From The Canning Kitchen

Monday afternoon we were blessed with an ice chest full and large bucket full of canning pears from our dear sweet friends, Mrs. I and Miss. J. Thank you both so much for thinking of us & for sharing your bountiful harvest with us. So this week will be spent making pear honey, spiced pear preserves and maybe a bit of pear chutney. What a grand blessing this is to have. I am so excited.

This morning I worked up a batch of pear honey (16 - 1/2 pint jars to be exact.) Let me tell you, if you have never tried it, you are certainly missing out. It's such a great condiment to have for biscuits, pancakes, toast and of course those peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. It can also be used to glaze and bake chicken or pork. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

It just makes me feel so accomplished when I can open the pantry doors and see all the fruits of labor from this years garden just waiting to be used. The art of home canning doesn't just end at the canning pot, it continues in it's glory on the shelves and then in our meals. Whatever I can get my hands on, I have canned up for the fall and winter time. The pantry has certainly begun to fill up nicely. It will be so nice on those cold, dreary days to be able to shop at home and not have to go out to the market as often.

Homemade stocks (chicken, pork, turkey, beef)


Jellies & preserves
(corn cob, pear honey, fig, strawberry, plum, etc.)


Pickles (bread & butter, sweet hot), jalapenos,
stewed tomatoes, relish, dried sage from our garden

Homemade rotel, more relish, zucchini, pasta sauce,
Italian seasoned tomatoes, giardiniera (Italian style pickled vegetables)