Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Large Family Canning

Every year 
autumn arrives bringing with it loads of tantalizing fruits
 which when home canned,
 bring their wonderful wholesome flavor to the table all winter.


I remember canning as a child with my mom and my grandparents.  
Every year the grands would fill their capacious car with peaches, pears and apples 
then drive across state  to our house.  
They would help in all the canning, then go home. 
 Their gift of love to our family was a gift that would last for months and months,
 the memories made, will last always.
 No one could peel an apple like grandpa Clyde.  
With the ever present twinkle in his eye,
 he would peel each and every apple all in one string of peel. 
 I watched in wide eyed wonder, always amazed.


Now Grammy and Bethany peel peaches my dad brought across state,
  for another season of multi generational canning. 
Rose and I  listen as Grammy tells of her adventures growing up  on a farm 
with 60 milk cows 
and a thousand laying hens.  
Bethany listens wide eyed, peeling and peeling 
while I fill jars and set them in the canner.  
She will remember these days canning with Grammy 
just as fondly as I remember canning with my grands.
  Good company 
and a big, big stove make the processing go quickly.  


I am very thankful, 
especially when putting food by in large quantity,
 for my commercial Wolf stove. 
 With 6 big burners, we can keep two canners going 
and still have plenty or room for the other big pots for fruit.
 The stove is one of those "God things" which a friend saw on Craig's List and contacted us about, 
and we then purchased for the same price as an average new stove.
Such a blessing!


There is more and more caning to be done, 
for we have foraged apples and plums again this year,
 finding apple trees loaded with juicy, sweet, and large fruit, 
and plum trees
 though not so abundant this year, still provided three box fulls. 

Many hands make light work indeed. 
 Rose, Joe, Jim, Ben and Bethany worked alongside me all day in the kitchen
 making apple sauce and the coveted plum sauce we discovered last year. 
 We listened to worship music 
and tried to encourage Gabe and Olivia to not help
(smile)

 102 quarts is a good days work, 
done just in time to clean up and start dinner.







5 comments:

  1. I love canning. I too grew up with my grandparents canning with us....still memories I treasure. My cabinets are full this year with God's blessing!

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  2. Please share how you make plum sauce. Is it sweet like apple sauce or for use in asian cooking? I'm curious. Thanks so much.

    kaupp(at)grid(dot)com

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  3. Julianne,

    One hundred and two quarts....wow! What a day you had and so many wonderful helpers is truly a blessing. I'm so happy that you have so much good applesauce stored up for winter.

    And I love all the "God-things" as you call them. I like to think we're like the Isrealites who built monuments to remember when God answered their prayers. What a blessing to give your children such a rich heritage.

    Blessings,
    Kim


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  4. Kathy,
    we make plum sauce just the same as applesauce but without the cinnamon. our family loves it, and so have our guests.
    blessings
    Julianne

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love making applesauce every year. I make as much of it as I can afford. :) I'm now inspired to can it. Love your food mill, by the way!

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Your comments and input are very much appreciate
- Blessings!
Julianne

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