Hahaha, I just had to start a post out like.
But seriously, I've been working very hard to be a good housewife and do meal planing and budgeting (and then stick to the budget and meal plan). And since it's summer (or the very end of summer), there have been amazing prices on fruit and veggies, and I feel like I need to take advantage of those prices. So I've started buying extra stuff and freezing it. But my freezer is getting quite full and my new huge freezer isn't due to arrive for a couple more weeks. Yes, I'm getting a full freezer. It's a hand-me-down from a family member, and I am extremely excited about it. Notice all of the emphasis placed on "extremely." I've spent lots of time thinking about all the stuff I'm going to put in it. But that's a story for a different blog post. Anyway, since my regular freezer is full, I decided that now would be a good time to begin canning. What else is there to do with all of those $0.69 peaches? So I convinced my friend, Sara, to join me, bought 30 peaches, which comes out to about 14 lbs, and a box of mason jars, and canned my peaches. I would rate my first canning experience a "7" on a 1-10 scale. We had a few hiccups but we learned lots and I'm sure my next experience will be even better! I haven't tasted any of the peaches yet, but Sara's husband said they were wonderful--he couldn't tell if they were store bought or the ones we canned (pat self on back).
Things I Learned During My First Canning Experience:
1) Canning is not a wait-til-you-put-your-children-down-for-the-night-at-7pm project. It's a Saturday project. Especially when you didn't do your homework about prepping the jars (see #3). And especially when your poor friend, Sara, gets violently ill in the middle of canning and you have to finish by yourself.
2) 14 lbs of peaches is a LOT of peaches (even when your husband's already dipped into the pile and snagged a few already); you can probably get away with a lot less next time.
3) It's usually best to prepare enough mason jars for all of your peaches which are already cut and sitting in lemon water, waiting to be canned (and by prepare, I mean run the jars through the 45 minute dishwasher cycle so they're hot and sanitized because you're not going to do it again at 11:30 pm).
4) Really jam those peaches the jar because they shrink up during the boiling process.
5) The Pioneer Woman (my new hero) has an amazing peach crisp with maple cream sauce recipe for all those left over peaches that you couldn't fit the few sanitized jars you prepped.
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