin to breakdown, the images fade or the integrity of the tape itself falter and break? Exactly! I don't know either!! So I got all upset (again!) and began a misson Friday morning to hunt out and claim for myself the technology to preserve the only tape in existance of my child as an infant almost 19 years ago. Now you might suggest that I send this tape off or take it to a studio and have it copied. You might, and that would be good. But, knowing the only images of your first born is on that tape (and it is the only tape!) would you hand it off to strangers without being worried sick over something happening to it out of your control and all being lost for eternity? I thought not, too. After much research, talking to sales people, hunting down the product, I made this purchase. The set up was simple (almost too simple). In a matter of a few minutes, connecting an rca cable, and pressing a button, the only VHS tape of infant Colby was transferred to DVD. All VHS tapes will now be copied over to DVD. Everything will be archived, a copy placed in the safe deposit box and I will rest and get over this obsessive behavior. In other news, I am off to the pediatrician this morning. It is time for the baby to have his vaccination. Ugh! I hate the neccesary evil of immunizations. I am prepared with infant tylenol drops and hoping he won't have a rough time with it. Colby and Gracie would run a fever and be cranky for a couple days after their shots and I do dread that whiney fussiness and hope it doesn't inflict itself upon him. Meanwhile you get the anticipation of seeing him in his little sailor suit later. When he is bathed and dressed and ready to go I plan to photograph him in his going-to-the-doctor-dudds because this little man is far too cute not too. Do I sound like a doting mother? Because. I. Am.