I Can, You Can, We All Can Can

When I got the title of this guest blog I just couldn’t resist!   Just typing the can-can line made me smile!  Sarah is a mommy of 3 little ones and  wrote a guest blog on the virtues of canning.   She writes…

 “Have you noticed how inexpensive apples are lately?  Fall fruit is getting ready to go into full swing!  Why not preserve this fall’s bounty with a little project at home?  Canning and freezing fall fruit is an easy way to teach your children about eating in season and allows your family to eat seasonally (and inexpensively) year round.  My five-year old knows that we when we run out of my canned applesauce, we don’t have more because it’s not apple season.  She will be the first one out into the orchard this fall.

If you are up for canning, I recommend the website PickYourOwn.org.  This gives detailed information about the tools you need, the ratios of fruit to jars, and basically everything you need to know about canning.  You could also pick up the Ball Blue Book of Preserving from any of your favorite booksellers.  These resources will have you canning like a pro in no time.  I buy organically grown pears from my CSA for around 80 cents a pound, can them in the lightest syrup possible, and end up with a nutritious product that is also a great deal.  We pick apples from a local orchard and I buy bushels of seconds, meant for baking.  I put my crock pot to use and make batches of applesauce; our family favorite recipe involves a little brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  The main challenge is having enough to can and to eat.If you are more the freezer friendly type, you can easily preserve this fall’s bounty.  The best way, in my opinion, to freeze apples is in cobbler or crisp filling portions.  Prepare the fruit the way your favorite cobbler or crisp recipe recommends and then freeze in gallon bags, flattening out to remove all air bubbles and make for easy storage in your freezer.   Usually, when I am making one cobbler, I cut enough fruit for two and freeze one set.  It saves time and money.

Have fun preserving the best fruits the fall has to offer!”

P.S. Thanks Sarah for the great idea!  I had friends that were looking into going to Julian to pick apples.  Click here to see  the list of orchards.   What a fun family activity…