Is it time yet?

At the foot of the stairs, in the basement of my almost 100-year old house, lies one of my favorite areas of the entire building. 

No, not the washer and dryer!

Not even the chest freezer.

What is it?

The canning shelf!

I've got Old Blue-my trusty canning pot, empty jars waiting to be filled, and some treasures leftover from years past.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have a hard time using up something precious-from massage gift certificates (I'll be in soon, Art!) to very special foods, it often takes a kick in the buns to get me to open something up.

Some of my hard-to-open favorites include:

Mom's oven-roasted Strawberry Jam

Picked and made by Siri in NORWAY Lingonberry Jam

Mom's Mint Jelly

Kosher Dills

Mom's Raspberry Jam

Notice a theme, anyone? Yes, Mom is a canner extraordinaire! What's even more amazing, is that everything she cans is grown by her and Dad on their own property. 

Me, I'll stoop to buying a bushel of tomatoes at the Farmer's Market if I don't have enough of my own...hey, at least they're local and organically grown, and are cheaper and better tasting than most commercial products. 

I also don't hesitate to buy fruit, since I have none of my own, yet. 

Grow little Honeycrisp, GROW! 

Last year I lucked into a great deal on peaches at the co-op, netting a case for $25. Jon and I made gingered peach halves (awesome!) and a really great Gingered Peach Sauce (that one was really popular!) and gave them away for Christmas presents last year. It was so satisfying to give the people we love food we love, made with love, and to not spend a lot of money on the whole thing. It was, honestly, one of the lowest-pressure holiday seasons I've ever experienced as an adult. By the time the first snow fell, my work was done!

Anyway, one of my goals for the gardening year is to put plenty of food up-whether it's canned, frozen, or dried, I don't want to waste a drop.  The New York Times recently published an article on this very subject, especially as to how it applies to us young folk getting into the "urban homestead" kind of thing. 

Jon and I had great luck with our French Nickel beans, discovering that they really were 98% as great after freezing as compared to eating them fresh. We use these little discoveries to shape the garden for the following year, so this season we've doubled the amount of beans in the garden.  

We also decided it would be great to have our own fruit for preserving, so we were so happy to get the raspberries from Tony.  I'm not sure what kind of yield to expect in their first year here, so they may be just for eating this time. My YOM (that's Rose Mary, my mother-in-law) loves black raspberries, and I'm on the prowl for some of those bushes to plant. I think I have room for 2 or 3 more plants! There's always room, isn't there?

The husband and I have discussed making another fruit and lemongrass item, or maybe even something with lemon balm and lemon verbena, which are growing in our garden. There's also been some discussion of a chutney, although I worry some people won't know how to use it. Also, one of my latest issues of La Cocina Italiana had some really interesting mostarda recipes...perhaps some of you will find that in your Christmas stocking this year?

So, dear readers, what are your favorites for canning and preserving? Do you have any great recipes? I'd love to exchange ideas and tips-and if you send me a recipe at hmsaliba@usiwireless.com I'll be sure to post it on the blog for all to enjoy. 

Maybe we can even cook up a Jam and Jelly exchange? One of my favorite blogs, Batter Splattered, organized one last year and it was one of the highlights of my summer! I was blessed to receive 2 jars of goodness-one is crabapple jelly and the other is pear raspberry jam.  

As a matter of fact, I'm off to open up one of my treasures and enjoy it on toast!