Can You Can? Yes I can

Have you ever given canning a try? I started canning a few years back, each year I try to add a new fruit or vegetable to my canning skills, this year it was strawberries. We had home made freshly canned strawberry jam for breakfast this morning and it was a hit!! My hubby is a Welch's Grape Jelly man all the way so I was really surprised when he said "Wow this is great, hope you made plenty" WooHoo!! Funny he didn't notice the 30 jars setting on the counter waiting to find a home in the pantry!

Needless to say I will be doing a layout on my 14 hour day with strawberries to put in my own scrapbook, all about me/what I love/what I do.

A friend and I took off early Saturday morning and hit our local pick your own farm, we do have our own strawberries but with the birds and squirrels we only end up with a handful of berries each year. Here is a tip on strawberry pickin, don't eat a huge breakfast with a big old slab of country ham before you go to the berry patch, it makes bending over or squatting much more difficult.

Have all your equipment ready to go when you return home, I was all set, jars and lids washed, utensils all lined up and canner in place just waiting for the bounty. I was rocking along cleaning berries, cutting, smashing, and mixing. Of course I was covered in red splashes of berries when I realized I was 5 cups short of sugar, no problem I will just run to the grocery store right around the corner. It was a really hot day here yesterday over 80 and I am to cheap to turn on the air conditioner yet so along with my berry stained shirt I had slipped on an old ratty pair of shorts, and was wearing my garden shoes (pink crocks, ugly as all get out) I should never have gone to the mail box in my get up let lone go to the store but it was just to hot to change clothes. I thought I was gonna make it unnoticed until as I was leaving the store the manager ask me if I was butchering my own cows these days? Did you know berry juice looks just like blood splashed all over you clothes?

Needless to say it was a very long hot day but we now have 30 jars of strawberry jam in the pantry along with 14 quarts of berries in the freezer for next winters strawberry bread. I still need to put up another 20 or 30 quarts of strawberries in the freezer for smoothies and other baking this winter but the hard part is done!! Now on to asparagus