Canning with Carrie

I have always felt like a crappy Mormon woman because I don't know how to do a lot of the domestic basics, like can. Carrie, on the other hand, is an incredible homemaker and an expert canner. A couple weeks ago we went apple picking at the Masonic Village and got tons of apples and really unique looking pumpkins and gourds. With my crazy work schedule we finally got around to canning applesauce yesterday and I couldn't believe how easy it was. It is rather time consuming though, but went much faster and was much more enjoyable with a good friend.



Since we didn't have a nifty applesauce maker we started out by pealing and de-coring all the apples. Then we boiled the apples for about 30 minutes until they were soft. Carrie has a sweet immersion blender so that's what we used to blend the apples into applesauce. We tasted the applesauce and it was delicious. We didn't even need to add any cinnamon. I forgot to say that we used Golden Delicious and Fuji apples picked straight from the trees. When I made applesauce before in Canada they like to add maple syrup. MMMmmmmm Good!




I didn't know a thing about canning but apparently it's an art. You must make sure that none of the jars have sharp or uneven edges around the mouth because then it won't seal properly. Each item you can also has a specific amount of space that you must leave at the top. For applesauce it's 1/2 inch. There can't be any applesauce residue on the mouth of the jar because then again the lid won't seal. You also have to boil the lids before putting them on the filled jars. There is a neat tool used to get the lids out of the hot water with a magnet on the end of it. Then you simply screw on the outer ring.

Ravenna had fun playing in the apple boxes.


After the cans are full you put them in boiling water for 20 minutes. Carrie has all the gadgets needed to can. Like a water basket for all the cans and jar tongs to take them out of the hot water. Like I said, she's a pro at this.

I definitely want to start canning! It was so easy and so fun! Thanks Carrie for a great morning.

I've also made an apple crisp and an apple pie with the Granny Smith's that I picked. When I pulled this pie out of the oven, Derek and I both looked at its beauty in amazement. I know it's not very humble of me, but it is pretty perfect looking.